Premiere: Robert Hood ‘The Struggle’

Robert and Lyric Hood will release a new split EP on M-Plant on 14th August. 

With one track from Floorplan (Robert and daughter Lyric together) and one solo cut from Robert, the EP finds the pair utilising typically rousing techno and house forms to propel the voices of Black civil rights activists, Tamika Mallory and Dick Gregory.

On A-Side, ‘The Struggle’, Robert Hood’s marching techno beat and acid growl underpin the words of Tamika Mallory, activist and Women’s March leader, whose moving televised speech in Minneapolis went viral in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, becoming an inspirational and unifying voice during the summer’s Black Lives Matter protests. It’s not the only track on which she’s been sampled since. On United World Music’s ‘Break The Silence’ compilation, on which Robert Hood also appears, K' Alexi Shelby & Tony Loveless’ ‘State Of Emergency’ beams Mallory’s words over a swinging techno rhythm,

“We cannot look at this as an isolated incident,” she says, booming over an incendiary kick. “The reason buildings are burning are not just for our brother George Floyd. They’re burning down because people here in Minnesota are saying to people in New York, to people in California, to people in Memphis, to people across this nation, enough is enough.”

Listen to the full track below. 

On the B-side,’Save The Children’, Floorplan’s radiant, horn-drenched loops and bouncing rhythms radiate a message of hope amid desperation. The B2, Detroit Mix, of ‘Save The Children’ is a deeper, heavier and faster protest techno anthem, which elevates the sampled voice of Black civil rights activist Dick Gregory. 

Pre-order ‘The Struggle/Save The Children’ here. 

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