Rising soul sensation Sekou has released his new mixtape, In A World We Don’t Belong (Pt. 1), via EMI/Republic Records.
Anchored by the singles “Catching Bodies” and “Never Gunna Give You Up,” the five-track set captures Sekou’s pursuit of love. On the former, the 21-year-old places commitment over casual flings, while the Barry White-inspired “Never Gunna Give You Up” clings to a love worth holding on to — loudly and unapologetically.
Among the project’s standouts is “Love Language,” a tenderhearted ballad that speaks to the nonverbal side of that four-letter word. “Kiss me and you touch me in a special way / Give me all your healing, take away my pain / You don’t have to say a thing,” he croons.
The groove-ready “About Last Night,” produced by Sounwave and Jasper Harris, finds Sekou swept into limerence. “Don’t wanna play the fool / But I’m in too deep and I’m going crazy,” he sings.
Sekou closes the project with “Keep My Love,” a piano-laden ballad, where he seeks assurance from his love interest: “Promise you’ll never change to keep my love.”
Regarding the inspiration behind the project’s title, Sekou told Clash, “I’ve had that title in my notes for about three years. I think it makes people understand the story a little bit more. I’ve often felt like an outsider growing up, even now sometimes. I felt like I didn’t belong in a lot of spaces or with a lot of people. A lot of these songs are a bit left-field and some of the lyrics aren’t as ‘on the nose.’”
In A World We Don’t Belongfollows Sekou’s 2023 EP, Out Of Mind. “I wanted to have creative freedom on this and do something different from what I’ve done before,” Sekou said of the latter project. “I loved having control over the kind of sound I wanted to make, the people I wanted to work with, and the tracks on the project – it was freeing and allowed me to be honest.”
Stream Sekou’s new project In A World We Don’t Belong (Pt. 1) below.