Listen for FREE and buy 7″ vinyl HERE

Basin to Benin, brings together Lotus and The Soul Rebels on a groove inspired by 70’s West African funk with the brassy sounds of New Orleans layered in syncopated counterpoint. Side B, Tarot, mixes Hammond Organ, Wurlitzer electric piano, and an Octave Cat analog synthesizer in a thick groove. Throw on some tape-delays and phaser for a heady stew of jazz-funk-fusion.

Recorded to analog tape in Philadelphia, Basin to Benin / Tarot was pressed to vinyl by Musicol Recording Studios in Columbus, Ohio, a studio that has been in operation since 1966 (watch a short documentary here https://youtu.be/5ajYNY7tZBA).

“Brass commands attention, so it was a lot of fun writing and recording the horn parts for Basin to Benin with the Soul Rebels. They play with great energy and feel,” says Lotus’s Jesse Miller. “I really like that both tracks don’t sound tied to a specific era. I think if someone came across this 7-inch in the bins of a second hand vinyl store they wouldn’t be able to guess it was from 2015.”

Having just opened for Bruno Mars and recent live collaborations with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Marilyn Manson, Robert Glasper, Slick Rick, Rakim, Kool & The Gang and upcoming shows with Joey Bada$$, THE SOUL REBELS will embark on a four date tour with the legendary TALIB KWELI, announced by Okayplayer. The project entitled “The Soul Rebels Sound System ft Talib Kweli”, will perform in East Coast markets including Philadelphia (2/17/16), Washington DC (2/18/16), Fairfield CT (2/19/16), and Boston (2/20/16).

One of The Soul Rebels’ foremost missions is to collaborate and perform live with artists they respect and admire. “It’s an absolute honor and privilege to collaborate with the great Talib Kweli, an artist we’ve all looked up to and been true fans of for years. Talib is an inspiration to us as artists. As an activist, he’s someone we truly look up to. Talib is certainly one of my favorite mcs, and we’ve been following his career since the early Blackstar days”, says The Soul Rebels’ drummer and founder Lumar Leblanc.

Relax Premiere

Watch the Joey Bada$$ & The Soul Rebels – Mini Documentary

Joey Bada$$ says jazz is the father of Hip-hop, click HERE to read XXL’s piece on The Soul Rebels & Joey Bada$$’s future collaborations. ALL HIP HOP celebrated the collaboration as well.

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

Watch the festival announcement video:

Featured on on Yahoo Tech – The Soul Rebels go 360º with Rivet.  Rivet’s Corey Haber explains 360º video with Yahoo’s Dan Howley.  Watch video HERE.

You can stream the whole Blue Note 360º show featuring special guests Slick Rick, Robert Glasper, Eric Krasno, and more on YouTube HERE! (Supported browsers – Chrome, Opera, or Firefox)

New Orleans is one of America’s great musical cities and after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, one of the big fears was the city’s musicians would scatter and the tradition of passing its musical legacy from generation to generation would die.

Ten years later, many have returned home, others are spread to different parts of the metro area, and some are still spread around the country.

Read more and Watch video HERE

What a debut in Japan! Sitting in with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Marilyn Manson along with our own set at Summer Sonic Tokyo then 2 nights at Blue Note Tokyo!

Thank you for your love. And, to the wonderful people of Tokyo, we love you all!!

Here are some photos and video from our sit ins with Marilyn Manson and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

VIDEO

Click HERE to watch video

NYC is in for a treat! The Soul Rebels #RebelJam featuring Special Guests Rakim, Slick Rick​, Prodigy​ (of Mobb Deep​), Styles P​ & Sheek Louch​ (of The Lox​) & Eric Krasno​ (of Soulive​ve & Lettuce​) + Surprise Guests will hit the Blue Note Jazz Club for a very intimate and exclusive performance on​ 6/26 at 12:30AM late night!

Buy tickets HERE