Victoria Kimani (born 28 July 1985) is a Kenyan singer, songwriter, actress and entertainer previously signed to Nigerian record label Chocolate City, and was described as the record label’s first lady. She has received several award nominations from the African music industry, and her singles are played on radio channels across Africa. Her debut album was released in 2016.
She has appeared in the film 7 Inch Curve.
Life and career
Kimani was born in Los Angeles, California, to clergy parents. She has two older brothers. She lived in Benin City, Nigeria for two years, where her parents did missionary work. She began singing at the age of 9; at age 16, she began performing alongside other church choir members as a back-up and wrote songs for others. On returning to live in Kenya, she went to college and did back-ups for Mercy Myra involving considerable travel. She later opted to drop out of school to fully pursue a career in music.
In 2010, Kimani performed a remix of Ice Prince’s hit single “Oleku” (remixed by Nathaniel Williams Jr.), which caught the attention of Chocolate City executive Ice Prince, whom she dated for two years. In late 2012, she was the first female artist signed by Nigeria’s music label Chocolate City, She released her first single under the label, “Mtoto”, in March 2013. The video was shot in Los Angeles.
Kimani released several mixtapes: Oya, Heaven, Hate Me, Open Up Your Heart, F.U.M.F, Do What You Want and Fre.
In 2014, Kimani released the single “Show”, produced by singer and producer Tekno Miles. She featured Tanzanian artists Diamond Platnumz and Ommy Dimpoz.
In February 2015, Kimani joined Cynthia Morgan and Emma Nyra and released the video “Vex”. On 23 July 2015, she released the video “Two of Dem”. In May 2015, she released “Loving You”, in which she collaborated with Nigerian label mate, Ice Prince. On 4 November 2015 she released “Booty Bounce”.
On 21 January 2016, Kimani released her new single “All the Way”, featuring Khuli Chana. The song pays homage to renowned artist Angelique Kidjo in her classic “Wombo Lombo”. The video was shot in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was produced by Reinhard.
The singer released the album Safari in December 2017, which collaborated with stars across Africa: Sarkodie, Khuli Chana, Jesse Jagz, Phyno and Ice Prince.
Pulse reviewed the project, scoring it highly, saying: “Although she brands herself to appeal to the senses in a sexy way, her music does possess a knowledge, accuracy, and skill which requires old-school wisdom and inclusiveness, the likes of which can be drawn African maternal knowledge.”
In December 2017, in an interview with Adelle Onyango and Shaffie Weru on Breakfast with the Stars, Kimani revealed that when her contract with Chocolate City expired, she felt it was time for her to be an independent artist: “You know like every contract has an expiry date. The contract was over and to be honest with you, most of the time I was on the label, I felt like an independent artiste anyway. I did most things by myself. So it was just time for me to step out on my own and do my own thing and not have to split the money with anybody.”
Music influences and humanitarian works
On 13 May 2015, Kimani and seven African female musicians, Cobhams Asuquo and a team of One Campaign staff met in Johannesburg to create “Strong Girl”.[29] The song features singers Waje (Nigeria), Vanessa Mdee (Tanzania), Arielle T (Gabon), Gabriela (Mozambique), Yemi Alade (Nigeria), Selmor Mtukudzi (Zimbabwe), Judith Sephuma (South Africa), Blessing Nwafor (South Africa) and actress Omotola Jalade Ekeinde (Nigeria).
Kimani has spoken out on issues like male chauvinism and women empowerment in conjunction with the One Campaign. Despite the all-female pan-African collaboration on “Strong Girl”, Kimani also stated that women struggle to make ends meet due to limits on available careers, and praised models, singers, dancers, entertainers, presenters, businesswomen, public relations, managers, personal assistants, singers, stylists, DJs and designers.
