One decade after his debut album ‘Handprints’, HANDBOOK returns with ‘Keepsake’, featuring two sublime tracks, instrumental ‘Keepsake’ and ‘No End’ featuring rapper, Supreme Sol who gets into the lush hip-hop cooking with the finest chill spicy soulful ingredients.
For the single Keepsake, Handbook says: “This track conjures up feelings of security. There is a feeling of being centred that anchors the piece, as well as a feeling of being content and happy. A keepsake is a memento, a reminder of someone, or somewhere, one has left behind: this is how music can work sometimes – it takes you back to a certain time, and a certain place.“
So go on, have a listen to ‘Keepsake’ and ‘No End’… and if you like what you hear, be sure to look out for his full length LP coming out this spring.
After working with top urban artists in France as well as international artists (Rohff, Pusha T, Tyga, The Game, Joke), BLASTAR steps out and introduces his new track, ‘No Limits’.
The melodic drill style joint is taken from his new project ‘Ex.Nihilo: The Beat Tape’, released last Friday (18th September) on various download/streaming services.
After appearing on the blog’s SOTD hot spot last week, UK R&B singer HARLEIGHBLU and neo-soul & hip-hop producer BLUESTAEB circle back with anti-harassment empowerment anthem ‘Call’, the forth single off upcoming joint album ‘She’, out on October 11th 2019.
On a funk infused production courtesy of BLUESTAEB, HARLEIGHBLU takes a stand against cat calling: “We as women constantly have to deal with unwanted attention and aggressive pursuit when we do our thing and this song is a cheerful ‘talk to the hand’, a reminder that we don’t have to entertain such behaviour. Ladies, our journey is a long walk so let this song be the soundtrack to your stride, nothing can stop you especially not the unwanted advances from Mr.Basic”
After HARLEIGHBLU heard BLUESTAEB‘s music at Camden’s Jazz Café in 2016, the multinational duo decided to search for new ways to express their common love for uncompromised hip-hop and R&B. BLUESTAEB’s soulful approach to beat making complemented Harleighblu’s vocals perfectly as she staked her claim on the neo soul and hip-hop territory she always identified with. Hailed as an up and coming ‘queen of soul’ with references to Nina Simone, Lauryn Hill and Amy Winehouse, HARLEIGHBLU’s signature sound has matured into a frank, self-possessed voice, bringing us honest, feminine, yet unrepentant lyrical touches.
Additionally, the Paris and Berlin based producer BLUESTAEB made his name through his releases via German tastemaker label Jakarta Records, where he released alongside Kaytranada, Ta-Ku and Mura Masa. Both his solo and collaboration projects have been internationally praised for their warm characteristic sound, receiving airplays on Soulection, BBC 1, Rinse.FM and many more.
With a full collaboration album set to drop in this month, HARLEIGHBLU and BLUESTAEB continue to impress with their seamless musical chemistry and mutual passion for classic R&B and hip hop. ‘Call’ provides a taste for what’s to come from the 13-track stoke of genius, ‘She’.
Inspired by the iconic cinema moment in Breakfast At Tiffany’s, THINCOEUR teams up with fellow Parisian and rapper Fang The Great on the emotive new video for ‘Farewell’.
Combining Fang The Great’s cold melodies and unique cadence with a melancholic trap instrumental, the track explores love, loss, friendship and loneliness. Born Eliade Krön, THINCOEUR explains that ‘Farewell’ “relates to partings, starting with Fang The Great’s positive outlook when he raps about distance making the heart grow fonder.” Comparatively, the farewell depicted by Krön is towards a lover, where he says he may never return, but he wishes the best for the girl he loves. This bittersweet message of self-preservation is bolstered by Audrey Hepburn’s famous quote from the 1961 film “People don’t belong to people. I’m not gonna let anyone put me in a cage.”
Thinceour
The accompanying video, directed by Randolph Lungela, takes a darker approach, as the protagonist attempts to come to terms with the loss of a loved one. Flicking between past and present, the cold colouring of the current day juxtaposes the heady flashback scenes, tinted in a warm sepia tone, as she turns to alcohol and drugs to cope with her bereavement.
‘Farewell’ is the first taste from forthcoming album that explores the seven facets of love through poignant songwriting and masterful production. In 2017, the artist released ‘Think’, a concept album separated into three acts tracing an emotionally conflicted young man seeking self-acceptance – via dark hip-hop beats and gritty vocals. The new LP ‘7 Layers of Love’, was inspired by cultural influences from cities such as his hometown of Paris, New York and Reykjavik.
Multi-layered and effortless, ‘Farewell’ displays THINCOEUR‘s talent for writing emotional and honest music, fusing elements of hip hop and electronica. Check out the video.
Franco-Italian producer ART OF SHADES has teamed up with singer Sylo Nozra for the release of single, ‘Undone’, taken from the forthcoming EP set to drop this spring via his record label, Sounds of Shades.
Although ART OF SHADES is based in Paris and Sylo Nozra resides in Toronto, thanks to the power of the internet, it didn’t stop the pair cooking up a four-minute production, packaged in a downtempo electro-hip-hop slammer. Through this collaboration, they became great friends and are now both a part of the same Canadian squad, OTrip.
‘Undone’ marks the slick beatmaker’s new musical direction and his request to collaborate with different musicians across the globe.
New Lease Music 