Free Radicals rarely practice subtlety. Founded nearly a quarter century ago, the Houston collective have released nine albums' worth of brash, unfiltered musical mayhem, encapsulating the essence of their city's superlative diversity with a sound that fuses funk, jazz, ska, reggae, klezmer, hip-hop, and countless other styles the world across.
In April, they released White Power Outage, Volume 2, a 25-track follow-up to a 2020 record released in defiance of the racist hate that continues to fester at the core of western ideology.
And today, they're premiering the video for early-album cut "Pokke Koebês" with The FADER. The song's foundation rests on an infectious lick from South African guest guitarist Kara Snethlage, who connected the band with Jitsvinger — a Cape Town poet, educator, and musical multi-hyphenate.
Rapping in Afrikaaps (a local dialect of Afrikaans) over the aforementioned groove and reinforced by a veritable army of percussion, bass, and brass, Jits delivers a searing condemnation of Dutch and British imperialism in his homeland.
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