Allowing yourself to be possessed with GAIKA

Music Life

Our host this week is artist and musician GAIKA - he was born in London and raised in the city’s night clubs. He released his debut mixtape Machine, in 2015 and since released a string of projects including BASIC VOLUME and Seguridad. He has collaborated with some of the most renowned names in contemporary music, including 3D of Massive Attack, Dean Blunt, Kelela, Mike Skinner, Mykki Blanco and SOPHIE. Alongside his music he has also created a number of art installations and has just released his new album Drift.

Joining him are a group of artists whose music incorporates hip-hop, dub poetry and experimental pop – plus lots of spaces in between.

First is British rapper Speech Debelle, who released her debut album Speech Therapy in 2009, which went on to win the coveted Mercury prize. She released two further albums in 2012 and 2017. In June the self-confessed food lover shared her latest album Sunday Dinner On A Monday.

Next up is a singer-songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Lucinda Chua. Based in South London, she primarily uses her voice, a cello, and an array of effects units to create her music, and released her debut album Yian in March.

Finally, South London-born poet and musician James Massiah, a wordsmith who has built a reputation for his literary voice. His collaborators include The xx and Massive Attack. He released his Natural Born Killers EP in 2019 and at the end of last year shared the latest in his New Poems series, Volume 4.

Together they discuss their song-writing process, whether they are led by words or music, and the psychological effect of creativity.

In the second half of the programme, Speech Debelle takes us through a playlist called Music Is Good Food, featuring tracks from Black Uhuru, Prince, Kelis, plus more.