Inside Atmosfera: How DJ Lamper Built a New Club Format for Kigali

I'd been watching Atmosfera grow online for months. Posts kept popping up, and I kept getting more curious. Intore dancers on the same stage as a DJ? Yeah, I had to see that. November, I went. Really enjoyed it. Got some nice pictures, saw how everything flowed, got a sense of the format. December though, I almost didn't go back. Rain pouring down, I'd just been there the month before, and my camera bag is heavy to lug around. But the flyer caught my eye. Different collaborations this time. Different performers. Alright, I thought, let's give it a shot. Went. Super glad I did. Got much better pictures.

After you get through the line at Mundi Centre, get your bracelet, and step inside, you're immediately met by an intore dancer. The whole vibe in that corridor changes depending on the theme. This time, the theme was 'Rwanda Nziza'. But the intore dancers had UV makeup on that made it feel almost Wakanda-like. Different from what you'd expect.

When I got into the main room, DJ Benda was already on the decks, dancing in unison with his dancers. They moved as one, all wearing red, switching between amapiano tracks. The energy was already building, people settling in, the room beginning to fill. An hour in, DJ Tity, a Rwandan based in Edmonton, Alberta, took over. And then, while he was mixing, E.T. Ndahigwa stepped up to perform 'Hasi'. First time I'd seen him, first time I'd heard the song. The crowd was already familiar. Every time he said "Hasi" (which means "down" in Kinyarwanda), people dropped. Well... I'd definitely been sleeping on kinyatrap. There's a whole scene I'd missed, and everyone was locked into it. That's Atmosfera. Not just a night out, but a format. A concept. A world of its own. To understand how it works (and why the crowd keeps showing up monthly) you need to know how Kigali's nightlife got here.

What led to this (at least from what I've seen)

Here's the thing though. To understand what I was walking into, you need to know how Kigali's nightlife got to this point. Quick disclaimer. This isn't some academic take. Just someone who's been here 11 years, loves a good night out, and has watched it all change ... It's just that to me, it seemed nightlife in Kigali kind of followed the same script for years. Afrobeats, R&B, Hip-Hop. Maybe Congolese music for older crowds. Maybe some Jean-Paul Samputu to dance the same old Nyaruguru—you know, because culture. You've been to this exact night. We all have. Clubs almost felt functional. A DJ, dim lights, people dancing. I watched this pattern repeat until it didn't.

Maybe things were already shifting. Amapiano was crossing into the mainstream globally between 2018 and 2024. But the real accelerator was COVID-19. Not to talk about the global pandemic and nightlife in the same breath ... but kind of ... Hear me out. Kigali had a two-year curfew. Two years. When that lifted in 2022, people came back wanting more. Curated spaces, premium drinks, experiences worth the price of entry. Going out had to offer more than you could get on your couch. Just chairs, speakers, and a DJ wasn't cutting it.

Okay, yes, there's a three-year gap here in my whole timeline. What happened in between, I think, is that a growing middle class kept pushing for more. What had been good enough before COVID wasn't anymore. Tied to that, Gen Z, entering adulthood with disposable income, wanted something beyond the old formula. Diversity of formats became possible. These pieces (the growing middle class, Gen Z's spending power, and a sound that dominated the moment) created the foundation. An entire night built around amapiano, elevated with live performances and cultural fusion, wasn't just viable. It was exactly what the moment called for.

So what is Atmosfera?

Atmosfera is a monthly nightlife concept in Kigali that fuses amapiano DJ sets with live Rwandan performances. Founded by DJ Lamper in 2025, it's designed around a single principle: continuous flow. Fire breathers, traditional dancers, vocalists, and musicians move through the DJ's set, creating one unified experience.

And it's incredible. I've never seen anything like this. My eyes and my camera stay busy the whole time. Fire breathers appearing, dancers flowing in, musicians stepping up, all moving through the DJ's set. The energy never drops. I love it.

The peak

Now that you have the full context, let me walk you through what happened next. Around 11pm, the moment everyone was waiting for arrived. DJ Lamper stepped behind the decks, arms open, wearing white and red. The dancers around him matched, making shapes as they entered on Yvan Buravan's 'Turaje'. The choreography mixed Rwandan dance with contemporary movement.

A few minutes later, lights cut across the space and landed on Boukuru, elevated on a stage in the centre of everyone. We love pigeonholing her to the Gakondo genre, covering Kamaliza and Cécile Kayirebwa. But she's got serious range. Even more than we thought, actually, because her performing 'Intare' was everything! A house track in Kinyarwanda produced by 2Saint and Kevin Klein. That song is absolutely giving. Seeing her command that genre? Absolute chef's kiss. As she performed, traditional dancers flowed onto the main stage, surrounding DJ Lamper, backing her up. The two stages became one show, with DJ Lamper remaining the anchor. Minutes later, Starving Yet Full took the stage with 'Ngwino'. Another house track in Kinyarwanda, but this one everyone expected. It has become a tradition at Atmosfera.

Then the temperature changed. Literally. Fire breathers came out, performers with fire in their mouths. First time I'd seen that in my life. I stood front row, camera up. The heat was instant, reaching everyone. My pictures? Literally 'fire'.

Wind-down

Moogisha, who I'd only known from Instagram, moved to his position with his electronic guitar. Another texture. You could hear how all these different genres, these different performances, these different energies kept coming, one after the next, all moving through DJ Lamper's set. Honestly, I was so deep in it by then, so full from everything I'd absorbed, that I left right after. Didn't even know there was one more DJ after Lamper. Amapiano, Kinyatrap, Kinyahouse had moved together the whole way through. It all felt intentional.

Looking back

That night proved something. Kigali's nightlife has diversified enough to support different types of nights. Atmosfera is one. The evidence? A crowd locked in from start to finish, showing up monthly. DJ Lamper created Atmosfera in 2025, building a monthly event around his set. Nine editions throughout the year gave people something to look forward to every month. The format worked. People came back. That scale shows the audience is real and sustainable. The scene is diversifying. Different formats can exist and thrive now. What looked like the old pattern fragmenting is expansion. The scene isn't breaking apart. It's growing. Making room for different crowds, different nights. The audience for this was already here, waiting.