Earthling is the hotly-tipped second album from musical all-rounder Louis VI. Here, the rapper, self-taught producer, and multi-instrumentalist draws on hip hop, jazz, electronic, afrobeat, funk, RnB, and soul to create a melting pot of future-leaning sounds to follow his self-released debut, Sugar Like Salt.

Earthling has been three and a half years in the making, and is released on the newly-minted HiyaSelf Recordings helmed by Nightmares On Wax. On this outrospective, psychedelic and emotional journey we follow Louis on his quest to show what it means to be human. Over the fourteen tracks the North London native displays his “fullest, most honest, most eccentric self to date”, a tale of joy, anger and exploration set against a backdrop of police brutality, racism, and colonial legacy.

Much inspired by his own experiences and challenges growing up in a rough but culturally vibrant part of North London, Louis’ Caribbean, French, and British heritage partly explains his alternative interpretation of London hip hop and jazz. As an artist who always felt like a misfit, music wasn’t just a distraction from outside, but was also an escape from violence he grew up with inside his own home.