Sortilege

Description

Sortilège is the new album by New York producer and DJ Preservation and emerging rapper Gabe “Nandez”. Their first musical encounter was on billy woods’ 2022 project Aethiopes, on which Nandez shared a track with Boldy James. Their collaboration took shape around the track “Sauvage” before flourishing in February 2024 during a joint working session in New Orleans. The album bears the mark of their respective Francophone heritage — Preservation is half-French, Nandez is of Malian origin — a connection that is reflected in both the aesthetic and the sample sources. Sortilège blurs the lines between urban and sophisticated, between imagination and raw reality, giving rise to a singular work that is both esoteric and direct. Across 14 tracks, the album features heavyweight guests such as Armand Hammer, Koncept JackSon, Ze Nkoma Mpaga Ni Ngoko, and billy woods. Percussion dominates, at times shattering or menacing, while Nandez’s deep voice forms a continuous force. Built like a symphony of breakbeats, Preservation's production allows each instrument to breathe, lending the whole a power suited for massive speakers as well as well-worn headphones.