Premiere: BASHKKA ‘Aziza’

BASHKKA will release her debut EP, ‘Maktub’, via Nene H’s newly launched UMAY label this month. Listen to ‘Aziza’ below.

Comprising four original tracks, the Munich-born artist of Turkish heritage’s first solo release is a blazing suite of techno with colourful flourishes of Chicago house, trance, acid and ballroom sonics, as well as Kurdish vocal samples. Translated from the Arabic for “it’s written”, ‘Maktub’ is the DJ, producer and trans activist’s “idiosyncratic love letter to myself, my heritage and my community. My songs reflect the expedition of the past year and a half up until now and all the emotions that I gave myself space and fortitude to deal with and  also to relish in”.

“My sound hasn’t been as much of a thought through process and rather an echo of feelings passing through different margins, styles and all underrepresented communities,” added BASHKKA, who is a resident at Munich’s Blitz Club and recently signed to Marcel Dettmann’s new booking agency.

Nehe H, who also provides a remix on the EP, launched UMAY with the intention of providing a platform for “artists from underrepresented backgrounds” and sharing revenue with its artists in “an open critique against industry standards, crude label politics and the dominant music business model that Nene H has had to painfully experience herself in the recent years”.

Artwork for the EP has been created by Copenhagen-based drag artist Noah Umur Kanber and “reflects on BASHKKA’s story, involving narrative elements of Mesopotamian mythology”. 

Alongside the release, a satin headscarf has also been produced with the same artwork. Available to buy on Bandcamp, profits will go to The Association for Support for Transgender Children (FSTB).

‘Maktub’ will be released on 15th February. Pre-order it here.