SOUNDS OF THE NILE (SON)

SOUNDS OF THE NILE (SON) is a multi-dimensional project encompassing film, music, and a festival movement that embarks on a captivating journey along the Nile River. This initiative unfolds the rich tapestry of history, traditions, and diverse sounds inherent to the major tribes dwelling along the course of the Nile. Commencing from its Source in Uganda, the exploration extends through West Nile, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan, and culminates at the delta in Egypt. The primary objective of SON is to preserve, promote, develop, and jubilantly celebrate the profound African cultural heritage embedded within these communities.

Since December 2023, Authentic Voices Africa has produced to music projects from the trip to the source of the Nile to using the archives in the British Library in London.

After 2 weeks of interviews, wisdom cyphers, collections, archivings and recordings of history, drums and vocals from the Busoga culture and Nile River in 2023, Authentic Voices Africa produced their studio album titled Sounds Of The Nile Vol 1 in collaboration with Nile Beats and a collective of artists. This album captivates the history and culture of the Source of River Nile and the Basoga tribe as you listen to the voices of Bujagali (the spiritual leader of the Busoga tribe) and the elder Jajja Walusimbi chants with the indigenous voices and sounds of the tribe fused with Hip Hop and electronic dance music.

Authentic Voices Africa is set to travel for a 2 weeks SON residency in Arua, West Nile Uganda on 18th September 2025 working with the Local government and cultural

organizations that include Lugbara Kari, the official cultural institution, and the

Lugbara Elders Association, a CBO focused on cultural preservation.

We will archive the history of the tribe, the meaning of each sound/instrument, ancient

stories, dances and fashion of the Lugbara. A series of interviews and sound samples

are collected with an interaction between the cultural elders and traditional

percussionists taking us through a journey of the history, meaning and interpretation

of each sound covering the historical shifts of the specific sounds into the modern

urban fusion across the world.