East Africa’s rising underground music scene is not only impacting the continent, but also expanding its influence across the globe. SoundCloud's latest episode of their "SCENES" music discovery series introduces viewers to some Ugandan, Kenyan, and Tanzanian artists shaking things up.
“SCENES: East African Underground” (watch below) comes with companion album Music for the Eagles, released via famed Kampala-based label, Nyege Nyege Tapes.
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“‘SCENES’ and compilations like Music for the Eagles are focused on driving global music discovery around the trailblazing communities of artists and passionate music fans who are propelling mainstream music trends of tomorrow,” said Leon Sherman, Director of Editorial of SoundCloud.
“SCENES: East African Underground” highlights artists creating forward-thinking, multi-faceted music by pushing the boundaries of hip-hop, experimental electronic, dance, and regional sounds. The video features commentary from musical trendsetters of the region including Vibrant, Kampire, DJ Slikback, Respected, Aunty Rayzor, KMRU and Nyege Nyege Festival co-founder Derek Debru. U.S.-based artist and supporter of the movement Suzi Analogue also appears.
<iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/1287231757&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/nyege-nyege-tapes" title="Nyege Nyege Tapes" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Nyege Nyege Tapes</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/nyege-nyege-tapes/sets/music-for-the-eagles" title="Music for the Eagles" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Music for the Eagles</a></div>
Music for the Eagles features 14 exclusive tracks across a variety of distinctive genres. The line-up includes Nairobi-based rapper, singer and producer Boutross; traditional adungu and nanga harp expert and singer Otim Alpha and Tanzanian producer Jay Mitta, with his interpretation on the sound of singeli. The album also presents rising talents such as Kenyan future-pop artist KABEAUSHÉ; Ugandan grime, hip-hop and punk guru MC Yallah and rapper Ecko Bazz. It also features artists beyond East Africa including Durban’s Phelimuncasi with their signature style of Gqom, plus many more artists from an array of diverse underground scenes.
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