Photo: Benji Reid - The Source — Photo: Benji Reid - *The Source*

By: Tom Hurst

Konny Kon and Tyler Daley make up the Mancunian duo Children of Zeus; together they are trying to keep their city’s rich musical history soulful, drawing comparisons with the styles of Anderson Paak and Bilal. Kon is a producer, MC and DJ while Daley both MCs and sings. I normally am not the biggest fan of live soul and hip-hop pairings but the two are combined so elegantly by Children of Zeus that it’s impossible not to hang off of every word.

I came across the duo via Red Bull Music on Facebook, when they shared a live performance of the first song on the album, ‘Still Standing’, performing alongside the Triple S choir. Daley’s voice instantly captures you and the song is beautifully crafted, strangely managing to make clichés such as ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’ sound insightful. Gospel and Soul samples are entwined throughout their album and their work generally.

The two are making waves, ‘The Story So Far…’ being their debut album following daytime success through their SoundCloud releases. They have been booked as one of the headliners for Outlook festival’s opening concert and have helped draw eyes to Manchester alongside MCs such as Bugzy Malone and producers like Chimpo.

Kon is possibly better known as part of the Mancunian trio Broke’N’£nglish and Daley has contributed to music by Drum and Bass artists such as Lenzman and Goldie as well as a host of other UK rappers. This album has shone a light on the careers of Kon and Daley individually as well as on Children of Zeus. This is both deserved and important for the pair considering Kon says: ‘I only know slow rapping over soul samples’ in ‘Crown’.

See below for Children of Zeus’ SoundCloud:

https://soundcloud.com/children-of-zeus