Queen of Nairobi

Queen of Nairobi is a Pittsburgh-based singer-songwriter, rapper, actress, and poet whose work moves fluidly across the stage, the studio, the classroom, and the canvas. Equal parts performer, theatrical and creative director, teaching artist, vocal and acting coach, visual artist, entrepreneur, and activist, she channels every discipline toward a single brand: Individuality, Divinity, and Purpose. Her mission is to help young people know themselves through God, embrace their identities, and hold fast to their God-given purpose. Her music is timeless and purpose-driven — an immersive experience that speaks openly to the social issues she has lived through and continues to navigate, including sexual abuse, mental health, and body positivity.

She first drew national attention in 2016 as winner of the August Wilson Monologue Competition, earning a $20,000 scholarship to Point Park University, where she completed her BFA in Acting in 2020. That same year she became the youngest recipient of Pennsylvania’s Most Valuable Person Award, two years after being the youngest artist honored by Pittsburgh Public Schools for her work in the arts and activism. Her career has since been featured by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, WAMO, the Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh City Paper, NPR, and CNN, in markets reaching from Atlanta, Georgia to Rubirizi, Uganda.

On stage she has opened for Freeway and Beanie Sigel, Jessica Care Moore, Kuf Knotz and Rapsody, and Dr. Cornel West, performed on the Broadway stage, and been mentored by Denzel Washington, Kenny Leon, and Bill Nunn. As creative director, curator, vocal producer, and co-songwriter, she shaped The Krunk Movement’s Su(Stained) Reality (released 2024), contributing background vocals across the project including the lead single “Stained Melody.” In 2025 she wrote and recorded the hook and lead vocals for “Suubi,” a cross-cultural collaboration featuring high school students in Uganda that earned press coverage and airplay on Ugandan radio. She holds a seasonal residency at Pittsburgh International Airport and serves as lead vocalist and vocal instructor with the Hip Hop Orchestra, Guardians of Sound.

Her teaching artistry runs just as deep — from the University of Pittsburgh’s Art Through Healing class for survivors of sexual abuse to her ongoing role as acting coach and judge for Pittsburgh Public Theater’s Shakespeare Monologue Competition. Her work has been supported by 1Hood’s Artivist Grant, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s Black Femme Music Artist Program — where she headlined her own Sunstar Festival show — and Allies Pittsburgh, which named her one of the city’s “Bright Young People.” Her first solo visual exhibition, debuted at Millie’s, confronted negative stereotypes around Black hair. She is currently at work on her forthcoming album, Mood Ring.