Kayo Shekoni

Kayode Maria Söderberg Shekoni (born 17 April 1964), better known as Kayo Shekoni, or just Kayo, is a Swedish singer and actress of Nigerian descent. Her name "Kayode" means "he or she brought joy" in the Yoruba language.[1]

Kayode Maria Söderberg Shekoni
Kayo Shekoni
Background information
Born (1964-04-17) 17 April 1964
Järfälla Municipality, Sweden
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • actress
Years active1980s–present
Associated actsFreestyle
La Bouche
Nyakayo Shekoni in 2014
Nyakayo Shekoni performing in Vaxholm, Sweden 2014

Career

Kayo started out as a singer in the 1980s with Swedish synth-pop band Freestyle. Kayo left the group with the release of the fourth single Vill ha dej. She then worked as a backup singer and dancer for various Swedish artists such as The Creeps, NASA and Anders Glenmark. She is a classically trained ballet dancer and performed professionally for many years. In 1990 she became part of the Nordik beat scene and released a self-titled influenced club-soul album on The SweMix Label. The music was mostly new jack swing but some tracks were reggae and house and featured hip hop influences. It was produced by label co-founder Stonebridge with Christian Falk and Alexander Bard (from Army of lovers).[2] She released 4 hit singles of the album. Her second album was a Swedish language soul-pop album entitled ‘’Kärleksland’’ and featured songs by Orup and was well received by radio.

After acting in a couple of teenage movies in the mid 1990s, she became one-half of Le Click, who had several hit singles in North America and Germany during the 1990s. Later on, she became part of the pop group Afro-dite in the early 2000s, reaching the finals at Melodifestivalen 2002 with the song "Never Let It Go" and representing Sweden in the Eurovision song contest in Tallinn the same year. In 2003 Afro-dite once again was at Melodifestivalen with the song "Aqua Playa".

In 2006, Kayo sang at Melodifestivalen as a solo artist and did not reach the finals. She has released some solo singles, such as "Another Mother" (#11 in Sweden) in 1991, and "(If It Makes You) Feel Good" in 2006. Kayo Shekoni has also hosted Förkväll[3] on TV4 and Fångarna på fortet ( the latter with cross-country skiing star Gunde Svan).[4]

Today she works as a skin therapist[4] and also takes on showbiz assignments. In spring 2010 she performed at the Melodifestivalen,[5] not as a competitor, but performing a medley of past winning songs with several previous winners. In 2010 she co-hosted a four episode series of pan-Scandinavian TV-show Inför Eurovision Song Contest 2010, analyzing all the competing songs submitted to that year's Eurovision Song Contest. She also works as a DJ, co-runs a night club and performs with disco & cocktail jazz band Cotton Club (band)[6] and Afro-Dite.[4][7]

Discography

Albums
  • Kayo 1990
  • Kärleksland 1993
  • Out There (Featuring Kayo) 1996
  • Le Click (Featuring Kayo) (Only released in USA and Germany) 1997
  • Never Let It Go (with Afro-dite) 2002

Singles
  • Vill Ha Dig (with Freestyle) 1980
  • Time's on My Side (with Supereffect) 1984
  • Hot Stuff (with Stanton Klub) 1988
  • Hon Sa (with Anders Glenmark) 1990
  • Natural Experience (only released in the UK) 1990
  • Säg Vad Du Vill/Tid För Mig (with Jean-Paul Wall) 1990
  • Change of Attitude 1990
  • Another Mother 1990
  • Gimme Your Love 1991
  • Brother 1991
  • Do You Know (with Lab 5) 1991
  • Thing Called Love (with Natural Experience) 1992
  • Don't Leave Me (with Natural Experience) 1992
  • Om Natten 1993
  • Sommar 1993
  • Kärleksland 1993
  • Torka Dina Tårar 1993
  • Om Du Vill Ha Mig Som Jag Är 1993
  • Let It Begin – Peace in Mind (with Out There) 1996
  • These Honest Hands (with Out There) 1996
  • Call Me (with Le Click) 1997
  • Call Me-New Mixes (with Le Click) 1997
  • Don't Go (with Le Click) 1997
  • Voodoo Fever (with Le Click) 1997
  • Show Me (med Le Click) 1997
  • Tell Me That You Want Me (with Le Click) 1997
  • Something To Dream Of (with Le Click) 1997
  • If I Can't Have You (with LFO) 1998
  • Wannabe (Somebody Special) 1998
  • Never Let It Go (with Afro-Dite) 2002
  • Rivers of Joy/Shining Star (with Afro-Dite) 2002
  • I Love Clubbers (with Clubbers International) 2002
  • Turn It Up (with Afro-Dite) 2002
  • Aqua Playa (med Afro-Dite) 2003
  • In Your Life (with La Bouche) 2003
  • Innan Natten Är Över 2006
  • (If It Makes You) Feel Good 2007

References
  1. "Kayode Meaning". Our Baby Namer.
  2. "Kayo (2) – Kayo (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com.
  3. PM (29 August 2006). "Berg, Gynning och Kayo leder TV4:s "Förkväll"". DN.SE. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012.
  4. Jan Kantor [email protected] (16 April 2009). "Kayo byter spår efter trettio år i rampljuset". DN.SE. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009.
  5. Ditt namn (publiceras inte) (14 March 2010). "En stor dag – John Alvbåge" (in Swedish). www.na.se. Archived from the original on 16 March 2010.
  6. "Resumé: Från Bonniers firmafest – till bröllopsfesten". Resume.se. 9 June 2010. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010.
  7. Stockholm TT Spektra (27 April 2010). "Afro-Dite gör comeback | Kultur | SvD" (in Swedish). Svd.se.
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