Best known as an international club DJ and broadcaster at Gilles Peterson Worldwide FM, Rita Maia is also a curator, record collector and creative director.
Originally from Lisbon with a family background from Goa – India and based in London most of her adult life, 2018 saw her radio show Migrant Sounds travel to stages at Worldwide Festival (France), Nova Batida Festival (Lisbon) and Iminente Festival (London) while also touring Mexico and performing at the legendary Jazz Cafe and Village Underground in London and a bit all around Europe.
As a curator she has worked on several projects including a Boiler Room session – ‘Rita Maia presents Boiler Room Lisbon’, a Red Bull Radio series of shows from Portuguese Speaking countries – Angola to Brazil, Mocambique, Sao Tome, Guine Bissau, Cabo Verde and Portugal – contributed with Vinyl Factory and recorded mixes for Eurostar, FACT, ID Mag, the legendary Ninja Tune’s Solid Steel – one of the best of the year in the series and released her compilation Sine of the Times including artists from 13 countries to critical acclaim. She is also part of SheSaidSo internacional women in music group. Her work showcasing artists from all over the world, from the sounds of her hometown London to the Portuguese speaking countries from Brazil to Angola and Portugal, shaped her unique style keeping her on top of her game as a DJ, making lineage connections between rhythms and cultures, past and future, new emerging scenes and all the mutations in between. Set to release her first feature length music documentary focused on the African heritage in the new dance music scene and culture in Lisbon today and a music release in the making.
