She recently won an Afrima Award as ‘Best Female East Africa’ in Nigeria and Kenya’s 2016 Bingwa Music Award as Artiste of the Year - Uganda. Ugandan reggae and dancehall star Cinderella Sanyu aka Cindy, is now on a mission to expand her music empire to global markets.

"The fact that I won these awards outside my country means a lot to me because it means I’m being appreciated and recognised. I have been an artiste for a decade and I don’t feel like I have not had enough to prove in my country and therefore, my music has to go further than just my country,” she told The New Times.

To promote her music further, Cindy signed with Kenyan label Grandpa Records Label this year to help push her music to Kenya and Tanzania and is also working with a promotion company to expand her music in Rwanda.

"I realised that my fans are everywhere and for me to have a relationship with them, I need to get people to represent me,” she said.

The Ndi Mukodo star arrived in the country on Wednesday ahead of the Jazz Junction at Kigali Serena Hotel, where she will grace the show alongside Jazz artistes such as Uganda’s multi-talented instrumentalist and singer MoRoots among others, an experience she says she is excited to be a part of.

"I am excited and nervous at the same time to be part of the jazz junction as a dancehall artiste. I want to be myself to give a unique performance,” she said.

Famous for her energetic and vigilant stage performances, coming from her motivation to impress her fans, the artiste says, "When I am on stage I give people 100 per cent and it actually hurts after the show, my body aches for hours but it’s all worth it.”

"Because I write my music, I want to transfer how I feel to the fans and to translate my story by using my body through dance. If someone pays for my concert it’s only fair to give them a show that they won’t find anywhere else and that is what motivates me to perform the way I do. I try to rest as much as I can because the body needs that all the time,” she says.

The mother of one has had a solo music career since 2007, after parting ways with the girl group Blu 3. The freedom that comes with being a solo artiste is what has spread her wings and has since seen her record five albums.

"Being a solo artiste comes with pressure and hard work but at the end of the day, the result is not what you would get as a group. As a solo artiste, I know how I want to tell my story and I am responsible for my mistakes and achievements. Also, the creativity that comes with it is very important to me,” she says.

Sanyu has released a song with Rwanda’s Kid Gaju. She also recorded a song with The Ben a few years ago, albeit they never got a chance to promote it.

"Rwandan music is growing and there is more variety than there was five years ago, because our music was almost the same. Rwandan artistes had not put in place their signature sound but today their style is changing which gives their fans outside the country a different flavour,” she says.

She hopes to work with Knowless and Urban Boyz, among other artistes in the country.

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