Song of the Day: Miles Away – Kasket Club x Soul Gem

After a four-year hiatus, Norwegian duo KASKET CLUB have teamed up with SOUL GEM to release their take on indie disco, ‘Miles via Uppwind Records.

Described as the spearheads of the Chillwave genre, Kasket Club have been featured by the likes of Majestic Casual, Aviencloud, FunkyPanda, alexrainbirdMusic, HillyDilly, FrenchShuffle, This Is My Jam and reached #1 on Hype Machine several times. As a result, they have amassed over 11 million plays across streaming platforms and airplay around the globe. New York-based Soul Gem has previously teamed up with Norwegian rapper and producer Pasha (compared to Pharrell Williams) touring the globe and culminating millions of plays across music platforms.

Check out ‘Miles Away’ below…

Song of the Day: Hot In Herre – Lion Babe

New York based duo LION BABE (comprised of singer / songwriter Jillian Hervey and producer Lucas Goodman) drop their latest release, ‘Hot In Herre’, onto today’s spotlight.

Premiered on Rebecca Judd’s Brand New Beats One show, the single is a house/funk take on Nelly’s hip-hop hit.

Their recent album Cosmic Wind, released in 2019, offered stand out singles ‘Western World which pulled inspiration from the Pet Shop Boys timeless song ‘West End Girls’ and featured hip-hop legend Raekwon, and the disco-infused bop ‘The Wave’ featuring Leikeli47, which was used by the American Heart Association for their 2019 ‘Kids Heart Challenge’ campaign, a nationwide physical education initiative aimed to get kids in participating schools dancing as a means of heart-healthy exercise and raise funds for the organization’s life-saving mission. The 15-track ‘Cosmic Wind’ album is an introspective turn, highlighting the duo’s growth socially, physically, lyrically; musically.

‘Cosmic Wind’ followed Lion Babe’s 2016 critically acclaimed debut album, ‘Begin’ and comes on the heels of a very strong 2018 for the band, earmarked by live performances at Coachella’s main stage, and AFROPUNK festival. They ended the year with two reimagined covers for Carly Simon’s classic ‘Why’ and Little Beaver’s ‘Get Into The Party Life’.

Since 2014, the duo have garnered an impressive music catalogue throughout the years, and have collaborated with some music favorites such as rapper/actor Childish Gambino, and house music’s sibling duo, Disclosure, who featured the New York natives on their smash single ‘Hourglass’,  which peaked at #80 on the UK Singles Chart and was performed at huge stages across the world.

In 2018, HBO’s Original Series, Insecure, ‘Obsessed Like’ recruited Lion Babe for their singles ‘Hits the Ceiling’, and ‘Just Me’, which were broadcasted for Seasons 1 and 3. Making festival appearances over the recent years at Coachella, AFROPUNK, Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Smokin’ Grooves Fest, Amsterdam’s Milkshake Festival and most recently at Australia’s Wildlands, Beyond The Valley and Original Fields festivals, Lion Babe are set to perform at Lightning In A Bottle in Bakersfield, CA on May 23rd, with more 2020 live dates to be announced soon.

Check out their take on Nelly’s hit below…

BBC Future Sounds Artist HYPHEN Brand New Single ‘Stand Back’ Addresses Overcoming Depression

Following a brilliant year playing BBC Introducing Live, Reading & Leeds Festivals; as well as multiple shows for Sofar Sounds, London based, alternative hip-hop artist, ​HYPHEN returns track ‘Stand Back’.

Using his music as a platform to maintain a conversation on mental health, Aadarsh Gautam, Aka. Hyphen,​ frequently finds solace in songwriting and is not afraid to address and share his personal aperture. To spread a positive impact, he has single handedly raided over £6.5k for New Horizons a charity that works to alleviate homelessness in London. He also performed for Sanctus, a mental health charity, to raise awareness for depression in young men – given how close an issue it is to his heart.

Speaking on the track, Hyphen explains: “I’ve talked a lot about mental health in my music, and that always tends to focus on the bad parts (being depressed, anxious etc.) but I wanted to do something which is about feeling good about yourself, looking in the mirror and feeling like you’re doing alright. The world is terrible place in so many ways – I love how some songs can put you in a good mood regardless of that. I wanted to try make song that had that impact.”

In just six months he has gathered quite the collection of accolades. His single ‘We’re OK’, written during a dark time in Hyphen’s life when he was struggling with his mental health, was picked up by London Evening Standard and received national radio play on BBC Asian Network who tipped Hyphen as ‘The Future of British Asian Hip-Hop’. Hyphen also appeared on Metro’s Mental Health podcast Mentally Yours, to share his battle with mental health and how music helped shape his future.

Follow up singles, ‘​Ice Cold’ and ‘Feels Right’, also ​saw national radio play from BBC 6 Music, with legendary radio presenter To​ny Robinson saying, ‘You’ve got a great career ahead of you’. Further afield, all three tracks have gained momentum at ​BBC Introducing​, which led to ​Hyphen ​playing the ​BBC Introducing stage at Reading and Leeds Festivals​, and ​BBC Introducing Live.

It’s time for you guys to ‘Stand Back’ and listen to the single…

EP Review: Naija-Ghana Tape Vol. 1 – DJ Boat x Kobi Jonz

‘Naija-Ghana Tape Vol.1’ is the birth of the burgeoning relationship between two forerunners of African Music – Ghanaian native DJ BOAT and Nigeria-born singer KOBI JONZ.

Starting out his career in New York, Houston-based DJ Boat – who has clocked up over 20 million streams through his mixtapes – has previously collaborated with Kobi Jonz for his breakthrough single ‘Conscious’, which received heavy support from the likes of MTV Base, Spotify and Dezzer.

Now these hot properties are making new waves, coming in the form of four tracks which roars with such vibrancy and carries flawless fusions of both worlds – Ghana and Nigeria.

‘Naija-Ghana Tape Vol.1’ will undoubtedly keep up the vibes in the cold months, right through to those blazing hot days…check it out below…

Must Listen: Call Melanin 

Song of the Day: Hop Out – Kidnextdoor (ft. Skip Johnson)

Starting hitting the scene again, since his last track ‘Crash’, which generated over 90k views on SoundCloud, Philadelphia’s KIDNEXTDOOR gets right back into action and slams down a monster banger entitled ‘Hop Out’, produced and mastered by the man himself.

The track features San Diego’s rapper Skip Johnson hitting those bars in the infectious wavy trapsoul number.

I’m telling you again – this one’s a MONSTER track! Better check it out below before you head out…