Layla Fenton is a Ghanaian-Montserrat afro-fusion star. Music is her lifeblood and her undying passion for music propelled her to take a leap of faith in pursuing the musical career she has always envisioned.
Speaking about her childhood days and education, she posits “ I am the only child to my parents. However, I never felt lonely because my family was around always-cousins, uncles, and aunties. I grew up in London and came to Ghana for My Senior High School Education. Currently, I’m at University studying Computer Science and majoring in Cyber Security.”
Fenton’s background in computer science has made her champion girls in tech to support each other and newbies on how to code and advance in the tech space. She believes tech is the future and ladies have a lot to offer in making this industry formidable.
She’s been musically inclined since childhood. This stems from her dad being a sound engineer, her love for the piano, and the numerous musical contest she’s participated in. Layla is versatile with her musical craft. She describes her genre of music as Afro-fusion.
“My sound is a blend of Afrobeat- that is, Afropop, Afro-dancehall”
Layla is inspired by a lot of musicians. However, they are not limited to “Whitney Houston, Samini, Kwabena Kwabena, Rex Omar, VIP, Bob Marley, Burnaboy, Wizkid, Davido, Tiwa Savage, R2bees, Gyakie, and Tems”.
Ms Fenton started music professionally in 2015 and has since released tracks like Melanin, Liar ft Kirani Ayat, Weekend ft Kelvin MO and her latest single Mama.
Layla explains Mama, her latest single as a song written from a point of reflection: “As a teen, I was a rebel, and always had the mindset of following my dreams and felt the mother figures in my life weren’t supportive enough instead of listening to their motherly advice, I rebelled and later realised their advice hence why the saying “should have been at home with Mama”
“Whatever you want to do, keep on doing it; keep on trying; keep pursuing it!”
Although she has been approached by record labels, she believes now isn’t the time. Her focus is on fine-tuning her musical craft and most importantly understanding the complexities of the business side of music.
Judging from the number of people who stream her songs, the majority are from Ghana, followed by the United States of America and the United Kingdom. To this, she appreciates the love and massive support from Ghanaians especially, and everyone who keeps streaming and sharing her music.
Layla’s final words are, “Whatever your dream is, pursue it! You’re making it for you and you are making yourself proud!”