Of The Earth - Shabaka (Cornflower blue vinyl) Stack Records

‘Of the Earth’ was entirely written, produced, performed and mixed by Shabaka. It’s a deeply personal album which establishes Shabaka as a new form of instrumentalist/producer and shows the musical range that connects his dance based work from groups Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming to the intricate textural sound world of his recent solo works (‘Perceive its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace’, ‘Afrikan Culture’).Beats and loops made on portable devices whilst on the road lay a foundation for choral flute melodies to soar within. Sequences of electronic rhythms outline a story of diasporic progression and words contextualise the record’s lyrical framework. Shabaka raps on the album - “I’ve never rapped before but was actually inspired by André 3000’s courage in exploring new dimensions with fearlessness and sincerity; I decided to find my voice on this album".A self imposed saxophone hiatus ended mid 2025 with a performance for South African drum maestro Louis M...