#WCW: Singer Habida- For the love of Arts, Music and Theatre

By Sheila Kimani | 9yrs ago | 2 min read

By Sheila Kimani (@sheilakimm)

Evidently one of Kenya’s sassiest artistes, Habida Maloney was born and raised in Kenya during which she fell in love with the arts. However, it was her hit song “Sunshine” alongside Nameless that thrust her into the Kenyan spotlight.

Better yet, many thought she was of European descent but that did not deter her from causing a stir in the Kenyan scene. In an interview with The Standard, Habida admitted that despite her father being Irish, he stuck and raised his children according to African values. He had been the Principal at St Mary’s School for many years and she learnt a lot from him as she grew up.

Impressively, her love for music started when she was ten but her parents proposed she gets good education first. Even during her primary and high school days at Loreto Convent Msongari, she was in love with arts and joined the drama club. This was up until she was 16 during which she left to study arts at the Kennesaw State University in the United Kingdom.

It was during her stay in the UK that she learnt all about music and art. Moreover, she also worked in a bid to ensure that her younger sister was okay and after 7 years she returned to Kenya in 2009.

It was then that her musical career kicked off and since then, Habida has released several hits including “Girls Night out”, “Kesho” and “Lights up”.

Having studied theatre arts as well, Habida admits that she would love to be an actress in local productions.

She is married to Daniel Ebo and together they have a daughter Michaela. Asked how motherhood has been especially owing to her career, Habida admits it has not been a walk in the park but tries to spend as much time with her daughter.

Her career has seen her travel the world but even then, her resilience and determination makes her the best in her art. It is for this reason that she is our WCW today.