PRE-ORDER
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DESCRIPTION
Goya Gumbani loves getting dressed, guided not by stylists or trends but by his own research and self-expression, an excitement for fabrics, fits, and fundamentals. The Brooklyn-born, South East London-based artist approaches Warlord of the Weejuns, his first LP on Ghostly International, after years of acclaimed self-releases with the same mentality. Rather than simply recruit beats to rap over, he's now embodied both the narrator and the conductor, developing a shared musicality with various changes in scenery, players, producers, and guests — including Fatima, lojii, Seafood Sam, Yaya Bey, and many others — outfitting his flow between London's new jazz generation and New York City's hip-hop storytelling legacy. Goya borrows the album title from a magazine headline once placed upon Mile Davis (given how well he wore the iconic Weejun loafers). Here, he channels not just that storied style from the king of cool but an artistic ingenuity and timeless sensibility, redefining his recording project with rich, full-band arrangements. Marked by unguarded ambition and introspection, Warlord of the Weejuns is a triumph of taste, heritage, and pride from one of rap music's most dexterous talents.
Before and during sessions spread across London, Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles, Goya leaned into his jazz collection with a heightened sense of awareness, reflecting on Davis' legacy in the context of intention and growth. "His appreciation and love for music but also clothes, taking pride in your image. Not feeling restricted in your music or your fashion. He kept redefining himself, moving the goalposts. It just opened my eyes to the ideology that there are no bounds; you can't get boxed in, there's no wrong turns. Every turn just leads you somewhere else."
Taking cues from the intuitive and often wordless expressions of jazz as well as the rhythmic meditations of reggae, Goya let the music lead. "I didn't want to fit 100 words in 16 bars; it was more about making the voice part of the instrumentation, to sit at ease in the mix, like laying in the water, letting the current wash over." Even when more reclined at the mic, he remains an evocative and boldly vulnerable lyricist, allowing the material to form around life's impressions — "slight changes to the input," he says. "The things that I would pour into myself, my views, my mornings waking up, breaking up with girls, meeting new people, it's all these things. When I listen back to it, I can hear where I was, and I can hear where I'm going."
Threads of affirmation and self-worth — unlearning past constructs, manifesting knowledge and power from within — run throughout Warlord of the Weejuns. After the swaggering, a capella intro ("All I do is write, rap, scribble, scat, wear long coats with pressed slacks…."), the horn-backed "Beautiful BLACK" sets the celebratory tone. Produced by Franky Bones, the track radiates pride with lush keys, bass, and brass as Goya declares, "It's time to redefine" above emboldened excerpts from a speech by Yosef Ben-Jochannan. He wrote the song after visiting his mom's birthplace far outside of London, and his uncle's recording studio in Nottingham and hearing him talk about Bob Marley's influence, realizing the lineage of it all. "I was just looking at him and looking at myself, and I thought, this is generational." He further unpacks the track: "I wanted to make something that could speak to Black kids from anywhere in the world, just love yourself, know your worth. Like, you got it. What I would have told myself: you are beautiful."
Goya welcomes a wide range of artistry across the spacious collection, replete with vibe-shaping skits and interludes. "I feel honored to have everyone on this album and understand how all these elements, these ingredients, come together to make the greatest gumbo. These collaborations made me remember the importance music has not only to me but to all of us."
London-based Swedish soul singer Fatima appears in two singles: first, there's "Firefly," a cosmic R&B groove that captures the rawness of a recent breakup. "Fatima came and just laid the hook, and I was like, damn, you're embodying how I'm feeling," says Goya, who built it out with contributions from Swarvy, Omari Jazz, Les Lockheart, and his Ghostly labelmate quickly, quickly. Fatima returns for the Dan Diggas-produced crew jam, "Chase The Sunrise," joined by Yaya Bey and lojii (also in his second appearance). Hovering above guitar lines and beats, they take turns in a weave of gratitude. Goya explains, "Yaya recently lost her father, a hip-hop legend [Grand Daddy I.U.]. He influenced one of my favorite rappers, Roc Marciano, who made me really get into lyricism and rapping and speaking. Then to get lojii on there, and Roc also influenced him, so it felt like the fullest circle moment just to give that kind of ode to the parents, to our ancestors."
He recorded the hypnotic "Crossroads" with Maxwell Owin in his South London studio at 4am; "It was winter time, and a window was broke, and it was f*cking cold, but something in my head was like like these are the hard times in the dirt that you're gonna look back on and be like, bro, you made a diamond." “Manuva(s)” features London-based producer Joe Armon-Jones, who lends shimmering keys between Goya’s agile verses, maneuvering around the trials of life. “It’s about navigating the challenges you encounter while pursuing your dreams."
Goya wraps Weejuns on the gospel-tinged outro, "FOREVER POOH," produced with Omari Lyseight. Surrounded only by soulful hums and strums, his closing remarks cross the looseness of a freestyle with the poignance of something greater, a 21st-century artist deeply in the pocket of his pleated craft.
TRACKLIST
Weejuns (intro) ft. Will Stowe
Beautiful BLACK
One Hand Washes The Other feat. lojii
Crossroad(s)
Negroni (Skit)
FireFly feat. Fatima
Nothin’ to Say
UPtown Mami (Skit)
Manuva(s) feat. Joe Armon-Jones
Driftin’ Interlude feat. Pearl De Luna
Chase The Sunrise feat. Yaya Bey, lojii, Fatima
First Dates
Quiz Interlude feat. Salimata
Lizards / Dancin' With The Devil feat. Jaydonclover & The Hotel
Mind, Body, Spirit feat. Seafood Sam
FOREVER POOH