An invitation to be carried away by the sounds that are revolutionising the international scene with the power and control of Ecko Bazz’s beat, the force and talent of rap artist Elheist, and the excitement produced by the frantic performative singeli of Sisso & Maiko.
| Target audience: | General public |
| Location: | Patio |
| Duration: | 3 hours |
Ecko Bazz
Since his incendiary debut LP Mmaso released on Hakuna Kulala earlier this year, Ugandan socially-conscious rapper and acrobatic MC Ecko Bazz has shot to international fame. His style is a mixture of supernatural trap intensity, demonic nu-dancehall and Ugandan poetry with political undertones that explores violence, religion and the poverty in Ugandan slums. Anyone who has the privilege of seeing him live will know what to expect from his feverish flow and his fire-maniac presence. The rapper alternates freely between sober truths and hyperactive screams, flipping from bar to bar overs beats by Debmaster, Slikback and UK producer PQ (Nightmare song), among others.
Elheist
Famous for her mixtures of rap, pop and glitchy industrial electronic music, South Londoner Elheist has rapidly become one of the must-know British artists. Some know her from her monthly radio programmes on NTS, others for her eclectic music, bubbly personality and unique style and approach. With her empowering music and mixed genres, she can be considered a progressive artist.
She joined the band of artist Klein in 2016 and then branched out on her own as a solo artist, adopting Elheist as her artistic name. In 2017 she released her debut single See how and since then has played at some of Europe’s coolest venues, opening for artists like Injury Reserve, Gaika, Tirzah, Shygirl and Poppy Adjudha, and at nights organised by Boiler Room, MIKE, Flohio and Lafawndah. She released her debut EP Wholesome Goody in 2020.
Sisso & Maiko
The productions of Sisso & Maiko personify the hyperlocal singeli scene, channelling the vitality and struggle for life on the fringes of one of the most densely populated Swahili-speaking cities in the world into a unique music that seems to convey the idea of keeping a cool head in frantic situations.
Between their ratchet beats and sharp melodies there is a sublime, unresolved tension at play that speeds up the music to such an extent that the dancers slip and slide, keeping up a panting rhythm that recalls the British happy hardcore of the mid-1990s as well as Chicago footwork, Caribbean soca and Shangaan disco, but with a highly personal psycho-mimetic appeal.
Born in the working-class districts of Tandale and Manzese, singeli’s signature sound consists of interlocking fast-paced frantic loops with influences from Zanzibar’s tarab music all the way to South Africa afro-house, coupled with MCs who often spit satirical lyrics about the challenges facing young people, from police corruption to the complications of dating girls when you’re broke.
If there’s one studio that stands out among the hundreds that dot Dar es Salaam's musical landscape it’s SISSO RECORDS, centred around producers like Bwax, Sisso, Bampa Pana and Jay Mitta and MCs Dogo Niga, Kadilida, Anti Vairas and Makavelli, all early pioneers of the singeli sound.
