GAIKA has directed a short film which will be unveiled at the Roundhouse Rising Festival this month. The audio-visual piece envisages hope for future generations amidst the political, social and ecological chaos we are currently faced with.

Headlining the festival, the genre-defying artist will showcase his unique blend of Grime, Dancehall and R&B as part of a multi-sensory experience. He will be accompanied by a ten-piece jazz ensemble led by composer Jason Yarde, and supported by a legion of artists including Flohio, God Colony and Virgen Maria.

The short film depicts a gritty reality of London, as GAIKA voices his message of hope for future generations after the collapse of authority: “Beyond the spectacular empire, I see glorious retribution.”

“It aims to present a form of unbound protopian realism by linking the internet age directly to cultural radicalism of the civil rights movement in the United States, early hip hop, post war pan Africanism, the punk movement in the United kingdom, Rave culture and the philosophical spirit of May 1968 Paris Riots,” GAIKA tells us.

“All of these moments of disruptions are networked in time and in the service of a better, fairer and very real world. They all fundamentally asked difficult collective questions about class and sought to answer with group actions and experiences that lie outside neoliberal selfishness,” he says.

GAIKA’s headline set will take place two days before the Brexit deadline – a significance not lost on the politically charged artist, known for channelling an anti-establishment message in his work. The short film echoes the visual essay which GAIKA wrote as Dazed’s political editor-at-large – “The Spectacular Empire”, imagining a new world consumed by anarchy.

GAIKA’s live set takes place October 29 at the Roundhouse Rising Festival – more details can be found here.