Natasha Beckley to choose between politics and music career

Sierra Leonean rapper, Natasha Beckley (Swadu), is set to choose between her career of being a full-time politician or focusing fully on her music. 

In a recent Facebook post, she mentioned that in 2018, she wanted to be a parliamentarian, but that dream was shattered by the country’s dual citizenship law, but the dream is still alive. 

“In 2018, I started rapping after my dual citizenship issue which prevented me from representing my people in parliament,” said Swadu. 

“I am telling you guys this story because of the 2023 elections, and I have to make a decision for my aspirations, my life & my dream. I have to make decisions to get back to politics and stop rapping or focus on music.” 

She further says that despite all the challenges in 2018, both her party and the people of her constituency in Port Loko  District wanted to award her the symbol for parliamentary representation.

However, while she was unable to run for the parliamentary seat in 2018, she was elected as the councillor for Ward 234 in a bye-election. Since then she has been juggling her councilorship and music career. 

The former beauty queen is now classed as one of the top female rappers from Sierra Leone and across the African continent, with one album “Freetown The Recipe,” and several hit singles. 

Prior to that, Beckley was hosting pageants and working alongside communities to promote development. Irrespective of her long-standing desire to become a parliamentarian, the female rapper raps, because she wants to “challenge systems”.