Learn The Myth Behind Drexciya's Murky Afrofuturist Electro In This Video

Get a lesson in Drexciyan counter-history.

Imagine immersing yourself in a world of wavejumpers, bubble metropolises, stingray and barracuda batallions and Darthouven fish men.

Drexciya albums aren’t just filled with pulsating, stripped-back electro of the highest quality. From their first EP to their last, the Detroit duo of Gerald Donald and James Stinson plunged listeners into the militarized, mythical world of the Black Atlantic. This is a world where advanced, water-dwelling Drexciyans—which, in the sleeve notes to the The Quest, are revealed to be the descendents of America-bound African slaves thrown overboard as “disruptive cargo”—open up a war front against terrestrials.

Drexciya brought the science-fiction tropes that had inspired music for decades back to earth, lacing intense Afrofuturist themes and narrative elements into each track. In fact, each track is a scene in this enduring story, a sonic rendering of the Drexciyan alter-world.

If you need an introduction to the Drexciyan counter-history, Resident Advisor’s new video is a pretty good place to start. It will give you the basic outlines of Drexciya’s vision and explain what’s at stake in this battle for a wet planet. Watch it in full above. Then learn more about Drexciya courtesy of Kodwo Eshun’s writings here.

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