To many, she is just a petite adorable girl finding her way out of teenage adventure. Probably, it is her infectious and inquisitive social demeanour that betrays her. Don’t be deceived. This 20-year-old rising flame means business.
“”I get that a lot. To many, I don’t come out as a singer, which I am. That is at face value. I am not struggling to prove myself either. My talent should be able to speak for me,” Suzziah tells Pulse, then dips into hearty laughter.
This is the new star, the soulful voice behind Le Band’s Number 1 January release, a sexual song that has men fantasising about her.
In the song, she picks up the refrain with attitude and suggestively; she comes alive in the video:
“I wanna climb to the top of the mountain,
Let you cruise on this endless sea,
Open up the windows to your soul,
I want you to see what you do to me,
Watch my spirit melt into your arms,
Freeze this time so we’ll never be apart,
Baby I know you’re comfortable under my skin,
So don’t let go, pull me close...” she sings, her cheeky and sexy X-factor flattering her cute and fun-exuding small frame.
Listening to the song, one would hardly question why every radio station is playing the song and why every TV station has been featuring Suzziah and Le Band as the song made it to the top of the charts in local music shows.
“I did not expect this kind of attention when I was working on the song, not even Le Band. This could have gone south if anything. Of course we were hoping for the best but also braced ourselves for whatever. People have resonated with the song so much, the response is unbelievable,” she remarks.
The affair between her and Le Band, a group that had featured hip-hop star Khaligraph in their previous release, started when Suzziah heard them performing at the Cake Art affair in 2015. She fell in love with their sound and particularly the track Sweet Paradise.
During one of her radio interviews, she mentioned Le Band as one of the Kenyan acts she would love to work with. They had not formally met each other. A year later, it came to pass and a hit was born; this Number 1 love ballad. Ironically, unlike many female singers who write love songs out of their personal experience, this singing beauty says she has never fallen in love.
“When writing, I am inspired by love and life mostly. I have, however, not dated before. I have not had my first love yet. At some point it was unfortunate that I was single but now it is fortunate because I like the place I am in,” she says adding that she is neither searching nor desperate. “I believe in self-love. The man will come when the time is right. I base my songs on the experiences of those around me. It comes easy because I am highly sensitive. In the songs, I also get to express my view on love from the outside in,” she elaborates.
If you are an ardent listener of Kenyan music and a seeker of the new voices, then you probably know her from her first song, Hold my Hand. The house track produced by Navid was another experiment with music that did well with her fans besides receiving positive media review. The song was an idea that came to her mind when she was in form two during a boring physics lesson.
“I recorded the song years later, of course after clearing high school. When I approached the producer I was not looking for a specific genre, but Navid of Navid productions did his unexpected magic and I loved the outcome,” she recalls. The song gained her a spot in Patricia Kihoro’s top 100 African Artistes in 2015.
Back to first impressions, you wouldn’t spot a rebellious bone from face value but she thrives on rebellion. Her ‘Rebel’ movement is one of those that just came with her personality, which she inherited from her father.
“The movement is about doing what you really want for yourself and not what other people think you should be doing or want you to do,” she explains.
Now into her second year pursuing Psychology at the University of Nairobi, she says that besides her professional career, she still would very much want to do music fulltime.
“I am not pursuing Psychology as my fall-back plan as much as it interests me. I want music to be my only hustle. If it does not succeed I shall start again and again until it works,” she notes.
“My music Icon is Lauryn Hill and I draw a lot of inspiration from her. She mesmerises me. If I met her today I’d probably go blank, and yes, it is in my wildest of dreams to be able to work with her,” she adds.
And looking at her one more time, it hits me the last of that look she is spotting was a Lauryn Hill look. And now, back to the soulful voice!
