We're excited to announce that Young Fathers are headed to South Africa in February for a two-city tour hosted by SA beats platform Weheartbeat and Cape Town’s Assembly Radio in partnership with the British Council Connect ZA and Okayafrica. The Scottish / Liberian / Nigerian trio, whose debut album DEAD (one of our Top LPs of last year) won them the 2014 Mercury Prize for the best British or Irish record of the year, will bring their apocalyptic pop to Johannesburg and Cape Town for a week of workshops, satellite events and live performances. The project is part of the SA-UK Seasons 2014 & 2015, a partnership between the Department of Arts & Culture, South Africa and the British Council. "For Weheartbeat this undertaking is the first of its kind," Weheartbeat founder Dominique Soma says. "So collaborating with an alternative hip hop act and juxtaposing this grimy UK sound with the Afro-futuristic elements of South Africa is going to be very exciting."

The group will hit Johannesburg first on 27 February, with a live video stream hosted on Okayafrica, and then Cape Town on the 28th, where there will be a live audio stream hosted on Assembly Radio. Stay tuned for more details on each city’s lineups, signed merchandise and ticket giveaways. Until then, watch Young Fathers speak on their upcoming SA tour in the video below. Explains YF's G Hastings:

“I get the sense that SA is way ahead of the rest of the world and making much more exciting music than anywhere else. I’m still in disbelief that the music isn’t taking over everywhere. But I believe it should have the opportunity to do that… Alloysious said that people often see Africa as a place where only bad things happen, you know, ‘the dark depths of Africa’, when, in fact, people’s lives are as mundane or as joyful as anywhere... I’m hoping to embrace the music, take some inspiration, because from what I’ve heard, it sounds like a dream musically, we try and do this everywhere we go but I’ve got a feeling that South Africa might be a special place.”

For more on Young Fathers, listen to their latest single, "Soon Come Soon," and watch their videos for "Get Up" and "I Heard."