GLOW Newcastle Creative Careers Gallery Presents:
Kema Kay

Videography by Rob Irish @robirishmedia

Kema Sikazwe, known as Kema Kay, is a prominent Newcastle musican, actor, dramatist and producer.

Kema was brought up in the West End of Newcastle, and spent most of his time as a teenager in a local youth project. There he developed his passion for rap, singing, and songwriting.

Kema’s love of music, coupled with his talent, resilience and hard work, has since led him to perform at the biggest venues around Newcastle, including headlining at the O2 Academy.

While performing as a musician, Kema got interested in acting. He was cast in Justin Kurzel’s 2015 film “Lady Macbeth”, and given a lead role in Ken Loach’s 2016 film “I, Daniel Blake“, which won awards at the BAFTAs and Palme D’Or.

Eager to learn and build his craft he wrote and performed his one-man show “Shine” which played at Live Theatre in Newcastle and received 4-star reviews in the national press.

After completing a full 108-show UK tour of the stage version of “I, Daniel Blake”, Kema has returned to the studio to begin work on his new album.

Kema was GLOW Artist in Residence alongside Kay Greyson at Walker Riverside Academy, where they supported a group of Year 9 Young Assoiate Producers to create a film based on their advocacy of anti-bullying, anti-racism and positive peer relationships.