Joshua Idehan - Mum Does The Washing | cool songs (and how i found em) #11

a shraf does the blogging

the song: Joshua Idehan - Mum Does The Washing

Unless executed properly, spoken word and music can be a dicey combo. The Brits, however, seem to have this lane all figured out. Joshua Idehan is a British poet/rapper who has a long history of collaborating with musicians - check out his work with avant-jazz ensemble Comet is Coming or the left-field electronic producer Daedelus for a few earlier examples.

Most recently, he’s partnered with Swedish producer Ludvig Parment with a more tongue-in-cheek approach backed by dance music production. Their latest release, off an EP of the same name, is a hilarious, poignant commentary on the world’s -isms. Without sacrificing sincerity, Idehan uses humor to avoid any sort of overly-somber cheesiness or preachy-ness. Operating around the basic premise “Mums explain the world one article of clothing at a time,” he goes on to poke fun at dogma and ideologues of all kinds. A few of my personal favorite lines:

Capitalism: your mum does the washing. You pay her a dollar. You get her to do your mates washing. Your mate pays you 50 dollars

Liberalism: you watch your mum do the washing and feel really really bad. “Something must be done” you say. Something may or may not get done

Zionism: you made your mum live inside the washing machine and she got dizzy from the spinning which made her vomit and you point at that vomit and call it antisemitism

Male feminism: that one time I did the washing told everyone I did the washing I blogged about it I bragged about it Took a selfie Insta story I went on oprah Won an Oscar Went on fort nite And did a dance I’m an ally Hashtag me too

how i found it: K-Lone / Learn to Swim Mixtape

UK producer/DJ K-Lone has been a consistent presence in my DJ sets over the last few years so I’m always keen to hear new music from him. This remix, with its hazy production, fits right in my wheelhouse. I was messing around with it on my decks and found myself drawn to the “I’m a work in progress” refrain - perhaps because I have a WIP tattoo on my wrist.

From there, it was a hop and a skip to Idehan’s excellent Learn to Swim, A Mixtape (Spotify/Apple Music). The project is essentially a coming-of-middle-age story full of rave-tales but ultimately about how friendships evolve, or sometimes dissolve, as you get older. It’s deeply vulnerable but still quite funny. The title track is an absolutely gorgeous and righteous anthem. In most people’s hands it would be corny but, in my opinion, it transcends those allegations. Don’t leave without listening!