Afrobeat icon Tony Allen had been working on a new album when he died last year at age 89. He had laid down all his drum parts in 2019 and he and co-producers Vincent Taeger and Vincent Taurelle were working with many collaborators, including Sampa The Great, Skepta, Danny Brown, Jeremiah Jae, and more. Taeger and Taurelle have since finished production on the album, which is titled There is No End and will be out April 30 via Blue Note. “I want to take care of youngsters,” Allen said during the making of the album. “They have messages and I want to bring them on my beat. The idea is to transmit to the young generation, to mix different universes – the hip hop world to the Afrobeat world.”

The first single off There is No End is “Cosmosis” which was produced by Allen, Damon Albarn and Remi Kabaka and features Skepta and poet and novelist Ben Okri. Allen’s signature syncopated style powers this instantly infectious dubby track and Okri’s oratory style blends wonderfully with Skepta’s flow. Okri’s lyrics were a tribute to Tony, as he explains: “How do you absorb a cosmos or integrate a cosmos, enrich a world, infiltrate in the highest possible way and change the mentalverse, the spiritverse; it’s by cosmosis.”

You can watch the “Cosmosis” video and check out There Is No End‘s album art and tracklist below.

Tracklist
1. Tony’s Praeludium
2. Stumbling Down (feat. Sampa The Great)
3. Crushed Grapes (feat. Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon)
4. Très Magnifique (feat. Tsunami)
5. Mau Mau (feat. Nah Eeto)
6. Coonta Kinte (feat. Zelooperz)
7. Rich Black (feat. Koreatown Oddity)
8. One Inna Million (feat. Lava La Rue)
9. Gang On Holiday (Em I Go We?) (feat. Jeremiah Jae)
10. Deer In Headlights (feat. Danny Brown)
11. Hurt Your Soul (feat. Nate Bone)
12. My Own (feat. Marlowe)
13. Cosmosis (feat. Ben Okri & Skepta)
14. There’s No End