The Reach

A debut album for the ages from Cardiff-based collective Afro Cluster, whose mission to ‘address the struggles facing individuals and society at a particularly challenging time across the globe’ feels eerily prescient as 2020 rolls on. Taking their cues from highlife, Afrobeat, jazz and socially aware hip-hop heroes such as Public Enemy and Beastie Boys, the nine-strong juggernaut pour their festival-honed sound into 11 tracks that aim to enlighten and make you dance. There is much to love here, from jazz-funk opener ‘Beast of One Nation’, with its mellow horn breaks, old-skool turntablism and stentorian pronouncements from MC Skunkadelic, to the acerbic wordsmithery of ‘Black Hole’ and the galvanising, Fela-esque ‘Foot to the Floor’. Rooted as much in Welsh culture (there are references to lager, Tesco, chicken nuggets) as in that of Accra, Lagos and downtown LA, this is honest, uplifting, rebel-rousing stuff. Cardiff-based singer/rappers Magugu and Asha Jane add pathos to the cinematic ‘Young Shall Grow’; title-track ‘The Reach’ sees Manchester MCs Sparkz & Truthos Mufasa spitting positivity over steady grooves. But it is the motivational ‘Back Into It’, with its guest feature by legendary Brixton rapper Ben ‘Ty’ Chijioke – who passed away from COVID-19 in May – that lingers. The real deal.