Music is soft power, it’s a form of diplomacy, it’s a way to unite. For RarelyAlways a sense of purpose is rarely far from the surface. That’s been true in everything he’s done, as a musician across a huge range of scenes and sounds, as a writer, as an entrepreneur and youth worker – but now, with his debut solo album Work on the horizon, it’s really coming into focus. He may have “always been a shapeshifter” as he puts it, and Work be full of a dazzling array of sounds, but at the same time he has always retained a creative and ethical core to all he does. And as he steps up to take the microphone, on stage as much as in the studio, that is coming to the fore. With his already deep and broad musical and life experience, he’s in a unique position to offer something entirely new to UK music – and you’d better believe he has something to say.
"This guy is FIRE" - GILLES PETERSON (BBC)
“A concise exhibition of his minimalist swagger" - FADER
"Jazz and grime collide here to offer us a thought-provoking narrative and electrically charged-tracks" - WONDERLAND
"It made my jaw hit the floor the first time I heard it. Reminds me of early Dizzee Rascal in terms of its intensity, but with a clear nod to what Moses Boyd, Kamasi Washington and others have been doing in jazz in recent years" - BILLBOARD
"London's Rarelyalways has always marched to the beat of his own drum... the rapper's disregard of convention – his splintered approach, taking the best of garage, grime, funk, trip-hop and making it his own – has made him one of the most enthralling voices in music today." - CLASH
