ONIPA (UK / Ghana)

Onipa is the fiery collaboration between some of the heaviest players on the vibrant, genre crossing UK scene at the moment. It was born out of collaboration between two long-time friends: The rapper K.O.G. (Kweku Sackey) from Ghana and the eclectic producer Tom Excell (musical director of Nubiyan Twist). When they join forces, sounds from Ghana, London and beyond meet.

Their debut album, We No Be Machine was released in March 2020 via Strut Records. The record combined deep afro grooves, electronics and fierce energy. This release was followed up in September 2021 with Tapes Of Utopia, a mixtape full of dancefloor fire released on Boomerang Records. This year, Off the Grid drops - a journey that combines dance rhythms from Africa to electronic dance music of today's clubs and festivals, connecting African folklore and storytelling to rap, jazz and hip hop. It will be released on Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records, and features collaborators such as Moonchild Sanelly, David Walters, Dele Sosimi and Theon Cross.

The 5-piece live show features K.O.G. on vocals, balafon and percussion, Tom on guitar, percussion and electronics, Dwayne Kilvington (Wonky Logic) on synths and MPC and Finn Booth (Nubiyan Twist) on drums. Onipa have already played major live shows including The Great Escape, Eurosonic, Glastonbury and the virtual edition of SXSW 2021. They will be performing their very first show in Norway during this year's Oslo World, before they head even further north - to Tromsø World.