‘Harmonic Strain’ is an epic collaborative EP NEW LEASE MUSIC long-time staple FLY VON and producer Lil Kobes.
With Ili Kobes providing compelling futuristic wavery tones and a heavy dose of the bouncing bass introducing the mini set, which manifests to featherily soulful layers towards the end, and fly Von’s delivery easing into each arrangements, it’s hard to believe that the pair produced the EP in just a month.
Their burgeoning collaboration started when Fly Von did a freestyle lil Kobes’ track ‘Pull Up n We Flex’. Now the pair take circle back and combine their passion for melodic/lo-fi music through this five track set. Check it out below…
Brasstracks is the Grammy award winning project of New York based musician and producer Ivan Jackson. Over the years, Brasstracks has evolved from a hip-hop-jazz-big-band to an ever-morphing landscape where Jackson sets the framework.
The Brasstracks rap sheet runs for miles. The group scored two GRAMMY wins for their production work on Chance The Rapper’s seminal “No Problems” in 2017 (Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Album). They’ve also since been nominated for their work with Harry Styles during the 2021 GRAMMYs for Best Pop Vocal Album, ultimately taking home the Best Pop Solo Performance award for their work on “Watermelon Sugar.”
Brasstracks has appeared on Saturday Night Live, performing alongside Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson, the latter of whom is a frequent collaborator. Other collaborations include Anderson .Paak, Khalid, Mac Miller, and BTS. Basstracks has also performed songs from their debut album on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
The new Brasstracks era sees Jackson as an architect for this larger project of incubating artists and allowing them the space to grow.
The latest single ‘Anesthesia’ featuring Mandy Lee of MisterWives, is the second single from Brasstracks’ upcoming album. Lee soars as she sings, “Doppelgänger, I can’t hate you even though I know the grass is greener”, crooning a sneering congratulations to a nemesis who always seems to be one step ahead. The title itself is a nod to the numbness that accompanies this feeling. The vibrant single shimmers with oscillating synths and Lee’s velvet vocals, emitting an overall colorful and contagious aura. The playful track refuses to let listeners stay still, with fast-paced beats and layered instrumentation creating an all-encompassing atmosphere, captivating you from the very first second.
The upcoming album is a unique addition to the Brasstracks catalog: brimming with technical wizardry and maximal, brassy bombast, but intensely personal, rife with self-loathing and heartache. The album’s undeniable joyousness stands in unflinching contrast with its subject matter, and ‘Anesthesia’ is a microcosm of its ethos: a shimmering, groovy, soulful house record about, above all else, jealousy. The album weaves in and out of itself seamlessly, with ‘Anesthesia”’sampling Brasstracks’ previous FATHERDUDE + TOBi flanked single, ‘Nobody’s Fool’. Despite its seething subtext, ‘Anesthesia’ is a quintessential warm weather banger, and was a highlight of Brasstracks’ sold out, 6-show Blue Note run this March.
Sacramento’s SHOWTIME RAMON, is back with a fresh new release for his listeners titled ‘Venom Dripp’.
The 6 track project continues to showcase the artist’s lyrical flow that keeps his fans coming back for more. “I wanted to put on an array of cool bars for my listeners, I look at rap as a sport so the more you can score lyrically the doper you are” says Ramon when speaking on his latest release.
The project opens with the previously released single ‘Spin Cycle’ which the artist also delivered a visual for. Ramon is backed by killer production that makes it even easier for him to deliver his flow that is influenced by the world around him, from sports to pop culture & his love for professional wrestling. Showtime isn’t one to shy away from telling it how it is either, delivering poison-like bars throughout Venom Dripp as he aims to shoot down those who he feels aren’t in his circle. He states “I’m comparing myself to other rappers or competitors, vocalizing the differences between myself and the rapper next to me”.
With over 18,000 listeners on Spotify and a new EP out, Showtime Ramon keeps the pressure on & continues to build his fan base with the talent he provides behind the mic. Inflicting his raps with doses of dopeness that keeps the streams on an upward trend, and the artist doesn’t plan to stop soon…check out Ramon’s project below…
Taken from her highly anticipated summer EP ‘Babe, Come Outside’, which released on Saturday (May 13), rising pop artist PRECIOUS dishes up her new single, ‘Her Spell’, an electrifying Sapphic pop anthem, intended to captivate listeners with its runway-worthy fierceness and bring them to tap into their own sensual power. With her bubbly aesthetic and early 2000’s influences, Precious brings a fresh and dreamy vibe to the queer pop music scene.
Having previously been featured in Sesi Mag and Pop Passion Blog this year, as well as collaborated with exciting names in music such as rising rapper Baby Tate and actor/singer Rotimi, Precious has built a dedicated online following, which she calls her “gumdrops”, and she has garnered over 100k of them on Tik Tok. As a black queer artist, Precious is committed to representing underrepresented voices in pop music.
Her EP ‘Babe, Come Outside’ showcases Precious’ growth as an artist, as she takes full control by writing and producing all of the tracks, including the infectious single ‘Her Spell’.
To complement the release of ‘Her Spell’, Precious will be releasing a visually stunning music video that captures the EP’s essence and embraces a dreamy pink aesthetic…but for now, check out the spell-binding single below…
REVIVAL SEASON – comprised of rapper BEZ and Jonah Swilley, a founding member of Mattiel and also known for his production work with Moonwalks and Night Beats – share ‘Chop’, their latest single for Heavenly Recordings.
Claustrophobic as hell and crunching down in all the right places, ‘Chop’ is a close-quarters, rapid fire hip-hop track from the Atlanta based duo. Talking about the track they said: “This one came together naturally, and gives you a look into future lyrical and production themes coming from us The video happened the same way, just us walking through downtown Nashville making people uncomfortable.”
Revival Season released their debut single, ‘Iron Warrior’ for Heavenly in the summer of 2021 and most recently shared their Outernational mixtape to coincide with this year’s SXSW Festival. Assembled by Raf Rundell (O.M. Days, The 2 Bears), the 28-minute piece was a dub-infused fusion of riffs, rhymes and beats, equal parts King Tubby Prince Paul.
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