Jenifa Mayanja

Workshop, Negotiating Your Worth;
Panel, Intergenerationality in Dance Music

Ugandan born Jenifa Mayanja has been deeply entrenched in the underground deep house music scene for more than 25 years since the early 90’s staking her claim in New York. Steadily rising through the ranks Ms. Mayanja’s profile has maintained an underground buzz that has her earned her a revered place in the house community and a reputation for being an innovative, fearless and respected musical ambassador for house music culture and for women in the music business.

The underground culture that Jenifa Mayanja rooted herself began in NYC as a serious music selector and music buyer at the now defunct legendary record store “Dance tracks”. This also led to an opportunity to learn firsthand about running a record label working for “Spiritual Life” owned by Joe Claussell.

They say New York djs know how to be able to work any kind of situation because crowds are tough to please, well Jenifa got an education that built her into the kind of fearless dj she is today. Holding down weekly residencies at major clubs and as a mainstay of the East Village thriving lounge scene of the 90s honed her technical skills and creative ability as a dj to move seamlessly through genres. During this time Jenifa was also heavily involved in the creation of two beloved parties Hamsa and Bumako part of a wave of non-club parties favored by music lovers and dancers in search of a place to dance freely and to a wide array of music .

While other djs may value quantity of gigs, Jenifa Mayanja’s DJ ethos is about introductions & preservation of house music culture, while bringing back love and skill to the game. Major venues/parties like Panorama Bar, Fabric London, Output/Panther Room, Tresor, Rex Club, Elsewhere, Lux, Djoon, Closer alongside beloved events like “Freerotation”, Hot Mass and Kala festival display Jenifa’s diversity and dedication to the music. More recently besides stops in Europe and North America, Jenifa completed a tour in S. America, stopping by Video Club in Bogota and also in Medellin. 

Jenifa’s creation of the Bumako Recordings label in 2007 introduced the world to the naturalistic deep house sound she is known for as an artist. From inception to now, Bumako has developed a devoted fan base that religiously follows the diverse releases on the label to date almost 28 of them including full length albums, cds and digital releases. The “Woman Walking in the Shadows” album in 2011, really set her apart from the fray and brought a new kind of attention to her signature world infused house music. She has also been at the helm of a variety of signature remixes for artists such as Nina Kraviz, Ethereal Sounds Anton Zap’s label, Soul People Music, Giorgio Luceri, Altered Mood Recordings, Street Knowledge while also providing original productions for labels like Big Bait, Neroli, Deep Art Recordings, Altered Mood Recordings, Balance Recordings and recently Orbits Records run by the Bass Cadet Crew. More recently Jenifa released her third album on her label Bumako continuing to cement her  spiritual world infused sound while an upcoming long player on Deep Art will continue to showcase her artistic range. Jenifa’s work has also been featured in Groove Magazine mixes, Stamp The Wax, Panorama Bar 02 by Tama Sumo. As a top selector Jenifa is in constant demand for podcasts and she has done some very well received ones for the long running “beats in space” radio show, “Melbourne deepcast”, “Phonica mix series” and “Stamp the wax”.

Along with the success of her own label, Jenifa Mayanja Co-owns EDJ Records and Sound Warrior Records. The EDJ label she co-owns with her famous other half DJ Jus-Ed has had to date 5 releases including the “Love it or Leave it” Album. The Sound Warrior label she co-created with Dakini 9 to showcase music production exclusively produced by women now boasts 5 major releases including a double vinyl compilation featuring 9 other incredible women and new release in April 2018. Jenifa Mayanja continues to be a force to be reckoned with in her own right as an artist, dj and label owner with a distinct musical signature