Lioness: The rapper on the frontlines of the battle against COVID

The Namibian doctor-by-day, rapper-by-night talks about juggling two careers and how her mother inspired her to succeed.

Windhoek, Namibia – On stage, Lioness can mesmerise an audience, keeping eye contact as she holds the microphone close, the crowd singing and dancing along. In normal times, that is where the 27-year-old performer would prefer to be. But these are not normal times and the Namibian rapper – whose real name is La-Toya Mwoombola – has another place where she is just as comfortable as on stage. In the midst of the pandemic, the doctor-by-day and rapper-by-night has been busy battling COVID-19 and other diseases as an intern at one of Namibia’s state hospitals. “I enjoy the duality of my capabilities,” she tells Al Jazeera, sitting at a popular seafood restaurant in the capital, Windhoek, on one of her days off from her hectic medical schedule. She sits with her legs crossed, wearing a casual beige dress, glittering earrings and sunglasses.