Soulection changed our lives
By Rave Report
Fan artwork by PlantAndSamantha
“Future beats… Eclectic Soul, Forgotten Gems, and Timeless Sounds. All brought to you by Joe Kay… This is Soulection radio".
I can hear his introduction voice so clearly in my head!
Since 2014, Soulection has been the smooth-like-butter soundtrack to my coming of age.
It’s shaped my music taste, put me on creative collaborations, and introduced me to so many people who changed my life in beautiful ways.
Soulection changed the world
Founded in 2011, their tagline "The Sound of Tomorrow" was prophetic. Even if you haven’t heard of Soulection, you probably know artists like Sango, Kaytranada, Smino, Goldlink, Monte Booker, Tom Misch and IAMNOBODI. Founder Joe Kay and his team headhunted them years ago!
“Soulection has impacted music both directly and indirectly”, said Leverson, a Reprezent Radio resident, producer, and new friend who I met at Andres Uribe’s listening party at Qube with Jordss. “It’s underground in the sense that people who know, know. But you can also see its mainstream influence!”
My fav Soundcloud set ever - this is so ahead of its time!!
600 episodes later, Soulection are the originators of the 2023 sound that’s saturated Soundcloud and dancefloors of today- blending old/new school Edits, Future Beats, R&B, Broken Beat, Hip Hop, Jazz, Neo Soul, House, Afrobeats, Afrohouse, Baile Funk and Amapiano.
What makes Joe Kay extra close to my own heart is the fact he’s from LA but puts his global listeners onto UK bass, another massive part of my world. His UNTITLED set, supported by Jared Jackson at EarTh Hackney was just as much about ‘trending’ genres and flips as it was about classic Garage, Jungle, Drum & Bass, Dubstep… He even dropped one of my favourite Jungle records ever, ‘Only you’ by Nookie, and it felt like he played it just for me!
Soulection isn’t just a radio show either; their roster is hands down the best I know. Shaka Lion, Hannah Faith, 1981 Tokyo, Andre Power, Jael, J.Robb, Sasha Marie and Jarreau Vandal to name a few, are exceptional and provide the perfect backdrop for everything from getting turned up to ‘Soulection and Chill’! ;)
Soulection are the tastemakers of the Soundcloud generation
Me and some of my Soulection family 💙 (Left to right): Leverson, Kokopopsweet, Troppodaffy, Busyfingers (RIP), Wooli Ness
Just like millions of other millennial hip hop geeks around the world, I grew up in the 2010s during the Soundcloud golden era.
Interviewing randoms at Soulection parties got me so nostalgic:
“They put me on music I still listen to to this day,” nodded Mally Allen, a rapper from Croydon I met at the Qube listening party. “I used to rinse their mixes on Soundcloud—cherry picking songs. I’ve got a whole catalogue on Spotify from years ago that was born out of Soulection”!
“I’ve been a fan since the early Soundcloud days,' smiled Poonam Chauhan, a girl at UNTITLED who was getting the same train home as us. Gilly, a DJ who I met at that party said the same: “I’ve been listening to these guys since 2014. Joe Kay Seriously set some levels''!
And I couldn’t put it better than Troppodaffy - friend, DJ and founder of the Soulection-inspired Eclectify Show:
“These are the people you listen to to see what else is out there, and they show it’s possible to do this kind of thing. If I ever get to meet Joe Kay I’ll be like BRO”.
But while growing up in the UK, we were more likely to be raving to Garage, Grime and DNB. In LA, Soulection is a child of the Beat Scene: a community pioneered by legends like Madlib, J Dilla and Flying Lotus in the 2000s and 2010s. Joe Kay was part of that world, and it inspired his first radio show in 2011. When he took it to Soundcloud, the rest was history!
Soulection is the soundtrack to our big life moments as well as the mundane
Omari King is the founder of the Soulection-inspired Lucid Living Radio show and the South London-based community event: dedicated to “dope flips, edits and mashups of your favourite tunes, as well as old and new school bangers and soulection style beats”.
I first met him at the Qube listening party, and he told me how he was introduced to the sound in the profoundest of ways:
“It was in the 2020 lockdown, just me and my now girlfriend, back when we’d only met a couple of times. I put Soulection on because I thought it would be the right vibe. We were on mushrooms at the time, and when I took in the sound, it was otherworldly, it was like falling in love with music for the first time in so long. It was a breath of fresh air”!
I LOVE this story because Soulection has been the soundtrack to several life-affirming moments for me too, and I’m sure for so many others!
But equally, it’s been the backdrop to my everyday work, cleaning, cooking, and commuting. I met @IRVANI at the bar of UNTITLED - a DJ and producer best-known for a D&B Amerie bootleg that’s had over 2 million views on Soundcloud, and he totally agrees: “I’ll play it while getting changed or cooking dinner. At any point I want to vibe out, there’s always a Soulection mix!”
Soulection builds global community and legacy
"They set a blueprint for how to create an open minded community, something I’d love to create with time” said Tia-Shari. I couldn’t agree more. Formed in 2011, Soulection was one of the first to pioneer a new approach to multi genre community building: always pivoting with the latest digital platforms, up-and-coming talent, and fresh sounds from around the world while still keeping focus on in-person events and IRL connections.
Rest in power Busyfingers, Founder of L.A.B Collective and Beats & Liquor
But what’s beautiful is that while Soulection has its own crowd, it helped me find a new one of my own! For years, I used to rave religiously to underground Jungle DnB, and I would listen to Soulection on Soundcloud. It was a very personal thing, I didn’t have many friends in that universe.
That all changed in 2020 when I interviewed a true friend and Croydon pioneer, Busyfingers, who tragically passed in January (RIP Busy, we’re thinking of you all the time).
He was a multi genre DJ and promoter who was all about the culture, who formed the Brixton and Croydon equivalent of the LA beat scene which Joe Kay was part of, as well as a legendary YouTube DJ game show, Beats & Liquor.
Busyfingers introduced me to a community pushing the Soulection sound in London; he changed our lives in so many ways. Through him, I made new friendships, danced, and collaborated with DJs, promoters, MCs, and journalists like Gabi Vallim, Agatha Saldanha, Troppodaffy, Kokopopsweet, Darkstepper, Letty B, Karl O’Connor, Mango Park, Daviaa, Blue Canarinho, CXLI and Loelash, all continuing Busy’s legacy in our own personal ways.
As you can tell, this is a love letter to Soulection. But at the same time, I don’t know them personally, I don’t idolise anyone, and there’s always room for improvement! For example, there’s an ABUNDANCE of Soulection-inspired talent on Soundcloud, and I’d love to see more women and non-binary DJs on their roster. Artists like Letty B, A Vibe Called B, Savv, Saff, ADJO, Oh Annie Oh, Woahhnelly, and Soundcloud stations like BONITA MUSIC or GIRLS LOVE SOUL are just a few examples of people and platforms who are all rocking those immaculate vibes. Let’s see what the future brings from the Soulection A&R team!
But anyway, I’ll always have the deepest love, admiration, and respect for Joe Kay as an artist, a businessman, a father, a founder, and a community builder and curator. The Soulection startup-turned-empire is founded on a genuine love of music and community, and that’s what makes it so special. I couldn’t think of a better reminder that we all have the power to start something of our own, share our skills, and leave our mark on this world.
I’ll sign off with Kokopopsweet’s beautiful words:
“Soulection inspires me and plenty of others not just to be my authentic self but to be the best version of myself. Still, so many of us are struggling with internal demons that we just cannot exorcise. The community aspect of Soulection is definitely something I aspire to create in my own way. But until then, it’s teaching me how to love myself. Just like Pharrell said, ‘you can do it too.’”