Branches · The label, founded 2020
SomOne Music
An independent label between Senegal and Kenya, co-founded with Natty Jean.
Two bases, one vision: building bridges between artists from around the world, under the baobabs.
Founded
2020
Loi 1901 nonprofit (France)
Cofounders
Two
Joan Bastide · Natty Jean
Bases
Senegal · Kenya
Mélanzé Hub · mobile studio
Music has no borders, but it needs places. Places where artists meet, create, pass on what they know.
SomOne Music is an independent label co-founded with Natty Jean. Two bases, one vision: building bridges between artists from around the world, under the baobabs. SomOne Music is also a registered nonprofit (loi 1901) in France.
The two hubs
Two anchors, one moving practice
Mélanzé Hub
Somone, Petite Côte
The sedentary studio at the heart of the Mélanzé compound. A space for creation, residency and training, fully solar-powered. Opening 2026.
Mobile container
BBZU itinerant studio
A complete recording studio inside a 20-foot maritime container. Music goes where the artists are. The studio is part of the creative set-up that Savannah Express builds on.
Practice
What we do
Creative residencies
Hosting artists from around the world who want to create in a unique setting between the ocean and the baobabs.
Local production
Revealing and supporting local talents - recording, mixing, artistic direction. Bridges between Senegalese, Malian and Kenyan scenes.
Artistic bridges
Connecting scenes, crossing influences. Bringing together those who would never have crossed paths.
Youth training
Passing on knowledge - production, sound engineering, music technology - to young people in Somone and the wider region.
The place
Mélanzé Hub, Somone
Petite Côte, Senegal
Natty Jean
Bamako, 2007. I had set up a rudimentary studio in my NGO bedroom. Natty Jean came by, and we recorded his first demos on makeshift gear. I was one of the first to believe in him, to support him.
Almost twenty years of friendship since then, thousands of kilometres travelled together, and one shared conviction: music is a tool of transformation. SomOne Music is the natural outcome of that shared road.
Collaborate
Build with SomOne Music
Are you an artist looking for a creative residency? Do you have a musical or audiovisual project between Europe and Africa? Let's talk.