In May, singer Judith Nyambura, popularly known as Avril, created a social media buzz with her morbid comment saying that her songs will trend after she dies.
You see, for a while now, the artiste has been looking to make a grand comeback to the music industry, releasing music that seems not to hit her fans the right way. Despite this, she feels that seasoned artistes still have a place in the music industry.
Her latest song titled Danger, released the same month featuring fast-rising Kenyan artiste Brandy Maina, garnered less than 1,000 views on YouTube a day after it was released.
This was a far cry from her other songs which commanded hundreds of thousands of views moments after their release.
To reply to a concerned fan who pointed out how her new music was doing badly, she wrote, “Don’t worry, when I die, the songs I’ve done over time will trend at least for a while, maybe even get love. Never worry. Thanks for the post, the mockery, and the love.”
This development divided opinion online with a section of her fans expressing remorse for her. But speaking to Nation Life&Style recently, Avril says that
“When I said that my songs are going to trend when I am dead, what I meant was that it was time for guys to give me my flowers while I am alive. It was not something that I said out of malice or anger,” Avril said.
“At the height of the pandemic I had released my album I got to a space where I felt like I have done everything and maybe there is nothing new that I will be able to do. I had wanted for so long to release an album and when I did, it was at a time when there were no live concerts. This put me into a ‘what next’ space. My music was received differently because of the different generation that exists,” she said.
But despite her music efforts, fate seems to be giving the Chokoza hit maker another chance to reclaim her position in the industry.
She is part of a cast of a new Showmax original series titled Pepeta . Her character, Nduta, is a woman who is a fortress of comfort to the football coach who turns to her for moral support.
Based on the real-life story of Harun ‘Rio’ Wathari, the series captures the dreams and realities of the youth in Kibera known for churning out the top football players in the country.
So, is going back to acting a way of reinventing herself since music appears to be giving her a hard tackle?
“Film goes hand in hand with music because for Shuga , the first role I got was a musical role—I went to audition for a musical role. So I am not in any way running away from music or reinventing myself. I acknowledge that I have received not so much positive feedback for some of the songs that I have released,” she said.
“Nduta represents the vulnerability of the show. The show is all about crime football but Nduta happens to be Biki’s (the football coach) go-to pillow whenever he feels he needs comfort to the point where Nduta feels overwhelmed. This results in her reaching a breaking point, which involves a lot of emotions that are separate from all the crime that is captured in the series.”
Her first acting role was 10 years ago in the popular TV drama series Shuga , where she acted alongside Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o. She also acted in Sumu la Penzi .
