Kae Tempest is a songwriter, rapper, an award-winning poet, and best-selling novelist. They’ve been nominated for the UK’s Mercury Prize and Brit Award. Their most recent album is The Line is a Curve, which came out earlier this year. It was executive produced by legendary producer Rick Rubin. Kae made the album alongside their longtime collaborator, producer Dan Carey. I talked to Kae and Dan about the song “Move.” You’ll hear the first demo they made, which sounds basically nothing like the final version. In this episode, they talk about how it evolved. Kae’s own life changed a lot during that period. They came out as trans and non-binary in 2020, and this song, in part, helps tell the story of what they were going through.

You can buy or stream “Move” here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Swarmatron
Grian Chatten
Confucius MC
Bridget Minamore