Actor Idris Elba is due to release an album of songs inspired by Nelson Mandela. For this studio debut, Elba has enlisted the help of artists including James Blake, Mumford & Sons, Mr Hudson and Nothembi Mkhwebane.
Elba began listening to South African music when he was preparing to play Mandela in 2013’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. “[It] was part of my research,” he said in a promo video. “I wanted to understand what music [Mandela] liked, and so in that journey I discovered the roots of South African music … At the time I had [a] studio [in] the apartment I was staying in … a little keyboard, a laptop, and as an experiment to myself I vowed to keep making music.”
The result is titled Mi Mandela. Due out on 24 November, the 11 songs were made with a long list of collaborators: Blake sings on Nothembi Jam, the Mumfords wrote a song called Home, and there are also appearances by Cody ChesnuTT, George the Poet and the South African vocal group Mahotella Queens. The record’s upcoming lead single, You Give Me Love, features MC and singer Maverick Sabre.
While this is Elba’s first album, he has released three EPs and staged several one-off rap and DJ gigs. The Pacific Rim and Luther star also contributed to records by Jay Z and Pharoahe Monch, and recently revealed plans for a Christmas song with comedian Noel Fielding and Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno.
Source: the Guardian