Kikelomo is a music nerd at heart. Our conversation takes several scenic routes as matters such as UK Funky being the perfect genre (a bold claim!) and the merits of Bunyon find their way into the forefront. But with these, the DJ, radio host and station founder reveals her deep passion.
Music was preordained for Kikelomo, and though she initially took a traditional route as a classical singer, radio would become the medium through which her journey would be powered. Whether it was BBC Radio 1 or the potent chaos of early Grime’s pirate stations, she took the lessons of sonic storytelling into her own venture, Oroko Radio, and a glittering DJ career. Oroko is ground zero for the wide and colourful perspectives of African music, opening the doors to the variety across the continent at a time where sounds like Afrobeats and Amapiano are world famous.
As a DJ, Kikleomo strives to give back, empowering generations after her to take up the decks and find their paths in the music industry by giving lessons wherever she can. All while wowing crowds from Brazil to Kazakhstan with her eclectic, frantic and vibrant mixes.
Fresh from filming her first documentary with Pioneer DJ and Alpha Theta, We Become One: The Power Of The Shared Musical Experience, Kikelomo talks to Mixcloud from her apartment in Berlin with all the warm energy of an early morning sunrise. She traces her journey in DJing and radio, the inner workings at Oroko and why the life of a DJ is overly glamourised.
How did your career get started?
I always joke that music was one of those things that crept up on me in a way. It’s always been a presence but there was definitely a point in my life maybe in the last couple of years where I said to myself, “everything about me is about music.” I played the piano as a child and was classically trained as a singer.
I had a really strong connection to radio whether it was pirate radio or even BBC Radio 1. So much of my music discovery came from listening to radio shows like Annie Mac’s, Nick Grimshaw’s. It gave me my first taste of electronic music, the Disclosures, the Kaytranadas. I’ve always loved the feeling of sharing music and putting people on and I kind of associated it with radio. I actually wanted to be a radio presenter at first but my Nigerian parents encouraged me to study engineering, but I also love science so it wasn’t an issue!
At university, I was doing student radio shows and when I moved back to London, I was volunteering at a station called Radio Harrow. Moving to Berlin, I got connected with a radio station called Kashmir Radio. At this point, I was just seeing radio through the context of, “okay, let me play a song, have a little bit of chit chat, play another song, a bit of chit chat.” When I got to Berlin, I realized that a lot of these stations were nurturing DJs and their radio shows were DJ mixes.
I always had a loose interest in DJing but never really got stuck into it until I moved. I got added to a Facebook page that was specifically for women in music. They were advertising a workshop to teach people how to DJ using industry standard equipment. I applied and I got in, then, my DJ career kind of took off to be honest! It almost overshadowed the radio part in that I kept on playing and people kept booking me. Here we are eight years later.
What drew you to DJing initially?
Kikelomo: I always joke that, even before I started DJing, I was a DJ anyway because, best believe, if there was a house party, I’d be there with the playlist! With my YouTube tabs open, selecting the songs, trying to make the crossfaders move. There’s something I really enjoy about the connection, not only sharing music with people, but seeing people respond to the selections. Being able to decode their emotions, whether it’s a fist pump or a smile or a scream. It’s almost a symbiotic relationship of seeing the energy I’m giving the crowd come back to me.
Another part of it is that I’m a bit of an introvert. So, I think DJing is the perfect tool for an introvert where you can be at the party, you can be vibing, but you don’t actually have to be socializing with people. The communication is going on through the music. DJing also just gives me a way to dig for music and I love that experience. Right now I’m in my old head bag. I don’t want any music that’s newer than the 90s, after spending time in Lagos, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. I went to so many record stores and dug out all this old stuff. It’s so cathartic. I just love music!
Between being a DJ and radio host, how do your musical decisions differ according to each medium?
I feel like my radio shows are inherently more selfish. I’m playing for me and me only. Music I enjoy, music that I miss, people that I want to kind of platform and pay respect to. One of my most recent shows on Rinse was a sonic diary of my time in Lagos. So the first half was the classics like Fela Kuti then looking at some of the different scenes. Like music from my friends from the Alte genre as well. So it’s almost a form of sonic storytelling, like an archive. Especially because so much of African history in general was done through oral storytelling from griots and other community figures. So I really like to pay homage to that.
That’s not to say that my DJ sets don’t have stories to them all the time. But more often than not, people just want to turn up which definitely informs my DJ sets. Maybe sometimes to their detriment because sometimes people don’t want to be taken on any journeys or be put onto new music. That doesn’t happen all the time, and shout out to my agent he’s pretty good at making sure I have a range of opportunities.
I try to find a healthy balance but ultimately I am a service. I’m there to ensure that people are having a good time and have their minds open. I do like to kind of test boundaries. For me, the ultimate compliment for a DJ set is. “I normally don’t like that music but the way that you played it changed my mind.” If I can change opinions, that’s a good night!
How would you describe your DJ style?
I think the USP of my sets is that they’re very eclectic. So maybe I’m playing in Panorama Bar, renowned for its House music, but then you hear some Asake or some Merengue. I like to think that I’m good at what I do and I can play it in a way that takes people on that journey and brings those moments of delight and surprise.
Oroko Radio has taken on a life of its own but what’s the story behind it and what did you want to achieve with the station?
The story is connected to my first trip to Ghana and my co-founder Nico also happened to be in Ghana at the same time. We’re both based in Berlin and have been inspired by the same communities. It was inspired by being a bit of a radio nerd and seeing how much radio influences culture. We wouldn’t have grime if it wasn’t for pirate radio. We wouldn’t have House and Techno if it wasn’t for ‘The Magic Roundabout’ in 1989 which inspired The Belleville Three. Community also comes through radio and my entire career as an artist, DJ and music lover wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the opportunities that radio gave me to connect with cool people and to find new music.
Going to Ghana and seeing so many incredible communities and knowing of incredible communities in other African countries. I had a realization of this dissonance of African music where the outside world will have an idea of what ‘African music’ is. But I’m going to the continent and seeing the range of diversity and it’s a completely different representation. So I wanted to create a platform that would connect the dots. Connect the people in all of these different countries. But also just give our community the opportunity to represent themselves in their own authentic way, not through someone else’s lens. Not through some sort of blaxploitation. Radio completely transformed my career so it would be super cool to provide a platform that could hopefully do that for others as well.
How does programming at Oroko work?
We seek out people that we find interesting, either hit them up for guest mixes or longer-term residencies. We try to prioritize people based in the continent. Or maybe the Caribbean. Basically places that aren’t Europe and North America. But that being said we’re aware of what can come with our own biases, our own limitations and reach. So we open up applications on a biannual basis where people can submit their own concepts and proposals for shows and we’ve gotten some incredible shows as a result of that. I’m definitely on my A&R thing where I go to a DJ set and be like, ‘Yeah bro, you’re sick. Let me give you a little sticker if you ever want to do this kind of thing.” It’s resulted in amazing communities; we have such a dope community in Brazil now.
I had this really surreal experience of going down Copacabana Beach. Someone stopped me and was like, ‘do you know Oroko Radio?’ I’m like, ‘Do I know Oroko Radio? Funnily enough, I am Oroko Radio! She’s like, ‘Oh my God, I love Oroko Radio, I would love to do a mix.’ It’s like, bro, I’m in Brazil speaking to a girl who barely speaks English who rates our radio station. And the fact that she feels so connected to it. Being able to hear of residents from Ghana, Hong Kong, Switzerland and Lagos all connecting has been really satisfying.
You’ve given a home via Oroko to so many amazing sounds within the African continent and diaspora. As you see it, what do you think lies in the future for these sounds? Do they get bigger and gain more audiences?
I worry about it sometimes because, even now, when you think about the sound that’s in Ibiza at the moment for example, it’s essentially Afro House but it’s represented by three German men. So, sometimes I worry about what happens when some of these sounds grow and whether they’re appropriated to where you lose the roots of where they come from. Generally, I would love to see more openness in terms of the range of music that’s accepted from the African continent.
If people can accept that so many genres come from America then I would love to see people representing and breaking down more of the African sounds. We know that from East to West Africa and North to South, the sounds are so varied. So, I hope we can break apart this perception of Africa as a monolith. That people can see some of the nuances behind some of the sounds.
Africa is the future. You can see all of these institutions investing in the creative economy of Africa. All of these labels setting up their offices and A&Rs looking for the next big thing. It’s just about making sure that as it grows, it can be shared equitably. The continent also has its own problems with nepotism and things being put behind pay walls. It’s set up so that, if you’ve got the money and the resources, then only can you prosper. Hopefully it becomes a little bit more accessible. But in short, I think Africa’s music future is bright.
Outside of radio, how do you engage with music communities both in the continent and diaspora?
I love to teach people how to DJ. Love a DJ workshop! That was also one of the inspirations behind Oroko Radio. I remember going to Ghana and just seeing just all these dudes DJing. I was asking them, ‘where are the women? Why are you always booking the same DJs?’ They were like ‘there aren’t really any DJs to book.’ I literally replied. ‘I’m going to build an army of incredible DJs with the most amazing taste of music and there’s just gonna be no excuse but to book them!’ It’s been dope to see how much that’s grown.
Oroko Radio is part of a group called Creativity Pioneers, a scheme or an initiative run by the Moleskin Foundation. It’s essentially organizations that use creativity as a tool for social change. So alongside Oroko Radio you’ve got Jail Time Records which is a recording studio based in a prison inside of Cameroon. You have people doing circus work in Zambia, theater groups in Ukraine. They’re so inspirational and it’s really reinforced my perception that creativity is actually a tool for social change.
I’m making music slowly but surely as well. Getting over my own hang-ups and insecurities and imposter syndrome with that. But I really enjoy it. I like making film scores and sounds for video. I’m also trying to make club bangers, but that’s a little bit more of a painstaking process!
You travel all over the world also. What are some of the musical lessons you’ve taken from seeing so much of the globe?
I always try to approach my travels with curiosity. I’ve been seeing this discourse on TikTok about British people going to Paris for Fête de la musique and all of these Parisians telling us not to come. What I find funny is that I think I can relate to the Parisians. I’ve noticed sometimes, particularly with British people, that they travel to places and engage with music or culture in an insular way. It doesn’t really come from this place of curiosity of wanting to make friends with locals. I want to engage with people in that way and immerse myself in the local scene. When I’m in Brazil, I’m with all of my Brazilian friends. When I’m in Lagos, I’m with my Nigerian friends.
Then there’s travelling and hearing the same threads that run through music. Like going to Brazil, hearing a song and being like, ‘I definitely heard that in some Nigerian churches.’ But it’s evolved and sped up into Brazilian Funk. Just seeing how all these forms of black self-expression have evolved has been really dope. Sometimes I get calls to go to the wildest places. Last year I got to go to Kazakhstan for the first time and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Being able to tour in China, Taiwan. Hopefully I’ll be going to Colombia in October as well. Just seeing where music takes me and approaching it from a perspective of curiosity, open-mindedness, and a willingness to learn.
What do you wish you knew about DJing before you started?
I wish I knew how much it would potentially change my relationship with music. When I came into DJing, I had a really pure love for all types of music. But when you’re a DJ people try to put you in a box where you only play one sound and should be packaged a certain way. That isn’t really authentic to how I consume music. I try to maintain that authenticity and also that love for music as much as I can. A lot of the ways that I can reconcile with that is definitely through radio and carving out opportunities to just play for myself.
I wish I knew how much I would travel! Not to sound ungrateful, it’s a really amazing thing to be able to see the world through music. Sometimes it feels like a bit of a cheat code. You’re going to pay me to come to your country, put me up in a hotel, and I’m not even playing my own music?!
But at the same time, I do think the DJ lifestyle is really glamorized. A lot of the pitfalls of it aren’t really highlighted. Like chronic sleep deprivation; I’ve had loads of health problems just because my circadian rhythm is non-existent anymore. I’m a morning person and I also like to sleep. So doing stuff like four flights in seven days, going straight from a club to an airport isn’t a sustainable way of DJing. I’m trying to think about ways of scaling it down. Or doing it in a way that is a healthier lifestyle and more engaging for me.
I wish I knew how many amazing people I would meet and that I would find my community through DJing. Maybe being a bit alternative growing up, I had many different influences and didn’t necessarily find my space. Being able to find that in music through community all around the world has been such a blessing.
“I’m going to build an army of incredible female DJs with the most amazing taste of music and there’s just gonna be no excuse but to book them!”
What are some of your favorite things to play when you’re doing a set or radio show?
On my radio show I always go for Jungle and Drum & Bass. I would love to play them more in the club. But I think it’s really sad when people don’t know how to move to it! I also love garage and mix the boundaries between House and Speed Garage quite a lot. A lot of music from EC2A, a really dope label from Bristol, with a lot of Bass and House elements. Even Dancehall and Bunyon, love playing those.
I love Soulful House with a diva vocal, a little bit of syncopation. I used to love playing Funky House and still think that UK funky is the perfect genre. You’re basically sitting at the intersection of a lot of different places. You can hear Classic House, Garage House and so many things. I also really love music that inspires participation. So anything that kind of brings that element out in people, I’m always down to play.
How do you get yourself ready for a mix or event?
I like to be a little bit by myself, get a little nap in if I can. I like to listen to music while I’m getting ready, listening to the set that I’m going to play while doing my makeup, choosing outfits. It’s basically the calm before the storm, time to get into the zone. Putting on a persona and then stepping out into the world to deliver.
Tell us about Oroko Radio’s experience on Mixcloud. How has it factored into the station’s journey?
Mixcloud has really helped us with maintaining this sonic archive of what our residents are doing. The platform that’s integrated into our website so when people hit play to listen back to a radio show, it’s automatically playing off of Mixcloud. So there’s this amazing integration that’s essentially at the foundation of the station. It’s really important to maintain some sort of sonic archive and pay homage to the tradition of storytelling in the way that our ancestors used to do it, but just in a modernized way. Mixcloud is what facilitates that.
What would you say are some of the proudest moments of your career so far?
For me definitely seeing some of the people that I taught how to DJ start to do their first international gigs and really body their mixes. They’re keeping me on my toes, they’re a little too sick! But I think I love teaching people how to DJ more than I love DJing itself so that’s been incredible to see. Being able to tour in China was definitely a career highlight. Going to Kazakhstan and seeing all of the reactions to what I played. Being able to kind of participate in really iconic festivals such as Dweller Festival in New York during Black History Month. Beneath the Baobabs in Kenya. Putting together my own festival with Oroko Radio and Vibrate Space.
In 2019, I got to play to a crowd of 100,000 people on national television to celebrate the fall of the 30th anniversary of the Berlin Wall. That was mad having the adrenaline rush of not only just playing to the crowd of that size, but having them go off to my set. The ego was strong after that one, I can’t lie!
What’s next on the agenda for you?
This documentary just came out and it’s kind of weird to have something that you’ve worked on for so long be released for the world to see. There’s some amazing content in there. I got to interview Moodymann and that’s also a career highlight, being able to talk to such a legend in his house. I would definitely love to explore making more documentaries on music history and culture I see from my travels and the connection with communities. So many amazing stories and so much amazing history that really deserves to be documented and shared, so I would love to do more of that.
We’re seeking a little bit more stability for Oroko Radio in trying to take it to the next stage. If we can kind of get the kind of financial stability that we need to keep things going, that can allow us to deliver on the possibilities for the station. Stuff like evolving into a label or a booking agency or everything in between to help accelerate. And hopefully I can rest! One of my big learnings is that if I don’t take rest, my body will take me out of commission and force me to rest. I think it also kind of helps me maintain the love of what I do, so I’m going to embrace resting as much as I can!
