negrita's chronicles: Ian Kamau

Showing posts with label Ian Kamau. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

soul food: shad's 'flying colours'

no words to describe this dopeness, y'all. i don't know how shad keeps getting better with each album, but he truly does. this is all kinds of magic. and the collaborations are really smart, too. this is a perfect combination of brilliant storytelling and masterful technique.

it is thoughtful, intelligent, sharp, introspective, and it makes you think. it makes you stop everything to listen. and it consistently knocks you over with just how bloody good it is. it has also rendered me unable to review it properly because i keep jumping out of my seat yelling 'whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!! whaaaat!?' and startling everyone around me. i shall therefore leave that to the professionals and go back to my vigorous head-nodding.

Monday, July 30, 2012

soul food: 'the village' by ian kamau

beautiful brilliance from the brother, ian kamau. loving his album, one day soon, which is now available, here.

he is currently in south africa and moving up to kenya within the next week and i'm digging following his adventures on the continent via twitter.

Friday, October 7, 2011

soul food: one day soon ~ ian kamau

i love ian kamau. but this has already been made abundantly clear. after releasing EPs and some pretty amazing mixtapes, he's released his first full-length LP. and it sounds as dope as i expected it to be. if not doper. yes...'doper' is a word.

listen! buy! spread the word!

OneDaySoon(Sampler) by Ian Kamau

and check out the trailer for the video for 'the village', which is the first single of the album.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

ian kamau: all i need

from the awesomeness of his three-volume mixtape, love and other struggles, here is 'all i need' by ian kamau. love the lovebirds.

Monday, August 8, 2011

new music: ian kamau's 'choose you'

the brother ian kamau has released a new video for 'choose you' from his september nine vol 3: love and other struggles mixtape. love the track. love the concept. i have to say, despite the fact that i've been eagerly awaiting this album for a while now, kamau has more than made up for the wait with these brilliant mixtapes. he's just truth and light and general awesome.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

mixtapes of awesome: ian kamau and k'naan & j.period

it's a generally awesome music week for me: new mixtapes from both k'naan and ian kamau. i've been listening to little else but k'naan and j.period's the messengers: episode 1: fela kuti and kamau's september nine: vol 1 since they were first released, so i'm ridiculously geeked for volumes 2 of both.

ian kamau titled his mixtape september nine because the date marks his 30th birthday and his aim was to release his complete album on this date. the album has been pushed back, unfortunately, but in the meantime he has awesomely released two mixtapes to tide us over. the first volume featured clips from spike lee's do the right thing and is a smoothly effortless blend of hip hop, spoken word, and song. i was captured immediately by 'dear summer' and was captivated by his quiet yet steady and unwavering delivery throughout the EP. seriously, though, his voice--whether rhyming, singing, or speaking--is mesmerizing and is not unlike the feeling of floating on your back in the ocean. my favorite track remains 'majority report', but i'm also loving 'say it ain't so.'

september nine: volume two dropped yesterday, and i cannot wait to hear what's in store. download here.

k'naan and j.period's the messengers: episode 2: bob marley was released on 08/09/09 and is exactly how you would imagine their collaboration. it honours the original tracks beautifully and k'naan's remixes of his own tracks are pure fire. j.period is a genius. i will no doubt say that again, numerous times. stand out track: the combination of 'stir it up' and 'fatima'. i can and have listen[ed] to that all day long. another highlight is the 'small axe' remix in which k'naan addresses is Somali countrymen in a poignant plea for a collective search for peace in a country so torn apart by senseless and continuous violence.

download the messengers: episode 2 here.

canada's bringing it this year, for real. enjoy the free music, people!