NYK—mag 0225
02 Jolie; reflections on Sound, Identity & Space
Song recommendation:
Thakzin - Ulele
What's your relationship with electronic music, and what sub-genres do you feel mostly drawn towards lately?
My relationship with electronic music is definitely tied to how I’ve found identity, belonging.
I am very drawn to search for East and West African sounds where electronic sounds meet raw traditional drums and percussion such as the Zeze (East and Central African string instrument), the Ogene (Nigerian Igbo bell) and talking drum (West African). I see this tendency growing in the Senegalese and Ivorian hiphop scene right now and slowly also growing in Tanzania and Uganda's electronic scene.
But without a doubt sounds such as Gqom, Kuduro and anything African with lots of bass is endlessly on repeat.
Do you remember a moment or a space where a specific sound really clicked for you?
The first time I went to Paris (around 2015) I ended up at a nightclub called DJOON. I think it was a fundraiser for Marjory "LOTUS" Smarth (R.I.P) who I later learned was an impactful soul in house dance and culture.
I entered the club and the first thing that caught my eye was that people had literally brought towels. Heels, barefoot or sneakers, it did not matter, anyone in that room came to dance and sweat. Nothing else. That’s the first and most memorable night I had at a club. It completely opened my view of house music and club culture. I remember going home thinking “Wow, I think I understand House music”.
Do you think that your cultural background and heritage shape the way you connect with music? — if so, in what way?
Absolutely. My cultural background and heritage has everything to do with how I connect with music.
In Sukuma culture (the tribe I am from) music is mostly the medium that drives traditions, spirituality and the culture I was brought up with but also the ONLY thing I’ve found home in as a very rootless individual.
In sukuma culture you focus a lot on the people who were before you. We ask the ancestors and those who passed away about advice and guidance and that has deeply influenced how and what I listen for.
I have a huge urge, interest and curiosity in knowing what comes before - it adds value, at least for me. Knowing Kuduro dance was influenced by Angolans who lost limbs during the country's civil war makes it obvious that it is not JUST a dance.
Do you consider certain sounds or musical traditions as sacred? — how so?
For me, the reason or cause behind the birth of a sound or genre can add a sacred quality. That makes how, when and why a sound is played or referenced something to consider.
Genres like Kuduro and Afrobeat didn’t arise in neutral settings; they were born under colonial and post colonial oppression. These are sounds of resistance and survival. It is music from the people and not the studios. Understanding the origin of a sound invites us to honour not only the people who shaped it, but also the power it carries.
Have you ever felt like you had to “adjust” your sound to fit a certain crowd or venue? What’s that experience like?
I always feel like I have to adjust my sound to fit a crowd or venue (at least in Denmark).
I feel part of it is the job of being a DJ, reading the room and meeting people where they are. The deeper challenge comes from the fact that many of the sounds I love and play aren’t commonly played in Danish clubs. So I spend a lot of energy figuring out how to introduce a sound without scaring people off. So you will often hear me switch between "unfamiliar" sounds and sounds the receiver doesn’t necessarily know but that have elements they are used to.
On a good day I love the challenge. I play to introduce, educate and expand horizons - to give people what I wish I could find in a club myself. I also hate it. It can be draining and limiting, always having to consider “other people". As a person of color in a white country, that feeling is not just limited to music. It is a broader experience of constantly having to explain and translate yourself to the environment around you.
What would you want listeners to know or feel when they hear your DJ set?
I want them to feel why I think these sounds or tunes were born. Like they can finally exhale, to feel whatever they feel and to feel unbothered. When they hear my DJ set I want them to forget about taxes.
What keeps you inspired to keep playing the music you do? And what do you hope the future holds for Afro-house and its communities?
My curiosity is what keeps me inspired, but outside of my living room it is to share African electronic music in its raw and not westernised form. I hope it gets its own platforms that can share, create and direct to proper history, documentation and representation.
Final question; what's a song you'd like to recommend right now?
Thakzin - Ulele because it is interesting following a new genre (3-step) while it is taking shape.