Elsy Wameyo to headline Kilele Summit 2025 in Nairobi
Born in Nairobi, Elsy migrated with her family to Adelaide, South Australia at a young age causing her to experience displacement and unease
Kenyan-Australian music superstar Elsy Wameyo will be headlining at the second edition of the Kilele Summit in Nairobi, which will be taking place from February 18-22, 2025, at The Mall, Westlands.
This year, Kilele is diving deep into the thematic areas of music and ecology, decolonising, instrument design and building communities through sound and music culture. Attendees can expect a line-up of workshops, panels, talks, installations, showcases, parties, screenings, and more.
Elsy’s debut album Saint Sinner (2024), crafted in Kenya, has been making waves internationally. This 13-track album features collaborations with acclaimed writers and producers including Wuod Omollo, Fancy Fingers (Sauti Sol) and Ywaya Tajiri.
It explores themes of self-empowerment, identity and belonging, drawing inspiration from Elsy’s experience navigating between two cultures—Kenya and Australia—and the struggles of young adulthood.
“I am not a saint nor a sinner. I am a child yearning to perfect and mimic my father’s glory as I continuously fall short. Still, I courageously and resiliently get back up to fight. I understand that evil is within me. It is my nature, though I sit and walk beside the king. He shields me from the storm and wraps me in His arms. Refined by the fire and set apart for greatness. Lord, it is I, Saint Sinner,” Elsy says on the album.
Elsy toured across 15 cities in 2024 to celebrate Saint Sinner. She now returns home to Nairobi for her first performance of 2025 at the Kilele Summit showcase. Following Kilele, she will take on Australia once again in the month of March on “mission export 254”.
She will be embarking on a major Australian tour performing at some of Australia’s biggest festivals including WOMADelaide, Port Fairy Folk Festival and Brunswick Music Festival, with her Kenyan band.
The singer, rapper and producer’s journey has earned her international recognition, with early praise from artistes such as Tierra Whack and Tyler the Creator. Her Nilotic EP (2022) marked a major breakthrough in her career, establishing her as a force to reckon with in the music industry.
Born in Nairobi, Elsy migrated with her family to Adelaide, South Australia at a young age causing her to experience displacement and unease. Describing her “safe place” as the music room at school, young Elsy developed a love for the craft as a way to express herself, but connect with a sense of identity that would flourish into her artistry in later years.
Her father took her to a local music studio in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, Northern Sound System (NSS), where the teenage Elsy became a go-to singer for the community of musicians and rappers.
Elsy’s early releases were impactful, with singles like Outcast (2019) capturing the attention of Australian industry. In a short period of time, she cut her teeth as a spirited performer alongside the likes of Sampa The Great and Aminé, as well as earning early co-signs from international artistes such as Tierra Whack and Tyler the Creator.
In 2022, she released her long-awaited debut EP, Nilotic, a self-produced six-track fusion of soul-infused hip-hop and alt-R&B. The EP was a moment of arrival that took home six awards at the South Australia Music Awards for Best Studio Engineer/Producer, Music Video, Song, Solo Artiste, and Release of the Year. She capped off the year with the Triple J Unearthed Artiste of the Year accolade.
