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= Octopizzo = Octopizzo is an award winning recording and preforming artist, humanitarian and entrepreneur born in Kibera, Nairobi.

Octopizzo has released five albums to date, namely 'Chocolate City', 'LDPC' which took the Number 1 spot on iTunes on its first week of release; 'Refugeenius' which he collaborated with over 20 Refugees from Kakuma & Dadaab refugee camps; 'Next Year,'  a jazz/soul and hiphop album that was shortlisted for the GRAMMY awards. On 2020's 'Jungle Fever,' he a

A Social Impact strategy Certificate holder from University of Pennsylvania and a Leadership, Organizing and action Certificate holder at Harvard Kennedy University. He has been hosted by TEDX in 2018 where his Refugeenius program was showcased.

Dynamism, energy and passion are his hallmarks and they inform the creativity with which he creates his music which centers on success and believing in oneself. He uses his influence and craft to advocate for development and socio-economic equality for the less privileged. He is now a globally recognized artist who also has a strong passion for community outreach and youth empowerment.

He founded his not-for-profit Octopizzo Foundation in 2015 and through the Foundation, he hopes to use the uniting ingredients of creativity, Art, Music, Culture and Sports to support vulnerable youths to realize their potential and be liberated from the cycle of desperation and dependency.

Octopizzo has performed in major events golabally and has been endorsed as a brand ambassador by several renowned companies like Coca-Cola, Safaricom and Guinness. Equally, he has remained an active performing artist for the past 8 years and has consistently released hit songs every year while gracing some of the biggest festivals like Sauti za Busara, Safaricom Live and Shambala Fest in Manchester just to name a few.

He has partnered with UNHCR to start a dynamic and powerful initiative – Artists for Refugees, which encompasses his love for music, the Arts and Culture with those of the refugees – it is through their shared love for Art that he has been able to raise the profile of refugee artists and talent in this country. He is indeed the first Kenyan artist to speak up on refugee matters consistently and in a timely fashion. He has been identified, both in 2014 and 2015 as one of the most influential personalities speaking on refugee matters on social media. In 2015, he ranked 16th globally as one of the top voices on refugee matters.

His work with United Nations, The American Embassy in Kenya and The British Council in Kenya has seen him attend most vital and global decision making forums on matters of youths and Arts.

Early Life
Octopizzo was born in Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa. Struggling with poverty in his youth, he was forced to commit theft in order to eat.

SInce then he has aimed to de-demonise slum lif

Philanthropic Work
UMaY Africa Youth Ambassador 2008 - 2010

I PSOS Most Influential Youth Award 2014

UNHCR Youth Ambassador to Refugees - 2014

British Council Youth Ambassador for Gender-Based & Domestic Violence 2014 -2016

British Council Encounters Award for WAPI Participant Achievement - 2016

UNHCR Global Youth Consultation Representative 2016

U.S. Dept. of State International Leadership Visitors Program - 2017

Aymos
AYMOS (né Amos Babili Shili; born 1996) is a South African singer-songwriter and one of the most prominent vocalists to come from the amapiano, a genre of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 2010s in Pretoria, South Africa. In 2019, Amos notably wrote and sang on the DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small and Mas Musiq - produced "Emcimbini" which was the most streamed amapiano song of 2020 according to Spotify and Apple Music.

= Bongeziwe Mabandla = Bongeziwe Mabandla is a South African musician based in Johannesburg, predominantly playing folk music with lyrics in isiXhosa, accompanied by a guitar.

Early Life
Mabandla grew up in the rural Eastern Cape, in a small town called Tsolo. . He grew up singing in church and music was a part of his home and school life. He moved to Johannesburg to continue his studies at AFDA, The School for the Creative Economy. Here he explored an expression of musical storytelling.

Career
Recorded in 2012, Mabandla's debut album Umlilo caught the attention of Radio France Internationale Discoveries Awards where he was named one of the Top 10 finalists in 2011. His second album, Mangaliso was released in 2017 and expanded from the traditional Afro-Folk sound that Mabandla had become known for. With far more significant reach, the album earned Mabandla a SAMA (South African Music Awards) nomination for 2018 Best Alternative Album. The music video for the single "Bawo Bam" featured Spoek Mathambo, and received awards at the 2018 Capital City Black Film Awards and at the 2019 Jozi Film Fest. Since the release of these two albums, Mabandla has performed on stages and at festivals across the world. This includes Reeperbahn Festival, Womex and Lake of Stars Festival Malawi. .

His latest studio album, iiMini, was released on 27 March, 2020.

Discography

 * Umlilo (2012)
 * Mangaliso (2017)
 * iiMini (2020)

Yise feat. Synapson
In the song, Mabandla paints a picture of the hardships of growing up without his father and how it has made him a stronger person."“The song looks at the effect that growing up without a father has had on my life. It is a constant journey of understanding the impact that this has had on my journey and I am thankful to have had a chance to explore it on this track. This song is super strong and very personal.” - Bongeziwe"

iiMini Tour (2020)
Due to COVID-19, this tour was postponed indefinitely.

Awards
Amaarae

DJ Lag
DJ Lag is a South African DJ, producer and pioneering creator of Gqom.

Early Life
With aspirations of becoming a soccer player growing up in Durban, Lag suffered an ankle injury which derailed his pursuits. His cousin, a rapper within the Durban hip hop scene at the time, then introduced him to FL Studio, on which he taught himself to produce. Following this, he began to explore DJing.

Career
At 21 he made his live global debut in the closing months of 2016, at the Unsound Festival in Poland and finishing up at Seoul’s Cake Shop nearly a month later.

To date, he’s racked up healthy ratings at platforms such as Mixmag and The Fader with his 2018 EP Stampit. He’s performed at Afropunk New York City and secured a residency at RinseFM; he has also embarked on a four-part worldwide tour called #GqomIsThePresent.

The latest in a string of accolades including features on BBC Radio 1 including shows by Diplo and Benji B, with a BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix set hosted by Pete Tong.

My Power from The Lion King: The Gift
DJ Lag co-produced a track that was initially released as Drumming alongside percussionist Moses Boyd, which was later chosen by Beyonce to form part of the collaborative album, The Lion King: The Gift, which featured AMerican rapper Tierra Whack, Busiswa, Yemi Alade and Moonchild Sanelly.

Anywhere We Go with Shekhinah
DJ Lag and Shekhinah collaborated on Anywhere We Go as part of an adidas campaign.

Tours and residencies

 * Gqom Is the Present
 * UHURU

Radio residencies


 * Rinse FM (2018 - 2019)

Label Representation

 * New Clerms
 * Goon Club All Stars
 * Good Enuff
 * Hyperdub

EPs

 * DJ Lag EP (12")
 * Stampit (12")
 * Steam Rooms (with Okzharp)
 * UHURU

The Lion King: The Gift
My Power performed by Beyoncé, Nija, Busiswa, Yemi Alade, Tierra Whack, Moonchild Sanelly

Early life
Ama Serwah Genfi was born on July 4, 1994, in New York and raised between Atlanta and Accra to Ghanaian Parents Ama Bawuah and Kwadwo Boateng Genfi. She is the elder of two children. Amaarae began to experiment with music at the age of 13, when she wrote her first song. In an interview with Unorthodox Reviews, she said "I wrote my first song when I was about 13 and it was a reimagining of R.Kelly and Usher’s "Same Girl". It was called "Same Shanga", please don't judge me." During high school she started making mixtapes and by 17, she took up an internship at a music studio. At university, she undertook voice training and honed her song writing skills while studying English literature and in June 2017 she returned to Ghana.