Watch 11-year-old drummer Yoyoka Soma smash a Deep Purple classic

No doubt 11-year-old Yoyoka Soma would be embarrassed to see herself labelled as a ‘child prodigy’, or ‘overachiever’, but, frankly, such accolades hardly do justice to her achievements.

Born in 2009, Soma started playing drums at the age of two, made her first live appearance at four years old, formed her first band Kaneaiyoyoka at age five, and released her first CD, aged 6, while in kindergarten. Since then, the extraordinary Japanese drummer has appeared on US TV, performed at prestigious Japanese music festivals, and garnered praise from the likes of Dave Grohl, Chad Smith, Robert Plant and Ian Paice for both the technical precision and sheer joy she exhibits in the drum covers on her YouTube channel. She’s also received some love from this website.

This week, Yoyoka has uploaded her take on Deep Purple’s Speed King. And, once again, she absolutely fucking kills it.

Yoyoka is hoping to preform in the Tokyo Olympics this summer, pandemic permitting. We wish her well with her dream, and are confident we'll seeing much, much more from her. Keep informed of her career via her website.

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