{"id":1802186,"date":"2026-03-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1802186"},"modified":"2026-03-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T21:00:00","slug":"wonderland-66","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1802186","title":{"rendered":"Wonderland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\tSTOPPING OFF ON PLANET GENA<\/span>
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Here\u2019s the truth: singer-songwriter Liv.e and drummer Karriem Riggins are aliens, and their new album, The Pleasure Is Yours<\/em>, <\/em>is their creative constellation. With barrels of funk, soul and analogue grooves, their supergroup coalition GENA is lightning in a bottle. Let\u2019s explore.<\/h3>\n
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Amongst the frenetic Friday evening traffic in London lies a small, focused militia of fans. Bust a left, right, and another left coming out of Piccadilly Circus or Charing Cross station, and you might brush paths with Karriem Riggins and Liv.e fans parked up at The Institute of Contemporary Arts (aka The ICA). January 30th, 2026, marked the duo\u2019s inaugural \u2013 sold out \u2013 show on British shores, giving fans a sizzle reel of their then-forthcoming album, recorded under the moniker GENA, The Pleasure Is Yours<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Low lights, plastic cups filled with red wine and frothy beer, and rows of LEX Records merch adorn the walls of The ICA. Looking more like a Marvel Studios post-credit scene than a gig, it\u2019s a cameo fest of the highest order \u2013 with the likes of Joy Crookes, Common, and COLORS co-signed rap newcomer SALIMATA all eagerly waiting to watch GENA perform.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though GENA debuted to the world with shows, we started working as a unit probably about eight months before,\u201d says Riggins, discussing the origin of the group as Wonderland<\/em> catch up with the duo a few days after their show to get a closer look at the group\u2019s chemistry, creative vision and how the Stateside collective has been quietly shaping their own lane in today\u2019s music landscape.<\/p>\n

Liv.e (born Hailee Olivia Williams) emerged from the mid-2010s SoundCloud and blogging scene as a DJ, rapper (with her group Kryptonyte), and vocalist, eventually having her breakthrough moment in 2020 with her soulful, lo-fi debut, Couldn\u2019t Wait to Tell You<\/em>. Along the way, the 28-year-old snagged co-signs from Erykah Badu, Steve Lacy and Solange, and she\u2019s co-piloted a track or two with the likes of Earl Sweatshirt, MIKE and Kelela.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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In 2023 and 2024, Liv.e delivered the one-two punch of her sophomore album, Girl in the Half Pearl<\/em>, followed by the mini-album Past Futur.e<\/em>, earning widespread critical acclaim. The former features a fusion of dreamy R&B synths, rock-leaning bravado and glitchy electronic cues. Liv.e has quickly established herself as a pioneer of experimental Black music, stating that none of her success surprises her: \u201cI don\u2019t know. I just feel like when you know who you are, none of this is surprising.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got to give the drummer some. Riggins, the elder statesman of the duo, is the textbook definition of a living legend. Across his three-decade-long career, he\u2019s netted a collaborative roster longer than the wait for the next Frank Ocean album. To cherry-pick a few, Riggins\u2019 drumwork has graced the music of Donald Byrd, KAYTRANADA, Paul McCartney, Madlib, Norah Jones, Ray Brown, Roy Hargrove, Esperanza Spalding and Kanye West. To list all of Riggins\u2019 creative works properly, we\u2019d need formal scripture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think Liv.e and I are that different. There\u2019s a lot of overlap with our music taste,\u201d Riggins explains. \u201cI feel like learning different music \u2013 from classical to Afrobeat, to hip hop to Afro-Cuban \u2013 really immersing myself in that, allows me to kind of speak a language that transcends time and space and connect to people throughout the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m crazy. I feel like working remotely in my home is always my thing though, personally, I don\u2019t know about Karriem,\u201d says Liv.e, in reference to her preferred solitary recording process and GENA\u2019s digital sparring match of creativity. \u201cI mean, I\u2019m remote until I\u2019m not. Then, it\u2019s like, oh, let\u2019s get in this motherfuckering studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Studios are incomplete without audio equipment, and GENA\u2019s visual style draws inspiration from the classic aesthetics of stereos, CDs, and vintage hi-fi systems of yesteryear. Early influences such as the iconic \u201880s Maxell \u2018High Fidelity\u2019 cassette tapes, and vintage soul and funk artwork (specifically B.B. & Q. Band\u2019s 1985 LP Genie<\/em>, as well as The S.O.S. Band\u2019s self-titled 1980 debut) helped shape the original cover of The Pleasure Is Yours<\/em>. They also, even more significantly, informed the spirit of its final artwork. Riggins and Liv.e reflect on the enduring significance of physical media in an era dominated by streaming and digital downloads. Riggins remarks, \u201cI think it\u2019s just better to have it in hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liv.e adds, \u201cPeople are absolutely in need of physical music now. You never know when you wanna play music in your car, or if your Bluetooth doesn\u2019t work \u2013 then you\u2019ve got the CD. The same goes for vinyl.\u201d Beyond utility, there\u2019s a sentimental weight to tangible formats: \u201cIt\u2019s worth something. People hold on to things for that, but they flip a lot too,\u201d she laughs. Riggins adds, \u201cAnd honestly, it sounds better \u2013 investing in needles now, it beats MP3s and WAVs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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So far, Liv.e and Riggins have enjoyed their stay in showery London. For Riggins, it\u2019s all been about record stores and the analogue music scene. He enjoys perusing places like Rough Trade and Peckham\u2019s hi-fi bar, Jumbi, for 12\u201d records and inspiration in his downtime. For Liv.e, however, the fashion and the food is where it\u2019s at. Sort of.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver here, you guys really get fits off. It can be like that in New York, but y\u2019all can dress, dress over here. The Asian diaspora and Indian food over here is really great \u2013 even if it needs more salt.\u201d Fortunately, Liv.e\u2019s stint as an impromptu British food critic is only temporary \u2013 the Bake Off<\/em> crew and their Viennese whirls are safe for now.<\/p>\n

Within the kaleidoscopic swirl of GENA\u2019s funk-soaked \u201cDouwannabwitastar!?\u201d video, a spiral staircase comes into view. It\u2019s visually striking at first glance. Still, eye candy aside, the optical motif feels like a fitting metaphor for GENA\u2019s sound \u2013 forever curling and contorting around melodic boundaries. \u200aLiv.e, though, shrugs off any grand sense of strategy when it comes to picking standouts. \u201cYeah, the singles \u2018Circlesz\u2019, \u2018Lead It Up\u2019 and \u2018HOWWEFLOW\u2019 were just some of our favourites,\u201d she exposits, before reframing the idea of intentionality altogether: \u201cAnd on top of that, I feel like every song on this damn album is a single.\u201d Liv.e says with a wry smile, matter-of-factly adding, \u201cTell the label we need ten more singles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aforementioned \u201cDouwannabwitastar!?\u201d features a hazy, off-kilter hip-hop sound that loosely traces its lineage back to Riggins\u2019 dearly departed friend J Dilla. The Detroit drummer reflected on his work with Dilla on the then-unreleased 2003 album Pay Jay<\/em> (later titled and released under the title, The Diary<\/em>), stating, \u201cIt was surreal to produce for one of my favourite artists. Dilla came over with a notebook, and while I played beats, he jotted down notes and chose one called \u2018Drive Me Wild\u2019. I love that song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, GENA stretches further outward. \u201cTGD\u201d nods to silvery Detroit electro \u00e0 la Cybotron, with pulsating synths and popping candy-style snaps, while \u201cThatsmyluvr\u201d softens the edges into a strain of glitchy, future-facing soul. As Liv.e puts it, almost with a shrug: \u201cThere\u2019s nothing you can compare us to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Despite Riggins wielding the drums and Liv.e being primarily recognised as a singer-songwriter, they see themselves as two sides of the same coin. In their own words, you can sort of imagine them through the lens of 2000s sketch comedy. \u201cWe\u2019re like Rick James and Charlie Murphy,\u201d utters Liv.e, in reference to the infamous Chappelle\u2019s Show<\/em> skit<\/a>, highlighting their many similarities.<\/p>\n

On The Pleasure Is Yours<\/em>, it\u2019s not solely a producer-artist volley, Karriem gets busy on the mic too, just ask Liv.e. \u201cI was just messing around at the crib,\u201d Riggins recalls, remembering the sessions crafting the album\u2019s intro track, \u201cWho\u2019s Got a Problem With GENA\u201d. \u201cI was trying out this vocal mic and just singing in the loop.\u201d When I sent it to Liv.e, she immediately jumped in with her verse after my vocals. \u201cI thought, \u2018Oh word. You really like this?\u2019\u201d Riggins recalls. As Liv.e observes the recording of the album intro, she playfully remarks, \u201cThis man right here is singing this shit,\u201d with Riggins adding, \u201cLiv.e inspired me to sing. It\u2019s been really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

As our chat winds down, Liv.e and Riggins find themselves conversationally adrift from the music. Naturally, we end up on the subject of movies and television. \u201cIf the album was some kind of visual show or movie, I definitely see it as some kind of Mexican telenovela \u2013 they\u2019re super dramatic,\u201d says Liv.e. \u201cWe\u2019re also kinda like Vanessa Williams and Samuel L. Jackson in [the 2000 movie] Shaft<\/em>, too. Scratch that, maybe Denzel [Washington] from Training Day <\/em>with Vanessa Williams. Super odd, but in a good way \u2013 that\u2019s us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to The Pleasure Is Yours\u2026<\/p>\n

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Words \u2013 Niall Smith<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Feature Interview<\/a><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tRed Carpet Ready: Inside The Dorchester Spa\u2019s A-List Wellness Residencies<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wonderland STOPPING OFF ON PLANET GENA Here\u2019s the truth: singer-songwriter Liv.e and drummer Karriem Riggins are aliens, and their new album, The Pleasure Is Yours, is their creative constellation. With barrels of funk, soul and analogue grooves, their supergroup coalition GENA is lightning in a bottle. Let\u2019s explore. Amongst the frenetic Friday evening traffic in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,257],"class_list":["post-1802186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-wonderlandmagazine-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1802186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802186\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1802186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1802186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1802186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}