Children Of Zeus

Children Of Zeus are very much a part of Manchester’s rap scene, while also being something wholly unique. Where grime remains a dominant force among most of their contemporaries, the duo consisting of Konny Kon and Tyler Daley instead turned to the influence of soul to create a sound unlike anything else in the city. The result is a sleek, laidback beast that hauls soul, gospel and r&b into the present, underpinning it with a smooth groove and laying Daley’s heavenly vocals on thick over the top.

The road to Children Of Zeus wasn’t always smooth. Kon and Daley had each paid their dues in separate projects over two decades, Kon in The Microdisiacs and Broke’n’£nglish, Daley in Body Roc and as vocalist for Goldie, Lisa Maffia, Bugzy Malone and Caron Wheeler (Soul II Soul). The two met after separate shows in Paris in 2005 and soon teamed up for their debut track Coming Home To You.

After accumulating over a decade of tracks, they released a compilation album The Story So Far… in 2017. Their debut album proper Travel Light followed in 2018 to critical acclaim. A long period of touring and festival appearances followed but once Covid-19 put a stop to that, Kon and Daley hunkered down to create their second album.

Balance arrived in June 2021, again to a rapturous reception, revealing just how far the duo had come over the course of a year devoted to their craft.