MANDALA, by Cousin Temi & HAWKRADA

MANDALA

by Cousin Temi & HAWKRADA

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	1.	so it goes 03:18
	2.	dead internet 02:43
	3.	ziggurat (ft. Teether) 04:01
	4.	let god 03:33
	5.	anamnesis 04:18
	6.	black mould rorschach 02:43
	7.	off the meds 03:18
	8.	calvary 02:22

about

Cousin Temi and HAWKRADA’s digital footprint owes as much to Def Jux and Stones Throw as it does to Gnosticism and Gilgamesh. There is an elegiac quality to the music, a sense of looking back to move forward. It is unpredictable yet cyclical, feeling at once both singular and as if it has always been bubbling just beneath the surface.

The pair’s first collaboration was on Temi’s lament for 2023, "A sallow man saw the djinn…”, where HAWKRADA set the tone with opener “elroy”. On standout track “the panopticon”, he crystallised the project’s themes of paranoia and isolation with his unique blend of psychotropic and nostalgic sampling, a unique sloppy-chop bounce that perfectly underscored the wry observational style of Temi’s verses.

Temi then appeared on HAWKRADA’s sprawling opus "NTONTAN", joining fellow Naarm MC’s Teether and N01 on the track “bottomline(demo)”. Channeling the spirit of ananse, the spider in African folklore whose web symbolises wisdom and creativity, HAWKRADA’s signature style snared collaborations with several underground rap legends from the other side of the world, including al.divino, Denmark Vessey and Fatboi Sharif.

Following these definitive solo projects, Temi and HAWKRADA return with their new collaborative album — "MANDALA" — the full realisation of a sound both artists have spent years quietly refining. Informed by diasporic samples and the uniquely American culture of hip-hop, "MANDALA" remains firmly rooted in the distinct colours and contradictions of the city in which it was birthed. Created on unceded Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung Country, it interprets the ancient and eponymous symbol of the mandala as a tool for finding harmony in disorder, now framed through the modern art of loops and bars. HAWKRADA crafts a timeless mix of distorted yet corporeal movements across eight tracks, a rich canvas for Temi to explore the dissonance of indulging in vices and rumination as the world around you burns. When it’s all said and done and the fire dies out, what’s left will probably sound something like this.