Tag: Co-vid pandemic

Listen To Young RJ’s Latest Album, ‘World Tour’

As the rightful heir to the positions of J Dilla and Baatin in one of Detroit’s most important Hip-Hop groups Slum Village, rapper/producer YOUNG RJ releases his third full-length solo album ‘World Tour’

While the vast majority of the project’s 11 songs may have been born from complete social isolation and civil unrest between 2020 and 2021, the project’s overall tone is hopeful. That tone is inherent in the album’s title. “I missed being out there with the fans performing”, RJ explains. “It felt right to title [the album ‘World Tour’]”. With songs like ‘Black Is Beautiful’, ‘Freedom’, and ‘Sign Of The Times’, the album captures a common sentiment in the wake of racial injustice; while the upbeat title track opens the album with an optimistic outlook towards the future, and ‘Last Breath’ highlights the sheer will power of an artist to rise above adversity. The contrast reflects RJ’s emotional and mental state through personal dealings at a point in time, and how it all affected his view of the world around him.

Available on all digital streaming platforms via Ne’Astra Music, World Tour features Pete Rock, Boldy James, Blu, Eric Roberson, Mega Ran, Abstract Orchestra, among others, and arrives on the heels of Slum Village’s sold out, 17 date European tour.

Must Listen: World Tour, Black Is Beautiful, Last Breath

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Hector Who Lived Releases Debut Single ‘Monkey’

Bristol-based indie-pop / electronica artist HECTOR WHO LIVED‘s debut single, ‘Monkey’, was written when the first lockdown hit as an acknowledgement of one’s headspace being the first step towards self-help.

With sharp DIY production and earnestly self-aware lyrics, it’s a raw communication of mental struggles throughout lockdown and slipping into bad habits. Noise samples from a gameboy are sprinkled throughout to add texture to the track. ‘Monkey’ widens as it drops into the chorus where it sits atop a pulsing, funk-infused electronic bass. It reaches its pinnacle as it enters the final chorus; the vocals becoming stronger and more confident as they represent the willpower to get through bad mental states.

Hector has an array of musical achievements under his belt since his move to Bristol in 2017, having played venues such as The O2 Academy Oxford, The Bullingdon, Jericho Tavern and Truck Festival with his band ‘The Outside’. With his current band Try Me, Hector has a variety of festivals coming up this year including Dot To Dot. Hector has also featured on a charity album ‘Poland Has A Task’, alongside Lynks, Jessica Winter, Brodka and more; raising awareness for Women’s and Queer rights in Poland.

‘Monkey’ is now out on various digital music platforms. Why not have a peep at the accompanied 70s-inspired video below…

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Song of the Day: Roll Up – Mickey Factz x Blu x Nottz

West Coast indie Hip-Hop juggernaut BLU, Bronx rapper MICKEY FACTZ, and Grammy-nominated producer NOTTZ (of 9th Wonder’s Soul Council) have joined forces for EP, ‘The Narrative’, out now via SCHMTCS/Soulspazm.

‘Roll Up’, forms part of the six-track set, which finds Blu and Mickey trading bars about some of the turmoil the world has experienced in the past year and a half– not the least of which is the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to claim the lives of loved ones –over a haunting sonic backdrop laced by Nottz.

‘Roll Up’ is The Narrative EP’s third leak, following the singles ‘Stay Down’ and ‘Reign’. Check it out below…

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