Bleep

Anyone with even a passing interest in Kamaal Williams’ work could have guessed that this is a guy who has a wide-ranging record collection. The south Londoner’s career has seen him move between and cross-pollinate genres at will, from the spiritual fusion of his Yussef Kamaal duo to the peppy post-Moodymann house he cooks up as Henry Wu.

Williams brings his varied tastes to bear on his DJ-Kicks mix for !K7 Records. While the predominant style here is Wu-esque broken-beat house, Williams keeps things interesting by switching the beats up or taking them out completely at various points here. Hip-hop, slow jams, garage and jazz-piano pieces all make an appearance, and the mix closes out with Williams’ fervid nu-jazz track (and DJ-Kicks exclusive) ‘Strings ATL’.

About those exclusives - Williams contributes four here. As well as ‘Strings ATL’ he also gives us ‘Shinjuku’ and a live take of 2018 single ‘Snitches Brew’ plus a new Wu tune in the form of ‘Wivout U’. Bar ‘Strings ATL’ all of these make it to the vinyl edition alongside full versions of mix highlights by Wbeeza, Steve Spacek and DJ Harrison to name but three. Please note that not all of the tracks featured in Williams’ full-length mix are included on the vinyl pressing.

Kamaal Williams spreads the funk far and wide on his DJ-Kicks instalment.