Somi (singer)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Jeon Somi.
Somi
Somi live at the Public Theater in New York, 2016
Somi live at the Public Theater in New York, 2016
Background information
Born (1981-06-06) June 6, 1981 (age 43)
Champaign, Illinois
Occupation(s)
  • Singer-songwriter
  • musician
  • actor
  • writer
Instrument(s)
Years active1998–present
Labels
WebsiteSomiMusic.com

Laura Kabasomi Kakoma (born on June 6, 1981), known on stage as Somi or Somi Kakoma, is a

singer, songwriter, playwright, and actor of Rwandan and Ugandan descent.[1] Somi is the first African woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award in a Jazz category. She is also the first Rwandan or Ugandan to ever be nominated for a Grammy. [2] She is also the first East African actor to perform on Broadway. [3]

Biography

Somi was born in

Tisch School of the Arts
in Performance Studies.

In 2007, she licensed her independently recorded album Red Soil in My Eyes to the Harmonia Mundi/World Village label for her first international distribution deal. The record received wide critical acclaim with the hit single "Ingele" that maintained a Top 10 position on U.S. World Music Charts for several months.

In 2009, Somi signed with independent record label ObliqSound.[4] Her label debut If the Rains Come First was released in North America on October 27, 2009, and subsequently debuted at no. 2 on Billboard's World Music Chart and no. 21 on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart. The album features South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, Somi's long-time mentor, as a guest on one track. In March 2011, Somi recorded her first live concert album at the legendary Jazz Standard in New York City. It was released on Palmetto Records in August 2011.

In 2013, Somi signed her first major label deal with

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album, is a song cycle about the large West African immigrant community in Harlem, New York City in the face of rapid gentrification. It features special guest Aloe Blacc
.

In July 2020, Somi released 'Holy Room - Live at Alte Oper' on her own label Salon Africana. The live album, which also features

NAACP Image Award
for Outstanding Jazz Album, Vocal.

Somi’s first original play, Dreaming Zenzile, is a musical based on the life of

McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, ArtsEmerson in Boston, and Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop. Somi released a tribute album dedicated to Makeba, Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba (2022).[6] The album release concert took place at The Apollo Theater
and was the first live event in the historic theater following the 2020 global pandemic shut down. As a writer and actor, Somi also uses her last name and goes by Somi Kakoma.

Somi is a 2023 recipient of Doris Duke Performing Artist Award,[7] TED Senior Fellow, a United States Artists Fellow, a Soros Equality Fellow,[8] and a Sundance Theatre Fellow.

In 2023, Somi made her Broadway acting debut in the title role of ‘Jaja’ in JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIRBRAIDING.[9] Somi currently lives in New York City.

Discography

  • Eternal Motive (2003)
  • Red Soil in My Eyes (2007)
  • If the Rain Comes First (2009)
  • Somi: Live at Jazz Standard (2011)
  • The Lagos Music Salon (2014)
  • Petite Afrique (2017)
  • Holy Room - Live at Alter Opera (2020)
  • Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba (2022)

References

  1. ^ "Know yourself, listen to your heart, and take risks – singer Laura Kabasomi Kakoma". The New Times | Rwanda. 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  2. ^ BellaNaija.com (14 December 2020). "You Probably Didn't Know this, But Somi is the First Bantu African Woman with a Grammy Nom in Jazz Category". www.bellanaija.com. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  3. ^ theeastafrican.co.ke (26 November 2023). "Rwandan-Ugandan Star Somi Makes Broadway Debut". www.the East African.co.ke. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  4. ^ "ObliqSound signs vocalist Somi" (Press release). ObliqSound. March 11, 2009. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
  5. ^ Carpenter, Craig (August 1, 2014). "Somi: A New High Priestess of Soul". Huffington Post.
  6. ^ Johnson, Veronica (March 3, 2022). "Somi: Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba (Salon Africana)". Jazz Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2022.
  7. ^ Grein, Paul (February 14, 2023). "2 Jazz Artists Receive 2023 Doris Duke Artist Awards – And the $550,000 Prize Money That Goes With It)". Billboard Magazine.
  8. ^ "Open Society Foundations Announce 2018 Soros Equality Fellows".
  9. ^ Green, Jesse (October 3, 2023). "Review: At 'Jaja's,' Where Everybody Knows Your Mane". The New York Times.

Further reading

Current Biography Yearbook 2018. H.W. Wilson, a division of EBSCO Information Services, Inc. 2018. pp. 68–72.

ISBN 9781682176412
.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Somi_(singer)&oldid=1210355511"