Biography

“This South African art-rock band traffics in complexity, cross-hatching not only rhythms and textures but also the signifiers of genre” - Nate Chinen (New York Times) BLK JKS are set to release their second LP “Abantu / Before Humans” in May 2021 via Glitterbeat Records (Worldwide) & We Are Busy Bodies (North America) but who exactly are the BLK JKS ? The story of BLK JKS reads like a veritable rock’n’roll legend. For a couple of years around the end of the 00’s, the enigmatic South African rock quartet was the darling of the underground scene. Apparently “discovered” by Diplo in SA, they went on to meet and befriend everyone from The Mars Volta to TV On The Radio, two bands they were often compared to. They jammed with The Roots, snapped pics with Pharrell Williams, hung out with Lou Reed at the SXSW festival in Texas and performed with Alicia Keys. Playing double bills with MGMT at the Independent (SF), Squarepusher at South Bank (LDN) and Femi Kuti at the fabled Irving Plaza (NYC) Recording an EP aptly named “Mystery”, by chance at Jimi Hendrix’s iconic Electric Lady Studios. This and a Fader Magazine cover feature in March 2008 led to the band signing with indie label Secretly Canadian in 2009. Dubbed "Africa's best new band" by Rolling Stone Magazine, their debut album “After Robots” - one of Dave Grohls faves, went on to blow down the walls of rock'n'roll Jericho, before they all but disappeared for 10yrs - so, we are hella amped to announce; BLK JKS is back!