Kayode Maria Söderberg Shekoni (born 17 April 1964) is a Swedish singer and actress.

Career

Kayo started out as a singer in the 1980s with Swedish synth-pop band Freestyle. Kayo left the group with the release of the fourth single

Vill ha dej "Vill ha dej" (also spelled "Vill ha dig", ) is a 1980 single by Swedish synthpop group Freestyle. While being about love, the song also references school and school classes. Side B of the vinyl contains English-language versions of the songs o ...

. She then worked as a backup singer and dancer for various Swedish artists such as The Creeps,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

and

Anders Glenmark Gert Anders Glenmark (born 20 November 1953) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He is the brother of singer Karin Glenmark and nephew of band leader Bruno Glenmark. Career Among the artists for whom Glenmark has w ...

. She is a classically trained ballet dancer and performed professionally for many years. In 1990 she became part of the Nordik beat scene and released a self-titled club-soul influenced album on The

SweMix Cheiron Studios () was a recording studio located in the Kungsholmen district of Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1992 by Denniz PoP and Tom Talomaa, it was known for being a place where popular music acts of the late 1990s/early 2000s, such as B ...

Label. The music was mostly

new jack swing New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Te ...

but some tracks were

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

and

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

and featured

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

influences. It was produced by label co-founder Stonebridge with

Christian Falk Christian Falk (25 April 1962 – 24 July 2014) was a Swedish record producer and musician. Falk started his recording career with the band Madhouse in the early 1980s. He later moved on and became a founding member of post-punk band Imperiet. ...

and

Alexander Bard Alexander Bengt Magnus Bard (born 17 March 1961) is a Swedish musician, author, lecturer, artist, songwriter, music producer, TV personality, religious and political activist, and one of the founders of the Syntheism, Syntheist religious movement ...

(from Army of lovers). She released 4 hit singles of the album. Her second album was a Swedish language soul-pop album entitled ‘'Kärleksland'’ and featured songs by Orup and was well received by radio. After acting in a couple of teenage movies in the mid-1990s, she became one-half of Le Click, who had several hit singles in North America and Germany during the 1990s. Later on, she became part of the pop group Afro-dite in the early 2000s, reaching the finals at Melodifestivalen 2002 with the song "Never Let It Go" and representing Sweden in the

Eurovision song contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

the same year. In 2003 Afro-dite competed once again at Melodifestivalen with the song "Aqua Playa". In 2006, Kayo sang at

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; ) is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almo ...

as a solo artist and did not reach the finals. She has released some solo singles, such as "Another Mother" (#11 in Sweden) in 1991, and "(If It Makes You) Feel Good" in 2006. Kayo Shekoni has also hosted Förkväll on TV4 and Fångarna på fortet ( the latter with cross-country skiing star

Gunde Svan Gunde Anders Svan (born 12 January 1962) is a Swedish former cross-country skier and auto racing driver. During his cross-country skiing career he won a total of four gold, one silver and one bronze medals at the Winter Olympics. Svan won a total ...

). She worked for a while as a skin therapist but never left showbiz assignments. In spring 2010 she performed at the Melodifestivalen, not as a competitor, but performing a medley of past winning songs with several previous winners. In 2010 she co-hosted a four-episode series of pan-Scandinavian TV-show ''Inför Eurovision Song Contest 2010'', analyzing all the competing songs submitted to that year's

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. She also works as a DJ, co-runs a night club and performs with

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

& cocktail

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

band

Cotton Club The Cotton Club was a 20th-century nightclub in New York City. It was located on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue from 1923 to 1936, then briefly in the midtown Theater District until 1940. The club operated during the United States' era of P ...

and Afro-Dite. She returned to Melodifestivalen with Afro-Dite in 2012. She has been very active on the theatre stages with ''B.U.S.'' directed by Josette Bushell-Mingo, “ Raisin in the Sun” with the National Theatre (and touring with the play in Sweden and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, and taking the production to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and the US), Norrbottens Teatern's production of “

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

”, "

The Witches of Eastwick ''The Witches of Eastwick'' is a 1984 novel by American writer John Updike. A sequel, '' The Widows of Eastwick'', was published in 2008. Plot The story, set in the fictional Rhode Island town of Eastwick in the early 1970s, follows the witc ...

" (the latter with West End star

Peter Jöback Peter Arne Jöback (born 4 June 1971) is a Swedish singer, actor and musical artist. Jöback has acted in musical theatre, with lead roles in West End productions of ''Miss Saigon'' and ''The Witches of Eastwick''. He is also known for his port ...

), " Taube Today" at Västmanlands Teater and Uppsala Stadsteater. She has also performed at Le Click reunion concerts. In 2023, Shekoni is part of the main jury panel along with Swedish actor, performance artist, playwright and drag queen Robert Fux and radio and television host Farao Groth of the Swedish language reality television series ''

Drag Race Sverige ''Drag Race Sverige'' (internationally called ''Drag Race Sweden'') is a Swedish reality competition television series based on the American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. It is broadcast by SVT1 and SVT Play in Sweden and airs on WOW Presents ...

'' broadcast on

SVT1 SVT1 (SVT Ett; commonly referred to as Ettan) is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden. History Television in Sweden officially launched on 4 September 1956 with the launch of '' ...

and

SVT Play SVT Play is the brand used for the video on demand service offered by Sveriges Television, more specifically to the streaming services offered on the SVT website, svt.se, and its counterpart for mobile phones. The brand was introduced in Decemb ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and internationally on

WOW Presents Plus WOW Presents Plus (also called World of Wonder Presents Plus or WOWPresents+) is a subscription-based streaming service owned by production company, World of Wonder. The subscription service was founded in November 2017, by Randy Barbato and ...

Personal life

Shekoni was born to a Nigerian father and Swedish mother in Sweden.https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/filer/1485591/TM4_21_web.pdf

Discography

Albums

*''Kayo'' (1990) *''Kärleksland'' (1993) *''Out There'' (featuring Kayo) (1996) *''Le Click'' (featuring Kayo) (US and Germany only) (1997) *'' Never Let It Go'' (with Afro-dite) (2002) *''Sisters in Crime'' 2016

Singles

(with Freestyle) 1980 *Time's on My Side (with The Supereffect) 1984 *Hot Stuff (with Stanton Klub) 1988 *Hon sa (with

) 1990 *Natural Experience (only released in the UK) 1990 *Säg vad du vill/Tid för mig (with Jean-Paul Wall) 1990 *Change of Attitude 1990 * Another Mother 1990 *Gimme Your Love 1991 *Brother 1991 *Do You Know (with Lab 5) 1991 *Thing Called Love (with Natural Experience) 1992 *Don't Leave Me (with Natural Experience) 1992 * Om natten 1993 *Sommar 1993 *Kärleksland 1993 *Torka dina tårar 1993 *Om du vill ha mig som jag är 1993 *Let It Begin – Peace in Mind (with Out There) 1996 *These Honest Hands (with Out There) 1996 * Call Me (with Le Click) 1997 * Call Me-New Mixes (with Le Click) 1997 *Don't Go (with Le Click) 1997 *Voodoo Fever (with Le Click) 1997 *Show Me (med Le Click) 1997 *Tell Me That You Want Me (with Le Click) 1997 *Something To Dream Of (with Le Click) 1997 * If I Can't Have You (with LFO) 1998 *Wannabe (Somebody Special) 1998 * Never Let It Go (with Afro-Dite) 2002 *Rivers of Joy/Shining Star (with Afro-Dite) 2002 *I Love Clubbers (with Clubbers International) 2002 *Turn It Up (with Afro-Dite) 2002 * Aqua Playa (with Afro-Dite) 2003 *In Your Life (with La Bouche) 2003 *Innan natten är över 2006 *(If It Makes You) Feel Good 2007 * I Am What I Am (with Afro-Dite and Jonas Hedqvist) 2011 * The Boy Can Dance (with Afro-Dite) 2012 *You Got The Look (Foxy) 2012 *Freeze 2016 *Do You Love Me 2021 * Never Let It Go 2022 (with Afro-Dite, remix by SoundFactory) 2022 *We're Back (with Afro-Dite) 2022 *Every Queen (with Robert Fux) 2023

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shekoni, Kayo 1964 births Eurodisco musicians Swedish dance musicians Swedish pop singers Swedish expatriates in Germany Swedish people of Nigerian descent Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Swedish people of Yoruba descent Yoruba actresses Yoruba women musicians 21st-century Swedish actresses English-language singers from Sweden 21st-century Nigerian actresses Freestyle (Swedish band) Judges in reality television series Actresses from Stockholm County People from Järfälla Municipality