Local musicians from CT & Africa innovate together to sing about Oneness

An estimated 24,000 new songs get released every day. Yet no artist or label has conceived the album-length single before, where one song and theme is reimagined multiple times as a cohesive collaborative release. Highest Frequency Records has announced the March 5, 2021 release of a collaborative album-length single bringing together artists from Diné Tribe, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jamaica and US artists from New Haven, CT to Brooklyn NY for Light Warriors’ third release, “Book of One”. “It’s as much audio essays on oneness as it is a unified musical statement from international artists calling for oneness,” said label Founder, Erik Rabasca.

Originally released on Juneteenth 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s death and subsequent Black Lives Matter protests, all proceeds of the Bandcamp-only single “One” by genre-blending band Light Warriors were donated to NAACP Legal Defense Fund and The Brotherhood/Sister Sol. The original Juneteenth version of “One” has since been remixed and reworked, kicking off nine versions on “Book of One” by guest artists Lyla June Johnston (Diné Tribe), Kwadjo Spiri (Ghana), David Culture aka Ruff Scott of Easy Star All Stars (Jamaica), Sydney Salmon (Ethiopia), Shane Digital (Brooklyn), Mistaish (Brooklyn), Stenny Sten (Connecticut, US) and Light Warriors (Connecticut, US) band members Steven Jean Baptiste (drums) and Kris Brewer (Saxophones). Covering a range of styles from hip-hop, reggae and funk to trap, dub, dance and improvisation, these are not remixes but reconstructions sharing meditations on topics of unity, inter-spirituality, generational cycles, transformation and, yes, oneness. 

The story of how this innovative release transformed is rooted in long-standing relationships with multiple artists touring and recording together through a Brooklyn collective to newer relationships established during a delegation to Ethiopia for interspiritual harmony and, more recently, the organic formation of this latest incarnation of Light Warriors via a local Connecticut musical community. The unifying trait among all artists and musicians is service... to music, to the collective good and, additionally, to non-profit organizations. Proceeds from sales on Bandcamp of the March 5 release will be donated to WhyHunger, the non-profit founded by Harry Chapin whose mission states “nutritious food is a human right.”

“The Book of One” story is best told in its lyrics and music. Pre-buy on Bandcamp to donate to WhyHunger here:  Light Warriors - Book of One.

WhyHunger is a non-profit organization working to end hunger and poverty by connecting people to nutritious, affordable food and by supporting grassroots solutions that inspire self-reliance and community empowerment. www.whyhunger.org 

To learn more about Light Warriors, check out their EPK.

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Submitted by Yorktown, NY

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