By Ogova Ondego
Published July 12, 2020
There can be no doubt that the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) around the world and efforts by governments to contain it through restriction of movement and social interaction have disrupted lives and livelihoods. All learning institutions in Kenya were closed indefinitely in March 2020, making hundreds of thousands of learners idle as they wonder what to do with so much time on their hands. While cases of tens of teenage pregnancies have captured media headlines, many parents and guardians have called upon the Government to find ways of keeping their children busy.
But amid this COVID-19 disruption, youngsters like pop musician Nikita Jepchumba Kering’ of Nairobi are finding ways to work on their career as they wait for the authorities to reopen schools.
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“COVID-19 has led many of us in the Arts industry to postpone many of our activities especially with the fact that musicians majorly rely on performances and appearances,” Kering, who has just turned 18, says. “The best and easiest thing to do on my end is to just adapt and adjust to the situation and accept it as a temporary change in lifestyle.”
Kering, who is said to have started responding to music as a baby before going on to pick up the microphone to sing during social functions at the age of 3, says the time she has on her hands ‘has helped me to work through my projects positively and definitely produce content that’s been worth the wait’.
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After completing Advanced Level studies at Brookhouse International School in Nairobi, Kering says her ‘plan is to focus on production of my music and developing my brand’.
“It is important for me to take advantage of the extra time that I now have on my hands to finally deliver what I have been promising my fans for a while: Good music!” she says. “Hopefully, I will be joining Berklee college of music in the United States of America in summer of 2021. It’s important for me to
take this year to just build up on my career before joining college and paying my full attention to studies.”
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Oh?
“My plan has always been to pursue music as my career. I perform in many places and to me, music is a job just like many others. My music is a business in which I invest and expect to get returns from,” Nikita Kering says.”My plan from here on is to just spend a larger percentage of my time working ever harder on my music. I’d also like to get into various art forms–Film, Theatre, Dance–besides starting my own businesses and doing lots of charity work as a way of giving back to the community through my talents.”
