Confucius MC & Kwake Bass - Debut Single 'C.N.S (City Never Stops)’
Photo credit: Adama Jalloh
Native Rebel Recordings have launched their second release as they welcome to the fold; the sublime jazz duo CoN&KwAkE and their hypnotic debut single ?C.N.S (City Never Stops)?.
Having firmly established themselves as masters of their crafts in their own rights, Confucius MC and Kwake Bass have teamed up to release their first offering from a soon to be announced debut album later this year.
A uniquely London evolution of classic hip hop, ?C.N.S. (City Never Stops)? brings through lineages of jazz and sees saxophone, drums, piano and double bass freestyle as powerfully as the lyrics.
The pair say; ?City Never Stops refers to that feeling of not being able to switch off beneath the constant glow of the city's power and the inevitable fatigue that follows when trying to keep up with it.?
Of the signing, Shabaka Hutchings adds; ?I?ve been following the musical journey of Con and Kwake for around 15 years, so it was my pleasure to invite them into the studio to create this album. They?ve consistently managed to navigate the hip hop realm with an artistic integrity and creativity that places them at the forefront to the British contribution to this art form.?
It is the second release on Hutchings? Native Rebel Recordings, where he invites friends and family to RAK Studios improvise around sketches he?s written specifically for the invited artists. The first release was Chelsea Carmichael?s bold and expressive ?The River Doesn?t Like Strangers?, and like that release, CoN&KwAkE?s debut record will contain evocative photography by Native Rebel?s in-house visualiser Adama Jalloh. It was mixed by Dill Harris and mastered by Guy Davy at Electric Master London.
These two have spent years making things happen from the sidelines. Con has been embedded in UK hip hop since the early 2000s and spent over a decade as an educator in a primary school, which involved running Rap Club, where he?d bring artists like Kwake?s Speakers Corner Quartet to meet the children. The club included pre-teen versions of Jesse James Solomon and Loski. Back in 2013 Con was the support of choice for Mos Def, and this year he was touring with UK hip hop stalwart Jehst.
Kwake is, among many other things, Musical Director for Sampha and Kae Tempest. Back in 2006 he turned his beat-making into live drums for Speakers Corner Quartet, the house band at the much-missed Brixton open mic night of the same name. He got back behind the drum kit when he was 21 and has become the player of choice for travelling US heavyweights, playing with MF Doom, Jeru Tha Damaja and Joey Bada$$ as well as Lianne La Havas and Mica Levi.
The duo bring their histories with them. They hold the centre of this phenomenal recording, interpreting Shabaka Hutchings? sketches on the fly with Shabaka using hip hop MCs? phrasings to inform his horn licks. Keep your ears open, this is just the start of something very special indeed.
Listen to ?C.N.S. (City Never Stops)? here…
