In her 2020 interview with DJ Mag, Juba described the importance of dancing to her expression as a DJ. “I dance behind the decks, and want people to dance very hard when they listen to me play,” she said at the time. It’s an ethos captured in her contribution to the Selections series, in which the Berlin-based, British-Nigerian DJ spotlights energetic dance sounds from across the globe. From the bright, bouncing gqom and amapiano sounds of Griffit Vigo, Gafacci and Gina Jeanz, to the fierce Brazilian grime of TONCALi & AKA AFK, each track here is an irresistible invitation to the dancefloor.
Also featured in Juba’s Selections are tracks by guests in her Assurance podcast, which launched earlier in the year with the intention of celebrating women and non-binary DJs across the Global South. Series 1 of the podcast featured interviews with Nyege Nyege’s Kampire (Kampala, Uganda), Badsista (São Paulo, Brazil), Risa Taniguchi (Tokyo, Japan), Liliane Chlela (Montréal-via-Lebanon), Zeina (Cairo, Egypt) and Valesuchi (Chile). Series 2 will kick off on 13th September, and will see Juba interviewing a mixture of DJs representing Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, focusing on progress and necessary changes being made in the area of gender representation within these regions’ dance music scenes. Confirmed guests for series 2 include Gina Jeanz (South Africa via Namibia), Julianna (Colombia), Coco Em (Kenya) and Lyla (Pakistan).
Ahead of series 2, listen to series 1 of the Assurance podcast here. Assurance originated as a follow up to Juba’s 2020 documentary of the same name, which you can watch here.
Dig into Juba’s Selections below.