Moses Boyd

Moses Boyd is a Mercury shortlisted, multi-award winning drummer, producer, composer and DJ. Growing up in South London, Moses’s childhood was soundtracked by his parents’ collection of gospel, soul, funk, reggae – as well as Bjork, Debussy and Youssou N’Dour.

Moses began drumming aged 13 and at 16 became part of the Tomorrow’s Warriors programme—“a peer-to-peer youth initiative that brings people together through jazz”. Coming up through the thriving new London jazz scene alongside the likes of Yussef Dayes, Nubiya Garcia, Ezra Collective and more, with its vibrant underground live circuit, was an experience that was “collaborative by nature,” he says. “You can’t really do it on your own, so it becomes a real community – it’s in the DNA of the music”.

This is borne out in his numerous live and studio collaborations, from touring with Sampha and Kelsey Lu, as well as collaborations with Little Simz and Four Tet, to drumming on Sons of Kemet’s Mercury-nominated album, to a collaboration with South African Gqom king DJ Lag, which made its way onto Beyonce’s official soundtrack for The Lion King. He produced Zara McFarlane ‘s 2017 full-length, Arise, in its entirety, for Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label, and released several acclaimed solo projects through his Exodus record label,  Moses has scored the US series Ragdoll as well as original scores for fashion shows from Louis Vuitton and Grace Wales Bonner, and with saxophonist Binker Golding, he’s co-leader and co-producer of the ferocious semi-free jazz act Binker and Moses.

His Mercury-nominated, self-produced debut album Dark Matter, released in 2020, saw him collaborate with Joe Armon-Jones, Poppy Ajudha, Obongjayar and Klein, and was universally lauded by critics. It’s long awaited follow up, Songs for Sinners, arrives later this year pushing further into the liminal zone between live percussion, electronic pressure, and spiritual intensity. Built on fractured drums, deep bass lines, and cinematic atmospheres, the album feels both ritualistic and futuristic, a soundtrack for inner conflict and collective release.

“Whilst [Dark Matter‘s] head leans towards the mathematical with its polymath rhythms and intricate structures, its heart is firmly on the dancefloor” – NME

“Boyd spins the stylistic wheel in a manner that sees him deftly incorporate everything from grime to afrobeat” – Loud & Quiet