Debaser is pleased to present a showcase of innovative music from the internationally celebrated Nyege Nyege Tapes label, as part of a cross-Canada tour. The evening will feature electrifying live performances by Tanzanian Singeli pioneers Sisso & Maiko alongside genre-defying French-Cameroonian artist Violence Gratuite.

Founded as a club night in Kampala, Uganda, Nyege Nyege began with a mission to create a safe, supportive space where East African DJs, musicians, and artists could take creative risks, share ideas, and build community. This foundation grew into a dynamic cultural platform that includes a festival, a professional recording studio and residency program, and two record labels—Nyege Nyege Tapes and Hakuna Kulala—dedicated to nurturing the underground music scene. With its own booking agency and relentless innovation, Nyege Nyege continues to champion a new generation of boundary-pushing creatives.

On the night, audiences will be immersed in the headlong rush of Sisso & Maiko’s Singeli—Tanzania’s breakneck dance music that layers frenetic loops with influences from Zanzibar’s taarab to South African afro-house, propelled by razor-sharp MCing that reflects the joys and struggles of urban life in Dar es Salaam. Alongside this, Violence Gratuite (aka Violaine Morgan Le Fur) will perform selections from her debut album Baleine à Boss, a suite of pulsing techno and fractured trap infused with echoes of French pop. Rooted in imagery from the forests of western Cameroon and shaped by a restless, exploratory spirit, the record conjures a sonic world equally at home in the club or at a Breton fest noz.

Presented in partnership with Arts in the Margins, Montréal; Debaser, Ottawa; send + receive festival, Winnipeg; Strangewaves, Hamilton; The Music Gallery, Toronto; and Western Front, Vancouver, with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada, and SOCAN Foundation.

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