Tony Njoku on his new album, representation and Black…

So, I wanted to see Black artists living my dream. Especially Queer artists and Black men who were expressing themselves freely in experimental spaces. That search has shaped much of my creative life. And even now, I’m still drawn to finding a sense of community with artists who come from a similar cultural fabric.

Many of the collaborators on ALL OUR KNIVES ARE ALWAYS SHARP are people I admired long before I ever imagined working with them. I’ve been a fan of theirs for years. I remember so vividly the first time I encountered some of their music. Like Tricky for example, Maxinquaye was the soundtrack to the first time I smoked a spliff. I must’ve been about 15 or 16, sitting around a park bench with a group of friends, in a town just outside of Brighton. Someone passed a joint, and someone else pulled out a tinny JBL speaker and played the album at full volume. I remember the drum loop on “Aftermath” feeling like it stretched on forever. I was completely entranced. That experience ignited something in me, a desire to create music that could do that to someone. Music that envelops and transforms.

I’ve had similar experiences with all the collaborators on the record as well, seeing them express themselves unapologetically has been such an inspiring and alluring experience throughout my life. Like Ghostpoet’s sonic evolution over the years, from the beautifully crafted experimental hip-hop on Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam to the more live instrumentation of ‘I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep’, which is equally brilliant, seeing that kind of commitment to artistic growth really puts the battery in my back to want to keep evolving and believing in my vision.

As I got older, I finally discovered a broader lineage of Black experimentalists who felt like they existed in the same world I wanted to be in. Artists like Flying Lotus, Klein, Julius Eastman, Blood Orange, Kelsey Lu, Actress, and Young Fathers. Each of them brought a different lens to what it means to be adventurous in sound and spirit. Young Fathers, in particular, made a deep impression on me. I stumbled upon them completely by accident during a walk along the Årstaviken promenade in Stockholm around 2014 or 2015. I saw a poster for a gig, bought a ticket on impulse, and was blown away by the show. From the first synth squelch to the final “Thank you, good night,” I was transported. Kayus looked like he was 10 feet tall, G had this wild intensity in his stare, and Alloysious sang like he was channeling something divine. It was transcendent. And when I learned that some of them shared a similar background to mine, it was even more affirming. That performance gave me the permission I didn’t even know I was seeking.

So when it came to conceiving ALL OUR KNIVES ARE ALWAYS SHARP, I found myself reflecting on all these moments, these inspirations, these people, these sonic encounters. I realised I had slowly built connections with a number of the artists I’d once seen as untouchable. And many of them knew each other too, though few had collaborated before. That’s when the idea struck me: bring these voices together. Create a project that not only celebrates the individual artistry of each collaborator but also honours the creative community that’s helped shape me. This album is my offering back to that lineage, a deeply personal yet collective expression of what it means to belong, to explore, and to imagine without limits.

ALL OUR KNIVES ARE ALWAYS SHARP is out July 11 via Studio Njoku. Tony Njoku will perform the album alongside special guests Gaika, James Massiah, Space Afrika and Ghostpoet at SXSW London as part of a Studio Njoku showcase on June 4.