by Ben Hogwood, with text from the press release

Shabaka has today released his new solo album Of The Earth, available today worldwide via his newly formed label Shabaka Records.

Written, performed, produced and mixed entirely by Shabaka, Of The Earth marks a defining moment in the British musician’s ongoing artistic evolution. Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in contemporary British music, Shabaka has spent the past decade reshaping global perceptions of UK jazz through projects including Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming and Shabaka and the Ancestors. With Of The Earth, he steps forward not only as a bandleader and instrumentalist, but as a producer crafting his sound from the ground up.

The album follows 2024’s internationally acclaimed Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace, which introduced a new phase of Shabaka’s practice centred on flute, breath and meditative sonic space. Of The Earth extends that transformation while reconnecting with the rhythmic propulsion that has long defined his work. Built from beats, loops and layered instrumentation recorded across multiple locations, the album synthesises the diasporic rhythms of Caribbean and African traditions with electronic production and improvisation.

Much of Of The Earth was created while travelling, with Shabaka working from portable instruments and digital production tools. Electronic rhythms and looping structures form the album’s foundation, while choral melodies unfold across alto flute, saxophone and clarinet. The music reflects a sense of movement – tracing diasporic pathways through sound while remaining grounded in rhythm and breath.

For the first time on record, Shabaka also raps. Inspired in part by André 3000, the decision emerged naturally from his deep relationship with hip hop. Having grown up practicing instruments over rap beats, he approached his voice as another instrument within the album’s sonic ecosystem, exploring cadence, phrasing and breath alongside flute and saxophone.

The album also marks a renewed relationship with the saxophone. After publicly stepping away from the instrument in recent years, Shabaka returned to it during the memorial concert for South African jazz legend Louis Moholo-Moholo in 2025. On Of The Earth, the saxophone reappears not as the dominant voice of earlier projects but as one element within a broader instrumental palette shaped by years of studying global flute traditions.

Shabaka will celebrate the album’s release with a special live launch performance at Village Underground, London on April 7th 2026, where he will present the music in an evolving hybrid format blending live instrumentation, improvisation and manipulated stems from the album recordings. With Of The Earth, Shabaka reveals a new dimension of his artistry, one that unites instrumental virtuosity, beatmaking and experimentation into a singular creative vision.

Published post no.2,821 – Friday 5 March 2026