Joshua Idehen

On Wednesday 20 May 2026, Joshua Idehen arrives at Circolo Arci Bellezza in Milan — a British poet and vocalist of Nigerian descent who moves between spoken word, contemporary jazz and electronic textures. Raised alongside the trio Benin City and now a fixture on the new UK scene, he has crossed paths with Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming and Daedelus, honing a percussive writing style and a spoken diction that is precise and direct. His texts blend everyday observations, social reflection and more intimate stories, always driven by a sense of rhythm that propels the narrative forward.

Live he alternates between spoken word and song, laying his voice over elastic structures — from house or broken-beat pulses to jazz-inflected arrangements. The result is a flow that unites reading and concert, with the voice as guide and the beats slotting the transitions into place. From the tracks on Learn To Swim (2021, with Ludvig Parment) to the EP Mum Does The Washing (2024), the set foregrounds the balance between text, cadence and production, conceived for the proximity of the stage and the energy of the club. An evening to hear how word and groove can converse on equal terms.