Guedra Guedra’s ‘Mutant’ Is Breathtaking and Scintillating
Guedra Guedra’s new LP is filled with thoughtful assemblages of field recordings, digital and analog beats, and some of the year’s most luscious dancefloor melodies.
afrofuturism
Sci-Fi Goes Hi-Fi: 10 Artists Explore Hip-Hop Futurism
What follows are ten hip-hop artists whose works have been shaped in some form or another by the works of sci-fi in the Afrofuturist mold.
![Mourning [A] BLKstar Deliver a Rich and Nuanced Album](https://www.popmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Mourning-A-BLKstar-by-Emanuel-Wallace-720x380.webp)
Mourning [A] BLKstar Deliver a Rich and Nuanced Album
Cleveland’s Mourning [A] BLKstar give their community their flowers with an album of sprawling, intuitive free jazz and soul on Flowers for the Living.
Creole Afro-Futurists Dowdelin Get Vulnerable on ‘Tchenbe!’
Dowdelin’s Tchenbe! packs an emotionally nuanced punch, allowing the Creole Afro-Futurists’ style to develop in promising ways.
Sun Ra Arkestra Triumph with ‘Lights on a Satellite’
Sun Ra Arkestra’s sonic vision transcends time for these keepers of the cosmic flame, and that vitality comes through on Lights on a Satellite.
Lollise Makes a Splash With Brilliant Debut ‘I Hit the Water’
Lollise’s I Hit the Water is brilliant, swirling, and compelling with its blend of Afrobeat, soul, and electronics. It’s a debut deserving all your attention.
Nicole Mitchell and Ballaké Sissoko Explore Their Connections
Bamako is the truest kind of jazz, all about movement and communication, and Nicole Mitchell and Ballaké Sissoko make for an expert team at the helm.
Ugandan Master Storyteller Ekuka Morris Sirikiti Is Spellbinding
Ekuka Morris Sirikiti’s work reminds us that he and his traditions are very much still here, not artifacts of old media but flesh and blood, spirit and sound.
Shabazz Palaces Resist Profiling on Elusive ‘Exotic Birds of Prey’
Following Robed in Rareness from last fall, Shabazz Palaces continues a provisional series with the cryptic and digressive Exotic Birds of Prey.
‘Robed in Rareness’ Elaborates Shabazz Palaces’ Afrofuturism
On Robed in Rareness, Ishmael Butler aka Shabazz Palaces takes yet another step in his forward-thinking, far-sighted project of Afrofuturistic hip-hop.
Jake Blount Transforms Old Tradition for ‘The New Faith’
Jake Blount reworks traditional spirituals for a future setting on The New Faith and wonders what black music will sound like after climate change.
Manifesto ‘Rest Is Resistance’ Will Make You Crave a Nap
If a manifesto isn’t angry, it must rely on humor. The Nap Minister Tricia Hersey’s manifesto, Rest Is Resistance, struggles to compel one to inaction.