‘I HAVE COME CLOSE TO QUITTING MUSIC SO MANY TIMES’ SAYS FENA GITU

Popular musician Fena Gitu has opened up about her remarkable journey before making it in the music industry.

Speaking on POV Podcast with Cate Rira, Fena disclosed she was a matatu driver before she got her big break, “I have never done an office job but I was a matatu driver delivering water in offices and homes. My friends had a company and they were looking out for me because I didn’t have a job and gigs. I was just home broke.”

She added, “There is someone who is very prominent who told me singing songs in English won’t get me anywhere in the Kenyan music industry. I really had a tough time come up, it is still tough but I have grown another layer of skin. I won’t force myself or my music on anyone. I was starting to get frustrated chasing numbers but I told myself those who listen to me are my fans. 

In 2015 after releasing her first album, Fena almost quit making music, “I have come close to quitting so many times and it’s taken years to find a support system without that I remember falling into depression in 2015 after my first album. After a while the money I made ran out, I wasn’t booking shows or crossing over to mainstream the way I would like and it became depressing. People were not relating and I was pushing and I didn’t have much to show for it.”