They’ve been known as “the greatest band you’ve never heard of,” however in 2024 that’s clearly all about to change.
Cymande, a group of black British musicians, who all came to the UK from the Caribbean as children, released three brilliant albums in quick succession in the early 70s and were embraced in the USA. But in the UK they faced a music business beset by prejudice against home grown black talent and were largely ignored. They originally split in 1975. But their music lived on, as successive generations of artists and fans found and embraced their songs. Hip Hop, House, Drum and Bass, R&B, Rare Groove and crate digging communities all saw something in the songs of Cymande that inspired them.