Almost a decade of international stardom: STL continues her lonely dominance at the top

Stella Mwangi’s Set it Off hit single from her self-titled Hollywood EP is set to feature in A Bad Moms Christmas movie, a lucrative deal for the rapper whose star has been on the rise.

The Kenyan international export has already set herself apart as one of the only African stars to hit Hollywood with a major music deal. Stella’s record Set it Off is her latest Hollywood movie music – that has been picked as theatrical music score and trailer soundtrack for a Hollywood film.

“The success of my self-titled EP is just phenomenal. I thank my fans and management for the continued support and love they show me and my EP every day,” STL says.

“I am excited about the news and the fact that the film will be out right in time for the Christmas season. I feel like the hard work I put in is being appreciated,” she added.

In other mega Stella news – Warner Music Group last month launched the record Work in the whole of Europe, making Stella the first Norwegian-based music artiste from East Africa to be featured on top playlists and radio charts across Europe.

The track remains one of the most successful hits off the Stella Mwangi Hollywood EP. It has bagged several Hollywood nods including Tommy Hilfiger Summer/Spring Collection launch 2017 in Los Angeles and Reebok Classics Free Your Style worldwide commercial campaign featuring Teyana Taylor. The record is also a major hit in Italy, where she promoted it in a successful media tour that also saw her perform in Milan, Italy.

STL was born in Murang’a and begun her musical career when she moved to Norway. She has been consistent, churning out one hit after another. From the days of The Dreamer and Haba Haba to Stella Stella Stella, STL started a musical journey that has spanned over a decade and is obviously not slowing down any time soon.

Her résumé also includes featured work in films such as American Pie, Save the Last Dance 2 and Television series such as CSI: New York and Scrubs.

The strides she has made in the music rap industry are yet to be matched by any other Kenyan female rapper and the hard truth is that no other local female rapper has come close to what she is doing.

There is no denying the existence of other female rappers but something is obviously amiss when it comes to the record others have had, most of whom have failed to make an international impact.

Many of them often complain that the industry is male-dominated and it is much harder for females to break through.

Xtatic is one of the few female rappers who released a promising single that managed to get the attention of Sony Music Africa who promptly signed her under the management of ROCKSTAR4000 and moved her to South Africa. Fans were optimistic that she would finally get the exposure she deserved but the hopes were dashed when she became too slow when it came to releasing her content. The deal finally ended without a breakthrough.

Petra also went through such a promising deal with Taurus Music but things did not pan out. There was conflict between her and the label and they had parted ways. Both sides claimed to have been blindsided by the other, Petra decided to stay mum on the issue while Taurus said she lied that she had cancer whereas in reality she was pregnant and was hiding it.

Femi One, a promising female singer under King Kaka’s Empire label, has released hits such as Wanjiku Kimani, Jah, Brikicho and Tippy Toe. The list goes on and on from Sosuun to Kush Tracey.

While most of the female artistes here are blamed for lack of consistency, others seem to lack aggression, which is key in the music business. Others simply seem to be in it for the fun, plodding on without regard to the professionalism needed to really make it big. Others fail due to poor management, distribution and business networks.