FAR Fest Afrika Reykjavík Festival

Sousou & Maher Cissoko.

Here are the award-winning duo of Senegalese and Swedish origin who erase borders with their music in the same way as in their lives together. The driving force of this amazing duo is first and foremost to bring people and music together where everything comes alive. Maher was born to play the Kora and Sousou is one of the very few female musicians in the world who plays the Kora.

Sousou & Maher Cissoko, both from the south, on the one hand in southern Sweden and on the other in southern Senegal, is one of the most popular folk bands in Sweden. They have toured and have traveled widely, to Canada, the United States, Africa, Asia and many countries in Europe. Sousou and Maher have performed at jazz festivals, folk festivals, city and town festivals around the world, in concert halls, music clubs and schools, because their music is for everyone regardless of age, region or cultural background.

Sousou and Maher have enjoyed a following in Sweden, where both Swedish television and Swedish public radio have made documentaries about them. Funnily enough, when the great musician Youssou N’dour received the Polar Music Prize, Sousou and Maher performed in his honor, performing two of N’dour’s songs in collaboration with Swedish hip hop star group Timbuktu, in such an inspired and beautiful way that N’dour shed tears.

Sousou and Maher both grew up in musical families and it was their passion for the West African instrument Kora that brought them together, but Kora playing has a strong connection to “tone poetry” where the Kora instrument lends the story in the form of wings of tones, in the same way that we know the music of troubadours. In this beautiful way, the Kora instrument connects with cultural heritage, storytelling and folk music, thus evolving and finding new paths with each storyteller. In the hands and interpretation of Sousou and Maher, excellent Kora playing, soulful singing mixed with powerful and swinging rhythms, with references to reggae music, folk music, soul music and Jazz, flow together.

As is customary in the culture of the Cissoko family, the great storytelling family from West Africa, each song and each song contains an important message, about joining hands, anywhere in the world, in any situation in the world, and create connections, fostering communication and cooperation instead of barriers and inhibiting borders between people and nations. The duo Sousou and Maher emphasize this in their music, including by singing in five languages.

The music of Sousou and Maher Cissoko connects people, regardless of origin, through their storytelling music and their Kora playing, which becomes a bridge between borders and inspires others to do the same, in the same way that their relationship and marriage do in their own lives, where the idea of separation is erased and they unite in it humanly, where their music becomes life together with fellow travelers from all over the world whom they meet on their musical journeys: ,,We are constantly working to find and develop our musical interpretation, our musical creation, to open our hearts and then constantly work to find the essence of our own voice. Times are changing and we live in a contemporary global society, where we are becoming more and more aware of that everyone and everything is connected, constantly. We want to continue to give of ourselves in this way, to help people experience this common connection through music, that people experience through music the hope, the joy that we are here together and all the love that is truly there and that we feel and experience all over the world.”

Matata.

The magnificent MATATA music group will be present at FAR Fest Afríka Reykjavík 2025 which is a unique opportunity to enjoy and we urge you not to miss it.

MATATA is a Kenyan-Norwegian song and dance group consisting of Norwegian musicians of Kenyan origin. The MATATA group performs their own music which is known for its vibrant blend of Gengetone, Afro-beat and hip-hop, which has been a hit, not only in the Nordic countries but around the world, with music lovers of all ages.

MATATA’s star has risen rapidly and widely in recent years, with MATATA having had songs topping charts around the world, they were nominated and won the MTV Mama Award in 2020, and won awards for both “Best Group Video of the Year” and “Best Choreography of the Year” at the Pulse Music Video Awards.

MATATA – the group was formed in 2016 and has been working ever since to a good reputation with rising popularity. MATATA immediately stamped themselves on the music scene and are known for their own style, a vibrant blend of Gengetone, Afrobeat and hip-hop characterized by a magical rhythm that leaves no one untouched, thumping fusion music with choreography where the audience can’t help but be impressed with the lyrics which are mostly in Sheng and Kikuyu.

MATATA has made a name for itself with songs like “Inakudonato”, “Kata” which won Best Choreography and “Gengetone Love” which won Best Music Video.

MATATA released the EP, but the lead song of the album “Pombe na Kizungu Mingi” was soon the summer song of the year. It can be said that the music group then hit the road with the release of their album “Super morio, in 2022, which ended up on the charts. Recently, MATATA released the song “Mpishi” which was a hit and has been in first place on the charts in numerous media, including in Kenya and which has received millions of plays on YouTube.

MATATA has performed widely at music festivals, small and large and up to tens of thousands of festivals. It has been heard that the MATATA group is now working on new material that they plan to release in August 2025, and the story goes that it may include their very best material so far, so MATATA fans can expect a musical feast from those companies.

18 year old age limit