Saturday 3 August 2019, 7.30pm
Delighted to finally host Ugandan singer and musician, Otim Alpha at OTO after his cancelled show here last year, alongside one of East Africa’s most exciting DJs and a core member of Kampala’s Nyege Nyege collective, Kampire.
Otim Alpha is a Ugandan singer and musician, playing on adungu and nganga. In the early 00s, he started reinterpreting Acholi "Larakaraka" wedding songs with Leo Paleyeng, using a computer to achieve a unique combination of electronic sounds and traditional instrumentation. The resulting music is fast paced, polyrhythmic - and perfect for the dancefloor.
“You may not have heard of electro acholi, but Otim Alpha’s debut cassette on Nyege Nyege Tapes deserves to make the genre every bit as popular as South Africa’s Shangaan electro. Recorded over an 11-year period, it’s an infectious introduction to the style, an electronic reinterpretation of the Acholi region’s traditional ‘larakaraka’ wedding dances.” - FACT MAgazine
One of Mixmag’s picks for Top Ten Breakthrough DJs of 2018, Kampire’s set on Boiler Room broadcast from Nyege Nyege festival was a legitimate ‘internet moment’, with thousands of shares on Facebook leading to serious FOMO from electronic music fans watching online.
Kampire’s DJ mixes have been featured on Resident Advisor, Dekmantel and Crack Magazine, and her 2019 Rinse FM radio residency has seen her shine a light on other East African DJs & artists, including Hibotep, Faizal Mostrixx & Catu Diosis.
2018 highlights included sets at Diplo’s Africa showcase at Sonar Festival, Over The Border (Tokyo) & Unsound Festival, while 2019 sees her in demand at many tastemaker festivals in Europe and making her US debut headlining a Nyege Nyege showcase at Red Bull Music Festival, New York.
Kampire is a co-founder of the art installation “Salooni” which explores black hair as a science, culture, and art, the experiential project has traveled to La Ba Arts Festival, Uganda, Chale Wote Street Art Festival, Ghana, East African Soul Train (E.A.S.T) residency, Kenya, Africa Utopia, London, Kigali, Rwanda and Women’s day, Burkina Faso.
