Kallemi formed in 2018 as a cultural exchange project that gave them ten days to prepare for their first show, at Kaserne Basel. Since then, Jasmin Albash, La Nefera, Rasha Nahas, and Maysa Daw, each an accomplished musician in her own right, have continued to craft a sound born of their unique collaboration across languages, histories, cultures, genres and time-zones. They have now released their debut EP, Viajeras, and each of its six tracks seems carefully designed to grab your heart and soul, give them a good shake, and then let you sit back and ponder home, migration, and cultural collaboration—only to stir it all up again with a powerful rap, a hook, a layered harmony.
The group’s collaboration began at the Palestine Music Expo in Ramallah, and ¾ of the band have Palestinian roots. La Nefera hails from the Dominican Republic. They have cast their branches across Europe, in Germany and Switzerland. Kallemi is Arabic for speak, when it’s a female person speaking. Viejeras is Spanish for those traveling while female. In those two languages, plus English, with visceral hip-hop, velvety soul, and rocking beats, Kallemi’s songs give voice and music to the experience of leaving and finding homes, of displacement and belonging.
‘Where is Your Home’ leads off the EP with just that question, hauntingly asked. It finds the answer in self-confidence and community, rhyme, and understated but refined percussion. It comes with an excellent music video:
The rest of the album continues Kallemi’s exploration of what it means to be displaced, to journey, to engage with your own and your family’s history and to settle anew, if not forever. La Nafera’s raps feature in almost every track, but shine in ‘Fuego’, her showcase. But every band member demonstrates both virtuosity and collaborative technique, taking turns in the spotlight and weaving a balanced tapestry of the sort only possible with a wealth of diverse threads.
You can follow Kallemi on Instagram and on their website