Moses Boyd is a British producer and multi-instrumentalist who has been working across multiple genres from jazz to R&B to hip hop, having collaborated in the past with artists like Sampha, Little Simz, and Nubya Garcia, just to name a few. For his latest project, he looked to explore his heritage through music, resulting in the eclectic Displaced Diaspora.

Boyd is the first of his family born in the UK, with his parents coming to the country from Jamaica and Dominica. As the result of beginning to explore his musical roots, Boyd soon found himself listening to music from the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. More specifically, he spent time learning about Ugandan spiritual music, orisha and Santeria music, and bata drumming. On top of all that, Boyd already had an eclectic style, working in jazz, R&B, hip hop, and electronic music. This is all to say that as Boyd went to put the album together, there were a lot of different influences and moving parts that he had to bring together into one coherent listening experience. Fortunately, Boyd had been working in different avenues for several years and he had experience working with a lot of different types of musicians. On Displaced Diaspora, there are a lot of contributors, such as Kevin Haynes Grupo Elegua, Zara McFarlane, Terri Walker, Louis VI, and Joe Armon Jones, but it never sounds busy or unfocused because Boyd is so sure of what he’s trying to accomplish, and he’s bringing in each musician to contribute a particular thing to the bigger picture. Boyd always has his eye on the prize. Ultimately, Displaced Diaspora is a jazz album that brings in African, South American, and Caribbean influences, especially with the drumming, but then also bring the music into the 21st century by mixing in R&B, hip hop, and electronic music. It might sound a little overwhelming on paper, but Boyd makes sure that it never gets too busy, and always makes sure that every element is serving the greater purpose of the song, and that each song is in conversation with the others, coming together to make a really unique and coherent album.

You won’t hear too many albums like Displaced Diaspora. Moses Boyd is an incredibly talented musician and producer, and he’s got great vision in putting together his projects. This easily could have sounded messy, busy, and unfocused, but instead Boyd manages to make an album that is ambitious and eclectic but is also fun and easy to listen to. That’s a hell of an accomplishment.