Kadija Kamara

TT Live Sessions are monthly music nights featuring soulful performances from established and up-and-coming artists held across TT Liquor on the first Tuesday of each month. They’re always free entry and through them we’ve been lucky enough to see some of our favourite international artists perform.

For our first official Live Session in October 2021, we welcomed the incredibly talented London-based singer-songwriter Kadija Kamara.

2018 saw the release of Kadija Kamara’s first EP, Nothing Left To Lose, which garnered her praise from the likes of CLASH magazine and BBC Introducing. In late 2020, Kadija released Best Moves, a soulful, synth-backed summer floor-filler produced by frequent collaborator, Max Grunhard of Ibibio Sound Machine.

With her distinct sound and her enigmatic stage presence, Kadija Kamara’s journey as an artist is sure to take her to lofty heights and we were thrilled to host her at this early stage in her career.

The night kicked off with an RnB set from DJ and TT Head of Music, Chris P Cuts. He set the tone with tracks by Angie Stone and Dwele but the crowd really got going when Chris dropped Teedra Moses’ Be Your Girl and had everyone singing along.

Kadija took to the stage, tambourine in hand, accompanied by her guitarist, Reuben and settled into the space, finding her range and immediately capturing the attention of the audience with her first verse.

In her carefully curated moments of silence, the soft rhythmic sound of shaking cocktails filtered through to the back area of the Cellar where Kadija was performing. Drinks were flowing fast as audience members rushed to the bar in between songs, eager not to miss any of Kadija Kamara’s enthralling set.

After grabbing the crowd’s attention with her first song, Kadija held it firmly with her next, a cover of Lizzo’s Juice, which had the whole room joining in on the chorus. This was followed by a smoky, stripped back rendition of her latest single, Best Moves.

The whole evening really set the mood for TT’s Live Sessions going forward, Kadija’s quintessentially soulful sound and rapturous energy captured the essence and intention of these nights perfectly.

As Kadija left the stage to enthusiastic applause, Chris got back on the decks, keeping the vibes going with more classic R&B and sultry neo-soul, leaving the crowd hotly anticipating the next month’s Live Session.