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Somi

Petite Afrique

Sony Masterworks | OKeh

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Ndani Sessions - Somi "Ginger Me"
1 Disappearing Act I
2 Alien
3 Black Enough
4 The Wild One
5 They're Like Ghosts
6 The Gentry (feat. Aloe Blacc)
7 Kadiatou The Beautiful
8 Holy Room
9 Disappearing Act II
10 Let Me
11 BLUE
12 Go Back to Your Country
13 Like Dakar
14 Midnight Angels
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Pulsing with Harlem's rhythms and sonic ambiance, Somi's Petite Afrique is an homage to her New York City upper Manhattan neighborhood, and one of the Meccas of the African diaspora.  In the village of Harlem, along west 116th Street from Malcolm X Boulevard to Frederick Douglass Boulevard, African immigrants build American lives. Populated predominantly by a Francophone, West African and Muslim community, this is a strip of Harlem that locals call "Little Africa" or "Petite Afrique:" a thriving corridor of hair shops and shea butters, bistros and self-taught tailors.  Many of these working class residents - immigrants-cum-citizens - are now taxi drivers zipping other New Yorkers through the city they've called home since the 1980s. 

  • Somi releases V-day single 'Love Tastes Like Strawberries' from Miriam Makeba tribute album/ Eyewitness News
    Posted At: February 14, 2022
    Eyewitness News - Palesa Manaleng writes…… The daughter of immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda, born in Illinois - an acclaimed vocalist, composer, and writer Somi Kakoma will be releasing her album 'Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba' on March 4. The acclaimed vocalist, composer, and writer leads the album with the single ‘Love Tastes Like Strawberries’ featuring Gregory Porter just in time for Vale...

  • Somi says; "my GRAMMY nomination was a milestone to celebrate" / The New Times
    Posted At: May 10, 2021

    The New Times Eddie Nsabimana writes.....US-based Rwandan musician Somi was nominated for the Grammy Awards. Her album making it to the 2021 Grammy's nomination was quite an emotional milestone for her that she and her friends organised a Zoom call to celebrate the achievement virtually. And now, the journey still continues. For the singer, the nomination is a motivator to put more effort in her music an...

  • 'Dreaming Zenzile' written by Somi, is a tribute to her idol - Miriam Makeba / St. Louis Post-Dispatch
    Posted At: March 14, 2020

    Citing the local state of emergency prompted by the spread of the coronavirus, The Rep has canceled all performances and events beginning Monday, March 16 through the end of the season. "Dreaming Zenzile," which is tentatively scheduled to have its world premiere this summer at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, is at once a showcase and a tribute. Written by Somi Kakoma - who also stars under her s...

  • Somi starts the new year 'jazzed' at Oakland's New Parish / SFCV
    Posted At: January 3, 2019

    If you made a New Year's resolution to get out of the house and see more live music in 2019, you've come to the right place. Forget about the winter doldrums, the Bay Area is brimming with brilliant music, and January's offerings bode well for a decade-closing run of beautiful, transporting, strange, and wonderful sounds. The daughter of East African immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda, Brooklyn jazz v...

  • Somi remembers Hugh Masekela / JazzTimes
    Posted At: March 14, 2018

    Singer-songwriter Somi, pays tribute to the South African jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela (4.4.39 -1.23.18) I first met Hugh Masekela in June 2005. He had just finished an electrifying set at the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn. We, who seemed like all of New York, were floating en masse toward our respective roadways, trains and taxis, his melodies still swirling in the backs of our ears. A smaller...

  • Somi to perform in Kigali / The New Times | Rwanda
    Posted At: February 12, 2018

    Jazz, classical and African music enthusiasts in Kigali will tomorrow be treated to an evening of live artistic and world-class Jazz by US-based Rwandan vocalist and songwriter Somi. Currently on a tour of East Africa where she has an active and participatory following, the singer says she is especially proud to perform in Rwanda and to be associated with local artists and talent. "I am excited and honor...

  • Somi's Petite Afrique celebrates West Africans in Harlem / Afropop Worldwide
    Posted At: June 29, 2017

    Somi tells stories with music. This American Midwesterner and daughter of East African parents was effectively born into narrative, and into an inevitable quest for identity. She moved to New York some years back, and began to develop a self-styled career as a singer/songwriter. Somi's sound is tricky to classify. In a recent interview with Afropop's Akornefa Akyea, she embraces the tag "new African jazz...

  • Somi - Petite Afrique featured on Voice of America - Jazz America
    Posted At: June 27, 2017

    On the next JAZZ AMERICA program from the Voice of America, SHOWS #1869-1870...24-25 JUNE 2017, join Russ Davis as he talks with Andre Menard & Alain Menard, the founders of the Montreal Jazz Festival that celebrates its 38th year in 2017. We'll talk to these two visionaries and hear music from some of the artists who'll play the festival this year including Diana Krall, Stanley Cla...

  • Somi - Petite Afrique / The Olisa Blogazine review
    Posted At: May 26, 2017

    ​The last time we heard from Somi, she had released an entire LP album about Lagos, her fifth. Titled The Lagos Music Salon, it energised Lagos in unimaginable ways, giving us the most resplendent and contemporary outsider reflection of the acoustic salad that makes up the coastal West African Megacity. Somi is back. This time she hits closer to home. Even though she is African (of both Rwandan and...

  • Somi - Petite Afrique / anima Jazz review
    Posted At: May 23, 2017

    Pulsing with Harlem's rhythms and sonic ambiance, Somi's Petite Afrique is an homage to her New York City upper Manhattan neighborhood, and one of the Meccas of the African diaspora.  In the village of Harlem, along west 116th Street from Malcolm X Boulevard to Frederick Douglass Boulevard, African immigrants build American lives. Populated predominantly by a Francophone, West Afri...

  • Somi discusses gentrification, race, and immigration on Petite Afrique / WFPK: Louisville
    Posted At: April 11, 2017

    Pulsing with Harlem's rhythms and sonic ambiance, Somi's Petite Afrique is an homage to her New York City upper Manhattan neighborhood, and one of the Meccas of the African diaspora.  In the village of Harlem, along west 116th Street from Malcolm X Boulevard to Frederick Douglass Boulevard, African immigrants build American lives. Populated predominantly by a Francophone, West Afri...

  • Textures and sub plots on Somi's - Petite Afrique / Jazz Weekly review
    Posted At: April 10, 2017

    This is Somi's fifth release, and it follows the fabulous "The Lagos Music Salon" which depicted thoughts on the African Diaspora. This one is even stronger, continuing on the same theme, but with more textures and sub plots. Her voice has an incredible wide range of depth, sometimes going almost sub toned like a luscious Sarah Vaughan, or folksy and rural a la Cassandra Wilson. As far as the themes ...

  • Somi's 'Ginger Me Slowly' makes NPR's 'Heavy Rotation' - 10 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing
    Posted At: June 30, 2015

    Somi is a study in cosmopolitanism. Born in Illinois to Rwandan and Ugandan parents, she spent a few years in New York before moving to Nigeria to record The Lagos Music Salon. The standout single from that album, "Ginger Me Slowly," gained traction after it was featured on the BET network melodrama Being Mary Jane. The song beautifully fuses organic soul with jazz undertones; its title is an E...

  • Somi On NPR - Song Travels
    Posted At: March 16, 2015

    American vocalist and songwriter Somi combines the music of her African heritage with American-style jazz, pop and soul. After her parents left Rwanda and Uganda, Somi spent 18 months living in Lagos, Nigeria; that time provided the inspiration for her 2014 album - The Lagos Music Salon. The Lagos Music Salon marks Somi's major label debut for Sony's OKeh Records and features a range of ...

  • HuffPost - The Lagos Music Salon: Chat with Somi
    Posted At: February 27, 2015

    From Mike Ragogna's interview with Somi MR: Somi, after speaking to your Uncle Hugh Masekela, you decided that you wanted to go to Lagos, Nigeria, that trip inspiring your new album The Lagos Music Salon. Did you have any idea of what was going to happen after that or were you just going to Lagos for discovery? Somi: I was definitely just going to discover. I had always been interested in see...

  • Somi gets - "PopMatters Best of 2014" for: The Lagos Music Salon
    Posted At: December 12, 2014

    ...but that voice. No matter how many times you listen to this record and walk away, each time you come back, you're met with that reality: ...but that voice. You can quibble with Somi's The Lagos Music Salon being more of a jazz record than an R&B record, but why split hairs? When you create a set of songs this good, the act of genre classification is transcended. It doesn't really matte...

  • Somi releases The Lagos Music Salon / Radiant Health Magazine
    Posted At: November 4, 2014

    Somi's African jazz and soul music truly embraces her heritage, her roots, her people and her experience. Her songs are more than performances - they are confession, confirmation and exaltation. An 18-month stay in Lagos, Nigeria inspired by her interest in the nuances of African culture led to her Sony Masterworks release - The Lagos Music Salon. The singer has always been interested in supporti...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / The Absolute Sound review
    Posted At: October 23, 2014

    The daughter of immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda, Somi recently moved from New York City to Lagos, Nigeria, for 18 months, an experience that inspired this major label debut, The Lagos Music Salon. She's lived in Africa before, and her music has the depth and sophistication you might expect from someone so worldly, with a potent blend of African rhythms, jazz harmonies, and richly-layered vocal harmonie...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / PopMatters interivew
    Posted At: September 26, 2014

    The warm musical wind that swept through late summer was the lush creation of a singer named Somi. Her recording, The Lagos Music Salon, is the kind of album that is rare today; a complete experience that evokes a place, an environment, a culture, and a group of people. The Lagos Music Salon pulses with African rhythms, absolutely, but it's equally centered around the kind of storytelling you might f...

  • Somi releases The Lagos Music Salon / Ebony interview
    Posted At: September 18, 2014

    Somi interviews with Ebony Magazine and explains the origins of her new OKeh album - The Lagos Music Salon. Developed out of a sojourn to Lagos, Nigeria, the release reflects new musical directions in Somi's work. When planning the trip, she did not intend to make a record, but her scheduled seven week stay turned into a year and a half long period of inspiration, learning, and ar...

  • Somi plays LA's Blue Whale / Jazz Weekly review
    Posted At: September 17, 2014

    On her maiden voyage concert to promote her latest exotic album, Lagos Music Salon, Somi bridged the gap between American jazz and African sounds. Jazz Weekly's George Harris sat down with Somi before her thrilling set at the Blue Whale on Tuesday night, September 16. Somi is joined by Teaming up with Liberty Elleman/g, Ben Williams/b, Otis Brown III/dr and Toru Dodo/p.  READ THE FULL&n...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / The Jazz Breakfast review
    Posted At: August 27, 2014

    Somi is a singer and songwriter. She was born in Illinois to East African parents, and in 2011 she moved from New York to live and work in Lagos, Nigeria, for a while. This album is the result. I've always loved West African music and thought there was much more potential to mix it up with jazz, but the "snobbishness" of the world music critics meant that such amalgams were frowned upon – I see...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / All About Jazz review
    Posted At: August 21, 2014

    To most people, the junction of New York and Lagos, Nigeria may not seem like a natural place for an album to take shape. Somi, thankfully, thought otherwise. This worldly and well-traveled vocalist makes it seem like the most natural of meeting points on The Lagos Music Salon. Somi's music has always been informed by African, R&B and soul influences, but an eighteen month stay in Lagos help...

  • Somi will join Jay Edwards on WCLK: Jazz Tones
    Posted At: August 15, 2014

    East African vocalist and songwriter Somi embarks on a short tour next month, introducing her new record The Lagos Music Salon, which features Angelique Kidjo and Common. She'll talk with Jay Edwards about it on WCLK: Jazz Tones on Saturday, August 16th between 2-6p as Jay takes his weekly musical journey through world-jazz. Tune into Atlanta's WCLK: Jazz Tones this Saturday to hear the inter...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / Blogcritics.org review
    Posted At: August 13, 2014

    It's hard to decide what is most exciting about The Lagos Music Salon, the major label debut of Illinois-born, East African singer-songwriter Somi-her exquisite voice or the emotional intensity of her poetic lyrics. With a voice that has been compared with the likes of Nina Simone and Miriam Makeba, Somi's music reflects both her passion for her African heritage and her jazz background. She can write soc...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / Hello Beautiful Interview
    Posted At: August 8, 2014

    There's something so warm about East African artist Somi. Her voice, presence and demeanor is so inviting. When we first heard her music, we were enlightened by her worldly sound, that can be attributed to her Jazz and African roots. Her compelling lyrics, that incorporate topics ranging from female empowerment to love, are beautifully crafted on her major label debut, "The Lagos Music Salon." The ne...

  • Somi performs in-studio on WNYC: Soundcheck
    Posted At: August 6, 2014

    When you hear Somi's globe-spanning music, you can hear her past come to life. Born in Illinois, Somi travelled the world as the daughter of Ugandan and Rwandan parents -- one a diplomat, and the other an educator with the World Health Organization. Now as a musician, the singer has collaborated with an array of artists around the world: John Legend, Hugh Maseke...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / Wondering Sound Weekly Jazz Pick
    Posted At: August 6, 2014

    Somi, The Lagos Music Salon: Somi has one of the most alluring voices on the scene today. It's the kind of thing where her voice can take a mediocre song and make it something better. On her newest, there are some moments like that. Resulting from her move from NYC to Lagos in the search for new creative inspirations, this sprawling album reflects the goal of breaking down old boundaries and explorin...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / PopMatters review
    Posted At: August 5, 2014

    I'm old-fashioned about summer. There ought to be lemonade. There ought to be an ice cream truck roaming the neighborhood. Kids should be barreling toward the neighborhood pool or swimming hole. Let it be hot. And there ought to be some music you can't get out of your head, something catchy on the radio maybe, or just an album that you started listening to in June that you still can't get enough of i...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / The Boston Globe review
    Posted At: August 5, 2014

    Cross-genre jazz vocalist Somi moved from New York to live in Lagos, Nigeria, and then came back with the stories and sensibilities that inform her vividly conceived, kaleidoscopic fourth record. The Illinois native of Rwandan and Ugandan descent brings a keen sense of narrative and a wonderfully diverse musical mix, infused with intricate rhythms, jazz, and a taste of juju, to this sprawling 18-song set...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / NPR: All Things Considered review
    Posted At: August 4, 2014

    Somi is a jazz singer and songwriter currently based in New York City. Banning Eyre reviews her latest album, The Lagos Music Salon, a collection of songs composed while she lived in Lagos, Nigeria. LISTEN TO THE NPR: All Things Considered REVIEW....

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / NPR: Weekend Edition Sunday interview
    Posted At: August 3, 2014

    You could think of Somi as the quintessential artist citizen of the world. Born in Illinois to parents of Uganda and Rwanda, she traveled world as a child, daughter of a diplomat and educator who had worked with the World Health Organization. As a singer and songwriter, she's collaborated with artists around the globe, including Hugh Masakela, John Legend, Baaba Maal and Paul Simon. Last year, she wa...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / Step Tempest review
    Posted At: August 2, 2014

    In 2011, Somi moved from New York City to the port city of Lagos, Nigeria, currently the 7th largest city in the world. She spent 18 months there, soaking in the culture, trying to make sense of the political scene there but ask throwing herself into producing concerts and intimate salon shows, closing her stay as an Artist-in-Residence at a University in Ilorin, Nigeria, 160+ miles northeast of Lagos. ...

  • Somi plays New York's Joe's Pub / The Huffington Post review
    Posted At: August 1, 2014

    Cynical music fans like to talk about the things that aren't happening today; things that aren't happening in jazz, that aren't happening in R&B. A few months ago, I was invited to witness what was happening at New York's Joe's Pub, in the person of recording artist, Somi. There are times when luck is on my side; an unanswered email, or an interview shoot gone long, and we'd i...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / Jazztimes review
    Posted At: July 31, 2014

    Born in Illinois to parents from Uganda and Rwanda, Somi has always felt the pull of Africa. She has visited much of the continent, and in 2008 founded New Africa Live, dedicated to promoting global recognition of multidisciplinary African artists. The following year, spurred by her father's death, she journeyed "home," spending 18 months in Lagos. From her detailed journal entries, and with assistan...

  • Somi - The Lagos Music Salon / The Buffalo News review
    Posted At: July 27, 2014

    Somi, The Lagos Music Salon (Okeh). Labeling this music is no easy task. Despite its frequently exotic rhythms, it's more like jazz than anything else. Despite singer and songwriter Somi's Ugandan and Rwandan descent, she was born in the United States while her father was a student here, moved at 3 to Zambia and back to Illinois, where she grew up in the late '80s. Hugh Masakela has been one ...
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