Twenty-eight years ago a girl was born in Migori, South Nyanza, years later she would conquer the world and become one of the most celebrated DJ of her time.
Philly Lydia Ojala, whose stage name is DJ Aisher, had a normal childhood surrounded with many siblings. Studies took her to Tanzania before she returned home to clear her secondary school education.
NURSING DREAM
Thereafter, through an exchange program, she relocated to Germany to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse.
In a foreign land and surrounded by strangers, her music hobby bloomed as a way of passing free time.
Philly comes from a family that loves music and deejaying was something close to her heart when was growing up.
She would spend hours watching videos on YouTube to sharpen her skills and when she thought it was the right time, she bought a laptop and installed Virtual DJ, a free software for deejaying. She then started practicing.
“I stumbled on YouTube videos of the famous French deejay known as Dj Lady Style and that changed my life. I downloaded a free trial version of Virtual Dj and started practicing,” DJ Aisher told Nairobi News.
Before going public DJ Aisher would play at friends’ parties every time she landed an opportunity, and her friends loved her performance.
“I mastered the craft fast and started playing at house parties and birthday bashes for free and got very good feedback. In 2016 I decided to buy a small professional deejaying kit,” she narrates.
DEEJAYING CAREER
That was when she started playing professionally in local clubs in Berlin.
Then in 2017 she did her first major performance. She played at a Kenyan show in Berlin to celebrate Mashujaa Day and that opened doors for her.
“The crowd loved how I played. That show opened doors for me and I started getting many bookings,” Aisher recalls.
Now she boasts of having hosted Nigerian artiste Burna Boy in Berlin in October. In September she hosted Tanzanian bongo star Diamond Platnumz.
The feedback after the shows, for her, is the most fulfilling part of her deejaying career.
But its not like she hasn’t had bad days in the office. She recalls an event at the beginning of her professional career when a fellow DJ messed up the sound.
“I was curtain-raising for a big band from Cameroon. A fellow DJ messed up with the sound to intentionally ruin my image. That was my worst experience in front of a mammoth crowd,” she says.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
But as they say, home is where the heart is.
DJ Aisher has since returned to Kenya and East Africa at large with one aim – to empower women.
“I’m doing an East African tour themed ‘Women Empowerment’ and also to launch my foundation – Aisher Inspires Foundation,” she said.
The sidelining of women in Kenya and East Africa in different sectors has inspired DJ Aisher to come up with the foundation that aims to support and encourage women to bring out the best in themselves by achieving what their heart desires.
During the interview with Nairobi News, DJ Aisher noted that social media has helped propel her career to where it is today.
With her promising career in deejaying, she hinted at leaving her nursing job to concentrate on deejaying.
Her advise to Kenyan youth is never to give up in whatever they set out to do.
“You will fail many times but that does not mean you are a failure. You are only a failure if you give up. Start doing something, don’t just sit down and wait for someone to hold your hands,” she says.