2001–06: Shakaya In 2001 Wenitong and Stacey formed a pop girl duo,
Shakaya. Not long after their inception the group were signed to
Sony Music Entertainment. Shakaya's debut single "Stop Calling Me" was released in January 2002, it was co-written by Stacey, Wenitong and Reno Nicastro, their manager and producer. It was the duo's highest charting single, reaching No. 5 on the
ARIA Singles Chart. Stacey took a hiatus from the music industry.
2006 to present: The Last Kinection The Last Kinection is a hip-hop group formed in Newcastle by Wenitong in 2006. As "Nay", she was joined by her older brother, Joel "Weno" Wenitong, and his former bandmate, Jacob "DJ Jaytee" Turier. Both Weno and DJ Jaytee had been members of
Local Knowledge from 2002 to 2006. Wenitong told Shailla Van Raad of
Bma magazine in July 2009, that "The Last Kinection has given me a great opportunity to explore my heritage and my own music", compared to singing songs written by others during her time with Shakaya. The group's two albums,
Nutches (2008) and
Next of Kin (2011), include tracks co-written by Wenitong. In September 2008, all three band members were involved in a car accident, with Wenitong receiving serious injuries. Wenitong sustained a broken femur, jaw, wrist, ribs, fractured pelvis, head injuries and was left in a coma. During her recovery Joel, who had driven the car, was distraught, their father Mark recalled "You feel that kind of – especially as a big brother – he really felt that sense of whether it was his fault or not. As he could see her improving, he was improving." At the 2010
Deadly Awards, where she was the co-host with
Luke Carroll, Wenitong won the category for Female Artist of the Year. From series 1 to 3, she went along with
Brothablack to co-host Move it Mob Style. In April 2015 Wenitong, her father Mark and Stacey released cover versions of the songs, "Black Roses" by
Inner Circle and "As Long As I Can See the Light" by
Creedence Clearwater Revival for the community of Cairns affected by the
child killings in December 2014. ==References==