Discover the full BHM x AB programme here.

This event is FREE with no reservation

Black History Month Belgium (BHM) and AB join forces for a month-long celebration of the resilience of the black community, with an opening night on Wednesday 2 February for the whole event in Brussels. This year’s theme is ‘The Power of Assembly’. With this theme in mind, we want to propel this power forward on the opening night by sharing a series of experiences with the audience. We have booked a series of artists with various styles: WAYI, Shaka Shams and Saràh Phenom. We’ve also invited a dance group and a number of traders who will exhibit their wares in our hallway. A night of discovery and exchange.

LINE-UP

K.ZIA is an artist from Brussels who is based in Berlin, and the daughter of the renowned Zap Mama. As a singer, songwriter and composer she has created her own world somewhere in the middle of R&B, Soul, Pop and urban-afro. Her music can be seen as a journey through different cultures and genres. Her artistic expression is a celebration of love and music and embraces her Afro-European roots. These elements pop up in her English-/French-language single ‘Mon Mood’. As they do on her latest solo single ‘I Got Your Back’, in which she sings of the difficult period we are all currently undergoing, with a stunning video to boot. On this single she deals with such topics as depression and loneliness to the accompaniment of a gorgeous lo-fi beat and her gentle voice.

A Liveurope concert:

The first pan-European initiative supporting concert venues in their efforts to promote emerging European music.

WAYI’s BHM show last year had to be cancelled, but she’s back in AB on Wednesday 2 March. WAYI is a singer from Antwerp who is familiar to us at AB as the sister of Sunday Rose. WAYI has even been called the Flemish Béyonce by MNM. At any rate, she has a compelling voice and her songs evoke loving, warm and nostalgic feelings. If you’re not convinced, listen to her most recent singles of the past few years: ‘Chill’, ‘What I Want’ or ‘Mind Mases’. Her songs transport you back to the late ‘90s: that is, the Destiny’s Child era.

Shaka Shams was one of the winners of Sound Track in 2019 and also recently won StuBru’s Nieuwe Lichting with ‘Black Metal Rebel’. In this song, Shaka Shams shows another side with a rock/hip-hop combo that has incredible power. In 2021, he released his first EP: ‘Actions Only Volume 1’. An introduction to his universe, which feels both dark and smooth. Some may already know him from the single ‘Summerfun Freestyle’ on which he works with none other than the Brussels artist Blu Samu. Either way, he is now demonstrating just how versatile Shaka Shams is as an artist/rapper and that he will probably soon outgrow Antwerp.

Bart Kobain creates his own mix of reality and fantasy through his raps. His lyrics do not shy away from dark themes such as addiction, while his (visual) universe overflows with hope.

Porcelain id is the Rwandan Hubert Tuyishime (22) They/them. Moving between poetic and idiosyncratic vocals. Some will recognise inspirations, such as Dan Bejar (Destroyer).

Read more about the BHM x AB 2022 edition here.

More about Black History Month Belgium here.

Picture: Njaheut Gilles Valer.