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Tyra Chantey<\/span> doesn\u2019t really do \u201ceither\/or.\u201d She\u2019s the kind of artist who can hold Sweden\u2019s polished pop credentials in one hand and Uganda\u2019s<\/a> smooth rhythms in the other, while still insisting on forging her own lane. She is a smorgasbord of binaries that defy rigid categorization.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s been the story for as long as she can remember. Born and raised in the suburbs of Stockholm, the singer-songwriter grew up with parents who made sure Uganda was a lived experience shared with her sister.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a quarter Swedish, the rest is Ugandan, and I feel a very strong need to connect to my African audience,\u201d she tells OkayAfrica<\/span>. Holidays often meant time with her jjajja<\/span>, aunties, uncles, and cousins in Uganda while learning the food, the weddings, the energy, and the way community moves. And she can easily rattle off her comfort order without hesitation: matoke<\/span> with peanut sauce, with chicken or beef stew on the side.<\/p>\n It\u2019s inside that two-world upbringing that her love for song, dance, and performance really took root. She grew up listening to Brandy<\/span>, Beyonc\u00e9<\/span>, and Destiny\u2019s Child<\/span> (with Boyz II Men<\/span> always in rotation thanks to dad), alongside pop greats like the Spice Girls<\/span> and Britney Spears<\/span>.<\/p>\n But her first brush with real fame and awe came from watching her own dad command a stage. \u201cThe earliest memory I have of really getting like starstruck was seeing my own dad perform, because he used to be part of Swahili Nation<\/span>,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Yes, that<\/span> Swahili Nation: the Sweden-based \u201990s R&B\/hiphop group that helped make it natural to hear Kiswahili lyrics on an R&B sound. Her father, Ken Daniels Kayongo<\/span>, was part of that crew of diaspora<\/a> game-changers whose influence is felt everywhere now. But back in the late \u201990s and early 2000s, songs like \u201cHakuna Matata\u201d (aka Mpenzi)<\/a> were ahead of their time.<\/p>\n \u201cHe took me and my sister on the road with him\u2026 and we also got to see him on stage performing,\u201d Chantey says of her dad. \u201c[The group] had this way of blending their African culture, their East African culture, with pop music and R&B, which is similar to what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n \n
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