Revealing the full program for Le Guess Who? 2024

Hannah Elsisi presents Chromesthesia

On Saturday, 9 November, British-Egyptian award-winning social and intellectual historian Hannah Elsisi presents Chromesthesia, a 13-hour durational performance. From Rio to Cairo, Miami to Kampala, Chromesthesia tracks Afro-diasporic rhythms and explores the history that undergirds Afro-descendant electronic music.

The popular music of the 21st century is virtually impossible without shared global experiences of migration and displacement due to a.o. war, climate change, economic collapse, and gender violence. Precisely because music needs no permission, it can sound the horn of liberation and chime louder than speech. From Electro-Shaabi to Amapiano, from Raptor House to Reggaeton, the global rhythms of our times archive over a millennium of African and Afro-descendant musicking on the move.

Lamin Fofana

For Le Guess Who? 2024, Hannah Elsisi’s Chromesthesia curation will feature the choreography of Congolese performer Natisa Exocé Kasongo combined with audiovisual design by Dutch maverick Tarik Barri, as well as performances by South Africa’s Sho Madjozi, who seamlessly blends Tsonga, English, and Swahili with genres such as gqom, Afro-pop, and hip-hop; New York R&B vocalist Yaya Bey, who incorporates her Caribbean roots to give odes to her father Ayub Bey (Grand Daddy I.U.); Lamin Fofana, who explores questions of movement, migration, alienation and belonging; DJ Babatr, considered the Godfather of Raptor House, in collaboration with singer Betsayda Machado, who grew up in El Clavo, Venezuela, where the roots of her ancestors–slaves who had freed themselves–still resonate in the music that is made there; and Maurice Louca, one of the most adventurous figures in Egypt’s thriving experimental arts scene.

Lyzza & Nick León

General Program

Joining Le Guess Who?’s general festival line-up are a.o. the premiere of Hadra Immersive, an ancient northern Moroccan ceremony presented by Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra and visual artist Arion de Munck; legendary composer, pianist and flutist Brian Jackson, known for his collaboration with Gil Scott-Heron, and whose music influenced the likes of Common and Kendrick Lamar; UK’s first dub band Creation Rebel, who broke new ground in the late 1970s, and now return to the stage after a 40-year absence with live mix by producer and founder of On-U Sound label Adrian Sherwood; Quebecois singer and guitarist Myriam Gendron, who blends traditional and avant elements of original songs in both English and French; South-London multidisciplinary artist GAIKA who performs together with poet and musician James Massiah.

Brian Jackson

Additionally, the festival will feature Egyptian artist Abyusif, whose departures from conventional musical limitations challenge the boundaries of rap; the world premiere of Peruvian sound artist Ale Hop with Congolese guitarist Titi Bakorta, fusing the pulsating rhythms of reimagined Congolese music with hypnotic guitar riffs and buoyant electronics; the spirited Turkish three-piece Haossaa; South London vocalist and musician Wu-Lu, who weaves hip-hop, rock, and punk (curated by Bo Ningen); Oslo-based collective DNA? AND? consisting of young people with Down syndrome performing improvised music with professional artists; Scientist, one of the most distinctive figures on the Jamaican music scene; an exciting and powerful collaboration between Rotterdam natives Acidic Male’s confessional electronic landscapes and VULVA’s raw expression of doom; American folk artist Tucker Zimmerman, who just released a new album featuring backing from a.o. label mates Big Thief; and a collaboration between producer Abul Mogard (AKA Guido Zen), known for the immersive textures and mesmerizing drones of his compositions, and record producer, composer, and mastering engineer Rafael Anton Irisarri.

Sounds of Places

Sounds of Places is a residency-based sound gathering, initiated by Radio Alhara and commissioned by Wonder Cabinet, that focuses on the sonic aesthetics of place. The first edition took place in 2024 in the Cremisan Valley, one of the last green spaces around the city of Bethlehem, Palestine. Now the artists involved in this residency present their works at Le Guess Who?, featuring Christmas in Mourning, a collaboration between electronic musicians Sary Moussa and Abed Kobeissy, and the Greek Orthodox tenor of the Church of the Nativity, Laurence Sammour; Beirut’s Yara Asmar, who performs a piece based on recordings of her sound installation permanently installed in the vanishing Cremisan Valley; and Faster than light, always, a collaboration between Julmud, an interdisciplinary artist based in Ramallah, Palestine, and Sasha Shadid, a British/Palestinian movement creative.

Christmas in Mourning

A full overview of new program additions can be found below. View the full line-up for Le Guess Who? 2024 via www.leguesswho.com/lineup.

Tickets

Remaining tickets for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday are on sale now; 4-Day Passes and Friday tickets are sold out.

This year, Le Guess Who? also offers separate tickets at a reduced price for specific venues. The following Venue Tickets are available: Touching Bass presents INNA at KABUL à GoGo (Friday, 8 November), Crystallmess presents at BASIS (Friday, 8 November), Hannah Elsisi presents Chromesthesia at KABUL à GoGo (Saturday, 9 November), and Theo Parrish at WAS. (Saturday, 9 November). Tickets are available at www.leguesswho.com/tickets.

New program additions for Le Guess Who? 2024

Hannah Elsisi presents Chromesthesia
3Phaz feat. MSYLMA & KUKII (fka Lafawndah)
Betsayda Machado & DJ Babatr
Chromesthesia Collective y equip
DJ LAG
Jowee Omicil
Lamin Fofana
Lyzza
Maurice Louca Quartet
Natisa Exocé Kasongo
Nick León
Nick León b2b Kelman Duran
Nídia
PÖ
Sho Madjozi
Sonic Interventions
Tarik Barri
Yaya Bey

Sounds of Places
Christmas In Mourning
Faster than light, always
Yara Asmar

curated by Bo Ningen
Wu-Lu

curated by Crystallmess
Florence Sinclair
Waajeed

Touching Bass presents INNA
James Massiah

General Program
Abul Mogard & Rafael Anton Irisarri
Abyusif
Ale & Titi
Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra presents Hadra Immersive
Annie & The Caldwells
Brian Jackson
Chuck Strangers
Couch Slut
Creation Rebel - live mix by Adrian Sherwood
DNA? AND?
Ex-Easter Island Head
GAIKA
GNOD + MC Sissi
Haossaa
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly
Julmud
Kabeaushé
Kayhan Kalhor & Erdal Erzincan
Kelman Duran & FRANKIE
Merope
Myriam Gendron
Nadah El Shazly
Oceanic & Greetje Bijma
Party Dozen
Retro Cassetta
Sandy Chamoun
Sary Moussa presents The Wind, Again
Scientist
Sex Swing
Tucker Zimmerman
VULVA x Acidic Male
Yara Asmar