We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
You never know what to expect from Kokayi. On 2010’s Robots & Dinosaurs, the Southwest D.C. native experimented with electro-pop and rock, with strong results. His subsequent remix album repackaged Robots & Dinosaur‘s chilling themes with bouncy dance beats. And after hitting you with old music from his first beat machine, Kokayi took listeners on a road trip from California to the state of Washington on Pacific Coast Highway.
On June 1, Kokayi will release two new singles—-“Leave Me Alone” and “Wayts”—-under his CZRS moniker. By late summer, Koke will release a 10-track CZRS album, Pro Deo Patria, which will combine punk, hip-hop, funk, rock, and “psychodisco”—-his term. He might just be versatile enough to pull that off.
Among other themes, “Wayts” meditates on the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Amadou Diallo. And “Leave Me Alone,” a snippet of which you can hear below, is a reggae tune about infidelity. Check it: