Alexandra Govere

Alexandra Govere
Alexandra Govere performing on a public beach in Malibu, California.
Background information
Birth name	Alexandra Shungudzo Govere
Origin	Bikita, Zimbabwe
Genres	pop, folk music
Occupation(s)	philanthropist, singer, songwriter, record producer
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Independent
Associated acts	Kerry Brothers, Jr.

Alexandra Govere, also known as Andra, is an American philanthropist, singer, songwriter, record producer, gymnast, journalist and reality television personality. She first attracted media attention by being the first black female gymnast to represent Zimbabwe in artistic gymnastics at the 1999 All-Africa Games, and later by co-founding the Kijana Project, which provides relief for AIDS orphans. She later gained wide media attention as a cast member on the 2011 season of The Real World: San Diego.

Early life

Alexandra Govere was born in the United States but grew up in Zimbabwe, in a rural village that was home to straw covered mud huts that did not have electricity or running water.^[1] She is of Zimbabwean, French, and Amerindian descent. Her family eventually relocated to California,^[2] and as of the early 2000s, she was living in Oregon.^[3]

Career

Ballet, gymnastics and education

Govere practiced dancing and ballet, and according to her, became the first female of color to be on the Zimbabwe National Gymnastics Team at age 9. Her parents, both of whom are college graduates, encouraged her in her studies as well. She studied calculus at age 10, and finished high school by 14. She later attended Stanford University, where she studied civil engineering.^[1][4][5]

Govere was the first black female gymnast to represent Zimbabwe in artistic gymnastics at the 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg.^[6][7] At 12 years of age, she was also the youngest member of the 162-member team.^[7]

Charity work

In 2000, Govere began collecting clothing for orphans who lost their parents to AIDS.^[8] By 2002, the Kijana Project,^[9] as it came to be called, had expanded to an international organization run by then-15-year-old Govere and her sister, consisting of 50 members who aid orphans in six different countries, raising money for clothing, toys and school supplies, as well as paying for the education of many AIDS orphans.^[8] Govere was spurred to this work after witnessing many of her childhood classmates contract HIV from vaccinations using dirty needles.^[4]

Govere was designated a Disney-UNESCO Millennium Dreamers Ambassador, and has also worked with her sisters in collecting money for Red Cross flood relief in Mozambique.^[3][9]

Music and television

Govere was discovered by Alicia Keys' Grammy Award-winning producer, Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, who had heard a song Govere placed on MySpace for her mother to hear. Although she initially met with Brothers with the intent to be a songwriter, he made her sing vocals, and recognized her talent.^[1] With him, she released a mixtape, "Love is 4 Suckaz/I'm a Sucka 4 Love", some songs from which are available on YouTube. Although Govere planned to debut a 2011 album with Krucial,^[1][10][11] She announced in October 2011 that she left Krucial in order to take the independent route.^[12][13]

Brass magazine describes the mixtape as "a high-wattage soup of synthetic beats and heavy post-production mixing", whose lyrics focus on the themes of love, jealousy, revenge and anti-consumerism. Describing Govere's voice, Brandon Goldner of Brass says, "[Her voice] can range from bright and flute-like to a rougher, almost smoky honesty".^[1]

Govere was a cast member on MTV's The Real World: San Diego, which aired from September to December 2011.^[2]

Govere was a writer, host, and correspondent for both MTV Act and MTV Voices.^[14][15]

Personal life

As of 2011, Govere was living in Los Angeles with her boyfriend, Byron, whom she began seeing eight months prior to filming The Real World.^[4][16] Their relationship was depicted in episode 4 of that season when he visited her at the season residence.^[17]

References