The song, Dey, featuring Damian Marley, is the first single taken from Seun Kuti and Egypt 80’s new album, Heavier Yet. The release marks a historic moment for African unity and art: the Kuti and Marley families collaborating for the first time ever on a record. Record Kicks recently released the remix by Gaudi & Don Letts.
Grammy nominated dub producer and solo artiste, and iconic Grammy Award-winning film director, musician and radio broadcaster Don Letts, team up to produce the Dey remix. Gaudi’s works include artistes such as Steel Pulse, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, The Orb, Horace Andy, Groove Armada and Tricky. Letts is known for his work with The Clash, founding Big Audio Dynamite, introducing reggae to the punk generation and directing countless award-winning videos.
Gaudi & Don Letts started work as a production duo shortly after they came together to create Outta Sync, Letts’ first solo album produced by Gaudi. The pair were musically bonded by the project and went on to produce/remix for UB40, Caravan Palace, EMF, Dub Pistols, Johnny Clarke, Kid Loco, Inner Circle, Terry Hall, Meatraffle and now, in a seemingly unexpected, but inspired move, Seun Kuti feat. Damian Marley.
Seun Kuti is the youngest son of legendary Nigerian musician, political activist and Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Kuti. He has spent most of his life preserving and extending his father’s political and musical legacy as the leader of his former band Egypt 80. He entered the formal ranks of the band before he was 12, and in 1997 when Fela passed, Seun assumed the mantle as head of Egypt 80. Based in Lagos, Seun has also made his mark as a politically conscious activist, speaking out primarily via his pages on social media platforms. He was an active participant in two of the biggest mass unrests in Nigeria in recent times: #OccupyNigeria and #EndSARS protests.
During his career, Seun Kuti released four albums with Egypt 80, among them, Many Things (2008); From Africa with Fury: Rise, for Knitting Factory Records (2011); A Long Way Beginning (2014) and the Grammy-nominated Black Times (2018), that included a feature from Carlos Santana.
Seun has played for enthusiastically receptive audiences globally and collaborated with many great artistes. In 2022, he joined forces with Roots frontman and MC extraordinaire Black Thought in the EP African Dreams. In 2023, Seun collaborated on Janelle Monae’s The Age of Pleasure (Grammy nominee for Album Of The Year) with the two singles Float and Knows Better. He also teamed up with Talib Kweli and MadLib for their album, Liberation 2 on the song, Nat Turner, featuring Cassper Nyovest and released a new version of the single Bad Man Lighter with Black Thought, featuring Vic Mensa.
Damian Robert Nesta ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley is the youngest son of reggae icon, Bob Marley. The recipient of four Grammy Awards, he is the only reggae artiste to win in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance category at the Grammy Awards.