GENA (Liv.e & Karriem Riggins) Debut Auckland Show Announced

Riding a wave of adulation for their 2026 standout debut album The Pleasure Is Yours, GENA are the synergetic project of veteran Detroit producer / jazz drummer Karriem Riggins and Liv.e aka LA-based multi-hyphenate Hailee Olivia Williams. Launched in February of this year, The Pleasure Is Yours reaped praise from The Needle Drop's Anthony Fantano for its vibrant and future-friendly blend of "lofi hip hop, soul, jazz rap, and some trippy takes on RnB, too... Think what would happen if Erykah Badu had to do an entire project based on a bunch of random J Dilla odds and ends" — notably featuring Aotearoa's Brandon Haru playing keys on selected tracks.

The US super duo have locked in a debut Tāmaki Makaurau headline date at Neck of the Woods on 1st October. We suggest you don't wait around to snag tickets, brought to you by Banished Music, Strange News Touring and Astral People...

GENA (Liv.e and Karriem Riggins)
Thursday 1st October - Neck of the Woods, Auckland
Tickets on sale via banishedmusic.com 

Hit play on 'Lead It Up' from GENA's debut album The Pleasure Is Yours...

Press release:

Banished Music, Strange News Touring, and Astral People are psyched to bring you one of the planet’s newest and truest musical pairings. GENA - the duo of rapper, singer, and songwriter Liv.e and jazz drummer and producer Karriem Riggins, a close collaborator of J Dilla, Madlib, and Common) - are set to make their Tāmaki Makaurau debut on Thursday 1 October at the people’s HQ Neck of the Woods.

After dropping their Lex Records debut The Pleasure Is Yours earlier this year, GENA (short for God Energy, Naturally Amazing) are headed our way to showcase the sum of their incredible parts, dishing up the tastiest "cosmic experimentalism and amorphous funk” (Pitchfork) and the smoothest R&B-rap-jazz-magic we’ve heard since D’Angelo left the building.

With a career that began with working alongside the likes of Earl Sweatshirt and Pink Siifu, Dallas-born Liv.e brings a raw, experimental approach to R&B, her smoky, unpolished vocals gliding through Riggins’ warm, percussive universe. Rooted in jazz, soul, and hip-hop as living language, Detroit native Riggins - known for his work with Common, Erykah Badu, Paul McCartney, The Roots, Madlib, and a close kinship with the late J Dilla - extends his lifelong dialogue between jazz improvisation and beat science. Together they create a world that’s analog and ethereal, percussive and poetic, bridging eras without ever settling in one. The Pleasure Is Yours is the sound of Liv.e and Riggins bringing each other’s music to life and finding a new language together - one rooted in rhythm, vulnerability, and exuberance.

For those who love a local connection, maestro Brandon Haru can be heard laying down some keys on the album, but things are about to get a lot more close to home when GENA descend those Neck of the Woods stairs and show us what they’ve got. Don’t skip this.