Nikhil P. Yerawadekar & Low Mentality: “Rep Where You’re From”

Across nearly two decades, New York’s Antibalas has helped introduce a new generation to the incredible music of Fela Kuti and afrobeat while simultaneously stretching that sound into something else entirely. The original form of afrobeat was a melting pot, and Antibalas added some more ingredients: jazz, reggae, psychedelia, and whatever else served the groove.

Now bassist Nikhil P. Yerawadekar is spinning off with his own band, Low Mentality. On the group’s debut album, Everything Lasts Forever, they pull sounds from all over the world, but there’s something grittier about Low Mentality’s sound. On “Rep Where You’re From,” the mix of soul, afrobeat, and Yerawadekar’s deadpan delivery is perfectly New York-ian. This is street-strutting music, no matter where you’re repping.

Everything Lasts Forever is out Friday via 3rd Generation Recordings.

–Art Levy

 

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