So recently I’ve been super busy and just haven’t had the energy/inspiration to want to write something. But that changed this week, came across some new music that I just have to share!!
I put together a little playlist below with 7 new(ish) tracks from a mixture of UK and US artists.
First up we have Forest Gate based rapper Barney featuring the one and only Tom Misch on production and hook duties. “Stay Close” is another another smooth stepper from these members of the “are we live” podcast crew. I’m seriously becoming big fans of these guys, everything they put out has a real vibe to it. I can imagine them having a bumping party in the studio when creating their music. Barneys “Painting Sounds” album is slated to drop next Friday and is definitely worth a pre order. He’s got a few other tracks worth checking out on his soundcloud. I expect to see/hear big things from this guy, it’s refreshing to see rappers that can have a bit of fun and not just conform to the norm.
Secondly the return of Musiq Soulchild no longer “the husel” making that terrible attempt at turn up music. Here we have him returning to his roots with a bass driven jam “Heart Away”, this isn’t necessarily the best we’ll hear from him but definitely a step in the right direction. It could easily slot into any of his old albums, this could be seen as a good or bad thing. More often than not fans bemoan artists for evolving their style out of what we like, where in this case we have him trying to return his normal style. His new album was just released through independent label E1 music and no doubt I’ll be covering that soon.
Next up we have LA based Stones Throw artist MED with Caddy Music. Produced by Bombay who seems to the lo fi soul production king right now and featuring two of the dopest emcee’s around in my opinion Blu and Elzhi you can’t go wrong. This track flips through 4 different samples and styles letting each emcee ride out. This is from MED’s “Bang Ya Head 4” EP, expect more of the same on there.
Now we have one of my favourite newer rappers Action Bronson. You’re unlikely to find a bigger and more entertaining character in rap. Currently touring off the back of a successful major label debut “Mr Wonderful”. He’s also doing his own food show called “Fuck thats delicious” going around the world and sampling foods from all over the place. “Mr 2 Face” is the result of a recent trip to Jamaica and seems to be the lead song off of his new “Blue Chips 7000” mixtape. Featuring Mayhem Lauren and Jah Tiger this reggae tinged record is entertaining as usual and I’m sure we can expect more out of the box stuff from Bronsolino.
The next song is “Amari’s Call” by Montreal based Producer Dr Mad one half of duo Voyage Funktastique. As soon as the intro starts you can tell it’s gonna be a banger with the filtered down sample. This is a very minimal song but it just works, you don’t always need tons of sounds or samples all over the place. We have a female vocalist throughout the bulk of the song with a rap verse from presumably Dr Mad himself?. This was a nice surprise that popped in my soundcloud feed recently and I thought same of you may enjoy it. It’s definitely an acquired sound but its right up my street.
Almost lastly we have Hackney based rapper SNE with “Tiana Major”. A soulful sample based track this song is his ode to singer Tiana Major. This is something different to what I’ve heard from him so far and I’m feeling it. There’s a smooth vocalist on the chorus and it all just comes together so well, I’m definitely interested to see what else comes out from this guy.
Lastly we have Queen of The Vanguard (D’angelo’s band) Kendra Foster with a sultry jam “Promise To Stay Here”. If you didn’t know Kendra actually has a ton of co-writing credits on D’angelo’s Black Messiah album and now seems to be working on some solo projects on the side. You may have seen/heard her on tour but I would definitely keep an eye out for her if I were you. Surrounded by amazing musicians and producers, I’m sure Kendra Foster will be putting out some quality music over the next year.
That’s a wrap from me for now. I’ve still come across a lot more music to share and will be posting a lot more regular. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading/listening.
Peace!
Ramblings of a music fan
Ramblings of a music fan 