Discover... AfroComb-Without Further Adu

As we all continue to recover from 2020 and settle more into 2021, it’s important to reflect on the moments which widened people’s eyes, expanded their minds and broadened their views, last year. On this topic, Hip Hop and Soul duo: Afro Comb, say they are influenced by “our open-minded approach to life; which is reflected through our eclectic sound".

The duo released a string of singles in 2020, as they continued to engage listeners in subject matters close to their hearts. One which caught WFA’s attention was ‘Faith’, a song which talks about being young, Black and British and will no doubt bring its namesake to the listener.

Read more below as we discuss Music, ‘Faith’ and reflect on 2020 with Caira and Denzel of Afro Comb.

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Tell us the story of Afro Comb (i.e. how did you meet etc) — What was Afro Comb born out of?

We often find it hard to differentiate between the beginning of Afro Comb and the beginning of our relationship. To some degree they fed each other, helping the other develop. Being friends for many years prior meant we had chemistry, memories and respect for one another already.

We had lost a close friend, Bervil ‘Knight Vercetti’ in 2016, who was also a musician along with Denzel. Caira wrote poems in secret and had a deep fascination for underground music. Showing Denzel a personal song she’d written for Bervil, our friendship grew and we were talking more than usual - everyone could sense our dynamic shifting.

As a relationship formed, we started to appreciate how music was the gel, the foundations and our therapy through the highs and lows. We decided to give it a name and share our journey with the world, reflecting our union in the art we create; open, honest and raw.

In a recent spoken word project, you made it clear that you’re (for lack of a better term): “Blackety, black, black, black” by talking about what your hair means to you both. Why did you decide to make that?

Be Black, Stay Proud!

We are artists, we don't want to be tied down to the boxes given to ‘musicians’ or even ‘genres’, we want to transcend art forms in order to get our point across. The name Afro Comb represents our shared experience in life; our hair is a major part of our identity and it is full of history and power.

We created ‘Our Name;Our Hair’ as a mission statement. We wanted to highlight issues in our communities, ignite progressive conversations and explain that we are constantly unlearning and learning things too. Although we often discuss social issues, we’re not claiming to be perfect. We want to share the things we are learning about ourselves and the world with those who are willing to listen.

Have you been able to find peace during this period of unrest in 2020?

Long answer short- finding peace is a constant in this life of chaos; but a well-worth journey.

2020 has been a tricky one; we had a live performance cancelled, music videos on hold and potential events postponed. However, on the brighter side of life, the world was on pause and we immediately started embracing the extra time in our home recording studio. Over that period we did a lot of long-term planning, we had our website created by Caira’s dad and wrote many songs, recently releasing two of them- ‘I Got U’ and ‘Off To The Races’.

Recording and mixing our own music as well as producing, directing and editing our videos means we fully dive into the creative process. Creative direction is important to us, we want to maintain the purity of our art while collaborating and working with peers. This year, our frustrations with working full-time have started to feel unbearable. We feel trapped in a paradox- on one hand it funds Afro Comb, but on the other, it is taking up a lot of time we could be investing into Afro Comb (which also feels like a full time job). We can feel the struggle of; juggling jobs, self-managing, staying active on social media, time for things a ‘normal couple’ does and making ends meet financially; all of it without feeling the full benefits of our hard work.

We released ‘Faith?’ at what still feels like the perfect time; Covid had hit, George Floyd was murdered and everyone needed some- faith. We connected with people in so many ways we didn’t think it could, it got over 60K streams on Spotify, played on BBC radio and platforms such as this one, wanted to know more about us. We have finally started to feel a positive shift in how our art is being received, it was the motivational boost we needed.

What lesson(s) do you hope the world learns from 2020, into this new decade and beyond?

Great question! We hope people have seen the importance of quality time, whether it is with a loved one, friends or even yourself. It is so easy to be swept along by the pace of adulthood, we hope everyone has had time to realise what is important to them and things they enjoy doing. 2020 has also ignited a systemic revolution, we have been forced to have uncomfortable and progressive conversations about masculinity, black lives and more. We hope the attention on Black livelihoods is not dulled. May our stories, history and representation start to become saturated with demand. Now is the time to unite!

Has there been any music you’ve revisited during this time?

We both heavily use different music platforms, Denzel loves Spotify and Caira loves Soundcloud. It works in our favour; this way we broaden each other’s scope of the industry, offering albums and popular songs in exchange for upcoming artists and underground gems.

The UK music scene is in such a beautiful place right now, we are finally getting attention and recognition from mainstream platforms. There is such a versatile mix of musicians, it’s just a shame it’s not evenly promoted and distributed.

On a whole, the majority of the music we ingest is UK based. We haven't revisited music during this time, mostly finding new vibes in an endless stream of new music.

Spirituality seems to be a key theme in your music, most notably, your track “Faith”. Talk us through the process of making it and then how you felt when it was finished.

We are spiritual people in the sense that we believe in a ‘higher power’ and energies beyond human understanding.

Our car broke down on Christmas day, Caira lost her phone on New Years Eve, so we started 2020 with what we thought was bad luck. Commuting to work, we both decided to pick up a book to read. Caira chose Erykah Badu - she read the first chapter, came home, wrote and recorded the initial ideas. Denzel then came home shortly after and caught his vibe almost instantly. The vocals were created with ease as we had so much to get off our chest.

We then started planning the visuals and we knew straight away that we wanted our friends involved. We are a creative bunch, ranging from photographers and jewellers to illustrators. Within a couple of meetings our idea was brought to life, we knew we wanted to showcase our dynamic and personalities and also promote our friends' art.

We are so pleased that the song and visuals were received well, it was the motivation we all needed for the start of this year.

Seeing as you’re a duo, which duos in music do you look to (if any)?

We don't know of any other duo with our circumstances, the foundation of our art is ‘one love, two perspectives’. Although we create one sound, we are two individuals with different preferences and inspirations. We bring each other in on so many new and old artists; it's great to be able to explore both of our influences when we are creating.

Individuals like Lava La Rue, and Tyler The Creator are known to hold a lot of creative direction and you can see it in their art; their style is distinctive and undiluted. People like that inspire us, we hate the idea of ‘you can't do this and this’. We look up to the artists that defy the odds and challenge what is expected of musicians.

And lastly, what does success mean to you?

We define success as living comfortably; financially, emotionally and physically. We want to be able to provide opportunities for our future children, support our family and friends and also the younger generations. We don't aspire to be on the level of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, we want enough people to understand us and believe in our abilities so we can continue to spread positive messages to our community.

Success is a culmination of all the mistakes and accomplishments along the way, it can't be defined as one moment or entity. Success is the whole journey towards a subjective happiness, not just the destination.

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