About Us

In the Beginning...

MoKenStef came together in 1990.  Kenya and Stephanie, cheerleaders at Inglewood's Morningside High, were looking for a third member for their hip-hop dance crew.  Hollywood High student, Monifa auditioned and demolished the competition.

They started dancing for various hip hop acts on stage and in videos, most notably for rapper AMG ("Bitch Betta Have My Money"), And Big Daddy Kane ("This Is For The Lover In You")  Looking to become more than just hard bodies in the background, they started developing their respective vocal talents. They hooked up with a local production company, which didn't go very far, and signed a contract with a shady management company, which went absolutely nowhere. But they stuck with it, working on their music careers between college classes and normal 9-5 jobs.

"We were struggling.  We didn't have a manager.  We were our own self-support group, "says Stef resolutely.

Their break came when they dropped in on AMG one afternoon at the office of "Greedy Greg" Jesse and Anthony "Anti" Lewis, owners of Outburst Records home of Long Beach artist, Domino ("Getto Jam").  The owners were listening in on AMG and some local artists clowning around, tossing out rhymes.  Mo chimed in with a melody, and suddenly she and her two partners had a captive audience with their rhyming and singing.  Soon after, Mokenstef officially became part of the Outburst, Island, and Def Jam family and started work on the album.

The finished product, Azz Izz is a look into the mindset of three street-savvy women, sincere but frank lyrics backed by understated, street beats on the smooth tip.  Some tracks have singing only, some are all rap, some have both.  Still, every song is a group effort.  "We collaborate on all our material, and we write everything ourselves.  Each song on this album is a Mokenstef original," says Stef. "Like the first single is just singing, no rap, but all three of us vibe on it based on our experiences." 

These ladies had the opportunity to work with the legendary Russell Simmons, Mike Kyser, and Kevin Lyles on their first album. Mokenstef wrote and arranged their first album, Excluding the remake "Baby come close" By Smokey Robinson.  In 1995, They also collaborated with Hami (producer of "He's Mine"). Montell Jordan ("This Is How We Do It")

"He's Mine"  was released in 1995  and became a platinum anthem single. "He's Mine"  Broke the airwaves hitting the charts at #1: Billboard Monitor R&B/Mainstream five weeks at #1.  Billboard Monitor Rhythm-Crossover four weeks at # 1. R&R National Airplay overview: Rhythmic and Urban at # 1, and R&R Urban Top 50.  Shocking the industry with their controversial hit which crossed them over to a global audience. Which allowed them to tour with the hottest chart-topping artist.

Into the Future...

After the success of their first album, Mokenstef got back in the studio to work on their sophomore album in that process they recorded a hit song titled "He Say She Say". This song got the attention of Randy Jackson(American Idol).  The deal didn't go through because he left and became a judge for the hit show, American Idol. "He Say She Say" did get released on a compilation album " Hits from the archives" in 1999. "He Say She Say " exposes backbiters in its realist form. Shortly after that MoKenstef was offered several contracts. They decided to sign with an Independent company called Tiger Records.  "We had an opportunity to record an unfinished song with the late Nate Dogg and perform the National Anthem for a sold out Clippers game. Unfortunately, the record deal was short-lived with a breach of contract from the record label.

2003 MoKenStef disbanded and started to fulfill other dreams, passions and started to enjoy family life.

In 2014, Stef reunited the girls back together with a book idea of their life experiences and their 20 year journey in the music industry. This idea inspired them to get back in the studio to record new music. 

2022, their reality book, "Unfinished Business" is complete and set to release this year. Look out for these ladies and expect great things coming from this multi-talented group.