Seckou Keita releases his brand new album Homeland - Chapter 1, out today via Hudson Records.

Homeland - Chapter 1 is an impressive body of work that beautifully blends traditional music and rhythms with pop sonorities, embracing afro-pop, urban, hip-hop, and spoken word. The album presents a mixture of four languages: Mandinka, Wolof, English and French, and an array of extraordinary guests and collaborators featuring the talents of  Zena Edwards, Hannah Lowe, Daara J Family and more.

Throughout the album, Seckou celebrates both the ties we keep with our ancestral lands and the contributions we make to our adoptive lands with soulful ballads, pop anthems, irresistible big bands, dancey grooves, and intimate stories. Homeland takes listeners on a surprising journey from past to present through music and words. Questioning the very idea of what ‘home’ means, Seckou explores his own identity and relationship with his adoptive UK and native Senegal.

Overall, Homeland Chapter 1 acts as a bridge of genres; subtly blending the infectious Mbalax rhythms from his native Senegal with urban beats in tracks such as Nay Rafet and Ni Mala Beugué or between acoustic and pop anthems as shown in Wakili. It delves into past and present across serious topics, all led by the Kora, an ancient instrument dating from the 13th century, but always looking at its relevance today. Listeners will undoubtedly be moved, emotionally and physically.

“Since the events of 2020, my mind and heart have been actively seeking the answers to so many questions in relation to my UK-adopted home and my Senegalese native one. Two lands, two homes, and all the places I regularly visit in between; each place embracing family, friends, music and stories.”
- Seckou Keita