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Kojey Radical: Don't Look Down
New album: Stylish, eclectic fusion of hip-hop, funk, jazz, neo-soul and R&B by the British Mercury Prize-shortlisted husky-voiced rapper with a candid release about insecurity, fatherhood, love, sex and money, filled with guest rapper and singers, and a follow-up to 2022's acclaimed Reason to Smile
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A selection of favourite LPs for 2022. See the lists below to go from top row left to right onwards
Favourite albums of 2022: Welcome to the first part of a selection for this year, many of which continue to come to terms with pandemic, climate change and other current issues but also show how music can continue to innovate, surprise and entertain
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And the band plays on … Ezra Collective: Where I'm Meant To Be
New album: Energetic, infectiously positive new album by the outstanding five London jazz musicians, infusing also funk and African influences, and including guests rappers Kojey Radical and Sampa the Great, and singers Emeli Sandé and Nao
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Sampa The Great’s second album reaches different heights
New album: A swaggeringly stylish, sharp, soulful, funny, proclamatory new release by rapper and singer Sampa Tembo celebrating her return to her native Zambia, with rebuffs to her previous home Australia and its music industry, and nods to Zamrock, lyrics in the Bantu language, and multiple African and other collaborators
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That floating feeling: Kojey Radical has Reason To Smile
Debut album: After many singles and four EPs, the British rapper’s and brand designer’s full debut LP is a stylish mix of hip hop, jazz and R&B filled with impressive braggadocio, reflections on his Ghanaian heritage, with songs love, crime, race, and the black experience, and talking excerpts by his beloved mother
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Take your pick. Are your favourites here? Also check out Part 2 coming soon.
Favourite albums of 2021, part 1: Another difficult year for everyone, but from soul and jazz, electro-pop the experimental and avant-garde, an outstanding one for music releases, perhaps in part because out of diversity comes great art. Also feel free to explore Part 2, which is now available to view here.
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Sons of Kemet: Black to the Future
Album review: A wonderful return by the pioneering UK-based jazz quartet after 2018’s acclaimed Your Queen is a Reptile, here with fuller compositions and arrangements, and featured vocalists including Kojey Radical, Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid, Joshua Idehen and D Double E
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