Azawi shines bright at Sankofa album launch

Last Friday was one to remember for Azawi fans that attended her Sankofa show at the Kampala Serena hotel.

The event was a true definition of collaboration and creativity. The stage, sound, lighting, and band were all on point during Azawi’s second concert in celebration of her recently released album, Sankofa.

The dress code was Ankara, but when have Ugandans ever followed the rules! Everyone dressed as they saw fit. The show kicked off with melodic performances from new talents such as Carsten and Hudson, who also doubled as Azawi’s backup singers, as well as Swangz Avenue’s own Zafaran.

At exactly 9pm, Azawi stepped on stage with a spoken word intro amid cheers from the packed Victoria hall. She kicked off her performance with Champion from Africa, the first song off her new album.

She performed a mix of new and old songs and for an album released just two weeks ago, the audience already seemed familiar with every song. But the biggest surprise of the night was when female rapper Keko who has just returned to Uganda after almost a decade in Canada, joined Azawi on stage to perform her hit song This How We Do It.

The ululations from the crowd at one point drowned out the two artistes on stage. It was a befitting welcome home for Keko. Azawi was later joined on stage by fellow Swangz Avenue artiste Elijah Kitaka for a mellow performance of their collaboration Harder.

She then left the stage leaving Kitaka to perform more of his songs. Azawi then came back on stage and clearly, she saved the best for last performing her most popular songs that left no one in their chairs.

These included Bamutute, Party Mood, Repeat It, Majje where she was joined by Fik Fameica, and closed off the show with a solo performance of her recent collaboration with Jamaica’s Konshens, Summer Bae.

The show ended a few minutes after 11 pm as Azawi rushed to the airport to catch her flight to Kigali, Rwanda for the Trace Music Awards which were happening the following day (Saturday).

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