KOKOROKO are a young, London-based Afrobeat 8-piece band led by trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey. They first formed in 2014 when Sheila Maurice-Grey (trumpet/flugelhorn/vocals) and Onome Edgeworth (percussion) met on an arts trip in Kenya, bonding over their shared music taste. A desire to connect young people in the African diaspora with genres like Afrobeat and Highlife would also fuel the band’s genesis. Before long, they were playing gigs, riding a wave of the then-nascent “London jazz scene”. In 2018, their breakthrough was secured when the sparse ‘Abusey Junction’ was included on Gilles Peterson’s ‘We Out Here’ compilation. An understated 7-minute ballad recorded in an afternoon, it quickly became a viral hit, racking up 75 million streams.

They specialise in a soul-shaking, horn-fueled sound with West African roots and Inner London hues, and we’re so excited to hear them perform at Cross The Tracks 2026.