Although we haven’t had much music from Kano this year, it’s been far from quiet. It’s been a time for him to reconnect with his roots, making an emotional guest appearance on stage for Ghetts’ Camden Roundhouse show and spending quite a bit of time in Jamaica working on two special creations: a bottle of white rum called Duppy Rum and a new short film called A Blessed Place.
The short film was directed by Aneil Karia (with whom Kano collaborated on Trouble, the short film he directed and released alongside Hoodies All Summer) and takes us through a patchwork of scenes of Jamaican life with Kano’s narration tying it all together. He talks about visiting family in Browns Town and Runaway Bay as a child and first discovering Kingston for himself in the mid-2000s, coincidentally, when he released Home Sweet Home.
Speaking on the film, Karia shares: “Collaborating with Kano is always a pleasure. Whenever we work together on a film—whether it’s fact or fiction—the M.O is always to capture the ‘reality’ as deeply as possible. With this piece, we wanted the viewer to be able to actually breathe in the Jamaica that Kano knows and loves. To make something intimate, personal, sensory.”
Between A Blessed Place, Trouble and his BAFTA-worthy acting in Top Boy, the visual side of Kano’s storytelling continues to thrive and expand. Who knows, maybe a feature film is on the cards next...
