Ahead of his forthcoming EP We Move The Needle, Zimbabwean-Irish rapper God Knows shares a dancehall-inspired cut just in time for summer.

Narolane season is incoming. Co-founder and one-time member of Rusangano Family, God Knows has returned to share ‘Twelve 61’ ahead of the release of We Move The Needle on July 8.

The track is a family affair, with Cork producer Boku sampling African unity anthem ‘Vanhu VemuAfrica’, which was later popularised by God Knows’ uncle CDE Chinx Chingaira. Meanwhile, G bounce between English and Shona with Zimdancehall artist Jah Master providing his trademark pulsing vocals to bind the collaboration together.

Speaking about the track, God Knows says, “My friend and collaborator Ian (BOKU) read an article of me talking about my uncle Chinx Chingaira and decided to make a beat, sampling a song made famous by the latter.

Fast forward a couple of weeks later, one of those rare times I found myself on Facebook and as luck would have it, another uncle of mine was congratulating Jah Master on his success and after consulting with my dad, I found out he too was a relative. We were in fact, cousins and he grew up blocks away from that ‘1261’ street number where my grandmother’s house is, hence the title of the song. I thought this was a great opportunity to reach out and the rest, as they say, is history, in the making. “

The accompanying music video comes courtesy of Emma Murphy and Darragh Scott. On the video they say, “The track is a full tilt eruption of culture, passion and personal meaning. When we first found out we were tackling the video it was intimidating. There was a big responsibility to create something that did justice to the song and was respectful to the culture and history it represents.”

Watch the visuals for ‘Twelve 61′ below:

Elsewhere on District: Avril Stanley on the evolution, rebirth and future of Body & Soul.