Azziad Nasenya, 19, became an overnight sensation thanks to her Tiktok video lipsyncing and dancing to “Utawezana” hit song by Mejja and FemiOne.
The actress and content creator started acting in stage plays while still in high school. After her secondary school education, Azziad joined Hearts of Art theatre group while pursuing a certificate in broadcast journalism at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication.
In 2018, she started vlogging on YouTube and creating short skits and dance videos for her Instagram and Tiktok profiles.
Azziad spoke to Buzz about her newfound fame and plans to grace our television screens in the near future.
Why did you choose TikTok as the main platform for your content?
Tiktok has everything I need. I can lip-sync, act, dance and make funny clips, and Tiktok has provisions for all that. It is a platform in which you will rarely be trolled.
Everyone and anyone can be who they are. There is less judgement there and a lot more freedom to be creative and original.
Are you surprised at the huge response your video got? Has Mejja or Femi One called you yet? What does it take to have your TikTok account verified?
I wasn’t really surprised at the numbers because that was not even my most widely viewed video. There was a time my post was viewed by 4.1 million people.
But yes, I have spoken with Femi One. For someone to be verified on Tiktok, you need to have more than 50,000 followers, and more than 500,000 likes. You also need to have been on the platform for at least six months.
Who are your favourite Kenyan Tiktokers?
They are so many! I admire Dzireo, Afrobeats With Kamau, Morgan Adrian and Laura A Laura.
So many artistes now want to work with you. What are you looking forward to doing when things go back to normal?
The directors of Too Early for Birds have approached me and I am looking forward to being part of that project.
I am really excited because I have never worked with a different theatre group before. I am also looking forward to finishing up on the play we were working on with Hearts of Theatre group.
I also have an upcoming TV series, where I’ll be playing a lead role. The series is written by Waithaka Mukuria. I also can’t wait to travel to Uganda. The people there have showed me so much love!
Do you plan to join mainstream media?
Yes. I am interested in being a TV host or a radio presenter. I have studied video, audio, camera, TV, radio production.
