Everyone wants to be pop with Faizal Mostrixx, Afrorack, Grove and Kaya Byinshii

Faizal Mostrixx, Afrorack, Grove and Kaya Byinshii discuss pop music, musical cultures and the aftermath of live performance.

Ugandan producer, dancer and choreographer Faizal Mostrixx was surrounded by music and dancing as a child and began his working life as a professional dancer, before deciding to focus on his other love, sound. After putting out EPs in 2019 and 2022, this year he released his debut full length album Mutations on the Glitterbeat label – an Afrofuturist manifesto from Uganda.

Bristol-based producer and vocalist Grove draws on everything from dancehall and dub to hip hop and dance. Their latest album P*W*R PL*Y came out this year.

Afrorack is a Ugandan musician who built Africa’s first DIY modular synthesizer. Learning electronics and constructing an instrument that would have been impossible to buy in Uganda, he released his debut album in 2022, bringing together the first recordings with his new machine – a wonderful sound melding acid, techno, and African musicality.

Born and raised in Rwanda, Kaya Byinshii strongly believes in the spiritual power of music. She released her debut EP Nyabyinshi in 2020 and her first full length album, Ukwiyuburura, in 2022.