‘Set It’ hitmaker Dyan Cods defends her bad girl image

‘Set it’ hitmaker Dyana Cods says her ‘bad girl’ persona is deliberate and strategic in her quest to become a top artist.
Having been a huge fan of famous US rapper Nick Minaj, Dyana Cods says she has realized that a bad girl image is marketable in the showbiz industry.
“The good girl image doesn’t sell as much as a bad girl image. People want bad girls, look at someone like Nick Minaj and what she has done with her career, yet she has this bad girl image,” Dan Cods argues.

In just five years, the fast-rising music star has carved out a unique niche, blending influences from Kisumu, where she grew up, and Nairobi to create a sound that’s distinctly her own. Her breakout single ‘Set It’  has dominated the charts and become a cultural phenomenon, spawning viral TikTok challenges and cementing her status as a force to be reckoned with.

Dyana’s rise to fame wasn’t a solo effort. She credits collaborators hip-hop group Wakadinali for giving her a start and fellow artist Ajay for making ‘Set It’ a hit. Their collaborative spirit, combined with her undeniable talent, opened the doors to a whirlwind of success.

Dyana Cods says, the creation of ‘Set It’, was a moment of artistic intuition. While at the Big Beats Africa studio, Dyana came across a beat produced by R66 that immediately caught her attention. “I heard that beat and I covered the chorus right away, I thought ‘This is it’,” she says.
Dyan Cods however notes she was at first reluctant to release it but it soon gained popularity more than she had anticipated. She says believes the track reached its potential when fellow artist Ajay contributed a verse that elevated the entire composition.
“When I heard Ajay’s verse, I knew this is it.?”.
The track gained popularity when it became the subject of TikTok challenges, catapulting ‘Set It’ to viral fame and opening numerous doors for the singer.