As a DJ, Coco Em has been a staple the Kenyan scene and recently also debuted as a producer on the KMRU-curated Place: Nairobi compilation for Air Texture's Place sublabel. There's more coming, though: 2022 will see the release of her debut EP Kilumi for the French Infiné label, a first taste of which you can get in Coco Em's mix for our Groove podcast. It's a multi-faceted set that blends amapiano and afrohouse rhythms with slow-burning techno and much, much more.
The last two years have been a journey of self actualization and discovery. I had big plans at the start of 2020 for a European tour, which I felt would mark the "beginning" of my professional career as an international DJ. When all that was canceled because of the pandemic I was crushed. To top it off I lost my booking agent and so I felt like I was back to square one with my career. I decided to focus my energy on music production and it has been the best decision I've made. I managed to write and complete a full 7 track EP called Kilumi with great support from Santuri EA and a group of amazing Kenyan artists; namely Labdi, Janice Iche, Sisian, Kasiva, MC Sharon and Wuod Baba. I feel like the pandemic was a double-edged sword. I lost opportunities to tour as a DJ, but I got the time I wanted to take to complete music of my own and to improve my production skills as well as make valuable connections with the music community in my city.