Not only is Queen Halima, born Ogechukwu V. Egbogu, a very talented person, but she also consistently connects with what she does. You can tell that each part of her work feeds into the next, whether she is performing, producing, or directing a project.
This is shown well in her most recent release, “Melakusi (DJ Edit).” It doesn’t have any big changes or obvious peaks. Instead, it builds slowly, keeping people’s attention with control and restraint. The groove is steady, almost hypnotic, and it sounds like it was made for dancing, not just listening. It makes sense that the sound and the intention come from the same place since she was both the producer and the creative director of the project.
She uses that same way of thinking in her live work. She was more than just a performer at the Jai Eric Headline Show in Birmingham. It was clear that the actors knew how to move the set, how to handle transitions, and how to keep the audience interested the whole time. It seemed planned rather than spontaneous, which is often the difference between someone performing and someone shaping the whole experience.
There is also a clear understanding of how music travels beyond the studio when you look at all of her work. Her work on releases like Ade James’ “Essence” (Cover), which has gotten more than a million streams, and other collaborative projects shows that she knows how to reach and distribute an audience. These are not stand-alone pieces; they are part of a growing collection that shows both creative intent and measurable engagement.
She also has a technical background that she uses in her work, having worked in both live sound and studio settings. This is clear in the quality of her work. The mixes are even, the structures are planned, and not much seems random. It looks like someone is not only trying things out, but also making a plan.
Over time, it becomes clearer that there is a change from participation to authorship. Earlier work shows a lot of teamwork, but more recent projects show a clearer sense of ownership, especially in how she leads creative direction and defines the identity of the work she is doing.
Queen Halima doesn’t want to separate performing, directing, and producing. Instead, she is putting them all together into one practice, where each part helps the others. In a field where many artists are still defined by one role, that approach stands out. It makes her work feel like it was thought out rather than just reacting.
