Acclaimed New York City-based electronic musician, producer and activist Moby celebrates the life of Benjamin Zephaniah with new track “where is your pride?,” out now taken from his 22nd studio album always centered at night, due out June 14th and available for pre-order now.
The propulsive, break-beat driven track is spoken word with a powerful message delivered in the late dub poet’s characteristically warm burr. “Where is your love? / Where is your faith? / Where is your hope? / Where is your place? / Where is your pride?” Moby is proud to share a track with the late Benjamin Zephaniah to continue to celebrate his life and notes their aligned ideals, “As a vegan activist, and as a wise and compassionate man, Benjamin inspired me for many years. I hope that ‘where is your pride’ honors his legacy and also draws people’s attention to his life, work, and principles.”
Benjamin Zephaniah was a British writer, dub poet, actor, musician and professor of poetry and creative writing. He was included in The Times list of Britain’s top 50 post-war writers in 2008. He won the BBC Radio 4 Young Playwrights Festival Award in 1998 and was the recipient of at least sixteen honorary doctorates. Zephaniah was also a vegan and animal rights activist.
Even by Moby’s standards, always centered at night is special. The album features 13 collaborations in all, from names many might recognize to others many undoubtedly will come to recognize. The captivating voices on always centered at night include Sudanese, Netherlands-based chanteuse Gaidaa, London-based, Burundian royal refugee J.P. Bimeni, and Kingston-raised, London-based Aynzli Jones. These are often personal songs, and the personal is the political, as is the border-defying nature of the work. Moreover, they’re crepuscular, conceived at twilight, with many of the styles of the last 30 years in electronic music coming to the fore, such as the trip-hoppy “we’re going wrong” featuring Brie O’Banion, the broken beat, almost drum ‘n’ bass influenced “medusa” (with the aforementioned Aynzli Jones), or the Latin house of “feelings come undone” with Raquel Rodriguez.
Moby will embark on his first tour in over a decade later this year across Europe/UK in celebration of Play, which featured classics “Porcelain,” “Natural Blues” and “Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?” and sold over 12 million copies worldwide, winning numerous awards and becoming the biggest-selling electronic album of all time. Tickets for the select dates, including a newly added show in Lausanne, Switzerland, are on sale now here. Three of the seven dates have already sold out. 100% of his tour profits will go to European animal rights organizations.
Join Moby in celebrating the rich life of Benjamin Zephaniah with the momentous collaboration, “where is your pride?” out now. Moby’s new album, always centered at night featuring a remarkable host of collaborators, is due out June 14 via Mute and available for pre-order.
