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Daara J perform in Kigali

Friday February 21 2020
daara

Daara J Family will perform in Rwanda on February 22 and 23, 2020. PHOTO | COURTESY

By ANDREW I KAZIBWE

Senegalese Afro Hip-hop band Daara J Family will be performing at the next Live and Unplugged performance.

Organised by AfroGroov and Isaano Festival, the event is scheduled for February 22 and 23, at the Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village.

Live and Unplugged presents live performances by artistes from across the globe. The event harnesses a culture of nurturing the enjoyment of live authentic music with outstanding production.

The band, a duo comprising N’Dongo D and Faada Freddy, has experience spanning over 20 years, and has performed at more than 1,000 concerts around the world. Daara J Family has collaborated with prominent musicians such as Wyclef Jean and Mos Def in the US, and Public Enemy alongside Peter Gabriel during the Womad Festival.

Daara J Family pioneered the African hip-hop music scene. Starting in the 1990s in Dakar, Faada Freddy and Ndongo D have created a bridge between their culture and the rest of the world. Their lyrics, in Wolof, English and French, carry the hope of a better world.

The versatile performers combine the Senegalese Griots with American hip-hop, reggae and funk.

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Their respective solo and collaborative projects have produced several music albums, since 1992 when the band was formed. They include Boomerang, winner of the best album prize at the 2003 BBC World Awards, Foundation (2016), Daara-J (1997), Xalima (1998), Vol.1: On Est Pas des Chienes (2010), Anthology (2011) and the latest, Yaamatele, released this year.

Live and Unplugged will also feature Noumoucounda Cissoko, a Senegalese Kora player, lead vocalist and percussionist, who will be gracing the Kigali stage for the second time. His first performance was at the 2015 Kigali Festival Up Sound Check Session, where he performed with the Afro Soul singer Thais Diarra.

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