Blue Lab Beats formed as a North London jazz-hop and electronica duo consisting of producer NK-OK, born Namali Kwaten, alongside multi-instrumentalist Mr DM, born David Mrakpor. They form a core element of the capital’s contemporary musical landscape, where practitioners from jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and electronica regularly intersect.
Since issuing their first EP, Blue Skies, in 2016, the pair have delivered more than thirty recordings that fuse those styles and additional ones through a singular, soulful combination of grooves, melodies, samples, and beats. This range prompted commissions to remix tracks by Jodie Abacus, Dua Lipa, Rag’n’Bone Man, and numerous others. Their first full-length album, Xover, appeared in 2018 after sessions at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and featured contributions from U.K. jazz figures Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd, and Nérija, together with grime rapper Kojey Radical and soul singer Tiana Major9.
The 2019 release Voyage incorporated further electro, funk, and R&B elements, which later associated remixes continued to develop. Six singles and EPs followed in 2020, among them the charting Afro-Brazilian-influenced “Não Tem Nada Não,” which included Kaida Akinnibi and Theo Croker, while a widely praised cover and remix of Bobby Hutcherson’s “Montara” appeared on the Blue Note Re:Imagined compilation. In April 2021 the duo released the collaborative digital mix set The Sounds of Afrotronica with Akinnibi, then presented their first official Blue Note Records project, the We Will Rise EP, in June.
February 2022 brought the album Motherland Journey on the same label, spotlighting the pair alongside several guests that included Ghanaian producer KillBeatz, who incorporated vocals by Fela Kuti on the title track, as well as Ghetto Boy, Keifer, Tiana Major9, and Kofi Stone. Following tours and a limited number of additional singles, Blue Lab Beats made their Decca debut with the long-player Blue Eclipse in April 2024.
