In Uganda, the Nyege Nyege festival (“ the uncontrollable urge to dance ” in Luganda) is back from this Thursday, and until Sunday, September 18, after two editions interrupted by the Covid-19. The unmissable event for electronic music and alternative scenes from the African continent is reborn this weekend in Itanda, on the banks of the White Nile rapids.
From our correspondent in Kampala,
After three years of interruption, it’s like a new start for the festival, on a site twice as large as the previous one. And a first time for Thia, arriving straight from the United Kingdom: “ I think it’s really nice to be here, for the first edition after the Covid. I feel like the energy is very uplifting, very electric, so I’m very excited to be here. I came to be really surprised by the music, for the atmosphere and the site which is superb! »
At the Nyege, we find the frantic tempos at 200 beats per minute of the Tanzanian singeli, the hypnotic rhythm of the South African gqom, but also the electro-Malian scene of the Balani show, with DJ Diaki: “ It is derived from a traditional instrument from Mali called the balani, which is played with two sticks and is made of wood. We wanted to go from traditional to modern, I like to remix the balani because it’s a cultural instrument, so I really want everyone to discover it. »
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Like him, many Nyege artists are inspired by the sounds of their region, sometimes similar in essence to electronic music, explains South Sudanese DJ Turkana: ” When I collaborated with South Sudanese artists, when you listen to their music, it’s already electronic. The accelerations, the different percussions, the polyrhythm, and without adding anything! It’s the same for acholi music or kadodi music, and it’s music that Africans have always made. »
It was in 2015 that the first edition of the festival was held under the leadership of Derek Debru and Arlen Dilsizian. An event tailor-made to highlight alternative scenes from across the African continent. For Authentically Plastic, a queer DJ based in Kampala, the Nyege Nyege allows complete freedom of tone for all artists: “ I think experimental music creates a kind of gray area where differences can hide. Because at Nyege there are people who express themselves so differently, the music is mind-boggling, so there is so much that is already bombarding conservative minds. And inside this mess, queers can hide in plain sight, I find that very funny! »
The Nyege is regularly attacked by Ugandan conservative circles; a week before this new edition, the Parliament wanted to cancel the event described as immoral. But the government quickly intervened to authorize it, to the delight of festival-goers.