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Talking Tracks: Palace Lumumba by Udoka Malachi

The album is eight tracks about finding balance between your roots, where you are now, and where you're going. For fans of A Tribe Called Quest, Curtis Mayfield, and OutKast.

Dan Ray April 6, 2023
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Talking Tracks: Palace Lumumba by Udoka Malachi April 6, 2023

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).

Photo by Danny Ngan

On Talking Tracks, music journalist Dan Ray interviews indie artists as they play through their latest drops song by song. It’s a little bit like a curated Spotify playlist, except way more personal and in depth. In each episode, you’ll get to listen to the full album or EP right alongside the artist’s inspiration behind the tracks. Think Miley Cyrus’s Disney+ Backyard Sessions but with an artist you (probably) haven’t heard of (yet). Season two focuses on Seattle musicians.

Seattle-bred but NYC-based hip-hop artist Udoka Malachi released his debut EP, Palace Lumumba, on April 8, 2022. In this episode of Talking Tracks, Dan and Udoka break down the meaning behind and the making of each song on the project — eight tracks about finding balance between your roots, where you are now, and where you’re going. For fans of A Tribe Called Quest, Curtis Mayfield, and OutKast.

Listen below and subscribe to the full podcast here. Scroll down to see our photo story of the live recording. This episode was recorded at The Rendezvous with sound by Jades.

Track listing:
1. High 99 – 15:15.
2. Purple Sky Sunday – 29:38.
3. Witching Hour – 42:08.
4. Smoke&Mirrors (feat. Kenny Lu) – 51:24.
5. Escape Artist – 1:02:03.
6. Role Play – 1:14:49.
7. June XX (feat. Deanna Dilandro) – 1:25:28.
8. Lance Aux Epines – 1:41:09.

Listen to the recorded album here.

Seattle-born but NYC-based hip-hop artist Udoka Malachi released his second EP, Palace Lumumba, on April 8, 2022.
Because Udoka flew in from NYC for this show, he only had time to rehearse with his band once before recording. He has lived in NYC since 2015 and asked his friends from Seattle reggae band Two Story Zori to play with him.
Before moving to NYC, Udoka was living in South Bend, IN. He said he would go to the Walmart in Niles, MI to buy alcohol on Sundays because alcohol wasn't sold in Indiana on Sundays.
Udoka described the Seattle music scene as insular and said the NYC scene offers more opportunity. "It almost feels like things are locked in, where if you can't get inside of a circle -- if you don't know the gatekeepers then it's really hard to break in in Seattle. In New York you might know the people who do shows at some of the Bushwick venues, but you might not know some of the people who do shows at the Uptown venues...so there's more opportunities to break in in different areas," he said.
Palace Lumumba is named after Patrice Lumumba, who was the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was executed by Katangan secessionists in 1961 after Belgium and the United States declined to aid the suppression of the secessionists.
Udoka said he chose to name the album after Lumumba not for political reasons but because of the balance of extremes Lumumba's life represents. Udoka represented this visually on the album cover, where he is seen walking through a flooded palace with his guitar on his back -- but toward the light.
The album cover also features three statues sitting in the palace's windows. One is facing left, one is facing right, and one is facing straight on. Udoka said he situated them like that to show balance. He said many people find balance in even numbers but he finds it in odd numbers since there is always something in the middle.
Every episode of the podcast, Dan plays a game with the artist. While Palace Lumumba isn't inherently a political album, it does have elements of protest. After each track, Dan asks Udoka what celebrity is leading the protest inspired by the song.
Track one, "High 99," takes its name from Seattle's Highway 99. The track references Udoka's time as a teenager driving up and down the highway with his friends, thinking they had all the luck in the world. Udoka said his aim for this song is to make the listener feel like they're driving through south King County, even if they've never been there.
In the chorus of "High 99," Udoka asks the listener, "Hey, stop, what's that sound?" The line comes from Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," a protest track written in response to the Sunset Strip curfew riots. Udoka chose Jimi Hendrix to lead the protest for "High 99," though, because "Along the Watchtower" influenced the writing of the song. Dan chose Quincy Jones.
Track two, "Purple Sky Sunday," has two parts. The first part is happy and bouncy, while the second part is dark and brooding. Udoka wrote the track in May/June of 2020 to represent the dichotomy of the time.
Udoka said people often ask him if the song is about ice cream. The inspiration behind it is actually two people looking at the clouds and seeing different objects in them -- the track is a metaphor for not being able to see eye to eye. During the podcast, Udoka said if it was ice cream, it would have gummy bears on top. He also recommended putting chocolate candy cars in the fridge.
Udoka chose Kanye West to lead the protest for "Purple Sky Sunday" because of his hot and cold nature. (This podcast was recorded in June of 2022.) Dan chose Jimi Hendrix because of the purple sky and fashion references throughout the song.
Track three, "Witching Hour," has a more fun, pop sound than the rest of the tracks. Udoka wasn't going to put it on the album, but his friends convinced him otherwise since it's the most accessible song. It's about the bewitching power of women.
Track five, "Smoke&Mirrors," is about staying true to yourself, especially when other people are telling you what they think is best for you.
Udoka chose Andre 3000 to lead the protest for "Smoke&Mirrors" due to the way he appears and disappears in media. Dan picked Kendrick Lamar if Kendrick took a tranquilizer.
"Escape Artist," track five, was one of the single from Palace Lumumba. Udoka said this is one of his favorite songs because it best encompasses his style: poetic rap, an interlude between him and a friend, and a feeling of being launched into space.
One of Dan's favorite lyrics in "Escape Artist" is "spent hours in front of Regis / We needed a millionaire." Udoka wrote the song at an Airbnb in Grenada.
Someone in the audience suggested Hulk Hogan lead the protest for "Escape Artist." Udoka chose Frank Ocean because the production was inspired by Frank's work. Dan chose Clint Eastwood because the track made her think of her hometown of Detroit and a Chevy commercial Clint did. Udoka recommended reading Dan Charnas's book Dilla Time, which chronicles the life of Detroit hip-hop producer, to anyone who wants to learn more about Detroit.
Udoka had an Adele moment with track six, "Role Play." He started the song over twice when the backing track wasn't in time with the band. At the end of the track, he asked the audience to rap with him.
Udoka wanted a harmonica player on "Role Play," so he put out an ad for a New York City harmonica player. The person who took him up on it, Marcus Milius, recorded the parts in his studio and sent them to Udoka for free since Udoka funded the project himself. Udoka then chopped up the parts and put them where he wanted to in the song.
Track seven, "June XX," features a sample of a baby crying inspired by "Are You That Somebody" by Aaliyah. Dan didn't know that song, so the band started playing it and Udoka and the entire audience sang it. Dan still didn't know it, but she went home and listened to it.
The recorded track features guest vocalist Deanna Dilandro. Udoka shopped the song around to singers he knew but no one bit, so he searched through singer hashtags on Instagram and found Deanna.
"Lance Aux Epines" is the final track on Palace Lumumba. Guest guitarist Gerson Zaragoza (left) joins the band on acoustic guitar for this performance. Here, Udoka receives a rose from an audience member after the show.
Udoka wrote several songs on Palace Lumumba while staying with friends in Grenada during the pandemic. He started the album with "Highway 99" and ended it with "Lance Aux Epines" to represent the neighborhoods this part of his musical journey began and ended in. Pictured here, Udoka with (from left) his dad, brother, and sister after the show.

Photos by Danny Ngan.

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Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).