Meet the artists who’ll be filling Night Trade with ‘afro-galactic’ dance floor heat.
Founded in 2014, the annual Nyege Nyege Festival, held in Jinja, Uganda has become a seminal force in the global ecosystem of electronic underground music. The collective behind the Nyege Nyege events and the record labels are bringing five incredible artists for their free Night Trade residency. Here's a closer look and playlist to get you going galactic in the lead up.
Kampire
Thu 5 June + Sat 7 June
$Free
A Ugandan artist who's a key force within the Nyege Nyege movement and a fixture on the international festival circuit. She's known for bass-heavy sets that stir up sweat-soaked dance floors with Afrobeats, Afrohouse, gengetone, kwaito and more.
MC Yallah
Thu 5 June + Sat 7 June
$Free
A Kenyan rapper based in Uganda with a big energy and poetic flow. Alternating rhymes in Luganda, Luo, Kiswahili and English, her live show is utterly hypnotic and life-giving. Sweeps you right up.
DJ Travella
Fri 6 June—Sun 8 June
$Free
DJ Travella represents a new wave of Singeli producers who are driving Tanzania's breakneck dance sound. This self-taught style—“cyber-singeli”—pulls from kuduro, bouyon, Björk and beyond.
Hemedi
Hemedi is an artist and dancer, equipped with surreal street wisdom and rapid-fire lyrics who, along with DJ Travella, is also a force behind the global rise of high-energy Singeli music.
Lady Hash
Thu 5 June—Sun 8 June
$Free
Lady Hash, a pioneering DJ who’s been introducing Afrohouse and Amapiano to the Ethiopian dance floors. She taught herself to DJ by watching YouTube tutorials. Today, she has performs all over East Africa and the world.
