Buscar:the illustrious blacks

Hilit Kolet and The Illustrious Blacks team up for the ‘Transatlantic Kiki’ EP. Dropping on Rekids late August, the package is remixed by Floorplan.
London-based artist Hilit Kolet returns to Rekids, collaborating with New York’s The Illustrous Blacks, the project formed by Manchildblack and Monstah Black, for the ‘Transatlantic Kiki’ EP, landing 29th August 2025 via Radio Slave’s Rekids. Legendary father-daughter duo Floorplan remix the single, with the release following up Kolet’s 2024 ‘Snap Talk’ EP, which won support from artists like Dam Swindle, Chloé Caillet, Bradley Zero, and more.

With lyrics that connect London and New York, ‘Transatlantic Kiki’ is a tough, funk-fueled roller true to Hilit Kolet’s signature production style, infused with an unmatchable personality via The Illustrous Blacks’ playful, vogue-like vocals. It’s hypnotic, bold, and irresistible, with the pair supplying a loopy ‘First Class’ mix that introduces vocal elements not featured in the original, amplifying the track’s qualities to hit even harder, and works the dancefloor into a sweat.

Robert and Lyric Hood, known together as Floorplan, remix Hilit Kolet & The Illustrous Blacks’ ‘Transatlantic Kiki’. Equally infectious as the original, they transform its rhythm into a drummy late-night cut. Stabs and vocal chops ride the groove, culminating in a proper lose-yourself-in-the-dance House cut that also comes with an instrumental version.
London’s Hilit Kolet came up through the former Soho Black Market Records shop, and has since become synonymous with the city’s House scene via releases on Defected, Snatch!, Domino, and Rekids, with a #1 debut on Music Week’s Upfront Club Chart and support from BBC Radio 1, Jamie Jones, HAAi, Skream, and more. NYC duo The Illustrious Blacks, comprising Manchildblack and Monstah Black, blend Afro-Electro, Funk, Disco, and House across releases on Soul Clap, Classic Music Company, and Defected, as well as collaborations with artists such as Osunlade, DJ Minx, Seven Davis Jr., and David Morales.

DJ Support: Mousse T, Mr V, Quentin Harris, Mark Knight, Claptone, Severino, Roger Sanchez, Moplen, David Morales, Kenny Carpenter and Terry Farley

So Sure presents – Tedd Patterson: Pieces Of Me EP
A1. “Let The Music Set You Free” (feat. Manchild Black & Monster Black)
Tedd Patterson joins forces with Manchild Black and Monster Black to deliver a vibrant, uplifting slice of NYC dancefloor energy. “Let The Music Set You Free” puts a fresh spin on The Illustrious Blacks’ signature message of joy and empowerment.
Patterson’s trademark production—tight, driving beats, bright synths, and peak-time club pressure—creates the perfect foundation for The Illustrious Blacks’ playful, feel-good, and exuberant vocals. Their dynamic presence shines throughout, bringing color and vitality to a track crafted for uplifting moments and late-night release.
A standout A-side full of personality, positivity, and true NYC spirit.

B1. “Piece Of Me” (feat. Inaya Day)
“Piece Of Me” is a high-energy, funk-infused dancefloor bomb featuring a sublime, hook-laden vocal from the legendary Inaya Day. Expertly produced and perfectly executed, this track hits that sweet spot between soulful house and classic club firepower, with Inaya’s unmistakable presence elevating it into instant-favourite territory.

B2. “Do It Again” (feat. Joi Cardwell)
Fresh from collaborations with Inaya Day and The Illustrious Blacks, Tedd Patterson returns with another heartfelt slice of soulful NYC house. “Do It Again,” featuring the unmistakable voice of Joi Cardwell, is vocal house at its purest—authentic, emotive, and stamped with Patterson’s bonafide New York pedigree.
If you like your house music infused with feeling, warmth, and groove, “Do It Again” delivers in full.

If the name of this collection of traxxx offends you, move on — there’s no hope for you here. If, on the other hand, Toribio’s salacious fun-pun cracked your cool exterior, here’s an introduction to a set of bangers that helps exemplify New York’s increasingly exuberant dancefloor, and what producer/DJ Cesar Toribio brings to it. His is a ribald, rhythmic take on dance music, neither for the weak of musical character (purists need not apply) nor for the weak of ass (-shaking). In fact, the proof is right there, in Toribio’s label’s and monthly party’s name: Bring Dat Ass. This command is not optional, but *the* key ingredient for a good time.

The five songs Toribio has created for “Tongue In Cheeks,” BDA’s first release, comprise a horny melting pot of tribal house and Linn-drum plug-ins, minimalist synth textures and basslines, hi-hats reminiscent of electro and freestyle classics, some of which are infused with New York’s Latin club history and futures. The lead-off track, “No Pare,” is based on the producer’s 808-driven reinvention of the call-and-response hook from Proyecto Uno’s 1993 merengue-house smash “El Tiburón,” marking the first time the group has ever cleared a sample of this Nuyodominican classic. We predict that “No Pare” will be a Fall 2023 monster.

Guest vocal appearances by The Illustrious Blacks and Maluca, cornerstones of different dance-floor scenes in a city currently hitting peak-energy levels, show the breadth of Toribio’s regard for community: There is a lot of crossover to how the punky Dominicana MC from Washington Heights chooses to slang-tastically “Werk It Out,” and how the Neo-Afro-Futuristic-Psychedelic-Surrealistic-Hippys Monstah Black and Manchildblack infuse a dollop of booty into “Work Dat Shit.” And the two different metallic beats point at seemingly separate parts of Toribio’s musical heritage uniting. There’s no formula, but if there was, it would be: Make it sexy. Make it (consensually) grindy. Make it funny to the point of ridiculous but so funky that the laughter becomes more fuel to the joyous momentum propelling the movement. Then make it home — or try to.

Cesar Toribio’s home is, originally Tampa — and the DR, where he’d spend summers with family. He was a drum-corps prodigy who went to Berklee to become a jazz drummer and be like Gil Evans. He idolized Miles’ orchestral arranger’s work as much as Dilla’s beats, but then discovered house music, so it was a wrap. The 2021 band album Toribio made under the name Conclave — which included his sister Sharin and musicians from such great projects as Standing On the Corner, No Regular Play and Irreversible Entanglements — unearthed the work of a singer-songwriter-arranger-producer of immeasurably nuanced, soulful jazz-house music. But when Toribio started DJing more and more, he decided to listen to the devil on his shoulder who told him to Bring Dat Ass. As Cesar damn-well knows, it’s the devil who has the better jokes and holds the better parties, so his ears perked up. “Tongue in Cheeks” is the music Toribio says he made to play at these parties, because he can’t find it anywhere else. It’s hard to disagree.

DJ/Produzent Nickodemus mischt mit Stil und Finesse Einflüsse aus der lateinamerikanischen, afrikanischen, nahöstlichen und karibischen Diaspora New Yorks mit einheimischen Sounds wie House, Disco und Hip-Hop. Auch sein fünftes Album 'Soul & Science' und dessen Gästeliste glänzen mit einer Genre- und Einflussvielfalt: von den New Yorker Queer-Ikonen The Illustrious Blacks über Produzentenkollege Quantic, dem Sudanesen Alsarah, Flamenco-Sänger Antonio Lizana, Haydee Soul aus Kuba, dem kamerunischen Sänger Pat Kalla bis zum legendären Puerto Ricaner Hector 'Tempo' Alomar mit einem seiner letzten Songs.



b Mama Tchipp (Follow Me) feat. Pat Kalla
c Plastic (A Bigger Name) feat. The Illustrious Blacks