Laura Kabasomi Kakoma (born on June 6, 1981), known by her stage name Somi, is a Grammy-nominated American-born

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

of Rwandan and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

n descent. Somi is the first

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Et ...

woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award in a Jazz category.

Biography

Somi was born in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metrop ...

, while her father was completing post-doctoral studies at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...

. When Somi was three years old, her family then moved to Ndola, Zambia, while her father worked for the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

. In the late 1980s when her father became a professor at the University of Illinois, they returned to Champaign, where Somi attended both University Laboratory High School and

Champaign Central High School Champaign Central High School is a high school located in Champaign, Illinois. It has 1,385 students in grades 9- 12. The principal is Joe Williams. It is part of the Champaign Unit 4 School District school system. Its sports teams are the Ce ...

. She earned her undergraduate degrees in

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

and African Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. She also holds a Master's degree from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

in Performance Studies. In 2007, she licensed her independently recorded album ''Red Soil in My Eyes'' to the

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''h ...

/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 ObliqSound is a record label in New York City. It was founded by Tobias Tanner, Michele Locatelli, and Ralf Schmid. They studied music together at the New School in Manhattan. Their intent with Obliqsound is to produce musicians with a background ...

. 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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s World Music Chart and no. 21 on ''Billboard''s Heatseekers Chart. The album features South African trumpeter

Hugh Masekela Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as "the father of South African jazz". Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and fo ...

, 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 New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. It was released on

Palmetto Records Palmetto Records is an independent American jazz record company and label in New York City founded in 1990 by guitarist Matt Balitsaris. Issues began with those by Balitsaris, then Greg Hatza in 1993. Since then, its catalog has included albums b ...

in August 2011. In 2013, Somi signed her first major label deal with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

to become one of the first artists on their relaunched historic jazz imprint Okeh Records. Her album and major label debut ''The Lagos Music Salon'', which features Grammy-winning special guests

Angelique Kidjo Angelique or Angélique may refer to: * Angélique (given name), a French feminine name Arts and entertainment Music * Angélique (instrument), a string instrument of the lute family * ''Angélique'', a 1927 opéra bouffe by Jacques Ibert ...

and

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...

and debuted at #1 on US Jazz Charts, was inspired by an 18-month sabbatical she took in Lagos, Nigeria. On the heels of much critical acclaim and a rapidly growing fan base, ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' and other publications dubbed Somi "the new

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blue ...

". In March 2017, she released ''Petite Afrique'' as her second album on Okeh Records. The album, which won a 2018

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

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 Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally by his stage name Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for his singles "I Need a Dollar", " The Man", which topped the charts in th ...

. In July 2020, Somi released 'Holy Room - Live at Alte Oper' on her own label Salon Africana. The live album, which also features Frankfurt Radio Big Band, was nominated for a 2021

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the vocal jaz ...

and won the 2021

for Outstanding Jazz Album, Vocal. Somi’s first original play, ''Dreaming Zenzile'', is a musical based on the life of

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she w ...

. It premiered at

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis The St. Louis Repertory Theater is a repertory theater, based in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. It is often referred to locally simply as "The Rep". Hana S. Sharif is the Artistic Director and Danny Williams is the Managing Dir ...

in September 2021 after the original production was shut down five days before opening night in March 2020 due to the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. She released a tribute album dedicated to Makeba, ''Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba'' (2022). As a writer and actor, Somi also uses her last name and goes by Somi Kakoma. Somi is a

TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depart ...

Senior Fellow, a

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

Fellow, a Soros Equality Fellow, and a

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood *Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States *Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated place ...

Theatre Fellow. 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 Alte Oper'' (2020) *''Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba'' (2022)

References

External links

Official Website

"The dancer, the singer, the cellist ... and a moment of creative magic" (TED2015)
{{Authority control 1979 births Living people American jazz singers American people of Rwandan descent American people of Ugandan descent Musicians from Champaign, Illinois University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni Jazz musicians from Illinois 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers

Biography

Discography

References

Further reading

External links