With a rich blend of genres at its core, Chicago-hailing collective Monoculture has spent ten years as a musical team, founded by Faayani Aboma Mijana and Nick Leibold. Fuelled with psychedelia and jazz fusion, they speak to the political moment, taking pride in their social commentary and campaigning for important change.
Bringing together grooving bass lines, delicate keys, soaring brass lines and flowing string arrangements, their new single ‘I’ll Do You One Better’ features upbeat melodies, evolving arrangements and a refreshing atmosphere.
It is written as a pop song to defy pop songs, whilst it lyrically challenges broader societal conventions. Dynamic from start to finish, constantly unexpected, but filled with clear talent, Monoculture’s return to releasing music is sure to be met with approval.
Faayani adds, “‘I’ll Do You One Better’ is a facetious song poking fun at the traditional pop song structure that people have wielded against the band to deny us opportunities. So we imitated that structure and do it one better with jazz chord progressions and broad instrumentation — all over shifting time signatures. Lyrically, the song was written as I was becoming more conscious as both a worker and as a Black person and in that time was finding how the only way we could solve our issues was to fight for them.”