Stella was born in Kenya September 1st, 1986. Her family brought her
to Norway when she was 5, and she was introduced to a whole new world.
Ever since she was a little kid she has had a strong love for music, and
at the age of 11 she started rapping and became a part of the norwegian
hip-hop scene. In 1998 she started working with an African youth group
called “The Rise”, which lead to Stella’s first official release with
their album “Maroon”. With “The Rise” project Stella earned valuable
experience when it came to live performances, as the group were
supporting acts at several big hip-hop concerts in Norway.
Stella’s break onto the African hip-hop scene came with her guest
appearances on the Senegalese rap duo Wageble’s debut album “Senegal”,
which was produced by Big City Music’s producer Tom Roger “Rumblin”
Rogstad. Rumblin had discovered Stella a couple of years prior, and
incorporated her into the project. Wageble topped the chart with
Stella’s featuring appearances, and the album received an Album Of The
Year award in Senegal 2005.
Stella then started working with Big City on new solo material, and
in 2006 she received the Kisima Award for Most Promising New Artist Of
The Year. Stella’s single “Take It Back” was well received in
Scandinavia and went #1 on the East African charts in 2008. That year
she released her solo debut album appropriately titled “Living For
Music” along with the singles “The Dreamer” and “She Got It/Kool Girls”.
The latter gave her yet another #1 on the East African charts and was
one of the most played songs on MTV Base and Channel O which broadcasts
all across Africa.
Her solo material had made a lot of noise, and gave her the
opportunity to tour in Scandinavia as well as in Africa. In Norway she
had been supporting act for artists such as Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross and
Flo-Rida. Her songs was featured on US TV-shows and movies like American
Pie, Ghost Whisperer, CSI:New York, CSI:Las Vegas, Americas Next Top
Model, Scrubs, Melrose Place, etc.
Stella went on to sign with production company Big City Music, and
the team started working on new material and searching for a fresh sound
for Stella. Years of work payed off, and the sound they had created
would be Kinanda, mixing her African roots with the urban music she had
always loved. Stella rocketed to stardom after winning the Norwegian
Eurovision Song Contest 2011 (Melodi Grand Prix) with her song Haba Haba
(produced by Beyond51 and Big City). She signed a record deal with EMI
Norway, and is currently preparing to represent her country in the
international finals in Germany. Stella’s album Kinanda was released by
EMI and Big City in 2011.
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