Just a collection of my 5 favourite drops that have come out recently! Enjoy….
1. Demae – “Speechless”
Demae serves us a dreamy love song with a driving bassline and backbeat reminiscent of artists like Thundercat and FlyLo. Beautifully airy and soft vocals intertwine with glittery synths and jazz chords, with sugar sweet (and lovably silly) lyrics like “You’re sweet like a cherry pie in the night” – a groovy slice of alt-R&B that’ll have you smiling and swaying.
2. A$AP Rocky – “Ruby Rosary” ft J. Cole
As the never-ending wait for both Rocky and Cole to drop continues, we’re gifted a collab to tide us over. Atop a downtempo piano-led instrumental from The Alchemist combining his stripped-down aesthetic and Rocky’s spacey, cloud rap style, Cole injects some energy with a breakneck triplet flow, while ASAP delivers some sombre verses with a gloomy reflection we don’t always hear from him – “As a little guy, very deprived, took it in stride, in conditions where I shouldn’t survive”
3. Louis Culture – “Babe” ft. Tora-i, Richie
A housey beat combining soulful keys and guitars with electronica production, this mellow tune subtly rises rather than hitting you at high speed. Louis’ dubbed vocals casually croon in a half-sung-half-spoken manner, as the vocal talents of Tora-i and Richie give a smooth counter. The deep, building textures of this track would be welcome in a DJ set as well as a journey gazing out the window seat.
4. Knucks – “Studio Fit Riddim”
After the atmospheric drill-lofi-jazz fusion of ALPHA PLACE, Knucks returns to the soul sample + long verse bag of his earlier career. Delivering timely, witty punchlines like “Got ‘em all like Trump, covering their ears from it”, I only wish this one was a little longer, just falling shy of two minutes.
5. Glorilla – “TGIF”
Glorilla delivers all the confidence and attitude you want with a simple but banging track that shows less is sometimes more – an 808 note, some brass samples, a clap, and a dirty south flow that drips with swagger, full of entertaining brags about mani-pedi’s, pretty bitches that can fight, and rocking a “crop top with some biker shorts, I’m showing off my moose knuckle” – you’ll laugh, bop and want to turn up to this one.