Kima Otung
Opening the main stage for this year's festival is the incredible Kima Otung. Kima Otung is an independent, Welsh-Nigerian Pop / R&B music artist. In 2022 she was showcased at The FIFA World Cup 2022 after being selected by the UK Government to represent UK music at the global event. She was showcased as the “Best of British”, alongside the likes of Basement Jaxx, Jo Malone CBE and Nadiya Hussain. Recently, Google Arts & Culture and TRENCH listed her among the 10 Future Leaders in Black British Music and Culture.
In 2023, Kima headlined Budweiser’s BRIT Awards showcase on their billboard stage, and she performed at BAFTA. Kima has performed live sets on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Horizons, shows at the VIP Stage at Wembley Stadium and The Ballroom at The O2 Arena, and she has wowed crowds with her performances at festivals across the UK.
Kima’s mission with her music is to help women realise their greatness and to be the voice in every woman and girl’s ear telling them ‘you’ve got this’. She encourages women and girls to ‘be delusional’ when it comes to their self-belief. Her music has been featured multiple times on ITV’s hit shows Love Island and This Morning, BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, the premiere of “Step Up” on Hulu as well as shows on MTV, Amazon Prime, Channel 4, BT Sports and Sky.
Kima has worked on several projects at Abbey Road Studios with the likes of Michael Gracey, the director of Hollywood musical “The Greatest Showman” who describes her as “stupidly talented”. She has been interviewed live on Sky News, BBC Radio London and BBC Radio Wales as a result of her rise as a standout artist in her genre. In January 2021, Kima was awarded the PRS Women Make Music award, and this year she was awarded the PRS Momentum award as a result of the success of her debut EP. She has been written about in Wonderland, Google Arts & Culture, Metro, Refinery29, BBC News, Wales Online, Black Ballad, The Gulf Times, ASBO Magazine, Wordplay Magazine, Culture Custodian, Mixtape Madness, Buzz Mag, Music Insider and many more.
Her love for music was cultivated when she was accepted as the youngest member of the Welsh National Youth Opera at 14 years old. Classical music, along with gospel music and Motown (which was the soundtrack to her childhood) still influence her sound to this day. Kima is a multi-instrumentalist and plays the piano, drums and guitar.
Kima is also the co-founder of Insidr Music, the ‘Spotify-meets-Patreon’ music streaming app which pays artists 4000% more than other streaming platforms. Insidr is live and has received incredible support from the music industry.
Performing on Friday
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