Brixton’s Cross The Tracks Returns for Sixth Instalment [Festival Review]

Brockwell Park’s Cross The Tracks festival is back for the sixth year running. The home of Jazz, Funk, Soul and everything in between, right in the heart of South London.

First on my ‘Must-See’ list was Nia Smith on the D-Railed stage, in partnership with The Blues Project, a platform dedicated to putting the spotlight on emerging R&B and soul talent. Nia, a Brixton Local who arrived at Brockwell Park on foot, is no stranger to the limelight, having toured the States with Elmiene. This young talent has already caught the attention of Dancehall legend Popcaan, who hopped on her breakout single “Personal.”

Cross The Tracks 2025, photo by Luke Dyson

Another Local act, Cymande, took over the Mainline stage. This legendary group formed in the early 70s but never reached their deserved potential due to racial prejudices in the music industry at the time. The group disbanded in ’75, but their music lived on through The Fugees, De La Soul, and MF DOOM, who all sampled their work. Their track “Bra” has been sampled innumerable times. In 2012, Cymande reformed to finish what they started and are now back in Brixton to play for us over four decades later. I would highly recommend their documentary “getting it back: The story of Cymande.”

Nala Sinephro’s “Endlessness” is one of the most outstanding jazz releases of recent years. I had the opportunity to see her and the band perform at Turin’s Club To Club festival last year. And I can confidently say it was the most spectacular and memorable performance I’ve ever seen. There is this looming subbass which I presume comes from Nala’s modular synth that doesn’t seem to translate on record, however it is the cherry on top of this already, gorgeously complex dreamscape. On stage with Nala is Natcyet Wakili on drums, James Mollinson of Ezra Collective on Sax and Lyle Barton on keys. These are just a few of the incredible musicians who helped put this album together. It is beautiful to see a genre so culturally and historically important as ‘Free Jazz’ pioneered by the likes of Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp and Sun Ra, continue to grow and impact the world the way this album has.

Cross The Tracks 2025, photo by @garryjonesphotography

When in doubt, you can always trust Channel One Soundsystem. The group, made up of Mikey Dread and MC Ramon Judah, MC Macky Banton, and MC Ras Sherby, has been bringing their collection of both old and new roots music since 1979. This pillar of soundsystem culture provides the perfect pitstop for weary travellers.

My standout performance of the day came from Bilal. For those unfamiliar, Bilal emerged in the early two thousands with the Soulquarians, arguably the most influential collective in modern music. Other Soulquarians include D’angelo, Questlove, Erykah Badu and the late, great J Dilla. Since Erykah couldn’t make it to the festival last year, it was great to finally see a member of this remarkable collective. Bilal manages to tread the line between Neo-Soul and rock. He is joined on stage by two bald, guitar-wielding metalheads, whose presence somehow beautifully complements his Prince-esque vocals. Bilal closed his set with one of my all-time favourite songs, “Soul Sista” produced by Raphael Saadiq.

Cross The Tracks Festival 2025 admat

Over at The Caboose stage sponsored by Morley’s, is Bexblu, a young producer and DJ who made his name flipping old grime freestyles. Like if Knxwledge remixed Boy Better Know instead of Meek Mill. Bex is an important player in the Grime resurgence, hosting Cyphers on Peckham’s Balamii Radio with the likes of NamesBliss, Saiming and KiLLOWEN.

Up next, Kai Crewsade, a 21-year-old rapper from Westside Chicago whose music influences are incredibly clear, with lyrics like “her favourite artist Noname, My favourite artist Noname” and “blasting Blkswn in my rocket” not to mention the song “slow dancing to Liv.e”. As somebody who religiously listened to Smino, Saba and Noname during the 2016-18 Chicago jazz rap era, it’s super cool to see an artist so heavily influenced by their sounds. Kai’s music marks a full circle moment for a very underappreciated sound.

This year, Cross The Tracks gave us a “Sophie’s choice” moment, deciding between Michael Kiwanuka or The Free Nationals. Having said that, there was no way I could miss Michael Kiwanuka. I remember hearing Home Again when I was around 8 years old and haven’t stopped listening ever since. His set flirted between classics from Home Again, legendary cuts from KIWANUKA, and some more recent progressive R&B tracks from Small Changes , his latest project produced by Danger Mouse and Inflo. Since his breakout album in 2012, Kiwanuka has continued to push the envelope for British R&B and Soul, making him the perfect headliner for this year’s installment of Cross The Tracks.

Cross The Tracks 2025, photo by @khaliphotography