East African DJ and Nyege Nyege Festival affiliate Kampire has curated a new compilation for UK record label Strut, as part of the imprint’s 25th anniversary.
Featuring 13 tracks, A Dancefloor In Ndola shines a light on various classic sounds from East and Southern Africa, much of it first heard by the DJ while growing up in Ndola, Zambia. “It is important for me to continually reference Africa’s own musical history,” she said in a press release. “At 17, I didn’t pick up on my Dad’s music, but now I love and collect those records. I’m constantly referencing them in my music sets today. I love that feeling of shared nostalgia where people recognise a song they haven’t heard in a long time. It is a touchstone for me when I’m playing.”
The compilation takes in sounds such as Congolese rumba and soukous, as well as 1980s township bubblegum from South Africa and the guitar-led kalindula of Zambia. “There are styles of music on the compilation which are often considered unsophisticated from rural areas,” Kampire said of the music featured. “I and other contemporary African artists and DJs draw inspiration from them; it is part of what makes us ourselves.”
In addition to various classic tracks, Kampire’s own edit of the 1980s cut ‘Ririmi Rotsombela’ by South African act Di Groovy Girls features on A Dancefloor In Ndola, which also comes with personal liner notes written by the DJ tracing her links to the music.
You can preview the compilation via the track ‘Naughty Boy’ by South Africa’s V-Mash below.
Strut will release A Dancefloor In Ndola on August 2, 2024.
