London has a knack of carving out frontrunners in music ,instrumental in bringing change within genres .Kaidi & NK-OK have been part of the exciting loose interconnected new jazz scene for about 5 years – NK-OK as part of the successful Jazztronica Duo Blue Lab Beats and Kaidi playing sax for Tom Misch Yusef Dayes & Celeste as well as his own band Invariance. The two have produced a fully collaborative album, Sounds of Afrotronica . For NK-OK, it represents his first full-length release since Blue Lab Beats “Voyage”. For Kaidi, it’s another chance to stretch his talent outside of playing on huge stages for ‘successful others’ to a proving ground for his own sound .The two come together on ‘Afrontronica’ NK-OK’ says “We both love the energy of grime from 2003 onwards and we both love jazz . We learnt jazz at the same place (Tomorrows Warriors) and one day in the studio I played Kaidi a track that didn’t fit into Blue Labs signature sound it was more electronic and industrial , he immediately started improvising and soon the layered horns and drums went on to become the song “Time Capsule” – we knew from then we had the makings of an album project”
The song “Time Capsule’ speaks volumes about the pairs vision on this album. From the very start metallic sampled afro sonics and live sax crush to open the song. Leading into ‘that drop’ (helter-skelter like drops are big and important on this album). Programmed drums and live electronic percussion adding an almost carnival rhythm to the intro – then onto the melancholy ritualistic hook grabbing the listener by the throat and taking them on that Afrotronic journey. The song does not let up, has no vocals and instead in the verses uses Kaidi’s sax to speak to the listener .Its language …sure… but without borders . Free and wild but with the melodicism of a where a voice would normally be in a song .Then comes the hook again and again more intense. NK-Oks production chops feature more in the 2nd verse electronically slicing up the beat almost DJ style . The sax honks in places connecting your heart to the street and your feet to the floor. It’s a huge song very different but makes your heart dance all the right places. It sums up the album but is one part of the vast sonic landscape ‘Sounds of Afrotronica has for the listener to explore.
The innovation on this album stems from fusing sounds that are clearly 70’s and 80’s Afrobeat inspired (Fela to Manu Dibango) and welding those influences to - Hip Hop ,Grime and Jazz ,or Grazz as the pair jokingly call it in the studio. Kaidi says “ Sonically I have been heavily influenced by Afrobeat and playing in outfits like Kinetica Bloco at Notting Hill Carnival. We used to busk a lot in Waterloo and this meant the sax had to energetically drive where the music was going. Acoustics were everything-
there was no electronic vehicle – joining forces with NK-OK meant a new sense of freedom as well as different driving elements leading to the fusion of sounds in ‘Afrotronica’ .”
In the alchemy at work you can really feel both musicians magically pulling sounds out of one genre into anothers outer limit to create a record that will connect to both a younger and older audiences. Respecting the past but with their minds in the future.
Kaidi and NK-OK clearly bring out the best in each other. Kaidi’s sax riffs and musicality perfectly match NK-OK’s over fascination with drum programming and electronic soundscaping .They meet somewhere in the middle .Whenever one is clean the other muddies the song with Bass warmth and darkness. NK-OK’s rhythms are just laid back but still hit you in the chest like a superhero, somewhere between the separate drum and saxophone improvisations in the album bears both their signature imprints and ties everything together.
“Sounds of Afrotronica” also feels indebted to the synergistic & harmonious nature of the young London jazz scene , the presence of Blue Lab Beats collaborator and significant “other David Mrakpor , Richie from Kokoroko, Horn player extraordinaire Theo Croker and Ezra Collective collaborator Ife Ogunjobi ,bode well as featured musicians on the album .The musical mesh feels right but its colours also echo their own surroundings. London life and its rich heritage + diverse sounds royally displayed in around 45 minutes . It experiments and hooks at the same time.
Out there but firmly in the pocket.
