Bleep

Nkisi arrives on UIQ with her jaw-dropping debut LP, 7 Directions. Inspired by African Cosmology and Congolese rhythms and building on her blistering hardstep techno 12" for Arcola, 7 Directions fires 7 shots that amount to her most imperative recordings yet...

Heavily influenced by and rooted firmly within the African Cosmology of the Bantu-Kongo and in particular, the writings of Kongo scholar Dr Kimbwandende Kia Bunseki Fu-Kiau, 7 Directions is hyper-focused, hyper-modern dance music that uses polyrhythms of Congolese percussion to make some of the most deadly dancefloor tracks you are gonna hear this millennium or next. Alongside her work as a sonic activist and in curating and managing the NON Worldwide collective besides Angel Ho and Chino Amobi, Nkisi has been carving out a name for herself as one of the most imperative artists pushing the stratosphere for hardcore techno, all the while creating her own unique sound within the genre by exploring the deep rhythmic inclinations of her African Cosmology and Congolese influences. At times 7 Directions sounds like a modern-day reflection of Warp's AI electronics, yet the endlessly splintering breakbeats ensure that before you can catch your breath, Nkisi's music will make sure you accelerate full speed ahead down one of 7 roads that venture far into the future.

Laying it down best though, Nkisi says... “When we hear before we see, voice and sound waves interplay between consciousness and hallucinations. Allowing the rhythmic to experiment with conditions of perception, disrupting predetermined expectations...Through manipulating rhythm, we create movements of energy... this energy determines collective behaviour and allows for new ways of producing knowledge...when we hear before we see, we can think about predicting the future and the manipulation of imagery that happens. through visionary possession we are renewed from within, in a system of systems... the pattern of patterns in being, it reaches and remains forever incomplete”