Becky Sangolo: From Band BeCa to finding a new sound in Poland

Before Poland, before The Voice of Poland, there was Band BeCa.

Sangolo and Carol Kamweru became one of the better-known female duos in Kenya after meeting at Sauti Academy, where Sangolo trained in vocal performance, songwriting and music business.

The pair had earlier worked as backing vocalists before Band BeCa emerged with songs including Toka, Brathe and Tonight.

Their 2021 album, BeCa Fever, later cemented their place on the local scene.

Sangolo had been singing even earlier.

She has said her father helped shape her musical ear from childhood, particularly through the harmonies and grooves that still influence her work.

Decision to cross continents

Sangolo left Kenya, settled in Poland and began building a solo career there.

The move changed the setting, but not the foundation.

Her own description is telling: living away from Nairobi, she said, had not pulled her from her sound but sharpened it.

She now works with Kenyan and Polish musicians, allowing East African influences to sit alongside European production without either side taking over.

Her solo catalogue began with Moonlight and grew through releases including Call Me, Shallow, Lost in the Night, Wicked Game and the 2025 EP Concrete Flower.

The Voice of Poland

In 2023, Sangolo became a finalist on the 14th season of The Voice of Poland, competing under coaches Tomson & Baron and making the final stage of the competition.

That run did something important beyond television exposure: it gave a Kenyan artist a national platform in a European music market.

She did not return from the show with a reinvention package.

Instead, the post-Voice catalogue suggests a gradual widening of her sound - pop, guitar-led arrangements, electronic touches and African rhythmic instincts appearing in different combinations.

Her official profile describes the music as a meeting point between pop, guitar and electronic sounds, with African rhythm underneath.

'Pata Potea' made diaspora story personal

Released in May 2026, Pata Potea was co-written with Polycarp Otieno (Fancy Fingers) and featured Polish violinist Bartosz Słatyński.

The song came from a very personal place: Sangolo said it was inspired by the night she met her partner and the feeling of an instant connection that felt like home.

Musically, the track put acoustic guitar, East African influence and European production in the same room.

It was a useful preview of where Sangolo appears most comfortable now - not choosing between Kenya and Europe, but allowing both to exist in the same song.

The timely 'Return to Sender' hit

Her new single takes a different emotional route.

According to the release, Return to Sender is about two people who had a real connection but never quite made it, with timing, pride or fear getting in the way.

Sangolo co-wrote the song with Fancy Fingers and Polish collaborator Peter Szczepanik.

The writing turns on a familiar idea - what could have been - but refuses to stay there. Instead of begging for another chance, the song chooses closure and self-worth.

That makes the title work.

“Return to Sender” is not simply about sending someone away.

It is about refusing to keep carrying something that has already run its course.

The album tells the fuller story

Sangolo released Concrete Flower, her first European project, in May 2025, a collection built around melody, guitar and African rhythmic elements.

Her current run of singles points towards a larger project, with her latest press release announcing a debut full-length album and a September 2026 release.

That album will be the more revealing test.

Because Becky Sangolo is no longer simply the former Band BeCa singer, or the Kenyan finalist who made it to The Voice of Poland.

She is now an artist with two musical homes - and enough history in both to make the distance between Nairobi and Poland part of the sound.