Multi-platform artist Ulenni Okandlovu is set to premier the Take Over The City Live! (TOTC LIVE!) concert which will be headlined by himself alongside his newly launched live project Southern Hemis Co., with powerful guest performances by Kyla Blac and Tinofireyi Zhou. The event will be held on July 13th at Moongate Restaurant in Belgravia, Harare.
This immersive experience is the first of its kind and a new platform that is dedicated to promoting alternative and experimental sounds while offering music and art enthusiasts unforgettable memories.
“This is about putting the artist and audience first,” said Ulenni, an acclaimed culture curator and fashion innovator. “From the best sound equipment and engineers to a carefully curated venue and atmosphere every detail is designed to offer an unforgettable experience rooted in creativity, connection, and quality performance.”
The inaugural edition of TOTC LIVE! will also mark the official debut of Southern Hemis Co., Ulenni’s new rotating-band project.
“I’m super excited to launch TOTC LIVE! and Southern Hemis Co. at the same time. It’s something I’ve been working on over the past year, and we’re currently in studio with some incredibly talented artists who will form part of the Southern Hemis Co. collective,” be remarked.
Southern Hemis Co. collaborates with various artists who feature as part of a project-based band. If you have grown accustomed to Ulenni, you know that show day always comes with surprises especially when it comes to who makes up Southern Hemis Co. Ulenni remains one of those artists who rarely reveals much beforehand and instead urges you to come with one mindset of expect the unexpected.
“The audience will find out on stage on who will be performing with me at the TOTC Live! All I can say is the team I have is amazing and we in the studio rehearsing. It’s going great.”
With the event almost near, preparations are gathering momentum. “The preparations are going good; I’m in the studio with the band cooking.”
The multi-faceted artist released Wolf of Samora last year, a tape which he never got to perform, and TOTC presents an opportunity for the audience to see him perform live along with new songs set to be heard for the first time at TOTC.
“Yes, we will perform some songs from Wolf of Samora. I am super excited about that because we made love versions of them. I will also be performing a lot of songs from around 2018 -2025 and some new unreleased songs,” Ulenni said.
The team is going easy on the lineup for a good reason, as it is not just artistry but more of growth and sustainability: “We’re planning a series of TOTC Live! events in the near future, so we want to pace ourselves and make sure we can pay everyone fairly.”
In an industry where exposure is often offered as currency, TOTC goes the route of offering something different and unique. With Ulenni being the co-founder and lead vocalist of the internationally touring Zimbabwean band Bantu Spaceship and also serving as the creative director and founder of Skeyi and Strobo Fabrik Party, a cultural platform known for genre defying artistic experiences, this event comes as one of the crowning points in his artistic journey. And it shows how Ulenni is hands-on when it comes to carving the artistic trajectory he desires and envisions.
“We are super excited,” Ulenni noted. “It’s a whole new experience and experiment. I love curating events and spaces, and giving people unforgettable experiences and this is one of them.”
Kyla Blac and Tinofireyi Zhou are the only two expected guest artists going to perform at TOTC. With these two guest artists part of the event you would ask yourself why only two? Ulenni shared, “It’s for a curated experience it’s not a gala, just want people to have enough to digest at a time, we planning to do a series of TOTC Live! in the near future so we want to go easy on the line up and also make sure we have capacity to pay everyone. From the venue, to the vibe, to the music and everything is crafted with care and bold vision.” So, be prepared for this awesome experience.
