Kiddus I and French musician Camille Bazbaz have turned years of studio sessions and friendship into The Salmon, an album shaped by reggae, soul, blues and pop. The record gives Kiddus’ voice and reflective writing room to move beyond familiar roots settings.
The Salmon arrives as the long-delayed result of a musical friendship that began in the early 2000s. Kiddus I and Camille Bazbaz spent years trading ideas, returning to songs and recording whenever their paths crossed, without treating the project like a conventional album campaign. What eventually emerged is a loose, genre-crossing set built around Kiddus’ unmistakable voice and Bazbaz’s broad instrumental instincts. Its slow arrival is part of the story: this is music shaped by repeated meetings, trust and the freedom to follow a feeling instead of forcing a finished product.
Bazbaz, a French musician known for working across styles and for collaborations with Jamaican artists including Winston McAnuff, first connected with Kiddus through McAnuff’s influence. The two found a natural musical understanding quickly. Bazbaz was drawn to the depth and grain in Kiddus’ singing, while Kiddus responded to Bazbaz’s willingness to move between sounds rather than stay inside one category. Their early exchanges developed into informal studio sessions, with the album taking shape gradually in Paris and during Kiddus’ visits to France.
The working method was deliberately unstructured. Kiddus has described the sessions as moments when the pair could simply meet, play and see what came from the room. That atmosphere matters on The Salmon, where the songs do not feel over-managed or built to satisfy a fixed genre brief. The record carries reggae’s pulse, but it also makes space for soul phrasing, blues color and pop-minded melody. The result is less a departure from Kiddus’ roots than an expansion of the emotional and musical space around him.
Kiddus’ writing remains philosophical and suggestive, with lines that leave room for interpretation rather than spelling out a single message. Bazbaz’s arrangements place those words against a warmer, more contemporary backdrop, including soulful textures and blues-leaning guitar work. For an artist widely associated with reggae and the Inna De Yard circle, the setting reveals another side of his range without sanding away the rawness that has marked his work since the 1970s. The contrast between the direct vocal delivery and the fluid backing gives the album its character.
The title’s salmon image fits a project that has taken years to reach the surface. Kiddus has likened the finished record to a child finally seeing the light after a long period of care, a description that captures both its delay and its personal weight. The Salmon is not presented as the product of a rushed schedule or a calculated crossover move. It is the audible record of two musicians returning to a shared space, keeping the friendship intact and allowing the songs to grow at their own pace.
1 Yard chat
CultureVibeChief
Two legends, one soulful journey—music that transcend time and borders.
