Kenyan duo Watendawili is redefining Afropop

Watendawili recently joined Nandi Madida on FaceTime for an exclusive Apple Music 1 interview, where they opened up about their creative journey, the benefits and challenges of remaining independent, and the importance of staying true to their artistic instincts. Known for pushing boundaries and refusing to stick to one defining sound, the pair have embraced musical experimentation as a form of personal expression and their fans have followed them every step of the way.

During the conversation, the duo also teased major upcoming collaborations and new music on the horizon. From working with celebrated Kenyan vocalist Xenia Manasseh on the soulful ‘Beba’ to promising a mystery collaboration with a member of Sauti Sol, Watendawili continue to elevate their sound while expanding their reach beyond Kenya. As their star rises, one thing remains certain: they are charting their own course, on their own terms.

Watendawili tells Apple Music why they love to experiment

One thing about Kenyans is the Kenya palette is really broad. So that’s one of the things that really helped us in terms of being free and experimental with our music. It can be risky business, when you say “target audience” and have fans who've enjoyed previous works of ours, but one thing I’m really grateful for is [that] we are really diverse artists. I think for a very long time we were trying to find that one defining sound. We were going around in circles until we realised our power is in our diversity. So now we embrace it, and we use it to our benefit. So every single time we write stuff, it’s based on where and in which phase we are in our lives.

Why their debut album, En Route, was so important

For a very long time, ever since the beginning of our career, an album is something we always used to talk about as something that's grand. So we really took time on it. We were very, very intentional that the first baby, the first project we put out really meant something to us. That’s why it took six years before we released our debut album.

The benefits of being independent

Money can be a factor, but once you build it, it’s yours and you don’t owe anyone anything. I think with us being independent, it definitely seems like a longer route, but we are hands-on with so many things. If there’s a publishing meeting, we go to the publishing meeting. If it’s a distribution meeting, we are present in the distribution meeting. We learn how the machine works, so that even if you decide to join a bigger machine, you still have an understanding of how it runs. We think the long route has a lot of lessons, which we're willing to take, so that we can learn and grow.

Collaboration with Xenia Manasseh on ‘Beba’

We were ready to release the album. We didn't have a release date, but we were teasing it on social media, and Xenia reached out to us and she was like, “Yo guys, you can’t drop this album, I’m not on it!” So we met in studio and we made the beat from scratch before she came back to Kenya to record. It was really nice, as we got to pick her mind. When we collaborate with people, it's even more powerful because we get another perspective. We get someone’s soul, we get someone's mind, and it makes the song even heavier.

What they’re working on

This year we’re going to do collaborations outside of Kenya. It’s something we haven’t explored before, but that’s what we're going to give. We have a collaboration with one of the Sauti Sol members. We won't say who, we can’t say who yet—so big, big collaborations—and a project is coming! An EP? An album? You never know! But we're going to give you something.