New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Zimbabwe-born British artist KWAYE has announced his new EP, Love & Affliction, set for release on October 17th via Mind of a Genius / Warner Bros. Records. The EP features recent single "
What Have You Done" plus five all new songs. KWAYE is also thrilled to announce his debut headline show at London's OMEARA on Tuesday, October 30th. Tickets are on-sale starting at 9am BST this Friday,
September 28th.
To date, KWAYE has earned over 15 million plays across his seven released songs and stunning videos. The latest visual for "
What Have You Done" was a deep and powerful display of personal identity and discovery.
In KWAYE's own words, "The video for 'What Have You Done' is about rediscovering identity: through the movement and styling, we wanted to create a visual world where various parts of the African diaspora melded together. Each of the three looks is a reference to three different points in western black history that I never discovered in my western school books: the nude colours refer to colours worn on the plantations before slavery's abolition in the US; the green and yellow outfits reference black music in the 70s, and the crossover/emergence of hip-hop in New York from funk and disco; the final looks are inspired by the global movement of black bodies in the 40s - from the Second Great Migration across the US, to the Windrush Generation which bought a wave of Caribbeans to the UK. African-inspired contemporary movement is the common denominator of all the different shots in the video, just as Africa is the root of black histories."
The London-raised artist was discovered in the back of an Uber while studying abroad at UCLA, taking classes in African-American studies and the music industry. Within a week of landing, he met a producer and the first thing they created together was a demo for what would become his breakout single "Cool Kids." While still figuring out his way around the city, KWAYE was picked up in Downtown LA by an Uber driven by a former A&R executive, and after hearing "
Cool Kids" he passed it along to Mind of a Genius. MOAG provided KWAYE with a place to work and record, and within just a couple weeks he was the label's first UK signing.
A student of not only the Zimbabwean music his family brought with them to England, but neosoul icons like D'Angelo and
John Legend and funky boundary-pushers like Thundercat - not to mention unexpected influences like
Tracy Chapman and the
Eagles - KWAYE uses flourishes of pop and classic house music to juice up a breezy, funky version of modern soul miles apart from dour alt-R&B. A multi-instrumentalist who plays viola, sax, and guitar, he's been performing on stage since childhood in venues ranging from open mic nights to the West End. His art and style emphasize Zimbabwean colour and swagger matched with the clean, smart lines of London fashion. His sense of style extends seamlessly into his sonic identity, blending into one complete aesthetic whole with the effortless grace of a veteran pop star. KWAYE is a new kind of artist, a utopian global citizen, bouncing from city to city, continent to continent, picking up influences and energy along the way.
