Category: Songs of the Day

Song of the Day: Bloody Samaritan – Ayra Starr

Africa’s fastest-rising newcomer AYRA STARR‘s blazing and percussive single, ‘Bloody Samaritan’ is anthem of affirmation which is spearheading this new era in Ayra’s career as the lead single from her album ‘19 & Dangerous’ on dropping, out now.

This searing summer anthem bristles with self-confidence as the Gen Z rising star banishes negative energy. She boasts, “I see you watching my stories, I see you gauging my lifestyle, I see you watching my movement, this bad bitch bad every day.”

Since debuting in January, Ayra has amassed over 23 million global streams. Her self-titled debut EP was led by the single ‘Away’ which to date has clocked over 3.8 million views on YouTube. The single was featured on BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Africa 360 playlist and championed by Manny Norte who was first to spin it on UK radio via Capital Xtra. Jessie Reyez, Ray BLK and Love Island’s Yewande Biala are also fans

On the day of the EP’s release, Ayra simultaneously hit No.1 on Apple Music Nigeria’s Song, Album and Video charts. The incredible buzz coming out of Lagos saw her chosen by Apple Music as their Africa Rising artist – an exclusive new talent development programme that previously earmarked Tems and Amaarae.

Why not check out the hype and watch the video for ‘Bloody Smartian below…

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Song of the Day: Let It Pop – Son Of Tony

After dropping his fire visuals for track ‘Energy’ earlier this year, veteran spitter, TONY OF TONY steals the blog’s Song of the Day limelight for the second time (after track ‘Comicon’ ft. Mickey Factz) with another hard-hitting joint, ‘Let It Pop’. Check it out below…

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Song of the Day: The Ugly Song – Jordan Hollywood

Florida rapper, singer, producer, and hitmaking CEO JORDAN HOLLYWOOD‘s single, ‘The Ugly Song,’ is one hell of a speaker-rattling joint. Featuring Timbaland, ‘The Ugly Song’ serves up as the lead single from his upcoming album, ‘Only the Paranoid Survive’.

“It’s crazy how 20 years ago how I enjoyed this song as kid and now it’s part of my legacy. It’s one thing to get a Timbaland beat or to get him to clear a sample but it’s special when the legend himself steps in the booth with you and adds his touches to your vison,” says Jordan Hollywood. “I never in a million years thought I’d get to work with the hitmaker. With the video I told the director ‘I want this shit to feel like an open world video game where I have freedom to randomly do things my way.’ “The Ugly Song” is just the start.”

An homage to Bubba Sparxxx’s Timbaland-produced single “Ugly,” “The Ugly Song” is a banging reinterpretation that flips the early 2000s classic for a new generation. The instrumental deftly chops Timbaland’s Bollywood-influenced melodies and pairs them with quaking drums and trap percussion. Offering both his blessing and his vocals, Timbaland delivers his signature ad-libs (“ficky ficky”), while Hollywood effortlessly glides over the beat.

The video, directed by Austin McCracken and filmed in Los Angeles, makes liberal use of visual effects (and openly nods to that at the end), dropping Hollywood into a wheat field accompanied by a horse who eventually kicks him in the head. The rapper continues to get knocked into or out of various colorful scenarios. Both the video and the song break from expectation, showing that Hollywood is willing to challenge himself, share a laugh, and execute a variety of vibes.

‘The Ugly Song’ is Hollywood’s first release since 2019’s “Testament,” wherein he recounted the hurdles and hurt he’s endured on his rise. Check out the epic video for the single below…

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Song of the Day: No Caroline – ATO

Leeds/London based, British-Ghanaian-Danish artist ATO drops his introspective, candid new single ‘no caroline’ is a heart-rending track, brimming with raw sentiment stemming from past trauma, dysfunctional relationships, and is influenced by ATO’s on-going journey of self-discovery, defining his identity and understanding his heritage. An artist unafraid to wear his heart on his sleeve, ‘no caroline’ was originally written by ATO about a personal situation, quickly developing into a no-holds-barred deep dive into his own emotional shortcomings rooted in his experiences. In his own words, “the tensions of growing up black in a white city with no real understanding of my black history – lost identity, abandonment, and so on – correlated to the struggles of lost love.”

A track of two parts, the first half of ‘no caroline’ see’s ATO singing rather than rapping, making light of a dysfunctional relationship, acknowledging an incapacity to relate to a partner on an emotional level. An impactful, lightening-fast energy surge flips the second half of the track from a hyper-pop influenced, experimental UK rap offering into a drum’n’bass free for all. Rapping over breaks, ATO soundtracks a sudden explosion of emotions, exploring the complex experiences of his past.

Speaking on the single, ATO says,

“no caroline began as a response to failed relationships, trivialising my own experiences of emotional detachment. The first part was written in my sleep (literally in a dream) and recorded the morning after. It was a new sound and I honestly thought it was done. But the production team introduced a second section that dragged me into different parts of my past. I wrote and recorded the entire second verse to what is now the outro before EDEN flipped the most of the section into a drum ‘n’ bass free for all.”

The second single taken from ATO’s highly anticipated forthcoming EP Side A, due for release this Wednesday (25th August) via MCMXCV, ‘no caroline’ follows recent releases including ‘Muscle Twitch’, 2020 single ‘Yours Now’, EP3, and his feature with Vic Mensa on 2019 single ‘falling’. Standing out from the crowd with pensive, poetic charm, earlier releases of ATO’s have seen him garner support from global tastemakers The FADER, Complex, Trench and Crack and

So here’s your chance to check out a truly astonishing artist at work…

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Song of the Day: Hail Mary – HI SIENNA

Manchester based, animated four-piece, HI SIENNA, are leaning toward a unique sound in 2021 with latest single, ‘Hail Mary’, a juxtaposition between an angelic gospel-sounding melody and the raunchy exploration of lust and desire through it’s lyrics (think INXS). It’s an epic combination of twangy guitars, stadium-filling strings and harmonies that gift an uplifting, euphoric sound to the ear.

Formed in 2019, they bounced onto the scene, playing their first show as a headline at Manchester’s Deaf Institute, supported Scouting For Girls at the O2 Ritz and released their debut single, ‘Favourite’ Thing, in November that year. Their following releases have continued to be supported by the likes of Xs Manchester (record of the week), Amazing Radio (record of the week), BBC Introducing and even some famous faces such as Robert Carlyle and the legendary Dave Haslam!

These guys are worth a listen…check out ‘Hail Mary’ below…

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