Kima is releasing new single, “Welcome Home” on 8th December 2020. The music video for the single shows the journey of a homeless man to find his home, in collaboration with homelessness charity, Shelter. It’s a cause that is dear to Kima’s heart because of her past…
ABOUT
Nigeria-born, Wales-raised, London-based contemporary R&B and Neo Soul artist, Kima Otung, is releasing her new single “Welcome Home” and the hard-hitting music video to accompany it on 8th December 2020. The music video explores the issue of homelessness during lockdown and hopes to raise awareness and money towards combatting homelessness.
Growing up, Kima’s family came close to homelessness. Hailing from an family of seven, Kima’s family didn’t have much and keeping afloat was a struggle. Her mum and dad travelled from Nigeria to the UK for Kima’s dad to obtain his PHD and her mum stayed home to look after Kima and her four siblings, who were all under the age of 6. The whole family survived on the little money that Kima’s dad made as a petrol station sales assistant, the job he did part-time while studying. It was hard to keep their heads above water, and keeping a roof over their heads was a struggle. For that reason, poverty, homelessness and helping those who are down on their luck is close to Kima’s heart.
THE SINGLE AND THE MUSIC VIDEO
Kima wrote “Welcome Home” during the latest lockdown after she started reflecting on what ‘home’ means to her. The concept of home has been such a big focus of this year with the pandemic, but it has been defined as the four walls which we live in. However, Kima believes that home goes beyond the four walls of your house and it is about the people that are with you in it, whether that is physically or with the help of technology. This got Kima thinking about how her family struggled when she was a child, so she wanted to shine a light on people who don’t have a home and haven’t had a place to rest with their loved ones, and contrast their harsh reality with the warm and hopeful lyrics of the song.
Her new single is released in partnership with the biggest homelessness charity in the UK, Shelter, in order to raise awareness and money to combat the issue of homelessness and people who have nowhere to go. It’s a huge issue during normal times, but it becomes devastating during a global pandemic and lockdown. This year, Shelter has advised 34,051 households on housing issues to ensure that they are able to stay in their homes, they have helped thousands find housing and have trained thousands with sought after skills to make them more employable.
The music video for “Welcome Home” shows a man’s heart-wrenching journey to find his own home. We follow him as he looks into happy homes, he observes a happy couple, a young family with their baby, housemates having a laugh – it quickly becomes apparent that he doesn’t have his own home to go to.
QUOTES FROM KIMA OTUNG
Homelessness is all around us, but during a lockdown it’s so easy to ignore
Kima Otung
Kima says, “I’ve been thinking a lot about what home means to me, because I’ve spent unbelievable amounts of time sitting at home this year. Home is literally the people I love, their hugs, their smiles. Home is that place where I can just be, where I get gassed up and feel great about myself, I feel brave, I feel like I can do anything.”
On homelessness, she states, “It’s crazy that so many people don’t have that place to rest their head. Having grown up poor myself, and watching my parents struggle, I really feel for people in tough situations. I came up with the idea for the music video in order to contrast the warm lyrics of the song have with the harsh reality of a lot of people. Homelessness is all around us, but during a lockdown it’s so easy to ignore. You can do everything “”
THE TEAM
The music video for “Welcome Home” was directed by Eleanor Jackson-Smith, shot by Ines Hachou, and the lead role was played by actor Joshua Ashley.
RELEASE DETAILS
Kima Otung’s new single “Welcome Home” and music video will be available on 8th December 2020 on all streaming platforms, YouTube and iTunes. You can follow Kima’s journey through her Instagram and Twitter: https://instagram.com/kimaotung
KIMA OTUNG BIO
Kima Otung is a Nigeria-born, Wales-raised, London based Neo Soul and Contemporary R&B artist. Her love for music was cultivated when she was the youngest member of The Welsh National Youth Opera at just 14 years old. Kima released her debut single ‘Morning’ a few months ago which was featured ITV’s Love Island, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio 1 (where she has performed live sessions). Her second single was premiered by BBC Radio London, and BBC Horizons named it as one of the best releases of the week. Kima has accumulated hundreds of thousands of streams on Spotify and was recently named as one of Madison Square Garden London’s up and coming artists. She has built a fanbase of over 45,000 people across Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Kima is passionate about women and makes music to help women across the world feel confident, know their worth, and harness their greatness.
