The Architecture of Oppression Part 1

The Architecture of Oppression Part 1 represents Ferguson's debut as a bandleader and orchestrator, and manifests as a committed and soulful response to ongoing and systemic anti-black racism, social oppression, and state violence both at home in London and across the globe.

Combining poetry, testimony, and song with rich and cinematic backdrops, Ferguson has produced a sui generis sound that conjures flavors of Arthur Verocai, Ennio Morricone, classic library productions, Madlib-style deep-jazz beat science, and psychedelic soul.

With bandmate Malcolm Catto on drums, Ferguson draws on their long years of collaborative experience in the Heliocentrics to build an album of striking texture and depth.

But the album does not only reflect Ferguson's full-spectrum musical prowess, experience, and vision. It is equally a manifestation of his longstanding and high-profile work as a frontline activist for racial justice and social equity in London and beyond.

Alongside Malcolm Catto, contributors to the album are drawn from the intersecting worlds of community activism, cultural education, politics, and music, and include singer and political activist Jermain Jackman, Zara MacFarlane; Chicagoan activist, poet, and singer Ugochi Nwaogwugwu; Lee Jasper, longstanding worker for racial justice and former advisor on equalities to the Mayor of London; acclaimed performance poet Dylema; Hackney community leader Janette Collins MBE and Leroy Logan MBE, founder and former chair of the Black Police Association, and the subject of Steve McQueen's Small Axe episode 'Red, White and Blue'.