‘I’m not winning unless all of us are winning’: the Kenyan DJ programme promoting community and inclusivity

It’s late one Saturday night and the Mall, one of the oldest shopping centres in Nairobi’s Westlands district, is deceptively quiet, a stark contrast to the busy streets outside. But walk down one flight of stairs and the dimly lit basement is teeming with life as bodies pulsate to the heady rhythms of jungle, dancehall, UK funky, and South African gqom and amapiano. The Mist – the kind of underground club where you can catch anything from grime to glitch, and the resident DJ takes to spinning Pharoah Sanders at 4am – is hosting nu.wav, an event organised by recent graduates of Santuri Electronic Music Academy’s DJing 101 programme. Course mates and clubbers surround the decks, dancing and cheering loudly as each person finishes their set.

Santuri Electronic Music Academy (SEMA) is the educational arm of Santuri East Africa, a Nairobi-based platform that supports east African music producers, DJs, sound engineers and other music industry professionals. SEMA runs courses in both music production and DJing, and the focus is placed on creating community and culture as much as it is on technical skills.

Full article: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jul/10/kenya-dj-programme-promoting-community-inclusivity-santuri-electronic-music-academy

Modern-Day Fan Forums: The Renaissance in Online Music Communities

Next-gen ventures such as the metaverse, interactive livestreaming and chat apps want to re-centre the music industry around fans—a move that could make artists and businesses more financially self-sufficient.

Santuri, based in Nairobi, is a social enterprise that seeks to advance East African music. Currents.fm helps the organisation promote its electronic music academy programme, allowing students to showcase their DJ sets, live performances and productions to listeners worldwide. Artists can also receive money directly through an integrated tips feature.

"We've been able to increase our reach in terms of a wider audience and gain more supporters, who in turn support the artists," said Santuri team member Felix Mwitah. "It's also an avenue to channel public-facing products that students enrolled in our music academy create."

Full article: https://ra.co/features/4200

Santuri Alumni Open Up About Their Experiences With The Organization's SEMA Programme

If you're a Nairobi music enthusiast, then you know more than most that the scene is diverse and bursting with talent. Artists across genres both up-and-coming and established capture the essence of what younger Kenyan generations are all about: hustling hard and enjoying life. Though it's an exciting time for the scene, the industry in Kenya is not without its shortcomings. There are major discrepancies between the music industry, government entities in charge of distributing profits, and artists.. Moreover, clear-cut pathways necessary to succeed in this industry are presumably nonexistent.

Enter Santuri East Africa — a non profit arts organisation that supports East African music producers, DJs, sound engineers among other music industry professionals primarily in the electronica genre. Santuri works towards bridging the gap between artists and the industry by empowering artists to further their careers and build connections with other industry folks. They created the Santuri Electronic Music Academy (SEMA), with support from the Goethe-Institut, a programme that teaches up-and-coming artists several skills to help further their career.

Full article: https://tangazamagazine.com/features/2022/3/24/santuri-alumni-open-up-about-their-experiences-with-sema

Santuri Academy: A game changer for East Africa’s electro scene

East Africa is an important breeding ground for diverse electronic genres such as gengetone and the localised form of Chicago drill, with many talented musicians consistently finding new ways to connect their language, culture and experiences with sounds originating outside of Africa.

However, an apparent lack of music education and resources to harness their skills means that a vast amount of musical talent in the region often goes uncultivated and underdeveloped. This makes the work of organisations such as the Nairobi-based Santuri Electronic Music Academy(link is external) (SEMA), a non-profit organisation committed to educating musicians in the East African region, crucially important.

Santuri’s journey started in 2004 before its co-founders David Tinning and Gregg Tendwa took the big leap of establishing a formal institute for music education.

Full article: https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/santuri-academy-game-changer-east-africas-electro-scene

Partners in Progressive Education: Catalyst Teams up With Santuri East Africa

Catalyst Education Lead, Jamie Thomas, was recently invited by trailblazing music production organisation, Santuri East Africa, to deliver a masterclass on our project-based learning model.

At Catalyst, we put artistry front and centre, focusing on the real-world application of creative skills through project-based learning. It’s an educational model that is sure to make a profound impact on the creative industries in the years to come, and it doesn’t end at the boundaries of our Funkhaus campus. Part of our long-term mission is connecting with other progressive institutions around the world, so that we can break ground together in the forging of a new educational paradigm.

Full article: https://catalyst-berlin.com/stories/santuri-east-africa

Sounds In Context: New Instruments from East Africa

Around a year ago we reported on a movement from East Africa that explored a new sense of excitement in the region, working at the intersection between traditional musical approaches and electronic music culture. A year on and things have continued to develop at pace. New festivals, parties and events have sprung up in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda focussing on a desire to represent and promote an ‘Afro-futuristic’ or ‘World Music 2.0’ attitude – and new styles, interesting collaborations and fresh approaches to live performances have flourished.

Collectives like Santuri East Africa have been at the forefront of this development, and have begun to further the conversation by looking at technology as a platform for traditional culture and heritage. One of the strands for this has been to encourage the development of an East African sample library, including new digital instruments based on and inspired by traditional instruments from the wide and varied cultures of the region. Four such instruments have been developed into unique Ableton Live Racks by Johannesburg's Emile Hoogenhout (a.k.a Behr) and can be downloaded for free.

Full article: https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/sounds-in-context-santuri-safari/

SANTURI EAST AFRICA: BRIDGING COMMUNITIES THROUGH SOUND

FOUNDED IN 2014, SANTURI EAST AFRICA IS A NON-PROFIT ARTS ORGANIZATION BASED IN NAIROBI, KENYA...

Over the years, Santuri has surpassed some huge milestones, thanks to various successful projects. One such success story was the launch of Femme Electronic, an African platform for female producers and DJs which they worked on in tandem with DJ Rachael.

One of the problems that Santuri has been trying to combat however, is getting the necessary high-quality equipment to those who need it. “For East African artists to get their hands on hardware the import duties are really prohibitive,” explains Santuri co-founder David Tinning about the challenges local musicians face. “In some instances an East African artist will have to spend 50% more than their European counterparts.”

Full article: https://www.adam-audio.com/en/news/adam-users/santuri-east-africa/

For press and media inquiries contact: felix@santuri.org