Punk energy, afro rhythms, electronics and incredible style: that’s duo Tshegue in a nutshell. Based in Paris, Faty Sy Savanet and Nicolas ‘Dakou’ Dacunha, the artists behind Tshegue, have international roots. Faty lived in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, until she moved to France aged 8 and Dakou is French-Cuban - so it’s little wonder that their genre-fluid music has flavours from all around the world. You can hear it all in their first two EPs, 2017’s Survivor and 2019’s Telema from 2019 with which they made their name. 

But Kinshasa is their most obvious influence: their band name is a Lingala slang word for boys who loiter in streets, as well as being Faty’s own childhood nickname, and their music interlaces the language and urgent percussion of Africa’s largest city. The resulting songs have all the intensity of a grimy punk club and an irresistible danceability. Kinshasa’s musical tradition, though, lies in fanfare. So with the Dazed100 grant, the duo would plan to bring together a 20-strong troupe of street brass players to create something that marries Congolese culture with European sounds. Rght now, they are working on their first album and raring to get back out on the road - by all accounts, the duo are electric on stage. These won’t be shows to be missed.

Text Kate Solomon