British jazz titans Sons Of Kemet have just announced they’ll be releasing a new album, Black To The Future, next month. Alongside the announcement, they also shared its lead single, “Hustle”, featuring rapper Kojey Radical extoling the virtues of Black pride, while Lianne La Havas steps into elevate with some silky backing vocals.
The new track has also been given visuals from director Ashleigh Jadee, which follow two dancers who represent what saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings described as “the duality present within any struggle to transcend internal limitations. As the video progresses, we see that it’s only once the differing elements of the self are reconciled and act in unison that rebirth (symbolised by the immersion in water) can occur.”
Black To The Future, which is due for release on May 14, is the band’s fourth album since they debuted with Burn in 2013. Elsewhere on the 11-tracker, we can expect features from Newham grime don D Double E, Philly poet, musician and activist Moor Mother, writer and musician Joshua Idehen, and multi-instrumentalist jazz powerhouse Angel Bat Dawid.
In the accompanying press release, Hutchings described the album as “a sonic poem for the invocation of power, remembrance and healing. It depicts a movement to redefine and reaffirm what it means to strive for Black power. The meaning is not universal and the cultural context of the listener will shape their understanding. Yet in the end, the overarching message remains the same: For humanity to progress we must consider what it means to be Black to the Future.”
Press play on the visuals above, and be sure to add “Hustle” to your playlists.
