Princess Jully (real name Lilian Auma Aoka) was a

benga music Benga is a genre of Kenyan popular music. It evolved between the late 1940s and late 1960s, in Kenya's capital city of Nairobi. In the 1940s, the African Broadcasting Service in Nairobi aired a steady stream of soukous, South African kwela ...

ian from

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Early life

Lilian Auma Aoka was born in the village of Makalda in South Nyanza, in the southwestern part of

. Her father died when she was one week old, leaving her mother, a small-scale farmer, as the family's provider. Lilian was the youngest of nine children (six survived infancy). Her grandmother, Benta Nyar Kanyamkago Nyagolima, was the first female chief in Nyanza Province and a respected singer and musician. Lilian attended school through Form One, the first year of secondary school in Kenya. On being a female in her village society, Jully has said:

"Then something unfortunate happened my mother could not afford to pay my school fees. To make matters worse, most people within my community had the notion that educating a girl was like watering someone else's field, so boys were given the first priority. I was lucky to go up to Form One at Bikira Girls' High School as many girls in my village did not get the same opportunity, but deep down I remained frustrated."

Lilian became pregnant out of wedlock at a young age and was rejected by the foster father. She soon thereafter met her husband, singer Julius Okumu (stage name Prince Jully), who accepted her pregnancy. After giving birth to her son Felix, she began to accompany Jully's band as a backup singer.

Career

She started as a back-up vocalist for Jolly Boys Band led by her husband Prince Jully (Julius Okumu). She originally used the name "Mbilia Bel" "because I thought my looks were similar to the Zairean singer." Prince Jully died in 1997 and subsequently Princess Jully took over the leadership of the band. Jolly Boys Band was already popular in Kenya when Prince Jully was leading it, but under Princess Jully, the group became even more successful, particularly after the release of the "Dunia Mbaya" hit.Daily Nation, Saturday Review, August 18, 2007: Princess Jully to launch her 20th album in Switzerland She released new music frequently. Her 19th album "Aneno Lek" was released in March 2007. The album was produced at Ketebul Productions by

Tabu Osusa Tabu Osusa (born 21 July 1954) is a Kenyan author and music producer, and the founder of ''Ketebul Music''. Career In 1974 Osusa decided to travel the DRC then Zaire, settling in Barumbu Kinshasa where he was first introduced to music by the Ke ...

. Her next album ''Wangni Wabiro'' was released in August 2007. The title song of the album was dedicated to the

Orange Democratic Movement The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement that was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in Augus ...

ahead of the 2007 General Election. The album was produced by

Tedd Josiah Edmond "Tedd" Josiah (born 1970) is a Kenyan music producer and entrepreneur. Early life Josiah was raised by his grandmother in Nakuru in Kenya, before moving to the USA during his early childhood to live with his father in Chicago. He credits ro ...

of Blu Zebra Studios. She also set up her own production house, ''Jully Productions'', to promote emerging artists. She toured various countries including

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. In 2010, she released another album ''Joluo Migingo to Dhi'', its title refers to the disputed

Migingo Island Migingo is a island in Kenya on Lake Victoria. The island was the center of a low-level territorial dispute between Kenya and Uganda and is extremely densely populated. Migingo is a source of fish to the Kenyan and Ugandan fishermen. History T ...

.The Standard, 24 April 2010
Queen of Benga bounces back with new album
/ref> Princess Jully was part of the ''Divas of The Nile'' supergroup, that featured four Kenyan female musicians. The others were Suzzana Owiyo, Achieng Abura, and Mercy Myra. The group performed at the Festival Mundial in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, in 2007. She died on 12 October 2024 at Migori Referrals Hospital after a short illness

Awards

Won: *

2003 Kisima Music Awards The 2003 Kisima Music Awards signalled a revitalisation of the scheme. They were held in a customised "Kisima Dome" and hosted by radio presenters Bernard Otieno and Pinky Ghelani.

- Benga Artiste of the Year Binyavanga Wainaina
''Kwani?'' 1
Kwani Archive Online, 2003..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Jully 20th-century Kenyan women singers Living people 21st-century Kenyan women singers Bandleaders Year of birth missing (living people)