Enongo is a forthcoming feature-length documentary and the inspiring story of rapper/producer/Ph.D. candidate Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo, a.k.a. Sammus. Through her compelling and honest music, Enongo/Sammus tackles various subjects including (but certainly not limited to) race, feminism, video games, the music business, mental health, growing up, and relationships. Inspired by the feminist bounty hunter protagonist of Nintendo's Metroid video game series, Enongo adopted the stage persona "Sammus" to tell her story and experiences through her music.
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Enongo is many things. She is relatable, complicated, funny, passionate, and unique. She is an artist, a musician, a producer of her own beats, a master lyricist, a Black woman, a first-generation American of West African descent, an introvert, a gamer, a self-described "weirdo," a teacher, and a friend.
The film chronicles Enongo's life as an independent artist, touring across North America, creating her compelling new album, and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage. Most importantly, it is a portrait of a human being living in our moment of time, trying to confirm their personal identity and achieve their dreams against the odds.
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Through a combination of actuality and animation, Enongo tells a universally-relevant, intimate, empowering story of survival, artistic creation, and identity.
Photo Credit: José Ginarte
Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo
Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo (a.k.a., SAMMUS) is an Ithaca-raised, Philadelphia-based rap artist, producer, and Ph.D. student in the Department of Science & Technology Studies at Cornell University. Known as much for her rousing stage presence as she is for her prowess as a beatmaker and lyricist, Enongo has spent the past several years cultivating a strong following of activists, hip hop heads, punks, and self-identified nerds and geeks, among others. As noted by the Los Angeles Times, Enongo “has a gift for getting a message across.” Having recently made her Don Giovanni debut (while remaining tied to NuBlack Music Group), she is poised to cement herself as an artist who consistently thinks outside boxes and dances across lines (and does other neat things with geometrical figures).
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In addition to managing a full-time music career, Enongo has spent the past eight years as a public-school and college level educator. After graduating from Cornell University in 2008 with a double BA in Sociology and Science & Technology Studies, she was accepted into the national teaching program Teach for America and placed in Houston, Texas, where she taught elementary math and science between 2008 to 2010. In the fall semester of 2011, she returned to Cornell as a Ph.D. candidate to pursue an interest a wide array of sound studies topics, including sound and gaming as well as the identity politics of community studios. As an academic and very-vocal feminist, Enongo has produced articles for publications such as Bitch, For Harriet, Sounding Out!, and The Mary Suerelated to issues of race, hip-hop, gaming, and feminism.
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Enongo has given us a tremendous gift in allowing us to document her journey as our passion project. We cannot thank her enough for her generosity, trust, and kindness.
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For more information on Enongo/Sammus, check out her official website: www.sammusmusic.com