Sponsored by KNKX. Kokoroko first formed in 2014 when Sheila Maurice-Grey (trumpet/flugelhorn/vocals) and Onome Edgeworth (percussion) met on an arts trip in Kenya, bonding over their shared tastes in music. A desire to connect young people in the African diaspora with genres like Afrobeat and Highlife would also fuel the band’s genesis. Before long they were playing gigs, riding a wave of the then nascent “London jazz scene”. In 2018, their breakthrough was secured when the sparse ‘Abusey Junction’ was included on Gilles Peterson’s ‘We Out Here’ compilation. An understated 7 minute ballad recorded in an afternoon, it quickly became a viral hit racking up 75 million streams.

The next few years were spent touring extensively, work-shopping their music and perfecting their sound. In 2019 they self-released their debut EP in 2019, selling over 20,000 copies on vinyl, before having its momentum halted by the pandemic. In 2022, after much heightened anticipation, and with the help of producer Miles James (Little Simz, Yussef Dayes, Tom Misch), they released their debut album ‘Could We Be More’.

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