The first release on r2 records nearly 19 years ago was a Hip-Hop track by rappers 50:50 produced by the legendary Marley Marl. R2 has never been about one genre, but it’s taken us a while to get back to some hip-hop/soul on the label. Enter rkls.

D-Malice and Kid Fonque are well-established players in their native cities, both boasting long-term involvement and impressive credentials. After meeting in 2013 and nurturing a very natural and obvious predilection for golden era hip-hop, 90s R’n B, soul and trip hop they decided to pool their creative resources and rope in a wealth of talent from their combined networks under a new moniker. Enter rkls.

On this debut offering the pair have worked with LA’s broken beat visionary Marc De Clive-Lowe, legendary emcees John Robinson and Kev Brown, dazzling new vocal and production talent from South Africa – Sio, Melo B Jones, Daev Martian and White Nite to name but a few.

This diverse list of guests flex their dexterity allowing the album to shift easily between ballads and more up-tempo beats effortlessly. Punctuated with spacey interludes, the resulting twelve tracks glisten with sumptuous textures, swelling harmonies and organic instrumentation. Familiar but fresh, “rkls” feels like you’re meeting an old friend with enthralling new stories to tell.

Formats: LP / Digital.
Release Date: 30th March 2018

Pre-Order album here