mCurtis is a producer from Greece who has been recording for a couple of years now. He is now ready to take his place on the international stage with his ambitious debut album, Yomi, which comes out on Kraak Records.

Most of the time, especially these days, we’ll be witness to producers taking steps before releasing their first album – maybe a beat tape or two, maybe an EP or two, and maybe even a first album that isn’t quite fully formed. This is all to say that while I’m sure there are plenty of rough drafts out there somewhere, mCurtis definitely put in the work ahead of time to get to the point where he could take some risks and make a bold artistic statement his first time around. Yomi isn’t some simple beat tape or down tempo album, content to just establish a groove and then sit on it for a couple of minutes. This is a well thought out and composed album with a strong sense of identity that is rare for a debut album. mCurtis is bringing in healthy doses of jazz, blues, and classical and mixing them with trip hop, downtempo, and electronic music to create his own style. The closest artist that came to mind when listening to Yomi was Wax Tailor, especially in the way that there is a symphonic and theatrical feel to the overarching path of the album. Along the way, we get help from a few established artists, including Hugo Kant, Daphne BlueBird, Wag, The Mage, Stiko, Amira Lacrima, Chop Juggler, and Funky Notes. On a debut album with that many guests, it could be easy for the album to sound crowded or unfocused, but fortunately that’s not the case with Yomi. mCurtis had his eyes on the prize with his debut album, and he brought each artist in with a specific purpose to serve the overarching sound of the album.

Yomi is not a perfect album, but it is much further along than most producer’s debut albums. It’s ambitious, yet focused, and mCurtis has a pretty good idea of who he is as an artist and what his style is. I can’t wait to see where he goes from here.