Singer Nadia Mukami.
Next month, singer Nadia Mukami will celebrate her 10th anniversary in the music industry with a concert. This comes shortly after her separation from her long-term fiancé, Arrow Bowy.
Last year, the couple were forced to postpone their wedding after finding out that they were expecting their second child. However, in a dramatic twist of events, it seems those plans are now off the table.
Our separation happened when I was pregnant. I didn't have time to mourn the breakup because I returned to work two months after giving birth.
Kenyan singer and songwriter Nadia Mukami.
When my father realised that things had changed, he advised us to put the wedding plans on hold until after the baby arrived.
During my first trimester, I didn’t want my partner to touch me because I was constantly sick. There was the morning sickness, the vomiting and fainting. That passed, and then the cravings kicked in: mandazi, vegetables, rice and beans every day. Anyway, I'm done having children. I wanted to be finished by the time I turned 30, and it seems I have achieved that by the age of 28.
I was very broke when I met Arrow Bowy. I was a brand new artiste, and he was already famous; he had one of the biggest songs at the time: 'Digidigi'.
We first met in a club where I curtain-raised for him. At some point, he came to my table and said hi. I didn’t like him at first. From what I had gathered, he was a bad boy, and besides, I was in a relationship even though it wasn't going anywhere.
Singer Nadia Mukami and Arrow Bowy during a past event.
After that, my manager suggested that we collaborate with Arrow Bowy. I had just written 'Radio Love', and I had planned to collaborate with Fena Gitu, but my manager suggested Arrow Bowy instead. We recorded the song, but there wasn’t any chemistry between us at all. The song became a hit. Then we started talking a lot more, and I began to like him. Well…
I really wanted the relationship to work because I have always wanted to start a family. Once you're settled in a relationship, your focus shifts to creating wealth. That's what I had hoped for.
Kenyan artiste Nadia Mukami
Our co-parenting relationship is good, and that's because I chose to be the foolish one. I believe that, for co-parenting to work, one person has to be the foolish one, and in our case, that person is me. Most of the time, I'm the one who reaches out to him for the sake of my children. I don't regret wanting to have children with Arrow Bowy at all. However, I no longer love him.
The Kenyan music industry has changed its attitude towards pregnant singers. In the past, there was an unwritten rule that female artists were not allowed to get pregnant. You would be advised against getting pregnant because it would ruin your career: record labels would shun you, and you wouldn't get gigs. But that isn't the case these days.
Can you believe that just two months after giving birth to my first child, Kai, I was asked to perform at a private event in Goma in the DR Congo? When I came back, I got a brand endorsement deal that paid me a six-figure salary. I have also received offers from brands wanting me to work with my son Kai.
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