Apple Music today announced the latest artist to be featured in its new Up Next artist development program in East Africa, is Kenyan R&B-soul singer-songwriter, Ssaru (real name Sylvia Saru).
“I’m so happy to be Apple Music’s Up Next Local artist for East Africa,” she tells Apple Music. “Our music is taking over and is ready to shine across the globe. East Africa to the world!”
Born in Maungu, Taita Taveta County, on the coastal region of Kenya, and raised in Nairobi from an early age, Ssaru’s talent for writing catchy lyrics and tenacity to make a career in music work no matter what, was propelled by her decision to upload her DIY freestyle videos to social media.
Building a solid fanbase in Kenya through her videos and sharp lyrics, Ssaru released her debut single “Nyama” (2019) that was received with open arms from the hip hop and Gengetone community–the latter being a genre that mixes rap with reggaeton and dancehall to create a high-energy, dance-ready sound. Today, Ssaru is widely regarded as the Queen of Gengetone, a tip of the hat to her resilience and success in a mostly male-dominated genre.
Ssaru has become known for her honest, hard-hitting lyrics that are on full display in her latest single “Girl Power Freestyle” (2024) feat Joefes, released independently and available to stream on Apple Music, that tackles the latest surge of femicide in Kenya head-on and pulls absolutely no punches.
Apple Music’s Up Next artist development program has had a fruitful history of spotlighting the next wave of creative talent since it was established in August 2017, with Nigerian Grammy Award winning superstars, Burna Boy and Tems, the first two African artists to be spotlighted on a global scale in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
As the next Up Next act to be spotlighted in East Africa after Maya Amolo, Ssaru will be featured across Apple Music’s Up Next playlist. The curated Up Next playlist features a dynamic class of new and emerging artists, thoughtfully hand-picked by Apple Music editors from around the world. The playlist is genre agnostic and represents a line-up of artists our global editors are passionate about and eager to expose to a larger audience.
The vast global Up Next roster of past talent includes Grammy-nominated and critically lauded talent like 6lack, Daniel Caesar, H.E.R., Greta Van Fleet, Khalid, Amy Shark, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Claudio, Sigrid, Mr Eazi, Stefflon Don, Bad Bunny, Juice WLRD, Bazzi, Jax Jones, NCT 127, Summer Walker, Tierra Whack, Dean Lewis, Pink Sweat$, Koffee, Megan Thee Stallion, Burna Boy, Clairo, Lunay, Jessie Reyez, Orville Peck, Victoria Monét, Ingrid Andress, Conan Gray, Don Toliver, Rema, BENEE, Holly Humberstone, Natanael Cano, Givēon, beabadoobee, Arlo Parks, Tate McRae, Foushee and Tems.