From the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa, a music star with a melodious voice, vividly beckons with messages of hope.
Krystn Ndela, arguably the most celebrated female gospel artist from the coast, has added a feather to her cap with the planned release of a 7-track album Naomba. The album was produced by Andrew Madebe of Jikoni Records and Jacko Loops of Green House Records.
Naomba, which includes songs such as Najua, Nataka, Iko Njia and the title track, will be launched later in December of 2006. Krystn has fused R&B, Zouk and Salsa to come up with unique and exciting sounds.
28 year old Krystn was born and brought up in Bamburi, Mombasa in a strict Christian family of seven children; four sisters and three brothers. She studied at Shimo La Tewa Primary School, before proceeding to Aga Khan Secondary School.
At the age of only 8, Krystn was already developing as a singer, and she was a constant attraction in her school and church choir. Once while she was in form two, she was asked to give a testimony during a Christian Union meeting. Considering herself a poor orator, she opted to sing instead. Accolades she received later, made her consider her exceptional talent in music. From that day, her musical future began to take shape, and she has never looked back.
In 2001, Krystn took the plunge into recording when she first did a few songs with seasoned Coast musician, Ema Chichi. They worked together for a while with him, with Ema Chichi even producing her debut album Naomba. Unfortunately, there were a few differences both personal and professional between them and Krystn Ndela decided to redo the album later in 2004.
Since then her career has grown in leaps and bounds, even landing her a number of prestigious nominations. She was especially delighted with her nods at the continental Kora Music Awards as well as the local Kisima Awards. Though she did not scope any award, she was thrilled to be considered. She confesses that:
“Being nominated for Best Female Artist at the 2006 Kisima Awards, was flattering for me, it showed that my talent is acknowledged and people actually consider me as a gifted singer.”
This talented singer is also a member of Silaha, a group of Coast Gospel artists who aspire to create an avenue for Gospel artists to progress as a unified force and give platform to less recognized musicians.
Members of Silaha include 121 Tazama, Kimsa, DJ Lenium and Scarvage. Others are Simaloi, Xzella, Tuff Preacher, 
Bantu and Kin Kiz.
The road to music success has not been easy for Krystn as, like many of her contemporaries, she has found it difficult to acquire the necessary finances. She is the first to admit that one of the significant drawbacks is when excellent music ideas exist, but no resources are available to make them come to pass. Another one of her challenges has been lacking a performance band. However, she hopes one day to put up a tight neat band for her live performances.
Before making her mark on the entertainment industry, she faced her fair share of mistreatment, something that nearly drove her to calling it quits. Nonetheless she soldiered on, gathering enough strength from within to push on, and just kept at it. She cites an experience at the 2006 Kisima Awards where she was neglected, with no one turning up to pick her from the artists’ hotel. To add insult to injury, she did not get a chance to perform with a live band as was earlier scheduled.
It is said that that which does not kill you only serves to make you stronger, and Krystn Ndela is testimony to that. She has worked extra hard to ensure that the setbacks faced only acts to teach her a lesson for the future. She is currently working on her second album, and having recently shifted from her Mombasa base to Nairobi, she firmly believes that her star is set to shine even brighter.
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