23 January 2010

Somi: New African Soul

Tribal Immunity Artist of the Week

by Nana B.

Genres: Afro Beat, Jazz, Soul
Origins: Rwandan and Ugandan
Influences: Miriam Makeba, Sade, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, Cesaira Evora
Albums: If The Rains Come First, Red Soil in My Eyes, Eternal Motive

If you haven’t heard of Somi, you are missing out. Somi is a true musician in an evolving world of African music merging jazz, soul, and African folk music into what she refers to as “new African soul.” Though born in Illinois to parents from Rwandan and Uganda, Somi has a firm grasp and takes pride in her African heritage. This pride translates into her music, which uses a beautiful blend of English, Kiswahili, and other East African languages. Somi is well known for her song of heartbreak entitled "Ingele", off of her sophomore album Red Soil in My Eyes. Somi’s most recent album, If The Rains Come First, is beautiful collection of story-based songs that explore life in the face of blessings and challenges.



All of Somi’s music can be purchased on Amazon.com (let’s support our people). For more on Somi’s music, check out her Website, Youtube and facebook pages.
http://www.somimusic.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/somimusic
http://www.facebook.com/somimusic?ref=search&sid=500391358.4286091365..1

1 comment:

Unknown said...

i love this woman! well-written piece :)