Afropolitan festival: STACE — Kolinga

About the Event

Enjoy two concerts at the beginning of the
Afropolitan Festival

20:00‐20:45
STACE
Brussels‐based singer STACE, an up‐and‐coming talent from the neo‐soul scene, released her first self‐produced songs in late 2021. Less than a year later, her debut EP, Green Onyx, acclaimed by the press, was released, with which she played more than 60 concerts throughout Belgium — from Dour Festival, Couleur Café, Ancienne Belgique to Les Nuits Botanique and many more. Soulful, sensual, and epicurean, her new EP bridges the gap between extreme emotions. In harmony, able to tame her melancholy, the composer with Martinican roots casts a glance of light through sunny, ultra‐contemplative melodies, observing time with a heightened sense of empathy and an innate sense of interpretation.

STACE: guitar , vocals
Louise van den Heuvel: bass
Lou Wéry: keyboard , piano
NN: drums

21:15
-
22:30
Kolinga
Kolinga is a musical journey drawing from countless sources, skillfully explored. Rébecca M’Boungou, the French Congolese singer‐songwriter behind the Kolinga project, sings about her life as a mixed‐race woman and delves into the beauty and upheavals of a multifaceted identity. The lyrics, in French, Lingala, or English, reflect her diverse heritage, as does her music, blending influences from soul, jazz, rumba, and hip‐hop. Initially a duo, Kolinga expanded into a sextet in 2018, driven by the desire to say more, louder, and to go further. Created by Rébecca and guitarist Arnaud Estor in 2014, Kolinga has continually touched hearts and minds—from their first album Earthquake (2017) to their latest release, Legacy, in September 2022, after hundreds of concerts.

Rébecca M’Boungou: guitar , keyboard , vocals
Jérôme Martineau Ricotti: choir , drums
Joël Riffard: electric guitar
Johary Rakotondramasy: bass
Jérémie Poirier‐Quinot: choir, keyboard, traverse flute
Vianney Desplantes: choir, euphonium, flugabone