«Unjust wars, money being spent, the rightwing press’s anti-immigration rhetoric, Tory fucking shite that they’ll never admit to. But we try and fit all that into a pop song.» – that’s how G Hastings recently explained his band’s music to The Observer. Politics and pop? Is that possible still / again / at all? The three Young Fathers come from Edinburgh, they come from Scotland, from the UK, from Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria and the USA. They’ve known each other since they were 14 years old, they met in a youth club, two black dudes and a white guy, three stories, one band. Two self-released albums titled Tape One and Tape Two found their way to the public as re-releases on anti-conventional hip hop label Anticon, an independent hip hop label based in California. Tape Two contained I Heard, a soul-hit in low fidelity. After that came 140 concerts in 2014 alone and DEAD, a new album, a masterpiece leaving FKA Twigs and Damon Albarn behind at the Mercury Prize. In the midst of the award frenzy the band rented a frosty basement in Berlin-Wedding to complete their next creation. White Men Are Black Men Too is the title of their next album, an astute statement, striking and provocative, yet elusive and confusing. Equally Young Father’s music can best be described as something new, both dizzying and enlightening. The new album will carry a sticker that says «file under rock and pop» which in itself is an impish understatement regarding the endless list of ingredients that have been attributed to in the band’s recipe: Hip hop, soul, dub, rave and R&B – the new album will be a step out of a niche, appropriating and redefining mainstream. For our fifth anniversary, Sunday night at Volksbühne we couldn’t welcome a more exciting guest.