ML’s musical journey was first sparked in 2010 when he featured on ‘Little Man & Me’ by Giggs and now in a full circle moment, the two come together yet again over 12 years later on ‘Who I Am’ for a true father and son UK Rap moment.
The track is filled with dark undertones and a skippy beat which is synonymous with Giggs signature sound whilst ML navigates the production with ease, really coming into his own and showing his talent.
Not sticking to one sound, ML is a diverse musician who shows his versatility across all his releases, whilst basing his music on current feelings and life experiences.
Having released ‘Folks’ earlier this year, ML is building momentum and consistency in the run-up to releasing his debut mixtape.
Under Floating, Drifting Records, producer Kooma captivateshis fanswith his latest mixtape Freefall, released on the 16th of December. The charismatic musician hails from Helsinki, Finland and enjoys a spot in several of Spotify‘s editorial playlists, including indie pop & chill and Montréal Chill. Kooma boasts a unique collaboration with the French chillout producer Nomyn.
The new mixtape explores and offers sounds infused with a laid-back bass beat and drums laced with dark synths that relay suspense and mystery. Freefall tells a story of emancipation with deliberately channelled complex emotions resulting in the eight-track mixtape ascending to attain masterpiece status. ‘SSNS (feat. DNTST)’ is the sixth track in the mixtape and assumes its significance through an urgent synthesiser that is accompanied by solacing vocals which reinforce its deeply intimate melody.
Kooma elaborates on the creative orientation of the new mixtape with these words: “Freefall is the third installation to my mixtape series, following the ‘Stages of Hypothermia’ and ‘Home’ releases. The beats vary from chill and deep sounds to very raw, aggressive vibes. ‘Hi This Is Flume (Mixtape)’ by Flume and ‘Instrumentals’ by Clams Casino have been my key inspirations for this project”.
Juice Menace is paving her way into the industry and igniting the Welsh music scene along the way. Not content with slowing down towards the end of the year, Juice has just dropped a new track, ‘Creepin’, another example of her effortless lyrical flowover a buoyant bass and syncopated beats in a nod towards the dancefloor.
“I wrote this with Cardiff nightlife in mind,” says Juice, “hanging out with my friends and having a good time. This song captures the winter vibes of Cardiff, things getting colder and darker.”
Having teased the track with aglitchy clip just a few days ago and followed up with a second today, Juice will continue to drop short-form vertical videos from different parts of the track over the next couple of weeks. In the era of the infinite scroll and bottomless social media feeds, the video format plays into our collective insatiable appetite for endless hits of content and cuts ‘Creepin’ up into bitesize motifs.
Listen to Creepin’ at https://juicemenace.sup.nr/creepinPR
‘Creepin’ rounds off a year of growth into different cultural corners for Juice; her Clean Slate EP, released this Summer, received support from the likes of Charlie Sloth, Gal Dem, and GRM Daily. Continuing her trajectory of success on Spotify, she was selected as the face of RapUK’s Day One Club promotional campaign, which culminated in Juice featuring on her first billboard in London’s Westfield. Most recently, the Cardiff-based rapper teamed up with the Football Association of Wales to release the track ‘For Her’ in the lead-up to Cymru’s key 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers. She’s proving worthy of the “CDF CEO” title already fondly awarded to her by her peers and dedicated fanbase.
These recent moves are reflective of an artist who’s not content sitting in a single lane, and Juice continues to push the envelope. Keep your ear
to the ground, as she’ll be switching up her sound and genre influences with her next drop, coming soon…
The electronic music label, Sidekick Music, is opening its arms to the modern French/pop scene, welcoming new undeniable talent into their roster, LMA.
LMA, or Maël, exchanged school benches with concert seats at a very early age. With an innate talent for writing, he won the Claude Nougaro Writing Prize at only 16 years old. Maël is an introspective artist, he writes methodically and poetically. A distinct style that flirts with rap, pop, and classic French songs. He has already opened for Vald and Hervé, and appeared on France TV in the show Culture Box and C’est Pas En Playback on France Bleu.
Today LMA brings us his latest hit ‘Libre’ and it is a banger. This song brings funk and nu-disco styles along with modern french rap. He is accompanied by Daoud on trumpet and is inspired by the jazzy atmosphere of Ibrahim Maalouf.
Quote from Maël (translated from French):
“‘Libre’ is a nod towards my American influencers, like Mac Miller and Isaiah or even Kaytranada. I wanted to do a song that was groovy and danceable, all while speaking of rather personal subjects. It’s this contrast that I find interesting.
We invite Daoud who brought the final touches with his trumpet, giving the song a little dose of sunshine it had been missing” – LMA
LMA is a talented young artist who is heading for great things. His new album is set for 2023, and ‘Libre’, out Friday, November 25th, is just the first taste of what’s to come.
Bio:
LMA is a well-rounded artist, inspired by Mac Miller, Stromae, Kaytranada, Odezenne and Isaiah. He has quickly risen to popularity in the South-West of France in Occitanie. In just three years LMA has put out a series of EP’s with Sonatine in 2020, 31e Chambre in 2021, and Mauvaises Fréquentations in 2021 as well. He brings a unique musical and visual identity, often creating small videos called “capsules” to compliment his songs, accumulating several thousand views on social media.
‘70s cinema comes to life in Jazz and funk musician Rose Noir‘s latest song ‘Modele V’ under Halfeti Records. The explorative musician boasts the title of World Champion turntablist, twice, and produces music that is comparable to the likes of Curtis Mayfield and Marc Moulin among others.
The suspense is palatable in ‘Modele V’ as the track cruises through a fusion of saxophone notes, a laid-back bass guitar, and gentle hand drums that culminate into an imposing sound that bares witness to the musician’s talent. The track is a serious interpretation and adaption of the ‘70s musical sound and motion pictures. It does not shy away from its origins, morphing to suit modern listeners like a restored old black-and-white photograph.
Rose Noir reflects on the inspiration for the making of ‘Modele V’:“The music is definitely inspired by ‘70s movies, but also by obscure ‘70s libraries music vinyl which is what music supervisors were using as background music in movies, advertisements, TV shows etc…but also nowadays highly sought after by music enthusiasts and hip-hop producers looking for new materials to sample”.
Rapper, producer, songwriter, animator and illustrator King Lutendo has just released his latest album titled U Zwima. Since his debut, King Lutendo has continuously expanded beyond the sonic limits of the current hip-hop landscape, blending unique hints of electro, dance, rock, and hip-hop all with a unique blend of African Tshivenda-themed masterful lyricism. This latest album has landed on several Apple Music Playlists, which has been the case with all his releases before. The album’s lead single ‘Lufuno Luswa’ also made a recent global radio debut on NTS radio on the one glove breakfast show out in London.
Born to a musical Venda family, 29-year-old rapper, producer, animator and illustrator King Lutendo was raised with a love for the arts. Having studied design and illustration, he imbues his music with an arresting visual aesthetic. His take on hip-hop is experimental, using sounds not commonly associated with the genre. He describes himself as alternative and occupies a space built around his Venda Heritage, personal introspection, and spirituality.
His brand has reverberated with sites such as Native Mag, Okay Africa, Redbull Music, Hype Magazine and Nusoulhub Radio, he was also highlighted as Apple’s artist of the month in May 2019 and debuted one of the singles off his album on Ebro’s beats 1 radio show in New York. Since then until now, he has released a total of 10 studio projects which have been featured on global stations such as Worldwide FM, NOODS radio, KCRW radio, and Bandcamp radio among others.
In 2020, he was among one of the few African artists chosen to represent their continent by performing at the Mela Fest in Norway. His music is cinematically structured and carries themes such as honest introspection and self-development, love and cultural history. Often described as a one-man band, King Lutendo writes, composes, produces, and engineers all his music. He also directs all his own music videos and creates all his own artworks and promotional animations for his music.
Trap musicians Stööki Sound share their mesmerising new single ‘Revival’ via Quality Goods Records.Bold Stööki Sound is comprised of DJ Lukey and Jelacee, and their music is likened to the musical sound of the likes of Troyboi and Baauer just to name a few. For Jelacee and DJ Lukey,the creation of music also extends to other artistic pursuits and aspirations. ‘Revival’ marches on majestically into the hearts, minds and souls of listeners intentionally with the aim of truly fostering transformation with its grandiose but soft echoing, its echoing synths, and its slowed-down beat. The single has the power to rejuvenate listeners, paying homage to its title. Continue reading for the full interview.
Take us through your list of dream software/gear you would like to get?
I’ve always wanted some Adam Audio studio monitors and my own treated studio room. I also intend on getting a Neumann TLM 102 microphone and an Apollo audio interface. I don’t really use outboard synths but I’d like to get a Moog Grandmother as well.
What do you need with you when you sit down to write or produce?
As I’m getting further into my production career I’m starting to realise that I love producing with other people and energies in the room. Sitting at your computer alone for hours becomes very robotic after a while, and I think having other energies (albeit choosing the right ones) can be very beneficial to production as sometimes you’ll second guess yourself and live in your head rather than in the moment.
What other artistic revenues do you pursue?
At the moment my sole focus is music production and live performances.
Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, what do you prefer?
Interacting with a live audience hands down.
What has been the most memorable moment of your career so far?
Probably our b2b with UZ at Bass Academy. That show was monumental. Also, the biggest crowd that we’ve played to date.
Name 3 artists you would love to collaborate with in the future
RL Grime, G Jones, Alison Wonderland.
Do you think music should provide social commentary and reflect the current world?
Not always. Music for me is a form of escapism. Sometimes that means writing emotions and experiences reflecting the world into songs. Other times it’s a way to escape from reality.
What can we expect from you in the near future? Any upcoming projects or gigs in the pipeline that you would like to tell us about?
We have a lot of new music on the way, solos and some special collaborations in the works. We’re rebuilding at the moment and taking our time to curate the best version of Stööki Sound that we can possibly make.
One last thought to leave your fans with?
We want to thank the supporters for a decade of support and look forward to continuing to grow with them and create new memories and experiences together.
Inhugo, there’s a central question that Loyle Carner keeps coming back to: “I’m young, Black, successful and have a platform – but where do I go next?”
The answer is explored in this epic scream of a third album. With urgent delivery and gloriously widescreen production, Carner confronts both the deeply personal (“You can’t hate the roots of a tree, and not hate the tree. So how can I hate my father without hating me?) and the highly political (“I told the black man he didn’t understand I reached the white man he wouldn’t take my hand”). Cinematic in scale and scope, hugo is both a rallying war cry for a generation forged in fire and a study of the personal internal conflict that drives the rest of the album – as a mixed-race Black man, as an artist, as a father and as a son.
The result is his most cathartic and ambitious record yet, a coruscating journey into the heart of what it means to be alive in these tumultuous times, and one which looks set to neatly cement his position as one of the most potent and vital young talents around today. Working alongside renowned producer kwes. (Solange, Kelela, Nao), Carner leaves no stone unturned on this album, in both its sound and its stories. In a 10-track album that moves from gorgeous neo-soul moments to thundering hip hop, with immediate, infectious bangers and sampled interludes from non musicians (mixed-race Guyanese poet John Agard and youth activist and politician Athian Akec) Carner shifts seamlessly from micro to macro, confronting everything from strained relationships with family to the societal tears caused by class stratification.
The last few months have seen anticipation ramp up stratospherically for “hugo”, with searing, vital instant classics like Nobody Knows (Ladas Road), Georgetown and Hate knocking critics for six and soundtracking the summer, not to mention publications as varied as The Wire and DIY joined unanimously declaring it his best work yet. All up, it’s merely more ammunition to the fact that 2022/2023 will be the year of Loyle Carner.
“hugo” will be taken on the road next year, see the full round-up of UK live dates below.
Known as the Milford Mayor and founder of Wave-Drill, Catford rapper Ghostface600 releases ‘Blue Mat’.
Having spent years rising through the ranks, with his raw unfiltered street talk winning over audiences. From making music as a member of UK Drill group Block6, to releasing his first solo project 600 SZN as well as several successful singles such as ‘Fast Life’, ‘Paper Planes’ and more recently his face reveal single ‘Super Freak’.
On ‘Blue Mat’ the self-described ‘rapper with melodies’, reflects and reminisces on life and losing close friends over a refined melodic beat. Known for his often controversial bars, listeners will take in the drill bars that he delivers with his unique take on slowing down the lyrics and singing the bars rather than the aggressive energised delivery used in Drill tracks.
Ghostface600 has an increasingly diverse sound with standout hooks that juxtapose the often dark content in his releases, with every record he produces, he levels up. With his ever-growing fanbase, he puts creative artistry at the forefront of everything he turns his hand to and proves why he is a leading figure in the melodic rap scene.
Ascending mountains of music, producer Jerry Folk has chiseled out a spot for himself, two tracks at a time, releasing his latest double single ‘sadsongwtf/ All The Things’ under the Folkestad Recordings imprint. You may know the artist as FENGSEL,hisalternate alias, and recall that, under the moniker, he explored the boundaries of percussive instrumentation, playing with retro tropes and drum breaks that he, in all likelihood, sourced from the golden age of hip hop.
The Norwegian Grammy winner keeps it classic with his latest release, utilizing a strong trap rhythm reminiscent of the early 2010s. In the low end, the snares knock with a distinctive woodblock texture while the high end cuts through the mix, ensuring that an upper tear level of energy is maintained throughout the length of both tracks.
Read our previous feature on Jerry Folk – ‘U Got It’here
With circumstances changing around him, Jerry Folk has had to adapt, adjusting his sound to suit his experience. He tells us, “‘Sadsongwtf / All the things’ is a double single and the second release towards my upcoming project Castle Tapes. It further plays with the palette I’ve been inspired to use the last years and is a result of me wanting to create things with high energy coming out of covid. Probably because of the lack of input I got from going out and things like that”.
