It was announced last Friday (Dec. 9) that Black Thought would release a new EP entitled African Dreams, produced in collaboration with Seun Kuti, the son of legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. There are three songs in this project, all of which have been produced by Molotov.
Afrobeats and hip hop are both beautifully infused into African Dreams, and it features some of Thought’s most impressive bars since he became known as a rapper. In particular, this is to be said about the movie’s opener, which bears the same name:
In an interview with The FADER, Kuti, who currently leads Egypt 80, the band his late father led, discussed the release and its aforementioned title track in the following manner:
“African Dreams” is the title of one of the songs on the album, derived from the theme of the original track, which was about African people’s commitment to sacrifice as children of the earth. There are so many freedoms that we enjoy today because our ancestors sacrificed so much for us to be here. We are willing to pay it forward to our children and to our grandchildren. That’s what this is all about.”
African Dreams follows August’s Cheat Codes, a collaborative effort between Danger Mouse. As part of that release, we were able to hear 12 dope tracks as well as features from Raekwon, Michael Kiwanuka, Joey BADA$$, Run The Jewels, A$AP Rocky, MF DOOM, Russ, Conway the Machine, and more. Currently, the word is that Seun Kuti, and his legendary group The Roots are currently working hard towards the completion of the long-awaited follow-up to their 2014 album, And Then You Shoot Your Cousin, which was released in February
