Hailing from Texas 19-year-old R&B artist GRACE SORENSEN comes through onto today’s top spot with an incredibly strong offering titled, ‘PRETTY BOY’. Immediately infectious after the first listen, the single oozes a soothing downtempo production by BLK ODYSSY, perfectly coupled with Grace’s silky smooth vocals, infectious melodies and striking lyricism.
Speaking on the release, Grace says, “‘PRETTY BOY’ was written out of disappointment of my taste in men and giving too many chances to the same type of boys and expecting different treatment.”
Grace only made her arrival on the music scene in 2020 but it’s been an upward trajectory ever since with a string of high-quality R&B releases that have made it clear that she is a star with a huge future ahead. Lifted from the rising artist’s debut EP, WHAT I NEVER TOLD YOU, which is out now, ‘PRETTY BOY’ is another stellar entry into her growing discography and arrives alongside equally impressive visuals directed by Daniel Castillo. Check it out below…
Upon announcing the album Don’t Trip which is slated for release via Forward Music Group and Black Buffalo Records on 22th July, Halifax, Nova Scotia-based artist, Lance Sampson – aka AQUAKULTRE – unveils his new single also titled, ‘Don’t Trip.’
The CBC Searchlight award-winning rapper and neo-soul writer, who has previously scooped Polaris Prize nominations, is joined by over 20 guests from locations spanning the globe. This roll call includes New Jersey hip-hop hero Ransom, South African R&B singer Amarafleur, Toronto-based R&B and pop artist, Tafari Anthony, and Halifax’s Zamani Miller, daughter of Delvina Bernard from legendary a capella group Four The Moment.
Despite its massive guest list, Don’t Trip is a deeply personal project. Sampson began working on the full-length follow-up to his breakout album, Legacy, in March 2020 while the pandemic lockdown forced him to remain inside with his family. The album was originally conceptualized as a five-song EP based on the first three weeks of a budding relationship with his partner, Julia when they barely left her bedroom. Eating ice cream and pizza, drinking wine, and listening to Lauryn Hill records was the start of a passionate love affair.
“I called the album Don’t Trip because when Julia and I first met we were both in a place of being tired of looking for someone,” Sampson explains. “Both of us were getting out of exhausting relationships where we had done everything in our power to make them work. Once we met each other, it was like closing that chapter of looking for the right person.”
This first single started out with listening to Snow’s “Be Like You” over and over and over, it inspired Sampson to want to make something that good and that ambitious. “Once I actually started to sit down to compose the beat,” he explains, “I found myself picking up a little keyboard Rich Aucoin donated to a studio we were raising money for. After a couple of hours, the beat was made, and it wasn’t too long after that the lyrics just started flowing. Jools [Julia] kept on telling me that it was the “jam” and I didn’t really believe it at first until I started showing the progress to other people, and they always pointed this one out, out of the bunch. “Don’t Trip” is just about reassuring each other in a relationship that this is for real, this is long term, and no matter what, we got enough trust in one another where we don’t have to worry about anything.“
In the process of reaching out to musicians he admired, Don’t Trip expanded into the most ambitious project of Aquakultre’s career. “I’m For Real” finds him trading bars with Ransom against a g-funk backdrop, with cuts by local legend DJ Uncle Fester. “Getting Close” shows off Sampson’s rapping skills with a little help from Black Buffalo’s Sargeant X Comrade. “It’s All Good”, featuring Lakita Wiggins and Trobiz, was inspired by Musiq Soulchild’s classic album Aijuswanaseing. Don’t Trip wraps up like a brown paper bag in Sampson’s closing collaboration with New Jack Swing duo DJ Chidow and Vadell Gabriel, bringing those house party vibes back in full effect.
Check out the official video for Aquakultre’s single below…
R &B/hip-hop sensation, UPSINCEYESTERDAY makes his bold debut on the blog, stealing today’s top spot with single ‘Could It Be’.
Melodious and captivating, Upsinceyesterday embraces his hip hop roots, incorporating his artistic influences such as Drake and Kanye West, throughout the track. With harmonies aim to allure the prospective listener, Upsinceyesterday asks throughout the track, ‘Could It Be’ that he could find a ‘passionate relationship in this hectic world’?.
Since his 2017 debut ‘Up Since Yesterday’, Upsinceyesterday has gathered a collection of fresh and passionately artistic tracks to ‘capture people’s ears’. Evidently, listeners have loved his previous work, as his first single ‘Straight Up Out The Jungle’, has received over 8,000 streams on Spotify. Making music he enjoys listening to, Upsinceyesterday has no plans to slow down, as he prepares to release a further three tracks by summer, ‘focusing on the formulas and execution’ of his music.
BENNY BIZZIE takes us on an epic adventure through a punchy, falsetto-infused single, ‘Forever’, out now on all music digital platforms.
Featuring a hard-hitting drum pattern and melodic nuances produced by heavyweight Cee Figz – who has also produced for the likes of Wretch 32, Fredo, and Popcaan – ‘Forever’ goes on an emotive journey, where the British-Nigerian R&B singer/songwriter desperately yearns for his love interest. The single is well worth exploring, as BBC 1xtra/BBC London-approved Benny is at a transformative stage of his artistry and trust me, you’re in for a taste of evolution…
‘Forever’ quickly follows Benny’s first well-received single of the year, ‘Drunk N Naked’, released on Valentine’s Day. The accompanied video for ‘Drunk N Naked’ generated almost 5K views within a month on YouTube alone.
‘Forever’ was released on 8th April 2022 on all major download and streaming sites. Check it out below…
Taken from his upcoming debut album, expected for release later this year, Bristol-based songwriter JAMIE BEALE‘s debut single ‘Borderline’, sure hits like a sugar rush. The track – an enchanting blend of indie-rock, dream-pop and acid-funk- boasts dewy guitar textures, soaring harmonies and synth-laden soundscapes backed by the shuffling drums and tantalising grooves.
‘Borderline’ was written during the winter lockdown in the middle of an increasingly isolated period of his life. His relationship was coming to an end, he was alone in lockdown and his music and touring career within Novatines was looking uncertain, along with his idea of a future within music at all.
Speaking about the time, Beale states: “I was spending the majority of my time living in a hazy dreamworld, searching for something positive to hold onto, I felt that no matter what, I still had me and my own personal freedom of mind, and there was something comforting about that. Somewhere between my partially self-induced cabin fever madness and a sense of unshakable positivity in an unusual time, I wrote Borderline. I guess it’s a song for people with nowhere to go, and how not knowing where you belong isn’t always a bad thing.”
As vocalist and songwriter of rock band Novatines, Jamie has an array of musical achievements already under his belt, having toured the UK and Europe extensively as well as receiving national airplay on stations such as BBC Radio 2, 6 and Radio X. Have a listen to the tantalising ‘Borderline’ below…
