Song of the Day: Winters Coming – B Live x Harry Shotta

If you were to grab a dictionary and look up the word “diverse” — B LIVE’s catalogue would likely be cited as a reference point. Spawning from the crackling, warped 140 BPM worlds of UK garage, bassline, grime as well as the plasticine, sharp-edged dystopia that is dubstep, drum-n-bass and electronic music; you’d be hard-pressed to find a rhymer more travelled than unsung UK legend, B Live. Continuing the wordsmith’s recent prolific run, B Live is back with his street-level scorcher ‘Winters Coming’.

For the song — produced by Crissy Criss — the North London verbalist taps Kent spitter Harry Shotta, as the pair cobble together an icy, grit-marinated banger purpose-built in a factory next to where they make reload buttons. Throughout, both rhymers pull from the deepest recesses of their psyche to imbue the track with pensive reflection. On the track, both rappers talk greaze, bigging up their accomplishments, whilst casting their minds back to their come up in a cohesive manner — no easy feat.

‘Winters Coming’ follows B Live’s party-ready Jme and Becky Hill collaboration ‘Don’t Know About You’, from December of last year, as well as last month’s wavy, patios-injected Durrty Goodz collab ‘Foundation’.

Raised north of the River Thames, B Live steadily rose through the ranks during the UKG boom in the 2000s, carving his name into mythology. Discovered by DJ EZ, the disc jockey featured B Live on his legendary KISS radio show, exposing his talent to many. During his tenure in the rap universe, B Live has collabed with everyone from rap titans such as Wiley, Jme and Jammer, down to dancehall royalty Elephant Man.

Back in 2019. B Live was featured on Skepta’s single ‘Love Me Not’ alongside Cheb Rabi from his ‘Ignorance is Bliss’ LP. To up the ante, the spitter also received numerous of the coveted UKG Sidewinder awards for the best emcee.

Outside of the booth, B Live spends his time rocking crowds across the nation. Regardless of whether it’s a kaleidoscopic DnB rave, on the television or a festival stage — it’s guaranteed B Live will raise the roof. It’s not all strictly club tracks, though. If B Live was a member of the animal kingdom, he’d likely be a chameleon: regularly changing his exterior to fit his audible environment. ‘Winters Coming’ does exactly what it says on the tin, bringing forth cold flows stitched together by introspection and self-analysis. Check it out below…

 

Dynamic duo DISTANT LIGHT will be dropping  their new reggae-fused track Raggamuffin at the end of the month.

The producers hit the music landscape last year with their official remix of UK R&B singer Angel’s chart-topping track Wonderful. The garage number quickly got the stamp of approval from leading tastemakers, DJ EZ from Kiss 100 and BBC 1Xtra’s DJ Cameo. Their remix of Alpines No Other Lover was snapped up by Clash and further supported by Pitchfork gaining them further kudos in the musicsphere. 

The two wasn’t afraid to work their magic on Ellie Goulding’s Beating Heart, Misha B’s Home Run and top 10 smasher All Cried Out by Blonde. Now these guys are ready to unleash their insanely Garage-fuelled effort with a heavy dose of reggae, thanks to reggae singer Conkarah.

Raggamuffin is out on 28th August.