Christian Music News: Cardiff rap artist Traxx is back with debut solo project Sporting Peace (2024)

After 31 years, Traxx is finally at peace. The British rapper’s upcoming solo album “Sporting Peace” is an intimate journey of the road he walked to get there. Over the past 15 years, Traxx has been an instrumental figure in the building and broadening of Britain’s flourishing alternate rap scene, mainly with his former band Astroid Boys who released a string of seminal projects over the past decade. In the process he has established himself as one of the most renegade and creative minds operating within the scene.

Now he is ready to enter the next chapter of his life and career, stepping back out as a solo artist, making his return with debut solo project “Sporting Peace” (OUT ON JULY 14th). 14 tracks long, “Sporting Peace” is a vivid journey, into the mind, spirit, history and reality of Traxx. Weaving lyrics and testimonies of his journey and his faith, of his trials and personal triumphs, it is the story of a Cypriot boy, raised in Cardiff, coming of age in contemporary Britain.

“Sporting Peace” is a reflective and ruminative record. On record he channels his experiences and journey with faith, religion, rebellion, trauma and more into a cohesive and introspective body of work. The project was born of ten months of intense writing, as well as extended sessions with Welsh greek producer Minas. For a few weeks, Traxx and Minas retreated to an isolated cottage in rural West Wales where they spent their waking hours crafting the records soundscape. Shut away from the world, they created a record built on a foundation of honesty and intuition, refusing to be limited by genre, unafraid to blend a mix of sounds, experimenting and refining from day till evening.

“If there was no feeling in the song we would scrap it,” Traxx says, “We made sure every song had to instigate a feeling. If it didn’t, we would scrap it and start it again.”

As a result, “Sporting Peace” combs rap vocals into productions rooted in sounds that blend elements of neo-soul and Grime. Sporting Peace offers up a sonic palette that truly represents the diversity and range that has always informed his life.

Lyrically, the album follows a thematic journey of conflict, resolution and eventually, Peace and Faith are major pillars of the work. Traxx began to take Faith seriously in his mid-20s after he witnessed his mother be miraculously healed from a serious chronic illness. Elsewhere, growing up in Cardiff’s diverse inner city, he was regularly exposed to spiritual teachings from a range of cultures, and could count friends who were Caribbean Rastafarians and others who were Islamic students. Underpinning it all was his own heritage. He is from a Lebanese-Cypriot family. Those middle-eastern roots fostered an eastern take on the bible, and this meld of cultural and religious influences have informed who he is as a man. These influences couldn’t not seep into the album. Throughout the 14 tracks are stories of faith, hope and humility and a personal account of his stumbles and eventual restoration with a spirit and power higher than himself.

“I’m unashamedly speaking about my testimony in my music,” Traxx says.

“Sporting Peace” represents the maturation of a man, the sounds of a person who has decided to live and stand in his truth, is the product of a rich musical heritage and a personal history that spans from Cyprus to Britain. To find peace, Traxx has been to the edge and back. This album is the sum of that journey.

Connect with Traxx on Twitter | Instagram | Spotify || Listen on Spotify

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