Kojey Radical's BAMBU : A masterpiece of progressive Hip-Hop
Kojey Radical, a British-Ghanian, self-styled artist, poet, and artistic director of his own clothing brand rewrites hip-hop and makes it entirely his own with his new single, BAMBU.
Kojey’s style is forward thinking. In BAMBU we find criticisms of the superficiality within urban society. He metaphorically grabs Hip-Hop by its horns and steers it towards a progressive dimension, where the focus lies mainly in the lyrics themselves rather than (as he puts it): “pussy, weed, money.”
In the single we find a more passionate and personal response to his previous work. BAMBU is a story in itself. Lupus Cain’s minimalist trap production leaves much room for Kojey’s deeply intense and profound lyrics. The beat remains as such and crescendos until the climactic end of the song. The snare drums resonate and bang harder alongside Kojey’s visceral, coarse-grained repetition of the lyrics: “Can’t see the truth when you’re six feet deep.”
And yet the song remains more spoken-word than anything else. Which is why it is unsurprising that he has been likened to Kendrick Lamar. Both artists make use of poetry to make social commentaries. Be they condemning or evaluating, This style of critique within a song is certainly garnering attention. Are we seeing a poetic style of rapping emerging in the UK hip-hop scene? As long as singles like BAMBU exist, we can only hope so.
KOJEY RADICAL - BAMBU
RELEASED JUNE 1st 2015 ON SELF RELEASED
Tour Dates
MAY 20TH 2015 GLASGOW, UK ART SCHOOL
MAY 21ST 2015 NEWCASTLE, UK RIVERSIDE
MAY 22ND 2015 LEEDS, UK BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB
MAY 23RD 2015 KNOCKENGORROCH, UK WORLD CEILIDH FESTIVAL
MAY 25TH 2015 MANCHESTER, UK GORILLA
MAY 26TH 2015 NOTTINGHAM, UK RESCUE ROOMS
MAY 27TH 2015 CARDIFF, UK CLWB IFOR BACH
MAY 28TH 2015 LONDON, UK KOKO
MAY 29TH 2015 BRIGHTON, UK THE HAUNT
MAY 31TH 2015 SOUTHAMPTON, UK ENGINE ROOMS
JUN 1ST 2015 GLOUCESTER, UK GUILDHALL
JUN 2ND 2015 OXFORD, UK O2 ACADEMY 2
JUN 3RD 2015 BIRMINGHAM, UK HARE & HOUNDS
JUN 4TH 2015 STOKE-ON-TRENT, UK THE SUGARMILL
JUN 5TH 2015 NORWICH, UK NORWICH ARTS CENTRE
JUN 6TH 2015 SHEFFIELD, UK O2 ACADEMY 2
