UK R&B is killing ours right now. Here’s a new one from Sinead Harnett, who you may have heard on Disclosure’s album, produced by Snakehips, who are murking everything they touch right now. Fire.
Souled Out drops Tuesday and I’m really interested to see how it performs. I’d love to see an artist like Jhene breakthrough on the mainstream level and with the success of “The Worst,” a lot of folks are checking for her right now. This album will likely determine if she can get up to that star level, but either way, the music continues to be dope…and that’s the most important thing.
I mentioned this on Twitter when Mac Miller’s last mixtape, Faces, dropped, but I’m kinda worried for dude. He’s really talented (people sleep on the production skills too), but he seems to be in a pretty dark place. You can’t go more than a few bars on the tape without hearing a drug reference and while he’s always been on that vibe, it seems excessive…and dangerous…lately.
That said, the music is still quality, as evidenced by “Diablo.” Truthfully, I’m all in on any beat that samples “In A Sentimental Mood,” but Mac’s rhymes are on point here too. This one line seems to sum up what may have brought Mac to this dark place though: “the industry a lie, all the promises were hollow.”
When you start going through the list of producers that also rhyme on the mic, you’ll actually come up with more names than you might expect. That said, our homey Black Milk is definitely right there near the top of the list. Milk’s been dropping great music for years now and we always enjoy catching up with one of our favorites when he comes through town.
On this appearance on Sound Session, he spoke specifically on his peers that both rap and produce, and the advantages that handling everything yourself affords you as a MC. He’ll continue to take matters into his own hands by releasing If There’s A Hell Below on his own Computer Ugly label later in the year, and Milk talked in depth about the project, including revealing his guests. Other topics included the state of mainstream rap production over the years, the temptation of compromising his sound and how he stays true, his desire to work with Earl Sweatshirt, and more.
Shout to Black Milk, Rosalinda, and the First Ladies. What up doe!
Think a female version of The Weeknd, minus the drugs and with a stronger voice. No idea how she became involved with Tyga’s label (seems random), but I really like what I’ve heard from Esty so far. Be sure to cop her EP here if you haven’t already.
British dance music or alt-R&B is probably the most enjoyable stuff coming out these days. MNEK is killing just about everything he touches.
Very 80’s…from the visuals to the Prince-esque sounds. The UK wins again.
Majid Jordan, the duo best known for their work on Drake’s “Hold On We’re Going Home,” are prepping their new EP and “A Place Like This” acts as the lead single and title track for the project. As an added bonus, we get visuals at the same [damn] time the song is released, which almost always works as a smart marketing move (you never get a 2nd chance at a 1st impression). It plays well here (that drop and laser effect at 2:53 is doooooope), and the visuals provide an interesting contrast to the images/messages that we’ve seen from another Toronto alt-R&B artist affiliated with Drake. As much as people would like to think of that party scene as being all fun and games, it can quickly drag you under if you aren’t careful.
“It’s hard to teach a child when it gets like this //
What they offering you in a place like this //
What they promising you when it gets like this?”
If you’re late to the Majid Jordan bandwagon, be sure you track down their Afterhours EP they released before signing to Drizzy’s OVO Sound label. Some of my favorite music of the past few years and the new project will surely pick up where that left off. It drops July 22nd.
Big shout to Lupe for calling in on last week’s episode of SNSS. We chopped it up about his role as Musical Director on the US Men’s National Soccer team, working on music with Clint Dempsey, and his new “Next To It” single. FNF UP!
Along with Kendrick Lamar, we sat down with another one of our favorite artists at KUBE’s Summer Jam last week, the one and only Big K.R.I.T.. We’ve had Young Krizzle on the show a few times before and he never disappoints.
This time, he spoke about his upcoming Cadillactica album, the criticism he received for Live From The Underground, and the differences in his creative process between mixtapes and albums. K.R.I.T. also revealed he’ll be working with other producers on Cadillactica and gave us some insight on the tips they shared with him in the studio. Among other topics, he ended by discussing the motivation behind his “Mt. Olympus” track, the South’s ongoing battle for lyrical respect, and the feeling of when fans connect with his music and support it on a deeper level.
Shout to K.R.I.T. and Dutch for the love, as always, and the First Ladies for filming/editing!