23 years after the iconic Blackstar album release from Talib Kweli and Mos Def (Yasiin Bey), fans are still hungrily awaiting their follow up. More than teased at, to mouth watering eager fans, and now lauded over by greedy streaming services set to add to their hoard, the usually quiet Yasiin Bey dials in with Jasmin Leigh and The Peoples Party with Talib Kweli, on Spotify; the nay sayers, and the impatient fans.
I am sensing an energy shift on a macro and micro scale; the entire Earth, it’s inhabitants, systems of control, cultural icons passing, people closest to me, changes within.
Since the start of the year Iv lost 3 close relatives in close succession. My uncle, my Grandmother and my aunt. I imagine posting this helps me to compute, but I doubt it does.
As I am dressed here I have attended two of three funerals from my apartment flat, hysterical through every range of emotions. Disconnected and frustrated by it. Through the difficult moments however I feel selfish as I know the tears are for memories Iv had with them and memories I can’t, and that’s for me, not them. For them I imagine and embrace happiness and relief as I know though death was sudden, it was when they were not living in their greatest power. Now they are...
Connected in what feels like very crucial timing, purposeful, powerful and in preparation for what is ahead. A toast to my ancestors
In “Hustle”, two dancers represent the duality present within any struggle to transcend internal limitations - until differing elements of the self are reconciled and act in unison.
Listen to “Hustle” ft. Kojey Radical: https://SonsOfKemet.lnk.to/BlackToThe...
Follow Sons of Kemet everywhere: https://linktr.ee/sonsofkemet
Sons of Kemet returns with their new album Black To The Future, out May 14.
The follow up to 2018’s Mercury Prize nominated breakout release Your Queen Is A Reptile
This release finds the UK-based quartet at their most dynamic – showcasing harmonically elegant arrangements and compositions, coupled with fierce, driving material
Video credits:
Director: Ashleigh Jadee
Producer: Adi Alfa
Production Company: Dynasty Entertainment
Dancers:
The Jaiy Twins @thejaiytwins
NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It's the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space.
September 16, 2020 | Suraya Mohamed -- Look to the left of Nubya Garcia's Tiny Desk (home) concert and you'll see a hanging plant swaying right above the keys. It never stops moving during the next 23 minutes, and it's for a bizarre reason. Garcia's (home) concert took place on a boat — a first in Tiny Desk history — because she was in between homes. Before the pandemic hit, the London-born jazz saxophonist and composer was booked for an extensive global tour that started in February 2020, and it was expected to continue through the end of the year. Because she was only going to be in London for a very short time, she gave up her flat, planning to stay with family and friends for short breaks. It seemed like a good idea until March, when COVID-19 shut down most of the world and the tour, too.
Garcia and her band are at Soup Studio, a recording facility built on a decommissioned floating lighthouse moored on the River Thames. It's also where Garcia recorded her excellent new album, SOURCE. This set features three songs from the record; the title track starts it off with a reggae, dub vibe. Garcia skillfully uses the entire range of her tenor saxophone, hitting convincing low and high notes with ease and resolve. Throughout the set, her tone is gorgeous, her musical intuition perfect. She projects rich and full melodic lines with refined solos that leave just enough space to take in the expressive sincerity of the music. There are no lyrics but her music conveys a message of staying grounded, being present in the moment and appreciating the comforts and feelings of what it means to be home.
SET LIST
"Source"
"Pace"
"Boundless Beings"
MUSICIANS Nubya Garcia: tenor saxophone: Joe Armon-Jones: keys; Daniel Casmir: double bass: Sam Jones: drums; Richie Seivwright: vocals; Cassie Kinoshi: vocals
CREDITS Video by: Fabrice Bourgelle; Additional Cameras: Lou Jasmine, Israel Wilson; Audio by: David Holmes; Mixed by: Kwes at Soup Studio; Producer: Suraya Mohamed; Audio Mastering Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Video Producer: Morgan Noelle Smith; Executive Producer: Lauren Onkey; Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann
Amanda Gorman, the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate, became the youngest-ever inaugural poet. As a person with a speech impediment, she's said she can relate to Pres. Biden and his refusal to be silenced by his stutter
