Meet Dyana Cods, the Rising Star Behind Kenya’s Latest Dancehall Hit

"Set It,” the dancehall-inspired track featuring Ajay from Buruklyn Boyz, is catchy, raw, and unapologetically bold. In just two weeks since the song’s official video release, it has already amassed three million views. Filmed in the Jericho neighborhood where Cods grew up, the video showcases her stage presence, interspersed with the group dance moves that have made the song a viral TikTok sensation.

Cods’ daring and unapologetic sex appeal, while commonplace with rap artists on the global stage, is still relatively uncommon among Kenyan female artists. “Every other female artist was conservative,” she explains. “My lyrics are freaky and ratchet.”

Although much of the Kenyan audience is just now being introduced to Cods, she has been making music consistently for the past six years while gradually building her name in the underground scene. During that time, she honed her sound, lyricism, and image — leaving her feeling fully prepared for the spotlight.

Born in the western city of Kisumu and raised in Nairobi, Cods’ rise has been anything but conventional. She admits to having little musical influence growing up, oblivious to the growing popularity of the gengetone and urbanetone genres around her. Her journey into music began at Statehouse Girls High School, where she would sing and play piano at the school’s music room during breaks. Cods’ friends, and later her schoolmates, offered her constant encouragement to pursue her talent and a key moment came when a friend, moved by her voice, paid for her first studio session.

It’s in the studio that Cods says she found her calling alongside a community of collaborators and producers that have helped shape her sound. Her first single, 2019’s “Gimme Your Love,” was in collaboration with Kenyan outfit Wakadinali, who first heard her singing in the booth next door and recognized her talent.

But even as Cods was receiving positive feedback about her talent, she was also being advised to “Kenya-nize” her sound. You see Cods is a child of Ed Sheeren and Taylor Swift, more likely to sing along to Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” than the local Kenyan sound. A producer told her she was “too foreign” and her inclination to lean towards that would not sell within the national market.

“I was probably compromising, but I trusted their instincts,” she says. “They were obviously bigger than me and they knew better.” She slowly started listening to more Kenyan music and experimenting with her sound. Cods soon picked up rapping while spending time in the studio with Wakadinali. She credits her inclination for saucy and bawdy lyricism to them. These were male artists that were free with their words, and she wanted to be free like them.

“When I heard [their lyricism], I also got that freedom of expression,” she says. “I was like, ‘Okay, they can break that rule, so I can also break that rule!’”

She admits that her sex appeal is also intentional; despite her shyness. She chooses to tap into an alter ego to deliver a powerful, confident performance. It’s the same energy she takes into the booth as she prepares to capitalize on her new audience and release a new album in October.

“Music has taken me out of that comfort zone of silence. When I perform, I have to tap into that other persona, like Sasha Fierce,” she says. And for the haters who think she is a one-hit wonder, she has a message: “Let them wait. They think this is my first song. This is just the biggest hit for now.”