sons of kemet

Following up the jaw-dropping ‘Your Queen Is A Reptile’ (our No 2 album of 2018) was always going to be a momentous task.

Fortunately, the group at the heart of SoK aren’t exactly laurel-resters. Driven on by a tireless desire to push the boundaries of expression, Shabaka Hutchings, Theon Cross & Tom Skinner enlisted a bevy of  forward-thinking artists to assist them on this dizzying dual helix of brass & percussion (with Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid, D Double E & Lianne La Havas lending vocal skills). But it’s the sheer fury in the book-ending spat poetry of Joshua Idehen that instils ‘Black To The Future’ with the elevating rage that galvanizes our attention & further fuels our obsession with these innovators at the forefront of the London jazz scene.

if you like virtuosic brass-based shenanigans, spiritual jazz arrangements fuelled by adrenaline-pumping percussion & a whole lot of cosmic pizzazz, then shabaka, theon and the gang have got you covered. Sons of Kemet returns in 2021 with their new album Black To The Future. The follow up to 2018’s Mercury Prize nominated breakout release Your Queen Is A Reptile. This is their 4th record, and 2nd on impulse! Compared with ”Your Queen is a Reptile”, this album has featured vocalists and more of an emphasis on fuller compositions and arrangements. Guest artists include Kojey Radical, Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid, Joshua Idehen, D Double E.