Selections: Kampire

A core of Uganda’s Nyege Nyege crew, Kampire recently released her compilation ‘A Dancefloor in Ndola’ via Strut Records, which DJ Mag reviewed as its album of the month in August. Informed by her time growing up in the Zambian city of Ndola, and her dad’s record collection at the time, it spans styles such as Zambian kalindula, Congolese soukous and South African township bubblegum, reflecting her celebrated high-energy, Pan-African DJing style, but focusing the lens on her personal experiences and a sense of nostalgia. 

“One of the things that DJing has taught me is that you have to lean into what makes you different,” she sys. “What makes young African electronic producers different is that we come from a vast, unique and diverse musical heritage that has not fully been documented and credited. Artists who make clear those lineages and references, from the music of their specific culture and history to the music they make today, have always excited me, and it is their music that led me to DJing in the first place, because I wanted to hear both batida and benga on the big speakers in Kampala clubs. I have tried to pay a small tribute to my own musical heritage and inspirations with ‘A Dancefloor in Ndola’.”

Similarly, for her Selections, Kampire highlights tracks from 10 African producers who are “connecting the past and the future”.