Atemi Oyungu began singing at the early age of 10, singing at the junior choir at Nairobi Baptist church. Coming from a musical family, she was encouraged to take part in a number of musical projects in both primary and secondary school. At the end of her secondary education, she and a group of friends formed an acapella gospel group called Thrown Together by Christ (TTBC) and were sponsored by Youth for Christ to go on a musical tour of Zimbabwe. Atemi continued with the group until she joined USIU in 1996 and formed the singing and dance troupe Karisma.Karisma’s main performances were at USIU functions and alumni events. Their first performance at a Love Jam concert at the Barn in 1997 and the group immediately became a smashing success. The group stayed together until late 1998 when Atemi and Natasha Gatabaki from Karisma formed the group INTU and began recording with producer Tedd Josiah at Sync Sound studios. INTU featured on a song with Hardstone before they released their first single ‘Shivers’ that was featured on the compilation CD ‘Kenyan – The 1st Chapter’ and appeared as individuals on collaboration songs with other artistes.Atemi’s first collaboration was with Ugandan sensation Kawesa and Nyatichi Nyasani on a song called ‘I need to Know’ for a UNFPA project supporting sex education for children in schools. Her next one was with Kenyan songbird Nikki, aka Sheila Mwanyigha, called ‘Earth Song’. This song was for a UNDP project focused on cleaning up the Nairobi river.
INTU released their next single ‘Tamani’ on the compilation CD ‘Kenyan’ the 2nd Chapter’. The group continued with numerous performances though out their campus life until their graduation in June 2000 when the two songbirds took a break to have a go at the business world, though they still had a number of performances.Atemi moved on to work for Kahama Group Hotels as an entertainment manager. The groups hotles included K1 + K2 Klubhouses, Bottoms Up, Pitcher and Butch Bar as well as Small world country Club and Kenya International Hotel. She learen a great deal about the music business from the angle of an event manager and gained knowledge on how to handle artiste contracts, copyrights issues and many others. She stayed with the group until 2002 when she left to join PHAT! Music and Entertainment as an Events Director.At PHAT! Atemi had the freedom to once again pursue her music career and soon left them to join the Hotrod band as lead vocalist. She was with band until 2003 when she joined Eric Wanaina as an assistant vocal harmony provider for his band. She was in this position when he toured Zimbabwe and performed at Festival Mundial in Holland. Upon returning to Kenya, she had a major role in Waniaina’s musical play Luanda, which now has a concert version of which Atemis still plays a major role.In December 2004, Atemi released her single ‘Happy’, which was written and produced by Tim Rimbui, aka The Ennovator, to Nairobi via popular FM stations. Her music has taken a new turn as the song has a neo soul feel with a touch of afica, making it uniquely Atemi. Her new single ‘Disturbances’ (produced by Kanjii Mbugua and Aaron Rimbui at The Village) is also soon to be release onto the same media chanels and will hopefully be as successful as ‘Happy’. She will also feature on Eric Wainaina’s upcoming album on a song called ‘Imenibamba’ and is featured on Necessary Noize 2 with Didge on a song called ‘Tambua’.Atemi is currently performing with he new band Zone 77 and is still an assistant vocal harmony provide for Eric Wainaina on top of being a main cast member of ‘Luanda’ in concert. She is a project/client service executive at Face to Face Experiential Marketing Platforms and is currently recording her debut album with Tim Rimbui, Aaron and Kanjii Mbugua. Great things can be expected from her.
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