The meditative-jazz infused project, created solely at Kiina’s Catford studio in South East London, is an inviting nine-track project bringing about a warmth for Brooklyn-raised, London-based rapper Goya Gumbani to lay out his verses full of introspection. Consisting heavily of jazz-samples and live instrumentation, the album moves through a variety of sounds, creatively sampling and allowing Gumbani to explore various melodies and ideas, throughout.

Opening with the jazz-key subtleness of ‘What’s The Prize’, Goya effortlessly weaves under the instrumental, introducing the sonic-tone of the album and allowing the sample to flood through, immediately. Moving into ‘Erica’, Goya drops the optimism for his observational-lyricism, whilst Kiina juxtaposes with his elaborate production. Heading into ‘Catford’, Kiina sits back and allows Goya to bring his lyricism to the forefront of the track, keeping the bouncy-jazz instrumental as a backdrop to his verse.

‘Babylon’ continues with a more percussive-production allowing Goya to explore his relationship with the world he finds himself in, whilst Kiina creates a breezy-melody, keeping it simple and maintaining a distinctive sound. Opting for a more Hip-Hop style and ending with a soulful live-guitar solo, ‘Blase’ keeps the energy up on this laid-back album, proving the pair can move through a multitude of genres whilst still maintaining consistency in their tone.

Starting with an almost Bossa-Nova-esque style for ‘Same Strings, Pt. 1’, the track leads into a more percussive, drum-driven sound layered with sporadic vocals and Gumbani and Lojii’s old-school Hip-Hop inspired flow. As warm harmonies lead to the end, ‘Things I’d Never’ opens with its haunting vocal sample before moving into a more experimental sound. Bringing the track back to Earth, soulful-trumpet samples, alongside Goya’s perfectly-fit flow navigate us through the ever-changing instrumental.

Rounding out the joint project ‘Sittin’ Right’, maintains the soulfulness of the album with more sampled vocals before a dragging bass and experimental keys make cohesion out of confusion. Again, Goya effortlessly moves within his flow throughout, keeping us on track. Finally, ‘Pennies’ comes as the last track, holding a heavy-percussion throughout with sliding soundscapes and keys, creating a dream-like production. A perfect way to round out this album, Goya continues to be taken away with the instrumental, fitting into pockets with ease as Kiina continues to evolve in his distinctive sound.

The Lesser-Known