Artists

Shailja, pronounced Shell-jah, Patel is an Asian African poet and spoken-word theatre artist. She is currently performing a one-woman show, Migritude, which has received a Creation Fund Award from the National Performance Network. Excerpts from Migritude have aired on National Public Radio in the US, and the BBC in the read more

 Shamsi Music is an afro-jazz fusion band from Nairobi, which prides itself in creating memorable musical experiences that capture the heart, mind and soul. At the core of their journey is the desire to create music that mirrors the sound of their heartland, Kenya, and their Motherland, Africa.

Their read more

Of all the bands that immigrated to East Africa, Super Mazembe has stood the test of time.

Super Mazembe started in 1969 in Likasi, near Lubumbashi, DRC as Super Vox. On tour in neighbouring Zambia during 1970, the band met Nashil Pichen Kazembe, a diehard supporter of one of read more

Kilio Cha Haki (A Cry for Justice) was recorded in 2004 and has already achieved the status of African hiphop classic. The album was produced in a month in a temporary makeshift studio in a flat in the slums by 37 Kenyan rappers from the Eastlands ghettos of Nairobi with read more

[[[Yunasi wins BBC World Service's Next Big Thing 2007 competition in London http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/thenextbigthing/2007

]]]Yunasi have won the recent BBC Next Big Thing competition. The band was voted "easily the best" from over 2000 acts from 88 countries. Yunasi have also won other major international awards including a 3rd place read more

Born on the island of Lamu, Kenya, the young Zein was surrounded by music as his father played host to the Arab traders. He started to play the oud in the 60s in Mombasa, and subsequently became akin to a musical father for the Kenyan taarab scene, with all the read more