Soga Music

Soga music is the traditional music of the Basoga people of the Busoga kingdom in eastern Uganda, centred on the embaire, a giant log xylophone of fifteen to twenty-five wooden keys laid over a resonating pit and played by up to eight musicians at once. Interlocking triplet figures, call-and-response singing in Lusoga, shakers and drums build a dense, hypnotic communal sound for ceremonies, dances and gatherings. One of the last surviving village troupes, the *Nakibembe Embaire Group*, carried the tradition to international attention with its self-titled debut album of 2023 on #Nyege Nyege Tapes#; the bigwala gourd-trumpet music of the same kingdom belongs to the same heritage.