YO! Stop do not pass by!! If you’re one of my non Hip Hop friends scrolling through thinking “not another Hip Hop post from Stix”, then stop what you’re doing and listen to this. Because it will take something on a masterpiece level to surpass Children of Zeus’ ‘Travel Light’ as album of the year.
Oozing with soul Children of Zeus are Manchester duo Konny Kon and Tyler Daley and they released their debut album ‘Travel Light’ back in July on First World Records. Having previously heard their music before, I Pre-ordered the vinyl and waited with anticipation for its arrival.
Jheeze, since it’s arrived ‘Travel Light’ has been on constant rotation on my phone, on the decks and every device I own. If you follow me on FB I’ve been banging on about this album all summer and it was this record that brought back the spark to start blogging again. I gotta be honest with you all it’s taken me this long to write it up because every time I tried to write it up I never thought my words were doing the music justice. So the best way to appreciate it, is to just listen to the dopeness.
I will say this however, when music provokes emotions, feelings and memories that shit right there is ART and that what ‘Travel Light’ is, musical art! Two tracks that really stand out on a real personal level for me are ‘Kintsugi’ produced by Beat Butcha and ‘Daddy’s Car’. Man, when I first heard ‘Daddy’s Car’, it bought tears to my eye. Any one that knows me well will understand why those tracks especially resonate with me so much.
But hey the album is a whole lot more than those two tracks. It’s been a long road leading to this album for Tyler Daley and Konny Kon. They first embarked on their expedition into the music game two decades back – Tyler entered the scene as a songwriter, producer and vocalist, originally under the moniker Hoodman, whilst Konny began MCing, DJing and beat-making for hip hop crews The Microdisiacs and Broke’n’£nglish, along with DRS & Strategy.
To date, Children of Zeus have released three sell-out singles on First Word (‘Still Standing’, ‘I Can’t Wait’ and ‘Slow Down’) and a compilation EP comprised of tracks made by the duo over the last decade entitled ‘The Story So Far…’. Children of Zeus are finally at the stage where they are releasing their debut album proper; the over-riding ethos of which is about keeping their eyes on the road ahead, whilst shedding the baggage they’ve accumulated over the years – ‘Travel Light’.
Features mainly come from Manny family; [ K S R ], LayFullStop, Metrodome (Levelz) and former Broke ’n’ £nglish spar DRS. Guest production comes in the form of Switzerland’s Sebb Bash, Nottingham’s Juga-Naut, and London’s Beat Butcha, and there’s your favourite DJ’s favourite DJ, Mr Thing, slicing up the turntables on two tracks too.
Enough words. Let the music do the talking…. Please stream, buy and share Children Of Zeus’ ‘Travel Light’ on all formats.
Also available from https://kud.li/fw176
Children of Zeus – All On You ft. DRS & [ K S R ]
Children of Zeus – Slow Down/All Night
Connect
https://www.facebook.com/PickneyOfZeus/
https://childrenofzeus.bandcamp.com/
@ChildrenOfZeus
@FirstWordHQ