ARTISTE SPOTLIGHT

She is one of the Kenyan top names in the music industry; she has pierced the hip-hop scene in Kenya and Norway like no other lady performer has done. STL has made heads turn and has continued to prove that her rapping skills are not a mistake but a good mix of talent and hard work.

Most music fans in Kenya relate to her song Taking it back released 2007 in which she featured song bird and rapper Michelle. This was her second release in East Africa after the song Happy in 2006.

STL born Stella Mwangi was born in Kenya but is based in Norway. Her family moved to Norway in 1991 where she started writing lyrics from the age of 8 and rapping when she was about 11years old. Towards the end of the 90’s STL in a group called Rise produced an album called Maroon and from there her journey to great heights started. With the group Rise, STL performed for Nelson Mandela when he toured Norway for an AIDS campaign.

The track Taking it back was a hit in East Africa that made her scoop the best promising artist of the year in the 2006 Kisima Awards .This was after missing five nominations in Chaguo La teeniz Awards .Since then she has managed to rake fans across East Africa where rap is not considered a ladies territory.

Stumping her "authority" further, STL was nominated for best new act in the MTV Mama Awards that were held in Kenya on October 2009.Although she did not walk home with the prize it sure was a good show for an artist who is fairly new to the music industry and in a genre that is not popular with the lady singers in East Africa .She was nominated alongside Nigerians M.I and Bigiano,Tanzanian Shaa and Rhythmic Element of south AfricaOn the African scene STL has managed to work with various artistes. The list includes Osman, Kubaff, Kantai,Wagable and Michelle. STL has shared stage with big names that tour Norway.

Her discography since the year 2004 includes songs like Happy(2006),Taking it Back(2007),Radio Tuning(2008),The dreamer(2008)She got it (2009) and Go Getta(2009).

Other songs include songs "Crazy", "Feeling Love" and "Swing", which she wrote with The DNC and were picked by the Position Music and Choice Tracks as a soundtrack for the films Save the last dance, American pie, Redline and the series; CSI (New York) , Las Vegas, Ghost whisperer, Scrubs, American Top Model and Army Wives.

To listen to an interview with STL, please visit

Rihanna beats Chris Brown

Though it wasn’t an official soundscan battle, Rihanna’s “Rated R” album has officially trumped Chris Brown’s “Graffiti” LPReleased two weeks ahead, Rihanna’s “Rated R” landed safely at the no. 4 slot on the Billboard 200 chart— selling an impressive 181,000 copies in its first seven days in stores. The album was supported with numerous appearances, several singles that included visuals and two album release shows held in London and New York City.
Chris’ “Graffiti” opus, which hit retailers the same day as Snoop Dogg’s “Malice N Wonderland,” Gucci Mane’s “The State Vs Radric Davis,” and The Clipse’s “Til The Casket Drops,” came in at no. 7 on Billboard 200 moving a solid 102,000 copies. Though breaking 100k is an impressive feat in today’s economy, Brown’s labeled shipped 400,000 copies of the project— indicating that only 40 percent of the albums were bought.
Earlier in the week, Chris complained that major retail outlets were blackballing his project by not stocking the set on their shelves. In response, a representative from Wal-Mart revealed that they in fact are carrying the CD, but it’s just not moving as expected.
"Not only am I carrying it, I am over carrying it, because it isn't selling," said the head of purchasing at one large chain. "I wish I could return it."