Join us to celebrate M.Bassy’s 10th anniversary welcoming the singer-songwriter JNR Williams and his fellow musician Stefan Iyapah from London as well as the poet David Osaodion Odiase from Lagos at M.Bassy for an evening with music, poetry and togetherness.

Since our founding, M.Bassy has been committed to creating a platform for contemporary artistic positions and discourses from Africa and the diaspora. Together, we have carved out a space for public encounter, open dialogue, and cultural exchange, showcasing over 200 artists from across Africa and the diaspora. This milestone is a testament to the power of community, resilience, and our shared belief in a future of interconnectedness between cultures and continents.

The event is part of our 2026 poetry & literature series »Dreams Don't Flow in Square Houses« inviting selected lyric writers, poets and authors from the African diaspora to Hamburg. The series reflects Afro-diasporic lyrics, poetry and literature as socially engaged art practices that challenge dominant narratives, encourage collective world-building, and promote togetherness. The title metaphor suggests that rigid (post)colonial Western thinking and social structures restrict freedom of thought, action and art. This concept underpins the series' assertion that poetry and (song) writing are fluid, free, critical and artistic processes that drive social transformation and dismantle racist and oppressive systems. For each event we will dive into an intimate artistic dialogue with our guests about the unifying power of words and lyric, exploring voices, texts and meaning, and discussing the in-between spaces of creativity, vulnerability, dignity, fellowship and solidarity within a shared Afro-diasporic history.

JNR Williams

Born and raised in East London from Caribbean parents, JNR Williams grew up in a creative household Influenced by R&B and introduced to jazz by his grandmother, he found inspiration in legends like Louis Armstrong Diana Washington and Nina Simone along with contemporary artists such as Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator, Nick Hakim, and James Blake. His musical style combines jazz, soul and experimental featuring gospel-layered vocals. JNR Williams reworked Washington's jazz standard »What a Difference a Day Makes« a rendition that garnered attention when it was played on Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show Future Sounds leading to major label interest. In 2017, JNR signed with Insanity Records, under which he released two EPs, »Where We Start« and »Withers On The Vine«. He embarked on a European support tour and performed four sold-out headline shows. JNR's track »What A Difference« earned BBC Introducing Track of the Week and MistaJam's Jam Hot on BBC Radio 1Xtra. JNR has also had the pleasure of collaborating with some of the most respected artists on the scene such as Celeste, Jungle, Theophilus London, Joy Crookes, MJ Cole, Loyle Carner, Kojey Radical, Swindle, Kay Young, Olivia Dean, Anais and Anushka. He has also featured on chart topping albums such as Loyle Carner's »Hugo«, with the track »Homerton Jungle's Volcano« with the track »Good at Breaking Hearts« and on Swindle's »New World« with the track »Lost«. JNR is currently working on new music to be released later this year.

jnrwilliams.com
instagram.com/jnrwilliams

David Osaodion Odiase

David Osaodion Odiase is a poet and member of the »African Narrative Collective« whose practice traverses the interstices of poetry, performance, film, indigenous technologies, and speculative methodologies. His work critically engages with Africa’s entangled histories, epistemologies, and cultural imaginaries, seeking to dismantle hegemonic narratives and foreground ancestral knowledge systems as vital instruments for reworlding. Odiase’s works have been presented at institutions and festivals across the world, including Kampnagel Hamburg, Akademie Der Künste Berlin, Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt (HKW) & Lagos International Poetry Festival, Nigeria.

instagram.com/thedavidodiase

21.3.2026, 7 pm – Concert by JNR Williams and Stefan Iyapah & Poetry by David Osaodion Odiase

(Sorry, the event is booked out!)

M.Bassy e.V.
Schlüterstrasse 80
20146 Hamburg
Please reserve via: reservation@m-bassy.org

10 Years of M.Bassy – With All Our Love

Dear Artists, Collaborators, and Friends,
As M.Bassy turns 10, our hearts are full of gratitude. Before anything else, we want to say: thank you. Thank you to everyone who believed in us and shared your heart with us, even when M.Bassy was still fragile, uncertain, and just an idea. When we began, we had no guarantees. No stability. No roadmap. Just a profound need to create a space where our narratives could exist with dignity—a space where artists from the African continent and its diaspora could speak in their own voices, without distortion or compromise. What we had was belief. What we received from you was trust. Some of you joined us without fees. Some of you sent work across oceans. Some of you lent us your names, your networks, and your reputations. All of you gave us something precious. You did not simply contribute to a program; you carried a vision.

M.Bassy was built on long nights, personal risk, unpaid labor, and collective courage. But above all, it was built on relationships, conversations, solidarity, and the quiet understanding that what we were doing mattered.
M.Bassy is now 10 years old. When we look back, we do not see events; we see faces and feel emotions. We see moments of vulnerability and strength. We see artists holding space for one another. We see a community that chose love over hierarchy, collaboration over competition, and courage over comfort. You are part of this story. Every exhibition. Every performance. Every gathering. Every shared meal. Every exchange across tables and borders—you are woven into all of it. As we celebrate this milestone, we would be deeply honored if you could share a few words about your connection to M.Bassy—a reflection, a memory, a sentence, or even just a single word. Your voice will help us celebrate the collective spirit that made these ten years possible.From the bottom of our hearts: thank you for believing in us, trusting us, and creating with us. M.Bassy exists because of you.

With love, deep gratitude, and honor,

The M.Bassy Team

We would like to thank the Literature Department of the Ministry of Culture and Media in Hamburg for their funding and support of the series.