Award-winning jazz and hip hop star Soweto Kinch opens our first ever show in The REP’s newest space, The STUDIO, with an incredible staged performance of his latest album. With jazz improvisation, a driving hip hop score and choreography from a pioneer of British Hip Hop culture, Jonzi D.

Inspired by The Seven Deadly Sins and Dante’s Inferno, Soweto performs the story of Mike Smith, a young, aspiring MC caught in a world of temptation where the boundaries of reality and fantasy collide.

An alto-saxophonist and MC, Soweto Kinch is one of the most exciting and versatile young musicians in both the British jazz and hip hop scenes. He has amassed an impressive list of accolades and awards on both sides of the Atlantic including a Mercury Music Prize nomination, two UMA Awards and a MOBO for best Jazz Act in 2003 and 2007.

The Legend of Mike Smith promises to be an absorbing combination of music, animation and dance with long-awaited, brand-new material played live by Soweto and his band every night .

“A real tour de force – a contemporary take on The Seven Deadly Sins.”
John Fordham, The Guardian (about the album)

Music and Lyrics – Soweto Kinch
Choreographer – Jonzi D
Visual Artist – Nat