Hey guys, hope you had a fantastic festive period! It’s that time of the year where NEW LEASE MUSIC rounds up the list for the top ten music videos of 2020.
So sit back, relax and check out the creative productions that’ll perk up your Monday blues…
Illustrator and experimental hip hop artist ASH SHAKUR‘s blissfully witty jam, ‘Anna’s Arcade’, takes you on a nostalgic trip down memory lane, via the arcade to play everyone’s favorite video games. Sonically, 8-bit game inspired sounds are woven into a boom bap beat produced by Masked Man, whilst Ash delivers playful bars based around his youth, unrequited love and his video games obsession. Listen out for lots of gamer references, as Ash uses video games as a metaphor for life’s obstacles, as he explains:
“The first verse explains a small part of the music game and how you have to watch out for those bowers! I wanted to draw parallels of life’s challenges to the levels on a video game”. The last verse highlights the theme of, how people play games ie: she’s playing hard to get – or he’s a player. I want Anna’s Arcade to be the place you think about having the most fun. Every time you listen, I want to bring you back to this feeling.”
The south Londoner is known for his leftfield take on hip hop, mixing witty storytelling with smooth melodies and catchy choruses his unorthodox style and flow has won fans across the globe. ‘Anna’s Arcade’ follows previous single Horror Flick’ which was supported by Adidas on Spotify and Indie Shuffle, whilst other tracks. ‘Lead The Way’ (released on Kitsuné Hot Stream), ‘Never Alone’, ‘Nokia’ and ‘Shine’ have courted wide spread media support from BBC 1Xtra, Noisey, Complex UK and Notion.
Ash is also the co-founder of Art Life Central, a collective that expresses creativity and freedom through music and fashion. He aims to inspire people through his vibrant visuals and incorporates this art direction across all of his musical content.
Check out Ash’s vibrant track below…may I take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.
South London artist and producer AINA MORE could easily be described as one of UK rap’s best kept secrets, or perhaps one of the UK’s best new and emerging rap artists.
Having already been championed by tastemakers such as BBC Radio 1, The FADER, MTV and BBC 1Xtra, among others, and with The BRIT Awards featuring her on their BRITs compilation album a few years ago, the British Nigerian native should firmly be on your radar. On the off chance that she isn’t, Aina More is back in the frame to make sure of it!
She closes out 2020 with a fiery new track titled ‘Destiny’ and an equally fierce music video to go with it. Co-produced by Aina More herself and long-time collaborator Musiek Mambu, the track opens with an attention-grabbing sample of the Seun Kuti afrobeat classic ‘Bad Man Lighter’, before Aina More gets in her bag for two minutes straight, as she waxes lyrical in braggadocios fashion, about everything from her superior rap skills to decrying false prophets to the excellence of black women, while giving listeners an update on what she’s been up to this year.
Speaking about the inspiration behind ‘Destiny’, Aina More says, “With what I’ve been creating lately, there’s so much that I’m going to give of myself musically in the coming year, I have this unquenchable hunger to express myself freely, and ‘Destiny’ is the first part of that. Lyrically, I needed to remind everyone of just who Aina More is, and overall, I feel it represents my identity well, even down to the Oye 2.0-directed visuals – I’m very authentically Yoruba, but I’m also that girl that grew up in London, and sometimes I let my ego just do its own thing”.
With a fusion sound that can be described as a cross between Kendrick Lamar, Skepta and Fela Kuti, and a performance prowess that has seen her touring with Professor Green and opening for her idol Lauryn Hill, Aina More is typified by her unapologetic lyricism and cutting edge sonics, as highlighted as far back as her 2016 EP ‘For People With Short Attention Spans’ as well as subsequent tracks like ‘Girls Killing It’, ‘Afrikan Lady’ and ‘Healer’ that led to rave reviews and support from the likes of BBC Radio 1, The FADER, MTV and The BRIT Awards.
Calgary rapper Lyrique has unveiled the video for his track, ‘Hunger,’ coming off his recently released debut full-length album, P.I.M.P. (Poetry Is My Pleasure). With wielding flashy future beats and a ravenous flow, the track’s message is simple: stay hungry.
Against a backdrop of contemporary landmarks and freshly painted murals (see: Jae Sterling’s homage to Black Albertans and an abstract work by artists Wilmer Aburto, Rosa Sana, Colin Menzies, and Harvey Nichol, who also appears in the video alongside Lyrique), the video is as much a love letter to the rapper’s vision of Calgary as it is a display of solidarity to other tenacious young artists striving for greatness.
Check out the video to Lyrique’s track ‘Hunger’ below…
Upcoming singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, JUDE THE OBSCURE returns to offer out his latest dreamy jazz-fusion single, ‘Moments’.
The release follows on from previous hits, the smooth neo jazz-rap sounds of ‘Chapter 8’ and the pared back, guitar-led number, ‘Waiting’, both unveiled earlier this year to a welcomed response. The 24-year-old has also had an incredible impact at streaming platforms so far, with spots on New Music Friday UK, Jazz UK and Fresh Finds at Spotify and On The Corner and Jazz Scene: UK at Apple, as well as support on Deezer and Amazon.
Speaking of his latest release the South Mancunian says: “‘Moments’ is about hard work; about overcoming the hurdles that life throws at you; about coming out on top in light of the hardships we face in our day to day lives. It’s an anthem of resilience and perseverance – surviving your early twenties with ambition, aspiration and sanity intact is no easy feat. One way or another, we all find ways to cope with what’s going on around us, now more than ever.”
Upcoming singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, JUDE THE OBSCURE returns to offer out his latest dreamy jazz-fusion single, ‘Moments’.
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