Launching into the universe in full force, transcending barriers with his signature sound, Kwasi is accelerating through the atmosphere on a journey that goes against many odds, much like NASA’s mission in 1977.

The Golden Voyager is a trip into the heart and mind of 25-year-old Kwasi, a sun-filtered record of tight rap and smooth flow that makes harmonies from heartbreak and hard times, confronting problems as if floating in the pool, cocktail in hand.

Born Benjamin Karikari-Yeboah in 1990, Kwasi grew up in a small country town in Victoria.

His Australian mother and Ghanaian father’s grunge and reggae records were what first ignited his love for music, but it was Dr Dre’s 2001 that inspired a young Kwasi to start writing raps with his sister (as Dr. Jazz and Snoop Ben) and spend English classes freestyling with mates, recalling the weekend’s events in rhyme.

His uncle, a musician and audio engineer, instilled in him a strong sense of creativity and introduction to the technical side of things, but it was upon moving to Melbourne in 2009 that Kwasi’s studies in audio engineering, paired with his first professional gigs, encouraged the dreamer to aim bigger and realise his true calling.

Having already supported the likes of Grammy-winning Australian producer M-Phazes, Yelawolf, 360 and Hopsin, Kwasi heralds the arrival of fresh talent. Spending countless hours in the studio sculpting The Golden Voyager under the close mentorship of Mercury Prize winning producer Wayne ‘Lotek’ Bennett, the pair have “created something pure, from the heart”.

These are songs to soundtrack a perpetual summer, an indefatigably upbeat collection of sweet rhymes, laidback grooves and effortlessly catchy hooks. Aimed squarely at the brain’s pleasure centre, The Golden Voyager is a trip you’ll want to take again and again.

Words: Annabel Ross