Festival de Jazz de Montréal

Raised by griots, trained by machines.

Afrotronix is the project of Caleb Rimtobaye, Chadian guitarist, producer and DJ based in Montreal, delivering a live experience he calls “Sonic Ritual Initiation”: a high-energy fusion of Chadian initiation rhythms, Sara and Gourane vocal heritage, deep house, Amapiano and Afro electro, performed with electric guitar, live percussion and cutting-edge visuals.

He doesn’t sample tradition. He rewires the machine to speak its language, fracturing the structures of electronic music until they can hold the weight of Chadian rhythms. His music actively bridges north, south and center in a soul that is unmistakably Chadian.

Behind the project, a thesis: humanity’s first algorithm was written in rhythm. Electronic music and African oral tradition don’t oppose each other. They were always the same conversation.

Live: 130+ stages worldwide, WOMAD, Afropunk, JOVA Beach Party, Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.

Collaborations: Baaba Maal, Youssou N’Dour, Jovanotti, Stonebwoy.

Recognition: Best African DJ (AFRIMA 2018) — 18 international awards — composer of the awarded soundtrack for the Chadian film Diya (Carthage Film Festival) — Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres de la République Française, decorated for his contribution to cultural influence and transmission.

His new album KÖD, featuring artists from Chad, Nigeria, Sudan, Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Congo and Canada, positions Afrotronix at the center of the pan-African electronic conversation, at the exact moment the continent’s future is being written in rhythm.