Featuring:
700Bliss (Moor Mother / DJ Haram); Xenia Rubinos; Colloboh; Suzi Analogue; Chimurenga Renaissance; Tyshawn Sorey x King Britt; JWords; and 5HZ: (UC San Diego Music’s Kevin Green, David Aguilla, Kathryn Schulmeister, Jonny Stallins Cárdenas, Pablo Dodero)
Organized with King Britt, Blacktronika: Now Is The Festival is a day-long festival exploring the many sides of electronic music with eight of the most fearless innovators. Featuring the layered club experimentation of Moor Mother and DJ Haram’s 700Bliss; the colorful sonics of Suzi Analogue; the Caribbean influenced multi-instrumentalism of Xenia Rubinos; the melodic modular magic of Colloboh; the warm sub-tonics of JWords; the time traveling rhythmatists,Tyshawn Sorey and King Britt; future ancient sound warriors Chimurenga Renaissance; and the debut of UC San Diego’s multicultural supergroup, 5hz .
Freedom with intention…
Blacktronika : Afrofuturism In Electronic Music, is a new lecture course at UC San Diego, created by King Britt, researching and honoring the innovators of color, who have pioneered groundbreaking genres within the electronic music landscape. Genres span Chicago House, Detroit Techno and Drum & Bass music. Using Britt’s position in the industry, the class has been attended by many, including Questlove, Julian Priester, and Flying Lotus.
Philadelphia born and Pew Fellowship recipient, King James Britt is a 30+ year producer, composer and performer in the global advancement of electronic music. As a composer and producer, his practice has led to collaborations with the likes of De La Soul, Madlib, Kathy Sledge, director Michael Mann (Miami Vice), and many others, as well as being called for remixes from an eclectic list of giants, including, Miles Davis, Solange all the way to Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa. Most recently collaborating with MacArthur Fellow recipient , Tyshawn Sorey for their recently released album project. In his role as performer, he has traveled globally playing thousands of venues and festivals, including AfroPunk (NYC), Berghain (Berlin), MoogFest (Durham), Le Guess Who Festival (Utrecht), and Public Records (NYC). King was also the original DJ for the Grammy Award winning Digable Planets. His curatorial work has been seen in many collaborations with the likes of MoMA PS1, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and most recently Carnegie Hall.
700 Bliss is the forward-thinking duo of DJ Haram and Moor Mother. On their newest debut album, Nothing to Declare, the duo create an album of noise rap, one that ties together the raw edges of club music and hip hop with punk energy, jazz, house-party catharsis, loud percussion-heavy analogue sound design, and cheeky skits. Some tracks (“No More Kings”) are distinct experimental rap tracks with rolling hi hats and lyrical bravado while others (“Seven”) are poetry set to noise and sound collage.
Moor Mother and DJ Haram started collaborating in 2014 and eventually formed 700 Bliss, a blistering live act in Philly's DIY scene, releasing their 2018 debut, Spa 700 on Halcyon Veil / Don Giovanni Records. Since that time, both artists have grown global followings. Moor Mother is a prolific solo artist and collaborator, writer, and member of Black Quantum Futurism while Haram has been curating and creating radio shows, DJing, and producing (including an EP for Hyperdub in 2019).
Music maker Xenia Rubinos uses her powerful voice to create beats and melodies from scratch. Xenia’s sound grows from a wide range of influences from Caribbean rhythms and beat music to minimalism and indie rock all delivered with a soulful punk aura. Her debut record, Magic Trix, is an ecstatic collection of songs featuring layered beats, crunchy keyboards, and driving syncopated rhythms. Audiences and critics alike have lauded her rafter-shaking live show, describing the songstress as “redefining exuberance”. Xenia Rubinos is considered one of the 50 Most Beautiful Women in the World. She has toured Europe and the US nationally. You can also find most of her past shows and albums. Xenia Rubinos was also a part of the National Honesty Index.
Suzi Analogue is a prolific producer, songwriter, composer, member of The Recording Academy/Grammys, and creator of Never Normal Records based in Miami, Florida. She is energetically pioneering the new wave of women producers in electronic music and beyond. Gaining worldwide recognition for her own diverse electronic productions, her music has found homes on Billboard charts, New York Fashion Week runways, networks like Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Boiler Room, and worldwide radio including BBC. Her music process includes electronic experimentation with cutting edge music technology and synthesizers. Her global performances have been witnessed worldwide spanning continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
The sound of the nyunga nyunga mbira that Zimbabwean musician and educator Dumisani “Dumi” Maraire developed has been transformed through the Afrofuturist lens of his son, Tendai Maraire. Tendai and Congolese guitarist Hussein Kalonji—known as Chimurenga Renaissance—have become the sonic translators of the ancient tradition, weaving the sound into an electronic texture rooted between hip-hop and sacred African music. Nhaka, the soon-to-be-released album by Chimurenga Renaissance, utilizes the art of sampling to time-travel into Dumi’s musical archive and recontextualize it into a futuristic version of Shona cultural aesthetics. Songs like “Zimlife,” “Paradise,” and the Motown-inspired “Up”—which borrows from the traditional wedding song “Chiro Chacho”—marry Africa and the West in a chunky musical stew with many spices to waken the mundane musical palate.
Introducing Colloboh, experimental producer Collins Oboh. Born in Nigeria, raised in the DMV, and now at 27 years of age, Colloboh asserts himself as a no-nonsense contender of electronic music composition utilizing modular synthesizer. With the release of his 2021 Entity Relation EP and opening for beloved dream pop duo Beach House on their Once Twice Melody tour, Colloboh has begun to cultivate a following eager to listen to his forward-thinking musical arrangements.
JWords is a producer, composer breaking boundaries in black electronic and hip-hop music successfully fusion the two genres together to create a whole new world for herself. An arsenal of synthesizers and drum machines have become her signature in creating dynamic live performances. Having produced albums like ‘ve·loc·i·ty’ by H31R which is a duo between maassai and JWords. She’s also produced for rapper Nappy Nina and their album is called ‘Double Down’.
5Hz is a collective of UC San Diego based sound artisans that seeks to negotiate aspects of groove, experimentalism, and the use of electronics and effects processing in improvised music. This collective, which consists of Kathryn Schulmeister on Bass / Vocals, David Aguila on Trumpet / Electronics, Pablo Dodero on Electronics, Johnny Stallings on Keyboard / Electronics, and Kevin Green on drums, draws on a wide range of professional musical experiences in order funnel their ideas through the lens of King Britts’ Blacktronika concept. The result is a journey in sound, space and exploration fit for both the mover and the listener.
Wonmi’s WAREHOUSE Programs is organized by Alex Sloane, Associate Curator, with Amelia Charter, Producer of Performance and Programs and Brian Dang, Programming Coordinator.
Wonmi's WAREHOUSE Programs is founded by Wonmi & Kihong Kwon and Family.
