It’s Friday so we’re listening to something more upbeat. Today we’re listening to K Wata, an American electronic musician from Seattle. He grew up listening to his mom’s funk records and the local KEXP radio station, taking piano lessons before getting seriously into drums.1 He played in a free jazz band in high school and got into hip-hop producers like Madlib and J Dilla, starting to make his own beats using Reason. He moved to New York to study Music Technology at NYU, and he remains based in the city. We found his album Give U Space on Robin Murray’s list of the best albums of 2026 so far. It’s a dubby, heady collection of tracks with meticulous programming and collage-like atmospheres. We’re also playing his 2022 record, Dot Dot Dot, which goes a bit more industrial in its sound. Also check out his live sets for Lot Radio on YouTube.
Give U Space - K Wata (55m, short vocals on track 2, little soundbites elsewhere)
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal
Dot Dot Dot - K Wata (25m, occasional vocal snippets)
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal
Have a sweet weekend.
Great moody electronica. Loving it. Wouldn’t be be surprised to see him catch fire!
K Wata has been one on my great recent musical discovery. Glad to see him here!