Nana’s Sunday Jams: Existential Bread - Yung.Raj

Published on 2020-10-04 00:00:00 by Nana Fani-Kayode

Banner a_rtwork by the majestic Trav, all of Nanas jams are gathered in_ this playlist.Yes Yes Sunday Jammers! Welcome, welcome, welcome. Hope you’re holding up okay in this surreal life – that the world hasn’t flipped too many tables, and most importantly, that these tunes are helping keep you steady.

Final stop on our label tour (for now) – we’ll pick it back up fresh in the New Year. This week’s pick is technically a cheat (same label as last week), but when the love runs this deep? Rules get bent. Full disclosure: might happen again.

Rewinding to 4NCY – this time spotlighting Yung.Raj: beatboxer, producer, beatmaker from Hyderabad, India. A recognized force with a stacked catalog and razor-sharp artistry. His magic? Abstract sonic play meets head-nodding melodies and body-moving beats.

Last week we talked 4NCY’s origins; this week, its mission: a global platform for underground artists. This hits home for me as a genre-fluid music lover. There’s something electric about spaces that reach outward – that actively uplift worldwide talent without lazy labels. What 4NCY proves? Music is the ultimate connector. It travels, unites, celebrates cultural fingerprints while building common ground. Genres like Hip Hop, DnB, Dubstep shrank the world – turbocharged by tech and social media to highlight what ties us, not what divides. That’s the sweet spot of a forward-thinking label.

Your Sunday prescription: Yung.Raj’s Knoxxville EP (August 2021). The track? ‘Existential Bread’ – a tingle-inducing, sharp-but-smooth slice of beat-driven whimsy. This is my sneak-away-to-a-corner obsession. It stitches together:

• Cool-kid trip-hop
• DnB/Jungle-weight percussion
• Acid-jazz melodies that glide over top

Familiar yet fresh – no cheap references, just new colors on the spectrum.

Final fantasy? Yung.Raj as DJ for my real post-pandemic party (not “lockdown’s over” – the “apocalypse canceled, hug strangers, scream over basslines” celebration). Give him free rein to blur genres, drop bombs, and rattle ribs.

Happy Sunday, Jammers. Keep the vibrations flowing.

Written by Nana Fani-Kayode