Bay Area Hip-Hop staple Lateef The Truthspeaker (Blackalicious/Latyrx) has joined forces with French MC Leeroy (Saïan Supa Crew) and Hervé Salters (General Elektriks) for a new group called The Strangers. The Hip-Hop/funk hybrid released their debut, self-titled album on Friday (September 15).
“Hailing from the year 2222, The Strangers are sending us a time capsule in reverse, a sonic testimony from the future,” a press release says of the concept album. “Their songs tell us that in 200 years, the Earth Federation political system will be based on the obligation for everyone to travel annually, starting from a very young age. As a result, fear of the unknown will have disappeared and so will the concept of war. But humans of the future will be forced to travel. Some will refuse to do so and fight for their right to stay home. Can securing a better world justify oppression?”
It continues, “The 3 Strangers use the future as a means to talk about the present. But they also inject a healthy dose of humor and energy into their music, and if what they wrote is indeed a concept album, it should be filed somewhere between The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper and Quasimoto’s The Unseen, two records whose basic premise gives birth to an unbridled playing field.”
The 13-track project is currently available on all streaming platforms. Find it below.