Jordan Mackampa on his latest album, 'WELCOME HOME, KID!'

"Know thyself."

Easier said than done, but Jordan Mackampa has locked into that maxim. The London-based musician says his latest album, WELCOME HOME, KID!, is him at his most authentic self. Every turn on the record is like a different facet of Mackampa's life.

"I kind of see this house on the album cover as me walking into myself and all of the different rooms in the house representing different songs on the record," he tells World Cafe during a video call.

Mackampa, who has toured with Rhiannon Giddens, Lewis Watson and X Ambassadors, wanted to go in a different sonic direction after his 2020 debut, Foreigner. He crafted a manifesto, dozens of pages long, laying out the sound and direction he wanted to take on his new album.

In this session, Mackampa talks about finding his authentic voice, making the record, and how being a musician and a (former) professional chef are more similar than you might think.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.