Known for her wide-ranging vocal technique and her original blend of modern jazz with African music styles, Grammy-nominated singer Somi uses her songwriting to give voices to issues of social justice, transnationalism, womanhood, and global constructions of Blackness.
For her debut at FIAF at the Crossing The Line Festival, she will present a selection of her most iconic songs from her albums Lagos Musique, Petite Afrique, and The Holy Room. This exceptional concert will also feature a sneak preview of her upcoming album The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba, in an homage to this icon of African music.
80 minutes
About Somi
Somi Kakoma is a singer, songwriter, playwright, and actor of Rwandan and Ugandan descent.
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She has been widely honored: as a Soros Equality Fellow, a TED Senior Fellow, a USA Doris Duke Fellow, a 2021 Grammy nominee, and a recipient of two NAACP Image Awards. She performed at Carnegie Hall alongside Hugh Masekela, Dave Matthews, and Vusi Mahlesela in celebration of South African democracy, and was invited by the UN Secretary General to perform in commemoration of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery. Somi is the founder of Salon Africa, a boutique arts agency and label for contemporary African musicians and writers. She holds undergraduate degrees in anthropology and African studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a master’s degree in performance studies from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
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