Last Friday (Dec. 9), Black Thought surprised his fans with the announcement of his new EP African Dreams, a collaborative effort with Seun Kuti, the son of Nigerian icon Fela Kuti. The project consists of three songs, all of which were produced by Molotov.
African Dreams is a beautiful mix of Afrobeat and hip hop, complete with some of Thought’s best bars to date. This is especially the case in regard to its opener of the same name:
“My pen’s to the pages again, thoughts procreate, negotiate the wages of sin, I’m such a standout performer, I’m unable to blend, they gave me a seed of my power, caused the table to spin, I’m the reflection in the glass, the shadows in the grass, the arrow with the wings of a sparrow in its path, I’m his majesty, pharaoh, some will never know the half, they’ll forever know the wrath of my paragraph…”
Speaking with The FADER, Kuti — who currently leads his late father’s band, Egypt 80 — opened up about the release and its aforementioned title track:
“We call it African Dreams because we’re going off the theme of the original song on the album, about remembering that African people are children of sacrifice. Every little freedom that we’ve gained today came about because our ancestors sacrificed a lot for us to be here, and that we are willing to pay it forward to the next generation. That’s what it’s about.”
African Dreams arrives after August’s Cheat Codes, Thought’s joint effort with Danger Mouse. That offering came with 12 dope cuts and additional features from Raekwon, Joey BADA$$, Russ, MF DOOM, Michael Kiwanuka, A$AP Rocky, Run The Jewels, Conway the Machine, and more. Currently, he and the legendary collective The Roots are said to be putting their finishing touches on the long-awaited follow-up to 2014’s …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin. Press play on African Dreams below.