In track titles alone, Cassava…Peace the latest release by TMT-favorite lyrical phenom Soopah Eype, takes us from preserved plant specimens of the American tropics to Italian Renaissance theatrics to crytozoological arachnids of the Congo and Papa, New Guinea to neighborhoods in central Southern Ethiopia and South Central Los Angeles. And then of course, there’s the EP’s title, which refers to a residential area in Kingston, Jamaica. (It should probably also be noted for those late to the dancehall that Soopah Eype’s namesake, Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Super Ape, was recorded about 15 minutes away at Black Ark Studios in Washington Gardens.)
In Soopah Eype’s vision (and hopefully, in your listening experience too), these pieces all fit perfectly, perhaps as sights and destinations along a journey to the roots of artist and art form, lyricist and language. The traditions of dubbing and toasting are not just alive and well here, but freshly revitalized by individual expressions of self-awareness and cultural rediscovery, or what Soop might call “alternative ways of thinking and communicating.” You can hear this with your head buried in an encyclopedic search, trying to track down all the reference points, or listen freely with your head nodding along to the grooves of the cosmos and the language of the soil. It’s your trip, ya dig?
Tiny Mix Tapes is proud to present the exclusive world premiere of Soopah Eype’s Cassava…Peace, streaming and downloadable below.
• Soopah Eype: https://soopaheype.bandcamp.com
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