Gaika Taveres, known professionally as GAIKA, has returned today with his new EP ‘Seguridad’, the Spanish word for ‘Security’. Consisting of nine tracks, the experimental R&B artist has explored collaborative writing and performing on this record, with six guest artists – Omaar, Debit, Wasted Fates, Zutzut, Tayhana, and Lechuga Zafiro.

View this post on Instagram

NEW RECORD OUT TODAY. LINK IN BIO

A post shared by GAIKA (@gaikasees) on Jul 3, 2020 at 3:49am PDT

With sparse instrumentation and multi-faceted vocals, GAIKA has taken his already unique sound further than before while signed to his new record label, NAAFI. Despite growing up in London, the singer, songwriter, and rapper created the EP while on tour in Mexico, where his label is. According to Mixmag, GAIKA explained his thinking behind ‘Seguridad’, specifically one song, ‘Of Saints’. He said, “‘Ghetto’ isn’t just to do with Black people, but it’s all the people who live under the boot, the 99%, and how we end up revelling in what other people deem the shadow.”

‘Of Saints’ is the lead single and opening track from the EP, released on Bandcamp along with the full work. The song’s main theme is equality, asking that everyone can be proud of their culture. In a recent social media post, GAIKA spoke out about the matter directly after the recent growth of the #BlackLivesMatter movement: “I’ve been making protest music for a decade. I’ve been out here screaming into the dark for as long as I can remember and I’m tired man but I’m not gonna stop for a second let alone a day.”

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

I’ve been making protest music for a decade. I’ve been out here screaming into the dark for as long as i can remember and i’m tired man but i’m not gonna stop for a second let alone a day. Instead of token platitudes i’m gonna focus my energy on doing some thing that actually makes a real difference. We are organising a series of big live stream events from London, to celebrate and mourn the ones we have lost. We will be consistently raising MONEY for those engaged in the struggle at the front line and also for our elders left out to die from COVID 19 by governments here and in the UK and the USA. To me it’s simple – it’s about time the culture we create wields it’s power in a way that benefits us and the causes we champion. More information to follow later.

 

A post shared by GAIKA (@gaikasees) on Jun 2, 2020 at 6:18am PDT

Prior to the EP’s release, no singles were shared for fans to listen to individually, making the official release all the more exciting. However, a short snippet of ‘Of Saints’ was posted online for GAIKA’s thousands of followers on 19th June. The song, featuring Tayhana, has been popular amongst listeners.

GAIKA’s debut album ‘Basic Volume’ was released in 2018 via Warp Records, to great praise from critics and fans. He had previously shared two mixtapes and an EP, which both take on his style, self-described as ‘Ghettofuturism’.

Here is the full track-list for ‘Seguridad’:

1. ‘Of Saints’ (feat. Tayhana)
2. ‘Maria’ (feat. Omaar)
3. ‘Lord Zemel’ (feat. Lechuga Zafiro)
4. ‘Brutal’ (feat. Zutzut)
5. ‘Kingdom of Slums’ (feat. Lao)
6. ‘Iron Cut’
7. ‘Wolfish’ (feat. Lao)
8. ‘Ecstatica’ (feat. Debit, Wasted Fates)
9. ‘Nine Nights’ (feat. Omaar)