Singer/Songwriter
Senegal
Kya Loum
About Kya Loum
Hometown
Dakar, Senegal
Genre
Singer/Songwriter
Senegalese musician Kya Loum is recognized for her warm and agile, jazz-inflected neo-soul style -- both as a vocalist and a guitarist. Also drawing on blues, rock, and Senegalese music, she has collaborated with artists including Thione Seck.
Inspired by singers Aretha Franklin and Myriam Makeba in her youth, Kya Loum (born Rokhaya Loum) emerged from the music scene of Dakar in the early 2010s. In 2013, she appeared on three songs on the Henguilla album Dadje, including "Crazy," a collaboration with Bouba Kirikou. She and Kirikou entered the French TV competition Music Explorer, les Chasseurs de Sons, a showcase for international music, in 2014. Loum won several rounds in Senegal before taking the title in Paris that June.
While continuing to build a reputation for her live performances, her song "Sama Lamp" arrived on the TME label in early 2017. That year, U.K. chart-topper Joss Stone joined Loum in Senegal for a taped performance of a song that Stone shared with fans on social media. Loum was later featured on legendary Senegalese singer Thione Seck's song "Tu Seras," released in 2020. ~ Marcy Donelson
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