KENYA: Atemi Oyungu Pens Angry Response to Blogger(s) Hating on Dela's Swahili Cover of 'Hello'

So by now you’ve probably already heard all the ‘Hello’ covers Kenya has had to offer. From the Swahili version, the Gospel version and yes we even have a Kikuyu version.

And it’s probably clear by now that Dela’s ‘Swahili’ cover is the best Kenya has to offer (perhaps one of the best covers ever done).

The Swahili cover of Adele’s ‘Hello’ has received high praise from many including international media as well, but back home turns out not everybody appreciated it (some bloggers).

But for songstress Atemi Oyungu, one of Kenya’s most popular and talented Afrosoul-fusion artists, she didn’t take this hate from the said bloggers lightly. She went on social media, where she penned her heart-felt disappointment with Kenyans who put down their own.

Here’s what she wrote;

“I always find it sad when Kenyans put down other Kenyans instead of building them up. The case I’m taking about today is a blog with an attack on Dela Maranga’s cover of Adelle’s ‘Hello’. We have seen lots of artistes world wide cover Adelle’s song, but this Kenyan blogger chooses to pick on the only Kenyan who has covered it so far and covered it well. This cover has been written about on the likes of Elle.com, Apple.News and Harpers Bazaar to name a few, all giving major props to the Swahili cover that is now at 200k plus views. Sad that the negative article/blog on the song is from home! Now to be fair, the writer doesn’t just talk about Dela in her article and maybe her points on some of the copyright infringement are correct…I wouldn’t know as I have no knowledge of where/if the other named artistes got legal advise…but I am guessing that she doesn’t either as in the case of Dela…who did! Shall we just take to tearing our fellow Kenyans down at any chance possible? What about the good things that are going on in Kenya? Is anyone interested in writing about that? If we don’t praise ourselves for the good things we do, who should we expect to do that for us? I’m challenging you today…find something nice about this lovely place we live in and speak up about it. Today, I’m saying that I’m amazed at how clever Dela was to come up with the idea of a swahili cover! And it’s lovely!”

Well, I’m sure we can all agree with Atemi Dela’s cover was quite witty to say the least.