A Conversation With Multifaceted Artist Jerome Kaluta

Written by Maria Ermides

It’s not easy to define actor, musician, and all-around creative force Jerome Kaluta — he simply doesn’t fit into any one box. Whether you first heard of him through the viral hit “Kalavryta” or as the charismatic host of the popular travel series Ftasame (Here We Are), one thing’s clear: Jerome continues to leave his artistic mark on Greece, and he’s just getting started!

In a candid and inspiring conversation, XpatAthens sat down with the self-described Afro-Greco to talk about life as an artist in Athens, what fuels his creativity, and what exciting projects he has on the horizon.

Inspiration is everywhere. You can find inspiration everywhere. On the road, when you’re driving, when you’re not driving. I believe that inspiration, in the end, comes when you have peace of mind. Whenever your mind is free and you have time to think. Then ideas start to emerge and you have some inspiration. 

I grew up with music because I was born in the 80s. I come from Zaire, now Democratic Republic of the Congo, we have a very rich culture, a very rich music culture. It was a way, because back in the day, we didn’t have internet or YouTube, house parties were the thing. Where communities got together and they were together, it was like they were back home. Being in a foreign country, it was like they were back home. So I grew up into house parties, music, African music mostly, so I have all of these ideas, all of these stories. 

I identify myself as Afro-Greco, this is the title of my first album, but this is the title of a Universe that we created of Afrogreco Entertainment, the whole label that we have. So the idea behind it was that I was born and raised in Greece by my Mum and my Dad, obviously, who come from The Congo, from Zaire, but I was raised Greek. Because I was here, I went to school, I went to the university. So my whole experience is Greek. My whole background is African. So I cannot choose. I can't wake up tomorrow and say I’m Greek and I’m caucasian. They’d say: You’re not caucasian. I cannot wake up tomorrow, and say I’m Shaka Zulu, I’m the only African that’s been. I cannot choose one and say that I’m the only one because it happened that way, not (just) for me but for thousands of kids that were born and raised in Athens, Greece or Greece in general.

I feel privileged because I have things to draw on from different places, you know, the way bedtime stories are in Greece and bedtime stories are in Congo, if we can say that they are. They are different because the stories are different, the culture is different, the heritage is different, so I am rich. I speak 5 languages, I compose and sing in those 5 languages, I try to sing in those 5 languages. Language is a key to another way of thinking.

I was born in the 80s. So, growing up in the 90s, it was like a blend. I’m a hip-hop head. So at the time, hip-hop was a mix, you got jazz samples, blues samples, funk samples. So hip-hop was mixing all of those together. I grew up with all of that. When you listen to Fugees, singing “Killing Me Softly”, you realise it’s not their song, you have to go back and see who Roberta Flack was. So you listened to that but you also listened to the original. It takes you to other places. When you listen to, let’s say Fugees again, because they’re one of my favourite groups, singing “No Woman No Cry” you go back to Bob Marley. You say who is Bob Marley, what was reggae. And I did that, not with hip-hop only, but with every genre. 

I’m chasing a feeling. I’m always chasing a feeling. I’m chasing a feeling that I had when I was 15-years-old. That happened when I first went out to a club. So we went out and we danced our bodies out. So I went back home, and it was great. I saw something new and my feet were hurting. So this is the feeling I’m chasing for me and for the people that come to my shows. I want to make them feel like that. Fall in love, you know.

You know my music and the way I structure my playlist is to attack what’s important. And for people the most important thing is your heart, your soul and your waist. This is African. When you aim at the waist, you can’t lose!


@jerome_kaluta 

Listen, it’s challenging. I feel for all of the artists that are musicians or that are actors, who work for 6 months and spend the other 6 months being unemployed. You know, it takes time. If you are persistent, and if your star shines, you get your break then you can get good things. But you cannot live by doing one thing only. Or, if you’re a workaholic like I am, you will jump to different projects. 

I flow with whatever happens, at a time. I examine each opportunity. You know music needs time. I take my time with music. You know I can write a song right now. I have the ability. But when I make a song or an album, I need it to mean something, so I take my time with it. I take my time, I absorb, I change my mind, I may record a song and I have to like it. I mean if it takes me a whole year to release it, I have to like it the whole year. If I don’t like it for 8 months, it won’t make it. I’m very hard on myself. I need it to be on time, I need it to be relevant, I need it to offer something.

You got one opportunity. When they offer you something, I couldn’t say no, because when it’s TV, it doesn’t happen. TV doesn’t happen every day. The travel show Ftasame (Here We Are) came about because of me being in two series that went great, so they saw me and said ‘we like this figure, maybe we can change something.’  So they decided, maybe we can have a travel show, a black man, an African man, or an immigrant, let's say, who had grown up here to show us Greece. So I say it happened slowly, not because I’m slow, but because it’s multi-layered if you see it. It’s the first time somebody who is African, who is not Greek, has hosted a show on National TV. 


From Jerome's TV Show. @jerome_kaluta

All of this time, I’ve been meeting people, listening, absorbing information by watching. I’ve done everything. I cooked with people, I rode horses, I fell off a horse, I milked a lot of cows, I made clothes. Because the concept of the show is that we come to your town and village, we want to meet you and experience what we do, and I want to be your helper. I don’t always get it right, and that’s the concept. Many of them have tried to tell me before, but I say, don’t tell me, just tell me on the spot. So if I make it, I make it but if I don’t make it, I fail you know. So we build houses, we milk cows, we make lots of glyka! (sweets).

That I’m a guy who does things in my own way, who does things differently, for sure. Who mostly proposes stuff that hasn’t been done before. I mean, I’ve heard so much hip-hop, I adore hip-hop. So, if I’m going to do something, I always put in my mind that I’ve heard Jay-Z, I’ve heard the Roots. I’ve heard all of these monsters (in a good way) create amazing things. So you’ve got to go beyond that. You don’t want to recreate that. That’s the challenge.

What I’m mostly concerned about is to change the narrative, to change the story, to change the way things are done. Maybe I’ll be the first black guy to play Othello in Greece. So I would like to have a change. To leave things in a better way, maybe.

I make room and I'm not alone anymore. There are many artists, many beautiful people. The Afro-Greeks they’re great and it’s fuel for me, So I fuel myself because I say I was blessed to be different and to stand out and to be proud and to do whatever I can do. I’m still working on it, I’m 

not here yet. 

We’re finishing the travel show. We’ve been two years on the road and I’d like to focus on my music. I have a song, which was released just recently, “Mazi Sou.” I will release some music, I will have some shows with my bands, and compose some music. I’m going to do a theatrical show with someone, and I’m going to write a kids' book. They proposed for me to write a kids book! I love kids, I’m a kid. They are my friends, we’re the same age. I like kids' stories, I like it because I always combine it with music. And you know, music was always important to me growing up [they] are still like mantras. You know, giving a kid a story with a perfect melody is great.

I’m going to Thessaloniki, the 30th of May. And as for Athens, we had a show on the 30th of April, so we will have to see! I’ve just spent two years on the road with the travel show, I haven’t been able to relax and have the studio time that I want. I have songs, I need to release some songs. I need to create some songs. I have a new sound already there. I’m preparing two albums. The one album is going to be in Greek, singing in Greek, but having that other sound. Because I realised, going around a lot, I have a lot of Greek fans. Like kids and all of that, so I need to communicate with them. And then I have the other album, which has all the languages. Greek, Lingala, Swahili, French, English.

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Sitting down and talking with Jerome Kaluta was truly eye-opening — an inspiring and down-to-earth conversation that reminded us how powerful authenticity and passion can be. We’re truly grateful to him for sharing his story, his energy, and his vision with us.

You can follow Jerome on Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube be to stay up to date with his latest projects.

His new single “Mazi Sou” is now streaming on Spotify, and if you're in Thessaloniki, don’t miss his upcoming live performance at Soul on May 30th — it’s bound to be an unforgettable night!

And if you’d like to show your support or rep some style, check out his merch at shop.afrogreco.com.

A special thanks to This is Loco for hosting us for this special interview!

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About the Author

Maria Ermides is a Greek-Australian who moved to Athens in 2024. A journalism grad, she's currently studying positive psychology and loves creative writing! She's also publishing a book as she continues to explore and get to know Greece more deeply.