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AFRIKADEY! Festival artist – Ugandan singer Beatrice Byakika

09 Aug Posted by in Schedule | Comments
AFRIKADEY! Festival artist – Ugandan singer Beatrice Byakika
 

Having grown up in both Kenya and Uganda, Beatrice Kateme-Byakika channels her East African musical roots and fuses those sensibilities with a love of contemporary pop and RnB. She writes from personal experience — in English, Swahili, Lusoga, and Samia — and crafts songs ripe with pathos and melody.

 

Kateme-Byakika’s first album In My Blood was released in 2005, followed by Coming Home in 2009. This second album received great praise, earning her the accolade: “This young lady could well be the next artiste to grace the main stage in World Music.” Late 2012 will bring her third album to listeners, Platform 9, which centers around the idea of journey. Watch the video of the album’s title track, which also gives you a taste of where Kateme-Byakika currently calls home.

 

Not only a musician, Kateme-Byakika also designs bespoke fashion. Her creations are “colourful explosion[s] of ethnic prints with astute tailoring, traditional fabrics, and leather or bark cloth compounded with contemporary cutting, all elegantly juxtaposed on the trends of London’s fashion theatre.” In short, the clothing is “simple, elegant and exquisitely feminine.”

 

Kateme-Byakika tells us that she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to participate in Afrikadey! as it is an event that supports the promotion of Africa and its culture. Olivier Mtukudzi and Romero Bryan didn’t hurt either. These Afrikadey! artists are among her must-meets. Besides performing her set, Kateme-Byakika plans to take in the sun, cold soda pop, guitars, and amazing audience of Afrikadey! For more information about Beatrice Kateme-Byakika, visit her on Bandcamp, Facebook, ReverbNation, and Myspace.