Somi (singer)

Laura Kabasomi Kakoma (born on June 6, 1981), known professionally as Somi or Somi Kakoma, is a Grammy-nominated American-born singer, songwriter, playwright, and actress of Rwandan and Ugandan descent. Somi is the first African woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award in a Jazz category. She is also the first Rwandan or Ugandan to ever be nominated for a Grammy. She is also the first East African actor to perform on Broadway.

Early life and education

Somi was born in Champaign, Illinois, while her father was completing post-doctoral studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. When Somi was three years old, her family moved to Ndola, Zambia, while her father worked for the World Health Organization. In the late 1980s when her father became a professor at the University of Illinois, they returned to Champaign, where Somi attended both University Laboratory High School and Champaign Central High School. She earned her undergraduate degrees in Anthropology and African Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. She also holds a Master's degree from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in Performance Studies and obtained her PhD at Harvard University’s Department of Music in Creative Practice and Critical Inquiry.

Career

In 2007, she licensed her independently recorded album Red Soil in My Eyes to the Harmonia Mundi/World Village label for her first international distribution deal.