PARADISE

Photos by Jen Mazer.

Since you've been a regular reader of this site for a while now, you know the BLK JKS story has been nothing if not a wild ride—a rush of shocking vibes, unlikely turns and a little healthy buzz from the press. But at its core the experience has always pulsed an heart of depthless passion and incalculable invention. These are strange songs for strange days: certainly a new story for Azania but also for the world—in flashes it has felt like this might be the first music of our century.

Last night's performance at Paradiso—Amsterdam's premiere music venue—was one such flash. Leaving aside a tedious backstory of visa dramatics and travel hassle, BLK JKS stepped on stage shortly after midnight and proceeded to dial down into the music. "Concentration" flowed into "Molalatladi" and it went on from there, as four young lions alternated churns through raw material with considered lucid moments and polymathic pivots. At then at some point the set opened up and songs were leavened into songlines, passes became passages, spaces turned into space. Something new was suddenly created, this was something different and yeah yo its always like that any time you find yourself dancing and laughing and crying outside of yourself and everyone else is, too, it seemed as if the music itself was reaching out to us with its own speaking, its own message for each of us, a few years ago out in the A someone told me Africa has a plan for each one of her sons and certainly her daughters and it's up to us to uncover or discover that plan. I'd like to tell you when the music ended but it hasnt yet