Gabrielle Kwarteng’s journey continues to be one of passion, dedication and fate. Born and raised in New York, Kwarteng has withstood shifting sands in dance music to represent a curatorial presence with a deep knowledge of music history, driven by a dedication to regenerating its culture. In an era of everything at once, Kwarteng is a DJ who weaves stories for the dancefloor that often look to the past, while always focusing on possible futures.

In an era of sonic singularities, Kwarteng’s flexibility and curiosity is a virtue; her long-awaited debut at Dekmantel Festival in 2023 resulted in no less than three sets across the weekend, each possessing contrasting energies. Elsewhere London’s iconic Fabric have championed Kwarteng on multiple occasions, programming her into their prestigious 25th birthday celebrations alongside the likes of Ben UFO and Ricardo Villalobos.

At Berghain, she has appeared with even greater frequency as part of some of the fabled club’s most crucial parties, including CSD, Silvester, as well as smoothly piloting seven-hour closing sets in Panorama Bar. Such reverberations have reached far beyond the club; FKA twigs extended a personal invite to soundtrack her 2024 Met Gala afterparty. Taking place at The Standard, Kwarteng played just a few blocks uptown from the Soho Grand ballroom, where she had once furtively begun her first DJ residency, less than a decade earlier.

The roots of this keen musicality run deep. Born in Brooklyn to Ghanaian parents but raised in the Bronx, Kwarteng’s childhood was soundtracked by a mix of first-wave Highlife, Afrobeat and disco. Outside her own front door, in a thriving neighborhood of diverse American experiences, entire sounds and scenes expanded and exploded as pop-culture began to mutate in new ways, both online and off.

Crossing to Manhattan for school, the tempo changed entirely as rock, hip hop and experimental music filled Kwarteng’s ears, accompanying her intense study. Juggling academia with the beat became part of life, and she was later presented with the Mixcloud Online Radio Award for Best Eclectic Show, broadcasting on then burgeoning online radio station, The Lot. An early and completely unexpected acknowledgement of an instinct for music that traversed genre expectations, it laid down the foundations for her later move and return to Europe, and a commitment to trusting her creative instincts.

Here, Kwarteng has not only become a fixture in established, open-minded musical spaces everywhere from Berlin, London, Amsterdam and Paris, but is equally called upon to establish the energy of new ventures, such as Horst Club in Belgium. Her resplendent selections have made connections further still, on tour in Australia, South America and soon to include Asia. Listening and dancing to Kwarteng, whether in a cavernous rave hall, a sweat-soaked underground club or amid the temporary pleasures of a festival, is an experience that feels at once familiar but always energizing.

Fluidly slipping through a mix of heady 80s and 90s US house, disco interpretations that traverse diaspora and eras, and the futurist pulse of physical, emotive techno, Kwarteng expertly matches the requisite energy of contemporary queer rave culture. This understanding led to an invitation to make a storied Glastonbury festival debut at the legendary Block 9, the deepest pleasure center within the nocturnal NYC Downlow, before returning in 2024 for a back-to-back set with Shanti Celeste, this time on the wider scale of the Silver Hayes stage.

Wherever she performs, Kwarteng’s expertise serves to not only continue the championing of Black American genres such as house, techno and disco, but equally, to explore the continuum of global dance music as a whole. Having laid the foundations for a unique musical journey, it’s a level of respect that’s tangible on any dancefloor. In these increasingly sacred spaces, Gabrielle Kwarteng’s personal passion translates into collective ecstasy. The dig continues.