Today, W4RP Trio — the internationally touring chamber music group whose daring cross-genre experiments dip into everything from modernist orchestral works to tango and bleeding-edge jazz — announce Sermon of the MatriarK, out January 9 on Phenotypic Recordings®.

W4RP Trio

A collaboration with the barbed and poetic lyricism of rapper LiKWUiD, Sermon of the MatriarK is a towering conceptual work strives to, as W4RP put it, “honor the strength and resilience of women across the Black diaspora.” W4RP constructs a propulsive and ominous sound that evokes Stravinsky-esque theatricality, fire and brimstone gospel music, rhythms from the worlds of contemporary minimalism and jazz, and grandiose hip-hop production.

LiKWUiD

Meanwhile, atop that formidable swirl, LiKWUiD unspools lyrical threads that revel in the depth of Matriarchal Afro-diasporic folklore while simultaneously celebrating the ascendancy and power of the modern Black woman.

Accompanying the album announcement is a video for the incisive lead track “Sermon of the MatriarK Part i: Prelude.” Building from a cascade of chamber music atmosphere, it erupts into a swaggering condemnation of tokenism, employment discrimination, and AAVE appropriation that LiKWUiD spits with biblical ferocity.

Watch the kinetic, rotoscoped video for “Sermon of the MatriarK Part i: Prelude” here.

Pre–order Sermon of the MatriarK here.
All Phenotypic Recordings® proceeds from this album will be donated to non-profit organizations advocating on behalf of Black women and girls.

As W4RP Trio share:

“Sermon of the MatriarK began as an exploration of folkloric material from the African diaspora with powerful female protagonists. As we sought to understand these characters, we became increasingly aware of their real-life counterparts—the heroines who shape our daily lives. We connected the dots from the legendary African warrior princess Yennenga to Black freedom fighters Harriet Tubman and Assata Shakur, all the way to our mothers, aunties, sisters, and friends fighting to protect and uplift themselves, their families, and their communities.

Try as we might, instrumental music alone can only go so far in communicating the details of these stories. We are thus forever indebted to a longtime friend of the band, the amazing lyricist and human Faybeo’n Mickens (LiKWUiD), for taking our rough concepts and lyrically running a marathon with them. By helping us articulate these complex ideas, LiKWUiD helped us create a project that evokes the deep roots of matriarchal Afro-diasporic folklore and celebrates women’s rise and empowerment. We hope this album will instill in the listener a sense of these powerful figures’ legacies and honor the strength and resilience of women across the Black diaspora.”

W4RP Trio and LiKWUiD will celebrate the release of Sermon of the MatriarK with a special album release show at Brooklyn Art Haus on January 9 — full show details here. Full list of upcoming W4RP Trio live dates are listed below.