More artists added to Bassline Fest line-up

They are Maleh (Lesotho), Kadilida (Tanzania), Jay Mitta (Tanzania) and Rita Kamale (Morocco), with more artists to be announced soon.

“This powerhouse of female talent, from across our beautiful continent, ensures that this year’s Africa Day Celebration stays true to its dedication to women, celebrating the mothers, sisters and daughters who have the resilience, nurturing, courage, creativity and tenacity that keeps them going, their families going and in so doing, the continent going,” Bassline Fest creative director Paige Holmes said.

Maleh’s career took off in Bloemfontein when she joined Kaya for the release of the Afropop group’s debut album Kunzima. She left the group to pursue her studies at a film college in Johannesburg, where she majored in cinematography. Having worked behind the scenes for some of the most prominent jazz festivals, Maleh returned to the stage in 2010 and collaborated with a number of artists including DJ Qness, DJ Ganyani and DJ Kent. Her recent body of work, Lerato Laka, produced by Nigeria’s Victor Ikeigbo, brilliantly fuses the customary African drum patterns and raw basslines of West Africa with the smooth classic soulful sounds and melodies that are distinct to Southern African music.

Kadilida became renowned after releasing ‘Singeli Poli’, ‘Kwetu’ and ‘Naumia’, which captured the hearts and minds of fans of the Tanzanian singeli genre. She has performed at some of the world’s biggest stages including ACCES (Tanzania), Nyege Nyege Music Festival (Uganda), Kappa Music Festival (Italy), Dour Festival (Belgium) and Sauti za Busara (Zanzibar). Her most recent songs include ‘Uroda’, ‘Naumia’, ‘Tuachane’ and ‘Kwetu’. Alongside her producer, Jay Mitta, they have become synonymous with the electrifying spirit of singeli.

Moroccan Rita Kamale will add some more spice to the talent mix as a multidisciplinary artist splitting her time between London and Casablanca. Further to her role as a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and producer, she is a DJ. She is an experimenter and tempo traveller, and each of her songs has its own distinctive sound. Her music is a mix of neo-soul, Moroccan ancestral melodies, and 808 heavy hip hop beats. She describes herself as “somewhere in between a singer and a rapper.”

This year, Bassline Fest is partnering once again with the Africa Rising Music Conference, which takes place on in Johannesburg on 27 and 28 May.

Bassline Live’s Brad Holmes said: “We thank our music industry partner, the Africa Rising Music Conference, who are collaborating with Bassline Fest for the second year in a row. In so doing, they are staying true to their core mission of building bridges and creating opportunities for international acts to perform in South Africa during Africa Month.”

Tickets to Bassline Fest can be purchased here.