Moone and Baddest DJ
Image provided by the artist.
On my second day in Abidjan I met with Moone and Baddest DJ (Andrea) on the rooftop of the Bushman Cafe. They are artists and creative entrepreneurs based in Abidjan who co-founded Tribe Day Parties. Tribe Day Parties is their joint collaborative business, they organize parties for creatives to connect, dance, and network. Outside of managing, and organizing Tribe Day Parties Moone DJ’s and manages their knitwear business “The Wicked Club.” Moone and Andrea have worked closely with Asna and the African Diplomat on their DJ segment in collaboration with Oroko Radio. Amapiano music blared in the background as all of the tables were packed with young people enjoying dinner and drinks. Moone and Andrea sat against the wall of the rooftop.
Moone and Andrea met on twitter through their friend MID. It all began by a simple direct message on Twitter. At the time they were living in Europe pursuing their degrees. Moone expressed to MID that they wanted to become a DJ, and the rest was history. During this time Moone was pursuing their degree in banking and finance, while Andrea was pursuing her masters in Geneva. Tribe Day Parties were born out of an online introduction that combined Moone’s and Andrea’s love for Amapiano music and bringing people together. Once Moone and Andrea returned back to Abidjan they began brainstorming about hosting a party. Andrea held a cigarette between her fingers and blew smoke out into the open space as she said “Amapiano is the heart of Tribe.” Anyone who attends a Tribe Day Party will experience an evening of music that flows into your body and makes you want to dance till the sun comes up. Moone and Andrea’s goal is to challenge and educate people in Abidjan about music outside of an American and Ivorian canon. They want to continue to highlight African-diasporic music ranging from African-funk, Baile funk, and African house music.
Tribe Day Fest is an oasis for creatives to let loose and groove to music while connecting with one another in a shared environment. It is important to note that these spaces are created out of the labor of a woman and a femme. Moone and Andrea have created a project that thinks about the ways people engage with music in an exchange engage people with African diasporic music. Moone and Andrea play a crucial role in the emotion of the space they have created. DJ’ing is a curation, collaboration, innovation and a cultivation of world building. The process of DJ’ing is the process of art making. Through their DJ selections and artful curated dance spaces they are creating discussions by the power of music. In this exchange Moone and Andrea are building a world that I want to be a part of. Andrea and Moone are simultaneously creating, and building spaces for music lovers, artists, and folks who enjoy grooving.
Volume 3
