Daily line-up announced for Zakifo Music Festival

THE daily line-up of astonishing international and local musical acts is now available in order to plan ahead for the fourth annual Zakifo Music Festival.

The fest comes to Durban on 25, 26 and 27 May, and promises a wide-ranging line-up of boundary-breaking, cutting-edge musicians from across the African continent and beyond.

ALSO READ: Line-up announced for 4th Zakifo Festival

Always wanting to stay fresh and relevant, this year the festival will be presented in a slightly different format from previous years.

Rather than utilising one festival site throughout, Zakifo is packaged as a series of linked stand-alone events taking place at three vastly different Durban venues, each offering a unique experience: the BAT Centre, Views @ Twenty5, and Blue Lagoon Beach.

Friday, 25 May – BAT Centre – from 5.30pm

Sekou Kouyate (Guinea) – multi-award-winning musician; regarded as one of the world’s best kora players

Nick Hamman (RSA) – 5FM DJ and host of the Hamman Time weekday show and the 5FM Top 40

Elida Almeida (Cape Verde) – Cape Verdean beats fused with Latino energy

Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse (RSA) – South African musical legend and funk, pop and soul artist

Friday 25 May – Views @ Twenty5 from 6pm

Baraka (RSA) – blending deep house, kwaito, jazz, future soul and world sounds with the intention to create an atmosphere of love, inviting upliftment and transformation

Sainty Baby (RSA) – Pietermaritzburg-based DJ and producer and graduate of Soul Candi Institute of Music; founder of the Food Fashion Music event and radio co-host and co-producer on Vuma FM

ByLwansta (RSA) – ByLwansta constructs conversational raps laden with brutal honesty and vivid story-telling, delivered in a style that emanates a soulful and mellow vigor

K-$ (RSA) – DJ and internet sensation; plays throwback disco, funk and soul-heavy DJ sets

DJ Doowap (RSA) – live mix DJ playing a selection of bass, dubstep and trap

Nasty C (RSA) – easily one of the most exciting acts on the South African hip-hop scene; born and bred in Durban, at 21 Nasty C has carved out his own niche

DJ Lag (RSA) – the Gqom King; pioneer of iconic Durban house sub-genre gqom

https://twitter.com/dbn_pulse/status/843357865951838208

Saturday, 26 May – Views @ Twenty5 from 6pm

Oki Dub Ainu Band (Japan) – blending the music of the Ainu people of Japan with dub, reggae and afrobeat grooves

Your Uncle Garry – DJ set.

Nathalie Natiembé (Réunion) – beloved Réunion singer and talented performer; creates an amalgam of rock, funk and traditional Creole music

Linda Meyer – DJ set.

Flavia Coelho (Brazil) – a hybrid blend of samba and bossa nova sounds and reggae and hip hop rhythms

Phatstoki – DJ set.

BCUC (RSA) – “indigenous funky soul”; a politically-charged and truly South African sound

SoKool – DJ set.

Late-night all-woman DJ platform with a rotating line-up that exists to create a regular platform for female DJs and artists to practice, incubate, exchange, and expose; an experiment in amplifying feminine energy on dance floor. Featuring Your Uncle Garry; Linda Meyer; Phatstoki and SoKool

Sunday, 27 May – Blue Lagoon Beach from 2pm til 9.30pm

The Sun Xa Experiment (RSA) – world music influenced by jazz, hip hop and traditional and ancestral sounds

Nakhane (RSA) – SAMA award-winner and rising star in South African music

Guy Buttery and Kanada Narahari (RSA/India) – South African guitar virtuoso and accomplished Indian sitar player; driven by their mutual curiosity in each other’s diverse musical worlds. Guy Buttery is Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year award winner this year for Music.

Alice Phoebe Lou (RSA/Germany) – independent blues/folk artist from Cape Town, currently based in Berlin

Siseko Pame (RSA) – ethno-soul laced with Xhosa folk harmonies, violin, and Pame’s emotive, earthy voice

Dub Inc (France) – reggae/dancehall band from Saint-Éttienne; fuse classic roots reggae with dub, dancehall, ska, hip-hop and African influences

Femi Koya (Nigeria/RSA) – “the new face of the African Renaissance”; a rich blend of afrobeat, highlife and Sophiatown-influenced jazz

Aloe Blacc (USA) – chart-topping soul/funk singer and songwriter. Wrote the hits “The Man” and “I Need a Dollar” and featured on Avicii’s “Wake Me Up”

Tickets are available via Nutickets: R500 – 3-day weekend pass (excl. Madiba concert), R300 – Friday Madiba concert – BAT Centre, R150 – Friday pass – Views @ Twenty5, R150 – Saturday pass – Views @ Twenty5, R300 – Sunday pass – Blue Lagoon Beach.

A full event breakdown is available on www.zakifo.com

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