Kansado is an artist from New York who made his debut on Darker Than Wax three years ago when he dropped a project called Futuro Tambao. Now he returns to pick up where that project left off, giving us the aptly titled Futuro Tambo II.

Kansado is an artist that grew up in New York with Dominican parents, and the first volume of Futuro Tambao was Kansado’s way of paying homage to his Latin roots and the music his parents would play for him growing up, while also looking outward to the vibrant city he grew up in and then of course, also looking forward to where the music might go. The result was this really infectious combination of jazz, Latin music, hip hop, and experimental electronic music. When it came time to make a second volume, Kansado didn’t make any radical leaps from the first volume, he just continued to refine and explore this area of fusion where he felt really comfortable. Because Kansado’s musicianship is at a high level and he’s been working on finding his sound for several years now, Futuro Tambao II feels very familiar and comforting, even as Kansado is experimenting and combining elements in unique ways. That’s because this project is about the groove first and foremost. Whether the rhythm leans to samba, salsa, hip hop, or R&B, Kansado is going to find a groove with a nice fat pocket to it that will get your feet and hips moving. This then opens things up for Kansado to then really start exploring the musical space melodicaly and harmonically, finding all of these unique intersecting points between the genres. What’s really impressive is that Kansado is able to create these great grooves, experiment musically, and craft some great song structures, all while keeping the compositions tight. As a result, you get all of this really interesting music that sounds compelling, moves really nicely, makes you dance, makes you think, and then it leaves you wanting more.

If you’re new to Kansado, Futuro Tambao II is a great place to start. It’s incredibly accessible, adventurous, and danceable, all at once, which is not an easy hat trick to pull off.