My World: Eddie Kadi

Eddie Kadi was born in Kinshasa and lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo until his family immigrated to the UK when he was eight. He has built himself a celebrated career in the UK stand-up scene – he was the first Black British solo comedian to headline the O2 – while simultaneously stretching beyond it, keeping his love for his home continent very much alive. He tours Africa regularly, spending time on the road with Afrobeats stars like Wizkid, Burna Boy and Sarkodie; he also hosts BBC Radio 1 Xtra’s UK Afrobeats Chart Show and co-hosted this year’s MOBO (Music of Black Origin) awards.

The sounds of those early years in Congo were formative: “There’s one particular song I play maybe weekly or bi-weekly”, Kadi smiles, “it’s called ‘Eau Bénite’ [by Simaro] and whenever I hear this song, I’m teleported back to Congo [in] the late 80s, early 90s, and I’m there with my family… It typifies the vibe of what Congo means to me… the song is very melodic, it’s very rumba.” Kadi’s grandmother owned a bar, as did several other members of his family, so “there was a lot of dancing”, in these early days, “and music, of course.” Papa Wemba, Wenga Musika, Pépé Kallé and Koffi Olomide are the artists Kadi remembers hearing at the time.

Once he started university in the UK, however, Kadi’s love for the music of home began to spread to other parts of the continent. He made friends “who are proud of being Nigerian; they played Nigerian music and Ghanaian music and, of course I was already well acquainted with dancehall music, and Notting Hill Carnival was up the road from me… But then at university, the Ghanaians started playing me a lot of their fújì music, and then, Afrobeats, at the time, cool Nigerian pop, was really coming up. Then, Ghanaians were playing me highlife and hiplife, and you’re like, ‘Oh, this is incredible!’ and you’re becoming more and more acquainted with their culture. There was an upsurge of pride of being African in that space.” Kadi’s excitement beams through the screen. He leans back on his couch, then dives forward, exclaiming, pointing, “there’s a literal feeling of joy, Emma, that I would get from listening to Ghanaian music that I may not get from Congolese music or listening to South African amapiano that I may not get from listening to kuduro in Angola. It is a different sense, it’s a different feeling that it comes with.”

University also saw Kadi take his first steps as an entertainer, when he was asked to host a talent showcase for his university’s African Caribbean Society. His cultural observations were well received. Things built from there. Soon, his love of sounds from Africa and beyond began to mesh neatly with a career in entertainment: “There were a lot of events [in the UK], you call them underground events, but they were very much community-serving events, because we weren’t in the mainstream space, we weren’t getting the spaces that we wanted. So, a lot of people used any opportunities to put together events – independence days, those were very popular, Ghana independence, Nigerian independence, Congolese independence, Gambian independence… I would get booked as a comedian or a host, and you have a lot of artists that will come from these particular countries to perform.”

Through meeting such artists, Kadi began to get booked in African countries and his love and knowledge of the continent’s array of music expanded further: “I end up in Kenya, I end up in Gambia… meeting artists who are from those countries but also going out and listening to music in the bars and watching the young kids dancing to it… And you recognise your own sounds that you grew up on, like the Congolese sounds in some of these artists.” The connections and influences shared between all these different sounds became, for Kadi, “an obsession” that made him “a facilitator and lover of modern-day African music.”

That obsession led to his appointment as host of the UK Afrobeats Chart Show. Refusing limitations others might see in the title, he uses the platform to educate listeners on music from across Africa. The designation ‘Afrobeats’, he declares, evolved “because [it] was a vehicle at the time [for] spreading the gospel of African music… Yes, Afrobeats is a term coined in Nigeria specifically, but really it represented the sound of African music, African beats.” Becoming host of the show, he says, “We wanted to challenge the charts… we were able to do mini-documentaries about the sounds of South Africa, Burkina Faso, Namibia… We created a segment called the ‘Hotshots’, and what that allows is other music that people may not get an understanding of, or get a chance to hear through the charts. What I love about that is [that] through music, you understand how big the continent [of Africa is], how diverse the sound is. Amapiano doesn’t sound like kuduro, doesn’t sound like rumba”

Unsurprisingly, Kadi’s work and passion saw him chosen as co-host of 2025’s MOBOs, an honour he has not taken lightly: “The MOBOs define me”, he declares, “Growing up with the MOBOs, it was a showcase of the different artists I admired, the different sounds, from grime to garage to hip-hop to R&B to African sounds. These maybe didn’t have a lot of outlets in the UK [but the MOBOs provided] a space where there was a reminder that we’re influential, we need to be celebrated. And now to be a driver of that vehicle alongside Indiyah [Polack – his co-host], it is an absolute thrill.”

With music being so integral to his career, it’s surprising that Kadi has never officially released his own. On mention of this, his grin widens. “What I’ve been doing in the last year”, he says, “is hanging out with some of my favourite producers, like Chopstix, who’s Burna Boy’s producer, KillBeatz… and then I’ll connect them with some of my favourite artists.… and then create music with them.” What does this mean exactly? “You heard it here first… I will be releasing music… People have always said, ‘You’re always in there contributing, why don’t you get more involved?’ And it’s fun, I love it. To be in a studio with these guys that create magic is a beautiful thing.”

+ Eddie Kadi is currently on tour with his show, Let Me Land. For tickets, visit eddiekadi.com