May 19, 2021
Boomerang Records
'Tapes of Utopia harks back to a time of African cassette tapes sold on street markets, a reimagination of mixtape culture, blending genres from analogue tones of Afrobeat, Highlife and Soukous to Afrofuturistic rap and electronics. Tapes of Utopia symbolises a time when technology was decentralised, a vision of utopia where humans are liberated by safe technology that benefits the people not the elite.' The first single to be taken from the mixtape is Chicken No Dey Fly - an infectious afrobeat track, about greed and political power. The single features the unmistakeable rhythms of Tony Allen on drums and a guest appearance from Sheffield hip hop artist Franz Von alongside Onipa's very own K.O.G. - hot off his guest appearance with Nubiyan Twist on Jools Holland and their 6Music A-Listed If I Know. Onipa appeared at the digital edition of SXSW 2021 and were picked by The New York Times and KCRW as festival highlights. They also had great support on their debut album. In the UK, it was well received with positive reviews in MOJO (4*), Metro, Arts Desk (Vinyl of the Month) and was one of Concrete Islands Top 30 Albums of the Year however the release was largely disrupted by the arrival of the UK lockdown in March 2020. Radio support from Benji B & Sophie K (Radio 1), Tom Ravenscroft, Marc Riley, Gideon Coe, Cerys Matthews (6Music), Jazz FM, Jon Kennedy (Radio X), Worldwide FM, Soho Radio and more plus playlist support at Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer. Internationally, the record was very well received in France with Le Monde (Pick of the Month), Telerama, Pan African Music & Rolling Stone supporting plus radio plays on Nova, Inter, RFI & FIP. In Germany, Musikexpress, Global Sounds, Sud Deutsche Zeitung and more reviewing and it was NDR Album of the Week and many spot plays across the radio networks.