Diggin’ This: Kokoroko ft Azekel – “Three Piece Suit” (Brownswood)

 

A tribute to the Nigerian immigrant experience in London.

 

 

 

“Three Piece Suit” is a steady, jazz-infused Afrobeat groove by Kokoroko (a word meaning “be strong” in the language of Urhobo, a Nigerian tribe) and guest vocalist Azekel.

 

 

The song’s genesis began when the London band’s percussionist Onome Edgeworth started talking with Azekel about their grandfathers who both came to the South London enclave of Balham from Nigeria.

 

 

“We wrote the song thinking of our grandfathers arriving in London and the way they carried themselves and dressed in the 1960s,” says Onome.

 

“They were part of a dapper and suited generation that sowed the seeds for the worlds we’re building now.”

 

“It speaks to our sentimental memories of a time that we know we can’t have back.”

 

 

Kokoroko ft Azekel – “Three Piece Suit”

 

 

 

 

 

“Three Piece Suit” is taken from Kokoroko’s Get the Message EP, released November 1 via Brownswood Recordings.

 

 

 

 

Stream it on Spotify here.

 

 

 

 

Check out more of my favorite tracks by Kokoroko here

 

and

 

listen to more of my favorite music on Brownswood Recordings here

 

and

 

press play on more of my favorite songs from Azekel here

 

and

 

hear this track on my latest WNXP radio show here

 

and

 

listen to the tracks I’m very into right now on my 2024 Essentials playlist here.