SOMA - Rudeboi

Ahead of the release of their next EP entitled TOTKO II, Zimbabwe-born rapper Shumba Maasai and UK producer Hermes release new track Rudeboi. A warning to Black Africans contemplating migrating to Europe.

As SOMA gear up for the release of release of TOTKO II they're out the blocks with a super strong lead single in Rudeboi. The song acts as a warning to Black Africans considering migrating to Europe. Bars like "I ain't come from Motherland for all of this shit" referring to car payments, power tripping managers and London area based turf wars warn prospective migrants that the grass isn't necessarily greener on European shores. Regional pronunciations tied in with Hermes' industrial British Northern sounding drums on production create a sound that is beautiful but awkwardly at odds with itself. Really sonically depicting the internal conflict that members of the Black African diaspora face day to day. Shumba Maasai's reminder to us that there are "brothers in North Africa trying to swim to the real deal" is particularly pertinent. The reality that people are willing to risk their lives to get somewhere that isn't objectively that enjoyable should make you question the horrors they're running from. Those perpetuating stark anti-migrant hostility in the U.K. would do well to consider this. If the rest of TOTKO II does as good a job as Rudeboi in making us question the state of identity and geopolitics, it will be a truly important project. 

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Follow Hermes via his Spotify and Instagram