Dekmantel Podcast 311 - Nabihah Iqbal

@nabihahiqbal’s music is informed by a much wider world of reference than most. The pioneering artist has a Masters in Philosophy focused on African history, has studied ethnomusicology and has experience working in human rights law in South Africa. She has an academic approach to the way she builds her music - and her vital NTS radio shows - that unites strands of sound from all over the world into woozy pop lullabies, late night synth soothers and heartbreaking, guitar licked vocal dreamscapes. A new album was due from her in 2020, but a studio break-in meant Iqbal lost a whole heap of music. The album will now come in 2021, but in the meantime she has given us a snapshot of where she is at with a one hour mix that is truly pan-global. It’s a characterful selection of party sounds featuring pop music and Sade covers, worldly funk and 80s synth jams that sound familiar but are never quite what they seem. This is a mix with the unmistakable stamp of Nabihah Iqbal’s very unique musical identity running all the way through it.