Kota Embassy – Old Skool Funk Ft. Ivy Beatz, Dj Mremz, G Master, Nimrod Pitso & Nkateko Tshabalala

That spelling of “skool” is worth noticing. It is the casual, street way of writing it, the way people text and talk, and it gives the title a relaxed, familiar character. It points at the days when your uncle’s records ruled the sitting room and nobody argued about the volume.

The credits are crowded in a good way. Ivy Beatz, DJ Mremz, G Master, Nimrod Pitso and Nkateko Tshabalala all appear on it, so this is clearly a shared effort. When that many people gather around a nostalgic idea, it usually means the subject matters to all of them, not just the lead name on the cover.

What makes the idea so relatable is how everyone has a period they believe did music better. Argue with a Nigerian about the best decade for highlife, juju or Afrobeat and you will be there till morning. Old Skool Funk taps into that same loyalty to the sounds we grew up hearing, without needing a long explanation.

It is the sort of record that suits a Sunday afternoon with family around, when someone starts remembering the old songs and everybody suddenly has something to add.

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