Kwes

Kwes (pronunciation: /kwɛs/;^[1] sometimes stylised as Kwes. or [o=o]. ) is a British record producer, songwriter, composer and musician from Lewisham, London and is best known for his production and collaborative work with Micachu, Damon Albarn, Bobby Womack, Eliza Doolittle, Speech Debelle, Solange Knowles and DELS. Kwes is signed to Warp Records as a solo artist and released his debut album, ilp in October 2013.

Music

As a producer Kwes worked with DELS on his 2011 debut album Gob^[2] and The xx earlier on in their career, producing an early version of their song "Insects".^[3] He also co-produced a mixtape entitled Kwesachu Mixtape Vol.1, with Micachu (as "Kwesachu"), alongside MCs DELS & Ghostpoet, with appearances from London pop-bands including Golden Silvers and The Invisible.^[4] Matthew Herbert touted him as a musician and producer to watch, admiring his "really unusual, experimental approach".^[5]

Although he works primarily as a record producer, Kwes is also a solo artist. XL Recordings imprint Salvia released limited edition single "Hearts in Home/Tissues" on 16 February 2009.^[6] Kwes released his debut EP "No Need To Run" on Young Turks/XL on 28 June 2010.^[7] He is currently signed to Warp Records. During and before the release of his 2012 EP "Meantime", Kwes performed live with accompanying musicians Elan Tamara on keyboards and Georgia Barnes on drums.^[8]

Kwes has also remixed several artists including Hot Chip, Metronomy, Lianne La Havas, Zero 7^[9] amongst many others.

Kanye West and his live band member/co-producer Mano sampled Kwes' song 'LGOYH' for Pusha T's track "Who I Am", which features on Pusha T's debut album "My Name Is My Name".

Collaborations

DRC Music

Collaborating with producers and musicians Damon Albarn, Dan the Automator, XL Recordings' managers Richard Russell & Rodaidh McDonald, Jneiro Jarel, Actress, Marc Antoine, Alwest, Gorillaz's Remi Kabaka Jr. and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Kwes went to Kinshasa, DR Congo in Central Africa for one week to record an album named Kinshasa One Two.^[10] The Congolese band Tout Puissant Mukalo joined them as well. All proceeds benefit Oxfam's work in the DRC.^[11] The album was released by Warp Records.^[12] Kwes' produced four out of fourteen tracks within the record.

Opera di Peroni

In summer 2012 and early winter 2013, Kwes partnered with Go Opera and Peroni Brewery to create a series of opera concerts, entitled as Opera di Peroni.^[13] The Opera di Peroni project was staged live in various cities throughout the UK and had featured Kwes’ and Go Opera's take on selected arias from Verdi's La Traviata and Puccini's La Boheme and La Rondine.

Production discography (selected)

• Elan Tamara^[14] – "Gold Fishes" (7 September 2009), "Shadows" (28 October 2010) and Organ EP (6 June 2011)^[15]
• Dog Bite – "Machino Machino/Take Your Time" (22 November 2010)^[16]
• Cornelia – "By The Fire" (5 December 2010)
• Valentina – "Weights" (EP) (18 April 2011) * co-production with Blue May^[17]
• DELS – "GOB" (9 May 2011)
• DRC Music – "Kinshasa One Two" (4 October 2011) * co-production with Damon Albarn^[18]
• Sunless '97 – "Making Waves" (28 November 2011)^[19]
• Speech Debelle – "Freedom of Speech" (13 February 2012)^[20]
• Bobby Womack – "Whatever Happened To The Times" (12 June 2012) * additional production with Damon Albarn & Richard Russell^[21]
• Eliza Doolittle – "Don't Call It Love" (7 September 2012)^[22]
• Valentina – "Wolves" (EP) (6 May 2013)^[23]
• Rosie Lowe – "Right Thing" (EP) (2 Dec 2013)^[24]
• Shivum Sharma – "Flicker/Only You (3 March 2014)^[25]
• Moko - "Missing Love" (7 September 2014)
• DELS – "Petals Have Fallen" (3 November 2014)
• George Maple - "Gripp ft. Kilo Kish" (15 February 2015)
• Nao – "It's You" (1 May 2015)
• Hudson Mohawke – "Indian Steps ft. Antony Hegarty" *additional production with Hudson Mohawke (16 June 2015)
• Loyle Carner - "Florence ft. Kwes" (14 August 2015)
• Kano - "My Sound" *additional production with Blue May (4 March 2016)
• Solange - "A Seat At The Table" (30 September 2016)

Reworks (selected)

• "Passion by The Invisible"^[26] (October 2007)
• "Monkey Bee by Monkey: A Journey To The West Opera – Damon Albarn"^[27] (September 2008)
• "Cittàgazze by Portico Quartet"^[28] (2008)
• "The Clock by Elviin" (2008)
• "White Hair by Cibelle"^[29] (2008)
• "One Pure Thought by Hot Chip"^[30] (April 2009)
• "Butterflies by Finn Peters" (2009)
• "The Infinites by Bomb The Bass ft. Paul Conboy (w/ Micachu)"^[31] (2010)
• "Stop for a Minute by Keane & K'Naan"^[32] (2010)
• "Destiny" by Zero 7 (2010)
• "Pigeons" by The Hundred in the Hands^[33] (2010)
• "Hide And Seek by Mirrors" (2010)
• "Wooden Toy" by Amon Tobin (2012)
• "Forget by Lianne La Havas" (2012)^[34]
• "Pictures In The Dark by Josh Record" (2014)
• "Dancing Around Control by Hejira" (2014)
• "Broke by Tom Vek" (2014)
• "Pools by Glass Animals" (2014)

Artist discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

• "Hearts in Home" (16 February 2009)
• "Get Up" (13 November 2011)^[36]
• "Bashful" (7 March 2012)^[37]
• "Rollerblades" (26 November 2012)^[38]

Mixtapes

Live session duties

• Ebony Bones – Guitarist^[39][40] (2006–2007, 2008)
• Bono Must Die now O. Children – Keyboardist^[41] (2007)
• Jack Peñate – Laptop and keyboards^[42] (2009)
• Kwesachu (with Micachu) – co-production and co-selector (2009–)
• Elan Tamara – Bassist^[43] (2009–2011)
• Leftfield – Keyboards and Computers^[44] (2010)
• Bobby Womack – Keyboards (2012–2013)

References

External links

• Official website
• Kwes. on Warp
• Kwes. on Discogs