After introducing audiences to his distinctly futuristic blend of dancehall, R&B, and grunge with a stellar debut album last year, BASIC VOLUME, Gaika Tavares (aka GAIKA) returns with another heady release. HEATERS 4 THE 2 SEATERS is a fully immersive work; a mixtape accompanied by a live tour, which draws on eclectic influences that include the artist’s “childhood fascination with big body whips”, the Wu-Tang Clan, “24 hour cable news”, and MTV Cribs. It’s a unique and ambitious venture for an artist who consistently goes beyond what’s expected of performers, not just artistically, but also politically.

Hailing from Brixton with parents of Jamaican and Grenadian heritage, GAIKA has been open about his experiences of growing up in a vibrant, at times fraught, London. Last year, he wrote a searing critique for Dazed of the Met Police, and the “sensationalised reportage” of urban youth violence, defending drill music as “the result of much more than just a few angry kids on estates... it’s the result of centuries of reality.”

In response to the decision of the Met Police to ban drill groups, GAIKA’s new release contains a number of tracks, like “E180”, which defiantly reference the genre’s thundering beats. Other tracks, like “R6 Remix”, feature heavy dub redolent of Notting Hill carnival, making the mixtape a colourful portrait of London’s diverse music scene. A belief in the power of music to raise awareness around issues like knife crime and austerity inform much of GAIKA’s lyrics. 

This new release features artists like Kingston icon Spragga Benz, London mainstay Dean Blunt, lauded Atlanta MC Rome Fortune, R’n’B artist Azekel, and more.

In a video featured on Dazed as part of our A Future World campaign, the musician sat down with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to discuss how these issues are directly impacted by climate change, and what can be done to motivate future generations to take action.

It will require just the kind of radical politics so forcefully expressed in GAIKA’s music to create this hopeful vision of a new world.

Listen to HEATERS 4 THE 2 SEATERS in full below, and catch GAIKA on his UK and EU tour in May and June