Kay Oko

Kay Oko, also known as Kilamanzego ("kill a man's ego"), is an artist who creates experimental electronic music as a first generation Ghanaian queer androgynous person. Kay has been invited to collaborate on music with fellow first generation West African queer musician and rapper, Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, from March 26th through April 2nd in Chicago, where they run a progressive artist-run label called Sooper Records. Kay will have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to create collaborative music with Sooper Records, which has a history of promoting Black and Brown queer niche artists on a nurturing scale. This experience will help Kay further her narratives with the additional voice of an artist of shared identity.

The WOO Grant will help cover travel expenses to Chicago, as well as expenses for photo and video documentation of the collaborative work.

Kay Oko (ACG ‘10, ‘19; WOO ‘22, ‘23), also known as “Kilamanzego” (pronounced: 'kill a man's ego'), is a Black androgynous queer electronic musician and performer. Kay has been invited to premiere her music in British Columbia, Canada at the Shambhala Festival, the largest festival in the country, taking place in mid-July 2023. As one of the longest running electronic music events in Canada since 1998, Shambhala Festival has a solid history of bringing in women, queer, and genderfluid artists as headlining acts. The WOO Grant will help Kay cover travel and video/photo documentation expenses.

Kay Oko (ACG ’19 ’10) will be performing with Clozee at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado on October 8th of this year. This opportunity, at a historic music venue that holds a capacity of nearly 10,000 attendees, will allow Kay to connect to and continue discourse with fellow electronic artists and supporters about how it's necessary to include Black individuals in the electronic music scene. This grant will allow Kay to not only attend the performance but also pay a Philadelphia local photographer/videographer to document her work.

K is a 2nd generation Ghanaian electronic musician who will be creating a short album using African sounds (kalimba, hand drums, and found sound) and conducting an interactive workshop on the necessity of these sounds for Black transnational community building that African Americans in Philadelphia will be able to access via an archive. There will also be a listening party allowing African Americans in the area to explore native African sounds to be creative with. This sound-based project will serve as a culturally unifying force between African Americans and Africans.

Kay Oko will produce a documentary film exploring the traditional customs, culture, and inter-generational differences of the Afro-Turk community. Her goal is for this film to bridge the gap between African diasporic communities internationally and in Philadelphia and to present a sustainable solution of cross-cultural awareness for all communities.