Whether at the controls of her weekly BBC 6 Music radio show, behind the decks at clubs and festivals nationwide or running her own record label, the broadcaster and DJ Jamz Supernova is a cultural force. Her latest project is the superb compilation Dance Around the World for the esteemed Mr Bongo label, zooming in on the scenes and sounds across the globe that have inspired her boundaryless approach to genre. The 16-track album spirits you away from the contemporary sound of east Africa through to Colombia’s Pacific coast, joining the dots between a myriad of styles like UK bashment, Cape Town boogie, Brazilian baile funk and beyond. The south Londoner, who lives with her partner and two young kids, says she loves to make space for cosying up with culture on a Sunday – “with a glass of wine on the sofa”.

I’ve just finished this gripping book my mum gave to me, by a new young Black author that she thought I might like. It’s set in the 2000s and it’s about a pastor's son who is meant to be this wonder boy. It’s what happens when men are given dominance and how that dominance is abused – the way that power abuses women through the church and what he thinks he can get away with because he’s the son of a preacher and the most popular boy at school.

I went to see this [newsroom thriller] the other day at the theatre – it was a birthday treat. It had Letitia Wright in it, who was in Small Axe and Top Boy, Lorraine Toussaint and Bashy (aka Ashley Thomas). I went on the basis that he was in it but we got his understudy, who was amazing. It’s about people who abuse the communities that they’re from for their own professional gain and this idea of: do we believe people just because they say something?

It’s the best podcast I’ve listened to in my life. No stone was left unturned and no expense was spared [to tell the story of Fela Kuti’s life and career over 12 episodes]. This is not made through the lens of a small budget – it was “we’re going to have 100 different advisers and 100 different cultural sensitivity people and we’re going to have people on the ground in Nigeria and this ethnomusicologist”. I loved how passionate the host Jad Abumrad was. His script was amazing. And he didn’t shy away from topics that were a little bit more controversial, like Fela’s women and how he treated his kids.

This cultural space in Peckham is run by beautiful people who are so caring and intentional, and they’ve created a community. I just did a listening event there for Dance Around the World. Firstly, you go in, you sit on the floor and they’ve got this amazing sound system. You get free herbal tea and you get to make your own blend. And then you listen to the music: it’s about active listening, which is really important. It’s the antithesis to the commercialisation of music, that makes music feel passive – you know, how music is in the background everywhere where you go but people aren’t really always listening. Places like Shai Space remind you of the importance of DIY grassroots spaces.

I feel like we could all do with a little faith and hope at the moment and this is such a beautiful album. I don’t think he was thinking about making a big jazz album [Boyd is a Mobo award-winning jazz drummer and producer]; it has references to sound system culture and to dubstep, but it’s quite understated and introspective. Most of the people singing on the album are his family members, recorded in the kitchen – I thought that was really special. What I’m also inspired by is his commitment to art and the craft, and his patience. It’s been six years since his album Dark Matter and he could have rushed and knocked one out, but there is something to be said for slowing down, taking your time and not having it all figured out for tomorrow.

Jamz Supernova presents Dance Around the World is out now

Interview by Kate Hutchinson