We Speak Music

Africa Oyé Festival returns to Sefton Park, Liverpool on 22nd & 23rd June 2024!

Published

2 years ago

June 7, 2024

Don Reed

The UK’s biggest celebration of African and Caribbean music and culture will take place at Sefton Park in Liverpool this June with a stellar line-up of live music, DJs, workshops and more.

On 22nd and 23rd June 2024, Africa Oyé will take over one of the region’s most picturesque green spaces in what has become a Liverpool institution since its humble beginnings as a series of city centre gigs in 1992.

Headlining the live music offering this year are Julian Marley – Grammy Award-winning son of Bob – with his band The Uprising, and the creative feminine force of Les Amazones d’Afrique.

Julian Marley is the son of reggae legend Bob Marley and Lucy Pounder. Growing up as a youth in a musical atmosphere, the singer-songwriter, producer and humanitarian quickly adopted a musical lifestyle and at an early age became a skillful, self-taught musician mastering bass, drums, guitar and keyboards. In 2024 Julian won the Grammy Award for the ‘Best Reggae Album’, with his 2023 record ‘Colors of Royal’, making it the14th Grammy win for the Marley family.

Les Amazones d’Afrique is a creative force formed in Bamako, Mali, in 2014 by three Malian music stars and social change activists, Mamani Kéta, Mariam Doumbia and Oumou Sangaré [who headlined Africa Oyé in 2022]. The collective has since expanded to involve many female artists from across Africa and the diaspora, including Angélique Kidjo, Nneka and rising Malian star Rokia Koné. While their cause, campaigning for gender equality and eradicating ancestral violence, is worthy enough in itself, their musical creative expression is equally powerful.

Also featuring on the Main Stage are, Senegalese electronic duo, Def MaMa Def; Tanzanian folk-fusion pioneers, The Zawose Queens; eco-friendly punks, Fulu Miziki, Ghanaian frafra gospel star, Florence Adooni; Afro-Canadian hip hop outfit, Super Duty Tough Work; Congolese rumba royalty, Nyboma; Haitian multilingual poet and MC, Vox Sambou; and West African griot, Batch Gueye.

In addition, young artists from Liverpool will kick off the daily live entertainment as part of Oyé’s ‘Introduces’ and ‘Community’ programmes. Launched in 2015, ‘Oyé Introduces’ sees local artists open the musical programme on both days of the festival – following community performances by cultural organisations from across the city region – giving some of the area’s brightest young talent the chance to share the stage with international stars.

Angolan rapper and songwriter Yilly Ruel and his band Rax Vibes performs a unique fusion of Hip Hop/Rap and Angolan rhythms, captivating audiences with his exhilarating sound, whilst Fraya Ofoeme is an aspiring singer-songwriter who has been singing since she was 4 years old.

For full line up and full details visit- www.africaoye.com

We Speak Music

Naomi Aguilera casts her spell with her new single BB ILY

Published

2 hours ago

October 16, 2026

Morgan

Two years ago, Naomi Aguilera walked onto my radar with EGO, an infectious soulful pop debut that made it impossible not to move. Fast forward to her debut EP Mosaïques, and it was clear she wasn’t just passing through. Personal, colorful, rooted in her Spanish heritage & Brussels upbringing, it even earned her a spot as Apple Music Benelux’s Up Next artist!

Now she’s back with BB ILY, marking the start of a new era. The bilingual single — French and English — is built around one of the most universal human experiences: that special connection that doesn’t need translation. Where EGO invited you to forget your ex on the dancefloor, BB ILY pulls you somewhere more intimate: with sultry beats courtesy of Turana, it’s a dance where gestures, whispers, sighs and the sound of a voice matters more than the words that come out of it… It’s sensual, a little mystical, and entirely her own.

First taste of Naomi Aguilera’s upcoming project Ojalá, due in 2027, it feels effortlessly catchy. This is the kind of track that casts its spell quietly, with interesting and unexpected rhythmic shifts in the verses, and a delicious chorus that lodges itself in your head before you even notice. By the time you do, it’s too late. But you won’t find me complaining about it!