Tag: Jay-Z

Douglas McGuire Delivers Summer Anthem, ‘Island’

Alternative-pop singer-songwriter DOUGLAS MCGUIRE shares his brand new new summer anthem ‘Island’. Having collaborated with Grammy award-winning engineer James Auwarter of Coda Room Audio (Kanye West, Rhianna, Jay-Z, amongst others), McGuire creates fun and uplifting material that connects to his listeners, largely due to the dedication and commitment that can be heard in every word he sings.

Speaking more on the release, Douglas explains: “This song is the final in a trilogy of songs about a girl I only dated for a couple of weeks, but who had a very profound impact on me and my life. The lyrics carry strong nautical themes, which collectively come to represent the ups and downs of the relationship I once had, and where I am right now in life as well as with respect to the relationship I had with this girl.”

Born in Croydon, and raised in the heart of the Suffolk countryside, the France-based producer/singer-songwriter has been described by fans and professionals alike as Taylor Swift/The 1975 hybrid – with a distinctive, sombre, and smooth vocal tonality and an endearing honesty behind his lyrics, juxtaposed with major, uplifting chord progressions that have an undeniable mainstream appeal.

Have a listen to ‘Island’ below…

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Trust Tale Vents His Frustration In New Banger, ‘FaceTime’

New Jersey’s rapper and producer TRUST TATE should not even be alive today, because as the New York Times reported back in 1994, when he was only a 7-month-old infant, he was struck twice by stray gunfire while being pushed in a stroller in the middle of the Bronx where he was born, so it’s a miracle that the Jersey City native is here in 2021 and able to do what he loves.

As the saying goes, Trust Tate is playing with house money, and every day that he is still breathing is simply an added blessing, a matter of fact that you can hear in the freedom, ease, candour and spontaneity, with which he is creating and making music.

Even though he has been building a community on SoundCloud for years now, where he has released over 150 songs exclusively for his fans, 2021 marks Trust Tate’s official introduction to the mainstream music landscape, beginning with his brand new single ‘Facetime’ featuring emerging Bronx artist and producer Jus1, and produced by Certibeats.

Speaking about his inspiration for the track, Trust Tate says, “My music is like voice recording a therapy session and putting a beat over it, and ‘Facetime’ is another of those therapy sessions with me venting about my love and hate relationship with attention-seeking people and time-wasters, Facetime just happened to be the platform bearing the brunt of all my frustrations”.

Trust Tale

While his father came up as a teenager with legends such as Rakim, Eric Sermon and KRS-One in Long Island and the Bronx, and was well known as a breakdancer and graffiti artist in the late eighties and early nineties, his mother raised him on an eclectic mix of music ranging from Jay Z to Red Hot Chilli Peppers to John Mayer, and between both of them, it sounds like it was written for Trust Tate to become a musician.

His time at Cicely Tyson’s School for Performing and Fine Arts, and his psychology degree from Rutgers University, where he met audio engineer Andrew Boateng (Audiomack, Naja Young, Hanz), have only helped to hone his skills further and prepare him for what is set to be his breakout year, with his debut project scheduled for this summer…but for now, have a listen to Trust Tale’s latest…

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EP Review: Summer ’98 – Zee

Hailing from Canada now based in L.A. artist/producer ZEE‘s new EP is definitely a throwback to the late 1990’s, paying homage to hip-hop and R&B of that era. Although this is a nostalgic collection – which evidently draws influences from 90’s R&B heavyweights including Usher, Destiny’s Child and Aaliyah – I couldn’t help but hear some influences of fellow Canadian artist/rapper Drake, particularly in introductory track, ‘Amazing’.

Further along the EP, Zee makes use of samples from some of the R&B classics, such as Kelly Rowland’s/Nelly’s hit ‘Dilemma’, putting a lick of a misty urban/hip-hop bass to the original through fourth effort, ‘All I Need’.

There’s also an air of the late 1980s included in the EP, when Zee put his stamp on Brenda Russell’s classic, ‘Piano In The Dark’ through concluding track, ‘Letting Go’, by dropping a modern R&B/pop version, giving off a summer hazy feel.

Documenting the events of his first summer love (presumably back in the late nineties), Zee encourages us to re-immerse into our most treasured memories – or create new ones – with his feel-good mini collection. Check out the song recommendations and EP below:

Must Listens: Amazing, Crazy Enough, Mean It  

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Uprising Star Nápoles Shares Brand New Single,’Circulate’

Photo Credit: Elle Johnson

Coming on the back of the success of her debut single ‘Slowzy’, which has been garnering support from the likes of BBC 1Xtra, Rinse FM, Spotify, DSTNGR, Kingsize Magazine, and PUMA, fast-rising Swedish songstress and creative NÁPOLES circles back for the release of her brand new single,  ‘Circulate’, the second offering from her forthcoming debut EP ‘Slowin It’, slated for release later this summer.

Produced by fellow Swedish creatives Chapee and Wihib Sulaiman, and co-written by herself and Joe Lefty, ‘Circulate’ sees Nápoles making full use of her intoxicatingly enchanting vocals which weaves throughout a captivating fusion of soul jazz, R&B and hip-hop.

Alongside her blossoming music career, Nápoles is also one-third of the popular Swedish-based DJ and creative collective Ladieslovehiphop, with whom she has opened for Beyonce and Jay-Z on their ‘On The Run II’ European tour, collaborated with adidas and PUMA, toured with Sweden’s biggest female rapper Silvana Imam, and collaborated with Red Bull Music to host the Ladieslovehiphop Music Festival, among other accomplishments.

This is too good to pass up…have a listen to ‘Circulate’ below…

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Album Review: Dream Team: A Stokely Hathaway Joint – Griff/Scorcese

GRIFF/SCORCESE‘s latest project, ‘Dream Team: A Stokely Hathaway Joint’ serves as a time machine, possessing  mainly hazy boombap tones and, at times, a menacing b-line (mafia -style) inspired by the golden hip-hop era of the late eighties/early nineties.

In parts, the mammoth album leaves the nostalgic feeling  and goes bang up to the date. ‘Slick Talk’ could be described as a union of old school and new school hip-hop, with a real slick flow that (personally) uncannily resembles the likes of Jay-Z.

Towards the end of the set, the guys gets all experimental with the genre, through ‘It’s Personal (Lucky Lefty)’ for example, where the distorted guitar riffs create a sound that’s disorientating yet soothing.

So if you fancy taking a journey with hip-hop through the years, well ‘Dream Team: A Stokely Hathaway Joint’ is your perfect guide…let me tell you; this is one bada** set. Check it out below…

Must Listens: Peruvian Encrusted Swordfish, Classie Freddie Blassie, Slick Talk, Flex Kavana 

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