Somi is an acclaimed vocalist and songwriter born in Illinois to Rwandan and Ugandan immigrants. She has built a career of transatlantic sonicism and storytelling. Guest collaborators on her discography include Common, Angelique Kidjo, Hugh Masekela, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Aloe Blacc. Somi is a TED senior fellow, an inaugural Association of Performing Arts Presenters Fellow, a former Artist-in-Residence at Park Avenue Armory, UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance, the Apollo Theater, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Somi is the founder of New Africa Live, a nonprofit organization that celebrates her fellow African artists.