Category: African Diaspora Music

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Vincent Bugozi Shares a Summery Banger

Vincent Bugozi is a Tanzanian-born, London-based artist and bandleader. Along with his backing band, Bugozi specializes in a genre-defying and infectious take on Afro Pop that meshes elements of of Afrobeat, reggae, Afro-Cuban music and pop among others. The Tanzanian-born, London-based artist and his backing band aim to combine the sounds of different cultures to connect people through music and an energetic live show — and help bring positivity and unity in a world that desperately needs it.

Bugozi and company will be releasing their latest album AFRICAN SEBA! later this year. Inspired by Tanzanian Tinga Tinga art, AFRICAN SEBA! sees the act drawing inspiration from an eclectic array of sources and collaborating with a collection of musicians from the United Kingdom and European Union, while still creating music deeply rooted din the sounds and styles of Africa. Thematically, the album’s material touches upon the big themes — love, sorrow and joy while being his first multilingual album.

AFRICAN SEBA!‘s first single, the breezy and summery “Tinga Tinga” is a genre-defying, club banger featuring skittering dancehall-meet-trap beats, 80s Quiet Storm soul-like saxophone and twinkling keys paired with Bugozi’s plaintive vocals and an infectious, razor sharp hook. While pulling from sounds across the African Diaspora, “Tinga Tinga” manages to be distinctly African while simultaneously being and pop-leaning, accessible banger that will get a lounge and/or a club rocking and grooving.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Toronto’s 148 Share Flirtatious and Feel Good Bop “Topeka Vibe”

Nigerian-born, Toronto-based indie pop duo 148 — Tudo Bem and McQueen — spent their formative years watching MTV, which allowed them to embrace a multitude of genres and styles of music. Their willingness to explore and play with genre conventions, as well as embracing their own vulnerability in order to take risks, learn and improve upon their songwriting is at the core of their sound and approach.

As a group, the duo is rooted in a simple principle: a belief that we all should strive to be who we truly are, rather than view ourselves through the lens of others.

The duo’s recently released full-length effort, Sampati derives its title from an old Hindu tale of two brothers who challenged each other to see, who could fly closest to the sun: The elder brother Sampati ends up risking his life to shield his younger brother, Jatayu from the sun’s flames. While Sampati’s sacrifice costs him the ability to fly, it also saves Jatayu’s life — and Jatayu goes on to a play a crucial part in the grand scheme of things. For the duo, the story brings up a number of questions. including: if you knew that there was a high possibility of failure, would you attempt the impossible? According to the duo, they’d always answer yes. Failure brings the opportunity to learn — and with the help of friends and family, the potential of a speedy recovery. The duo add that the album is the culmination of everything they’ve learned over the past six years or so.

Sampati‘s latest single “Topeka Vibe” is a breezy and slick mix of R&B, hip-hop, Afrobeats, Afro pop, dancehall and soca centered around glistening synth arpeggios, skittering beats paired with a soulful horn solo as a silky Quiet Storm-inspired bed for McQueen’s easygoing and flirtatious bars and Bem’s gently autotuned crooning for the song’s infectious hook. Managing to be both club and lounge friendly, “Topeka Vibe” is a summery chilled-out bop that’s one-part balling out at the club ’cause you just got paid — and one-part, chilling out with that pretty young thing that you just can’t resist. But just under the surface, there’s a subtle bittersweet sensation: the realization that nothing lasts forever, perhaps?

Directed by 148’s Tudo Bem, the cinematically shot, accompanying video is split into several sequences set in and around Topeka Drive, just outside of Toronto: we see the members of 148 in a local playground flashing cash and goofing off. We see the duo flirting with and hitting on one of the most beautiful sisters I’ve seen in some time. And we see the duo playing in a club. It’s playful yet endearingly sweet.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Mariaa Siga Shares a Swooning Ode to Motherhood

Mariaa Siga (born Mariama Siga Goudiaby) is a Senegalese singer/songwriter, who can trace the origins of her music career to winning a local talent show and catching the attention of acclaimed Senegalese act Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc’s frontperson mentored the young Goudiaby, helping her refine her style and further develop her musical skills. Shortly after that, Goudiaby landed a role in Mon Réve, a film which aired on RDV. 

As a musician, Goudiaby was long accustomed to the traditional rhythms of the Casamance region of Southern Senegal; but her curiosity led her to discover and experiment with Western styles including the blues and jazz, which she incorporates into her own work. 

In 2016, she was one of the winners of the Festival des Vielles Pirogues‘ Tremplin competition. Building upon that momentum, she released two singles the following year, “Ya sama none” and “Asekaw.” Building upon a growing profile, the Senegalese artist performed in her native Casamance for the first time with a set at 2018’s Kayissen Festival. That same year, Yoro Ndiyae featured Goudiaby on his Sunu Folk compilation. She capped off a big 2018 with a French tour that November.

Goudiaby’s full-length debut released her full-length debut Asekaw (which translates as “woman” in her native Diola) back in 2019. That year, she won Baco Records‘ One Riddim Contest, which led to sets at Morocco’s Festival MarcoFoiles, France’s Midem Festival and to an invite to play Quebec’s Festival Mondial des Femmes d’Ici et d’Ailleurs. 

I’ve previously written about “Lagne Boote,” which in Goudiaby’s native Diola translates to “back to basics.” Recorded at Vagh and Weinmann Studio in Salernes, France — with the support of the African Culture Fund, the breezy and infectious “Lagne Boote” was centered around shimmering and looping acoustic guitar, shuffling African polyrhythm and Goudiaby’s gorgeous and expressive vocal. The song manages to incorporate sounds across the African Diaspora including Afropop, soca, roots reggae and more. But at its core is a powerful and simple message imploring the listening to never forget their roots.

The breezy and infectious “Lagne Boote” is centered around shimmering and looping acoustic guitar, shuffling African polyrhythm and Goudaiby’s gorgeous, expressive vocals subtly hints at sounds across the African Diaspora, including Afropop, soca, roots reggae and others. But at its core is a powerful message to listeners imploring them to never forget their roots. “When you get lost and don’t know where you’re going, go back to your sources,” Goudiaby explains. 

Goudiaby’s latest single “Sama Nene” is a deeply contented sigh centered around a shuffling reggae riddim produced by Artikal Band‘s Asha D paired with the Senegalese’s gorgeous, expressive vocals singing lyrics in Wolof and French. Written and recorded while she was pregnant with her son, “Sama Nene” the song details the excitement and love she feels for her child.

The rising Senegalese artist wants to show women that it’s possible to lead a life as a woman artist — and as a mother, without having to give up her career and her dreams.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Mariaa Siga Shares a Surreal and Playful Visual for Infectious “Lagne Boote”

Mariaa Siga (born Mariama Siga Goudiaby) is a Senegalese singer/songwriter, who can trace the origins of her music career to winning a local talent show and catching the attention of acclaimed Senegalese act Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc’s frontperson mentored the young Goudiaby, helping her refine her style and further develop her musical skills. Shortly after that, Goudiaby landed a role in Mon Réve, a film which aired on RDV. 

As a musician, Goudiaby was long accustomed to the traditional rhythms of the Casamance region of Southern Senegal; but her curiosity led her to discover and experiment with Western styles including the blues and jazz, which she incorporates into her own work.

In 2016, she was one of the winners of the Festival des Vielles Pirogues‘ Tremplin competition. Building upon that momentum, she released two singles the following year, “Ya sama none” and “Asekaw.” Building upon a growing profile, the Senegalese artist performed in her native Casamance for the first time with a set at 2018’s Kayissen Festival. That same year, Yoro Ndiyae featured Goudiaby on his Sunu Folk compilation. She capped off a big 2018 with a French tour that November.

Goudiaby’s full-length debut released her full-length debut Asekaw (which translates as “woman” in her native Diola) back in 2019. That year, she won Baco Records‘ One Riddim Contest, which led to sets at Morocco’s Festival MarcoFoiles, France’s Midem Festival and to an invite to play Quebec’s Festival Mondial des Femmes d’Ici et d’Ailleurs. 

“Lagne Boote,” which in Goudiaby’s native Diola translates to “back to basics” was recorded at Vagh and Weinmann Studio in Salernes, France — with the support of the African Culture Fund. The breezy and infectious “Lagne Boote” is centered around shimmering and looping acoustic guitar, shuffling African polyrhythm and Goudaiby’s gorgeous, expressive vocals subtly hints at sounds across the African Diaspora, including Afropop, soca, roots reggae and others. But at its core is a powerful message to listeners imploring them to never forget their roots. “When you get lost and don’t know where you’re going, go back to your sources,” Goudiaby explains.

Directed by IMAGEMOTION, the accompanying video for “Lagne Boote” follows the radiant Goudiaby as she walks barefoot through the forest, following an unspooled line of yarn, and encountering surreal sights including a contortionist, a fire eater, a psychic with a crystal ball, an elaborate costumed dinner party and so on.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: N’Faly Kouyaté Teams Up with Tiken Jah Fakoly on a Socially Relevant Banger

Throughout his lengthy musical career Guinean-born, Belgian-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist N’Faly Kouyaté has bridged the modern and the ancient, and Africa and the West: Kouyaté received a very traditional and rigorous Guinean musical education. He eventually relocated to Belgium, where he received conservatory training.

Inspired by Aretha Franklin, Harry Belafonte and a long list of others, the Guinean-born, Belgian-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has managed to collaborate with an eclectic array of acclaimed artists including Peter Gabriel, William Kentridge, Phil Manzanera, Ray Phiri and others. But he may be best known for his work with groundbreaking, genre-defying and Grammy Award-nominated act Afro Celt Sound System.

The acclaimed singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist will be releasing a new album — and that album sees Kouyaté developing a new genre, Afrotonix, which mixes polyphony, electronic production and traditional African instruments like the kora, the balafon and percussion. The album’s first single “Free Water,” which features a guest spot from Tiken Jah Fakoly is a slick synthesis of the modern and traditional: modern electronic production featuring wobbling, tweeter and woofer rocking beats and traditional Guinean instrumentation paired with a vitally necessary message — water is life for all of us.

The accompanying video reminds then viewer of water’s importance to all of us — from drinking, bathing, our food and so on. But it also gives the viewer a glimpse of daily life in beautiful Guinea and scenes from the studio.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Ibeyi Share Gorgeous and Symbolic Visual for Mesmerizing “Sister 2 Sister”

Deriving their name from the Yoruba word for twins ibeji, the acclaimed French-Cuban, London-based twin sibling duo Ibeyi (pronounced ee-bey-ee) — Lisa-Kainde Diaz and Naomi Diaz — can trace the origins of their music career to growing up in a deeply musical home: their father, Anga Diaz, was best known for his work as a member of the intentionally acclaimed Buena Vista Social Club and for collaborating with Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez and Compay Segundo. Sadly, Anga died when the Diaz Sisters were 11.

Upon their father’s death, Lisa-Kainde and Naomi began studying Yoruba folk songs and the cajon, an Afro-Caribbean drum that their father played throughout most of his career. Interestingly enough, although Yoruba is primarily spoken throughout Nigeria and Benin, the African language has been spoken in some fashion in Cuba since the 1700s, when the slave trade brought Africans to the Caribbean. So when the twins started studying their late father’s music and cultural heritage, they had a deeper understanding of their father as a person, while getting in touch with their ancestral history.

The twins 2015 self-titled debut was critically applauded. Thematically, the album dealt with the past — their father’s life and death, their relationship with each other, their own origins and connecting with their roots. Sonically the album saw them quickly establishing a unique sound that features elements of electro pop, hip-hop, jazz, the blues and Yoruba folk music.

The JOVM mainstays’ sophomore album 2017’s Ash saw the sibling duo writing songs firmly rooted in Afro-Cuban culture and history — but while arguably being among the most visceral, politically charged material of their catalog to date, with the album’s material thematically touching upon race, gender and sexual identity.

Slated for a May 6, 2022 release through XL Recordings, Spell 31, Ibeyi’s third album derives its title from “Spell 31” in The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, which interestingly enough became the premise of the album’s first single “Made of Gold,” a lushly textured song featuring atmospheric synths, buzzing bass synths, skittering tweeter and woofer rattling beats, the twins’ gorgeous and dreamy harmonizing and a guest spot from Gambian-British emcee Pa Salieu.

When the twins returned to the studio to write and record new material, they had felt a sense of chaos, informed by the chaotic state of the world surrounding them. As they got to work, they set out to invoke the age-old teachings of their ancestors to remobilize the power of their birth-given destiny as Ibeyi.

The album reportedly sees the twins on a path to restoration in pursuit of true harmony, healing and magic — all of which, we desperately need right now. The JOVM mainstays commissioned activist and storyteller Janaya Future Khan to write an essay for them, after meeting the activist and storyteller. Khan explains “Ibeyi’s Spell 31 is their boldest offering yet, an antidote to apathy in a divided world.” They explain further, “Spell 31 casts with conviction, transmuting nihilism into sangoma, binaries into endless dualites, moral austerity into abundance. A subversive and halcyonic manifesto from queens of a sovereign land, Ibeyi occupies the liminal, the space between life and death, past and present, right and wrong, and calls for the interior revelations that create the systemic revolutions we long for.”

Continuing their successful collaboration with their long-time producer Richard Russell, Spell 31‘s 10 songs were written, produced and recorded by the duo and features appearances from Jorja Smith, BERYWN, the twins’ father and mother, and the aforementioned Pa Salieu. The album also features a reimagining of Black Flag‘s “Rise Above.”

Along with the album announcement, the JOVM mainstays released Spell 31‘s lead single “Sister 2 Sister.” Centered around a hyper modern production featuring wobbling bass synths, skittering beats, glistening synths and the twins’ gorgeous harmonies “Sister 2 Sister” is inspired and informed by their Afro-Latin roots and their sisterhood: They recall a fond memory singing along to Shakira in the mirror and they talk about how they know they can depend on and rely on each other — even when they’re occasionally when they’re at odds. The song also features a sample of “River” off their self-titled debut.

Directed by Colin Solar Cardo, the accompanying visual for “Sister 2 Sister” stars Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz, along with a collection of beautiful dancers. While incredibly symbolic, the visual touches upon the themes of its accompanying song — with the sisters’ and dancers’, movements conveying the twins’ deep bond.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past 25 years or so, Cape Verde (Cabo Verde in Portuguese), the tiny island nation comprised of an archipelago of 11 different volcanic islands, located some 400 miles off the Africa’s Northwestern coast has been hailed as one of the continent’s most stable democracies. But its history is fascinating and complicated.

The Portuguese colonized the then-uninhabited island nation in the 15th century. Because of its prime location, the island nation was established as the first European settlement in the tropics — and as a major commercial center and stopover point for the Transatlantic Slave Trade during the 16th and 17th centuries.

With the decline and gradual abolition of the slave trade in the 19th century, the now-former Portuguese colony suffered through a crippling economic crisis. But because of Cape Verde’s location in the middle of several major shipping lanes, the island nation quickly because an important commercial center and port.

The decline and gradual abolition of the slave trade in the 19th century resulted in a crippling economic crisis for the Portuguese colony; however, because of the Cape Verde’s location in the middle of major shipping lanes, it quickly became an important commercial center and port.

With few natural resources and inadequate sustainable investment from the Portuguese, who had controlled the island nation for the better part of 300 years, Cape Verde’s citizens had become increasingly frustrated with colonial rule.

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, a series of independence and nationalist movements across colonized Africa began sprouting up across Africa –including Cape Verde. In 1951, Portugal changed the island nation’s status from a colony to overseas province in an attempt to blunt Cape Verdeans growing nationalism; however, by 1956 Amilcar Cabral led a group of Cape Verdeans and Guineans, who formed the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). The group demanded improvement in economic, social and political conditions in Cape Verde and Portuguese Guinea — and interestingly enough, formed the basis of both nations’ independence movement.

After moving its headquarters to Conakry, Guinea in 1960, the PAIGC began an armed rebellion the following year, which resulted in a bloody and complicated civil war that had Soviet Bloc-supported PAIGC fighting Portuguese and African troops.

Portuguese Guinea declared independence in 1973 and was granted de jure independence the following year as Guinea-Bissau. Amilcar Cabral led Cape Verde’s burgeoning independence movement until his assassination that same year. Cabral’s half-brother Luis Cabral, led the tiny archipelago nation to independence in 1975.

Much like their counterparts across the continent and elsewhere, Cape Verde has suffered through the ills of a society born by and influenced by colonialism, slavery, corruption, brutality and greed while struggling to integrate into a rapidly globalizing world — and often, not quite knowing how exactly to do so.

Over the past handful of years, Ostinato Records had delved deep into the music and sounds of the tiny African nation. Critically acclaimed compilations like Synthesize the Soul, Leite Quente Funaná and Pour Me A Grog featured three distinct chapters of Cabo Verde’s musical story: 1980s synthesizer-driven dance music, the 1990s Cape Verdean Diasporic sound in Europe and the accordion-driven fuaná sound. All of those sounds came from the island of Santiago.

Ostinato Records fourth album of their Cabo Verde series, The Ano Nobo Quartet’s The Strings of São Domingos can essentially trace its origins back to roughly 1989. Back then, a burly solider from Cabo Verde, named Pascoal saw the Berlin Wall fall from the East German side. Nicknamed “El Bruto” or
“The Brute” because of his “brutally” amazing guitar prowess, the Cape Verdean guitarist saw history while in full uniform, the ever dutiful solider. As a member of the FARP, the armed wing of Cabo Verde’s independence struggle, which was backed by the Soviet Union, Pascoal was dispatched the world over—from Cuba to Crimea to East Berlin.

Being stationed in Cuba gave Pascoal access to a world of guitar music. His stints in the Caribbean and the Crimean Peninsula were alongside soldiers from elsewhere in Lusophone Africa and the former colonized world. Unsurprisingly, these military postings became cultural gatherings and jam sessions, where sounds and techniques were exchanged amongst its members.

Along with fellow guitar maestros Fany, Nono and Afrikanu, Pasocal currently leads The Ano Nobo Quartet, named after Cape Vervde’s legendary and beloved composer, Ano Nobo, Pasocoal’s mentor and the father to the rest of the group. Nobo is so beloved that you’ll frequently see his face gracing murals across the archipelago.

Understandably, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a departure in Ostinato’s fourth Cabo Verde chapter. A different story needed telling. Pascoal is a soldier, able to weather hardship, adapt, and maintain a clear-eyed focus. It seemed fitting that he should lead a pandemic-era recording that demanded a shorter recording period to lessen the chances of transmission among the players and recording staff, along with abrupt restrictions and limitations on gatherings and recording locations.

The Strings of São Domingos is not only a tribute to Koladera or Coladeira, a guitar-drive, subtly rhythmic sound with a light spirit, but to Pasocoal’s Cold War shaped life and travels, as well as Ano Nobo’s legacy. But these tracks aren’t traditional Koladera, as first created on the island of Fogo and popularized by Cesaria Evora. 

The Ano Nobo Quartet’s Koladera is a global story with Cabo Verde at its center, a creole melting pot in the middle of the Atlantic attracting the best from four continents: hypnotic, haunting Koladera guitars inflected with twangs of Salsa Cubano, Spanish Flamenco, Brazilian Samba Canção, Jamaican Reggae, Argentine Tango, Mozambican Marrabenta, and even a dash of Black American Blues. Pascoal even picked up a few notes from a group of Chinese guitarists—a traditional instrument in China resembles the cavaquinho—who arrived on a socialist cultural exchange in Cabo Verde. Absent percussion, the quartet’s sound still drips with rhythm.

This album was recorded in three locations on Santiago Island: in Pascoal’s home in São Domingos, the small hometown of Ano Nobo that sits amid the cascading hills of the countryside; in a secluded, remote recording space in the north of the island; and near Santiago’s northern beach cove without any electricity. Each location used a mobile recording studio equipped with different mics placed near and far to capture both the Spanish and Chinese-made guitars and the natural environment that shapes the saudade, a melancholic longing, of Koladera. Each space has its own atmosphere heard in the interludes.

Ostinato Records released three singles from The Ano Nobo Quartet album:

  • The gently swaying samba-like “Sociedad di Mocindadi,” which features some gorgeous strummed guitar and a sonorous lead baritone vocals.
  • The breathtakingly beautiful flamenco-like composition “Tio Bernar”
  • “Canta Ku Alma Magoado,” a swaying mix of samba and tango that’s simultaneously wistful and hopeful.

Deeply informed by personal and world history, the three singles are centered around an elegant and seemingly effortless simplicity. But interestingly enough, the material seems to ask the listener to slow down and to take stock of ourselves and our world in the years ahead.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Guiss Guiss Bou Bess Teams up with ISS814 on a Heady Mix of African Diaspora Music

Sabar is a beloved and traditional folk music, played with a sabar, a traditional drum, generally played with one hand and a stick, throughout Senegal and The Republic of The Gambia. Most often you’d hear the style at weddings and other special celebrations.

Guiss Guiss Bou Bess—Mara Seck, Aba Diop, and Stephane Costantini — is a Dakar, Senegal-based act with some bonafide credentials:

  • Mara Sack is the son of beloved griot and musician Alla Seck.
  • Aba Diop is a rising sabar percussionist, from a family with a deep lineage with the instrument.
  • Stephane Constanti is a producer with extensive knowledge and experience in electronic music and drum ‘n’ bass.

Since their formation, the Senegalese trio have attempted to modernize the ancient and beloved sabar style, creating what they’ve dubbed Electro Sabar, a mix of ritual percussion, trap, dubstep, UK garage, drum ‘n’ bass, bass house, Afrobass and kuduro that manages to simultaneously respect Senegalese traditions while being inspired by the bustling, exuberant, working class neighborhoods of their hometown.

Back in March, opposition Ousmane Sonko was arrested for rape allegations. His arrest led to ongoing mass protests, demonstrations and riots across the country, which has left more than 13 dead. Mackay Sall, Senegal’s President has responded with restrictions to Internet, social media and other other forms of expression and communication as a way to curb protests.

Coincidentally, the Senegalese trio’s latest single “Sunu Gal (La Pirogue)” off their album Set Sela manages to be remarkably timely: Featuring Senegalese emcee ISS814, “Sunu Gal,” as the band explains was written for their homeland’s young people: Partially written as a loving ode to Senegalese culture and values, the song sees the collaborators calling for their homeland’s young people to peacefully protest, while demanding that the government respect and honor the rights and concerns of its people.

Sonically, “Sunu Gal (La Pirogue)” is a heady and slickly produced mix of traditional rhythms and instrumentation, skittering trap hi-hat, tweeter and woofer rattling beats, dialogue, traditional chants and some fiery and dexterous bars delivered in French and local dialects — presumably Wolof. While obviously being a meeting across the African Diaspora, the song is a powerful reminder that hip-hop is the lingua franca of young people across the globe.

Directed by Jean-Baptiste Joire, the vidoe for “Sunu Gal (La Pirogue)” is a gorgeously shot glimpse into daily life in Senegal with a playful and fantastical bent, before heading to the club, where we see dancers doing a mix of traditional and modern steps to the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: London’s Blue Lab Beats Teams up with Accra, Ghana’s Killbeatz and Fela Kuti on Dance Floor Friendly “Motherland Journey”

Rising, London-based Jazztronica production duo Blue Lab Beats — producer NK-OK and multi-instrumentalist Mr, DM — had rather humble origins, as bedroom producers, who remixed tracks by the likes of Dua Lipa, Rag ‘N’ Bone Man and others. The duo’s sound quickly morphed to incorporate jazz, soul and hip-hop influences while staying true to their British/London roots. Since the formation, the London-based duo have quickly exploded into the national and international scenes: they’ve played played Glastonbury — and they’ve opened for the likes of the legendary Roy Ayers and Thundercat. They’ve also contributed a remake of Bobby Henderson‘s Blue Note Records‘ classic “Montara,” which appeared on last year’s Blue Note Re: imagined compilation. And adding to a growing profile, the duo’s work has amassed over 25 million streams to date.

2021 has been a busy year for the rising British production duo: They’ve released a handful of critically applauded singles including “Dat It,” “Blow You Away (Delilah)” and “Sensual Loving,” which have seem them collaborating with the like of Stones Throw Records affiliate Kiefer and Afrobeats star Ghetto Boy. And as you may recall last month,I wrote about “Labels,” which featured a  J. Dilla meets The Midnight Hour-like production centered around soaring strings, boom bap beats and a sinuous bass line.

The production serves as a lush and mesmerizing bed for thoughtful and lovelorn verses from London-based emcee Kofi Stone that find him questioning the need for labels to define what his romantic relationship is to others. The song also features a soulful hook by London-based vocalist Tiana Major9.

Those four singles will appear on the duo’s long awaited new album and Blue Note Records full-length debut Motherland Journey. Slated for a February 25, 2022 release, the album is a result of two-and-a-half years of work that celebrates pushing boundaries, taking risks and overcoming adversity. Starting out with over 70 demos, the duo meticulously whittled them down to the final 17-track album.

“This album took us two-and-a-half years to finish, our longest process to make an album, but it was so worth it,”the members of Blue Lab Beats say in press notes. “On this album you’ll hear many fusions of genres and inspirations that we gathered throughout that time frame and especially to work on so many of the songs during the first lockdown it was a test in itself. We had to figure out so many different ways to achieve what we exactly wanted sonically and having Blue Note to help us achieve that was an absolute blessing. Many of the vocal features and instrumentalists on this album are great friends of ours and it’s just so amazing to have family on this album.”

Motherland Journey‘s fifth and latest single, album title track “Motherland Journey” features Ghanian producer KillBeatz and the vocals of the late Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Co-written by the duo and Killbeatz in Accra, Ghana, the song was blessed by the estate of Fela Kuti. Featuring a warm, dancehall meets Afrobeat-like production, featuring a looping and shimmering guitar line, skittering beats, regal horns, “Motherland Journey” is an upbeat, club friendly bop. But underneath those dance floor vibes, the song suggests that Africa is the future — and for some, it’ll be an introduction to the legendary Kuti and the sounds of Africa in a crowd-pleaisng fashion.