awon: soulapowa
Francisco Espregueira
Awon, one of the best underground MC’s floating from the US, drops his new album called Soulapowa, through Don’t Sleep Records, the label he commands with partner-in-crime Phoniks. Together they’ve released three fruitful projects - Return To The Golden Era (2013), Knowledge Of Self (2015) and The Actual Proof (2018). Soulapowa is Awon’s deeply personal record, although Phoniks prodcutions are very present. The creator looks inwards. Emotions, thoughts and feelings, result of the experiences lived in the past years.
The only feature is from Anti-Lilly due to the personal nature of the content. SoulChef, Linkrust, Flipmasta, Mz Boom Bap, Dread Solo and Dugga join to create a soundtrack reminiscent of the golden hip hop years. The title reflects the light shining on Awon’s soul. It is also a nod to the production, both jazzy yet textured with soulful horns, beautiful pianos, and funky guitars: Soulapowa - available on vinyl, cd and digital.