East African artists, mainly Ugandans with Nyege Nyege Music Festival now upgrade to Europe
Many Ugandan and East African artists have gained an international spotlight from the successful edition of last year’s Kampala-based arts collective Nyege Nyege Festival. Not less than 15 East African artists are on tour in Europe with Nyege Nyege Tapes Label.
On the Highlight shows will be the European Premiere of the Nakibembe Embaire Troupe from Busoga and a giant traditional xylophone played by 6 members will play at the prestigious CTM Festival in Germany.
These will perform alongside the Indonesian outfit Gabber Modus Operandi who is currently working on a show with the Nakibembe at the Nyege Nyege studios in Bunga.
MC Yallah who is one of the pioneers of Female hip hop in Uganda and recently released an album on Nyege Nyege Tapes label will also be premiered. MC Yallah has received international accolades for the best albums of the year section in many international publications.
After performing at CTM Festival, MC Yallah will then go on a tour of 20 shows taking her in 13 different countries in Europe though in summer she’s set to tour Brazil.
With the upcoming Kampala DJs who are gaining international interest is Catu Diosis who everyone remembers from blasting the main stage show at Nyege Nyege with her dancers. Catu Diosis will also perform at Footprints festival in the Netherlands before embarking on a UK tour.
The European premiere of Brian Bamanya commonly known as Afrorack will be marked by the tour since he is the first African to build his synthesizer so he will play in Paris and Berlin.
Paris held the first Nyege Nyege night on 24 January and this was an evening which was dedicated to talents from East Africa under the banner of Nyege Nyege. This time will feature Afrorack, Hibotep, MC Yallah and the latest Nyege roster addition DJ Diaki.
Don Zilla (born Samuel Kisakye) has been with Nyege Nyege for over five years and recently released his second EP that has been widely received internationally. Don Zilla will be performing in Portugal, Poland and Germany.
Therefore as an artist development incubator based in Kampala, Nyege Nyege’s mission is to provide support to evolving artists that have the potential to take their careers to the global scene.
What is Nyege Nyege
The phrase Nyege Nyege is provocative as it means “Horny Horny” or the “urge”.
Nyege Nyege Tapes Label was established officially in 2016 by Arlen Dislizian and Derek Debru and these were two dislocated travellers who had come to Uganda to establish a firm school before being swept up by the burgeoning local underground music scene.
