Lil House Phone Drops Single Off Upcoming Project
Lil House Phone returns to our pages with his single "X6". This is the first release from his upcoming project Voicemails 2, which is set to come out August 17th. The short catchy track has one verse between two hooks about copping a BMW, while mentioning past relationships.
The track debuted only on SoundCloud and has been added to their "First on SoundCloud" playlist.
https://soundcloud.com/lil-housephone/x6-prod-by-kob-x-noize
Thair Debuts With "Summer Luhh"
You may know Thair as the lead singer from Astro Samurai but today he stepped into a new lane with his debut solo album Summer Luhh. You can stream and download it below.
The album is like the singer, defined by dichotomy that finds a harmony within its differences. At moments it is reticent and poignant, in the opening line of the album he says, "It doesn't make me sad that my roots grew tired seeking relief, in this time I sprouted in many directions". But this sentiment is contradicted with the dance-able if minimal beat underneath his poem, which continues and grows into a powerful poppy album. The standout hit from Summer Luhh is "Thotty Dismorphia", a confident-while-insecure song about internet culture and celebrating while fearing your own body. There's something reminiscent of D'Angelo in Summer Luhh, maybe it's his out of this world vocal range, maybe it's the precision and attention to detail that you can hear in the album. Everything in this album is from Thair, from the album cover to the underlying production and especially the attitude.
When asked what the album was about Thair responded, "It's really just about reflecting on love in different forms. Loss of love. False love. Seeking love. Finding love. Of course the songs aren't in a thematic order because that's not how love is. It all happens randomly and at times you weren't expecting." This is an album for everyone, but it draws from his experience as a gay, black man in 2018 and the authenticity which comes with that is much needed in a such a superficial time.
Contrary to what you would expect from the title, the album isn't actually about summer love. There is a bright positivity throughout it that makes it feel like a summer album, but Thair says it's not really that, "Tricked ya now you're crying in the club" he joked.
Look for new visuals coming from Thair, but until then check out the video he made for an earlier version of Fruitflies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8SpfS4tjYk
Watch Taylor Bennett's New Visual
Ahead of the release of his up coming EP Be Yourself (July 12th) Taylor Bennett has released the visual for "Rock 'N' Roll" produced by Naked Gallery. The colors in this video are the first thing that catch your eye, everything is soft and warm, and each different scene . There are a ton of quick cuts in beginning of the video, but as it goes on the scenes get longer, and the plot reveals itself. The non-sequential reveals in the video make it feel like it was directed by Quentin Tarantino. The song is an up beat summer joint produced by CEO BEATZ and features vocals from Zxxk. If the album is anything like the singles, Be Yourself is going to be an anthemic, vibey testament to Taylor's creativity.
This video shows a summertime Chicago story, ivy on bricks, bubblegum on your shoes and of course a finesse.
https://youtu.be/OjdQjWFbFGE
Be Yourself comes out in two days on all streaming platforms.
Dolly Ave Debuts First Visual "Birds"
RH First Look: KoVu
KoVu, a rapper who grew up outside of Chicago, sat down with us a few days ago. We chopped it up about representing the suburbs, going on tour with the likes of Tory Lanez, being well known in a small town, and more. Check out the full interview below:
rubyhornet: For any of our readers not familiar with KoVu, who is KoVu?
KoVu: KoVu is a young kid from the suburbs of Chicago. I grew up in Plainfield, Illinois. It was a small town where everyone was trying to be a rapper. I didn’t get into rapping until my freshman year at college in 2012/2013. Made a dorm room mixtape called Good Morning Nightmares. After taking a break, I came back in 2015/2016 and dropped my ep Contrast. Played a couple shows with Waka Flacka, Vic Mensa, and Tory Lanez. Now I’m here.
rubyhornet: KoVu comes from the Lion King, because your mom said you looked like Kovu, a character in the movie. What kind of influence does Disney have in the culture?
KoVu: Disney is like Apple, they have everything. I was a huge Power Rangers fan so when they took over that I was really upset. I’m looking forward to the new Lion King with Donald Glover and Beyoncé.
[youtube id="CIw8RkwQN0I"]
rubyhornet: You originally wanted to be a singer, like Chris Brown, over a rapper.
KoVu: I got into music through R&B. My favorite artist is Chris Brown. I would imitate his dance moves. Then once Drake came out, he showed people you could sing and rap. Chance is another big inspiration.
rubyhornet: Do you still feel that way?
KoVu: If I could sing, I would do that 100x over rapping. I always hear these hooks and have a melody, but need to find someone to lay it down. I’ve taken singing lessons and practice a lot, but I don’t have the pipes like Chris Brown.
rubyhornet: In high school you were into dancing and theater.
KoVu: My parents were going through a divorce during this time. My study hall teacher Miss Dunham, who happened to be the choir teacher, saw that I was frustrated all the time. She put me in a second study hall where it was just us and she would teach me how to play piano and read music. Then I joined choir, and later theater.
rubyhornet: How did this translate to your music and stage performance?
KoVu: My DJ, 1981 Toyoko and my other DJ, Cookup Cam turn up with me on stage. We make up dance moves and try to incorporate the crowd as part of the show. I like to make sure the crowd knows I’m just a person like them.
rubyhornet: Tell me about going on tour. Meeting Tory Lanez, Waka Flacka, and Vic Mensa.
KoVu: The Tory Lanez show was on my birthday. I just turned 22 and his stage energy was on another level. We played a whole Midwest tour with Waka. He taught me a lot about the business. He has his hands in a water company and an app to discover underground rappers. I only ran into Vic shortly at our show.
rubyhornet: How does it feel being well known in a small town?
KoVu: It’s weird. When I walk in somewhere, people whisper and talk. My friends still treat me the same. They are still going to call me an idiot. Kids in high school that didn’t talk to me have reached out about my music or have gone to some shows. It’s crazy to think that I’m representing this suburban town.
rubyhornet: The creative process on Contrast and working with only one engineer.
KoVu: JLP Studies Jimmy Renyolds. It’s rare to find an engineer when you tell him what you want and where it comes out exactly how you heard it. After we dropped Contrast it went on top 50 on ITunes. The creative process on the new album is different, I am showing more about my love life, my personal life, and going deeper than just the party aspect that my previous work covered. 4 years deep with Jimmy and I.
rubyhornet: What should fans be on the lookout for?
KoVu: Playboy, my new project with 16 songs. Coming soon.
Kweku Collins Perfectly Captures The Summer Fling With "Sisko and Kasidy"
Kweku Collins' newest track "Sisko and Kasidy" is a summer love anthem. Linking up for another collaboration with fellow Closed Sessions artist Ajani Jones, this is his first release of 2018 and it perfectly captures the heat of the summer and the uncertainty that comes with a fling. In the chorus Kweku sings "It's been hot, it's the summer, what you expect?" in a thickly layered, Dan Deacon-esque, harmony that adds to the disorienting effect that makes the song feel like the subject.
There's a heat that's captured within the production and combined with the lyrics it creates a summer-in-a-bottle effect that will definitely have you coming back in the middle of the winter. Just like with a fling there is a melancholy underneath the surface, Kweku even asks “What if the sun doesn’t come out tomorrow?”.
"Sisko and Kasidy" is a reference to the two black commanders in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
You can see Kweku and Ajani perform together at their Pitchfork after party at Schubas on July 21st.
https://open.spotify.com/track/1DXlJYboCnmNC35GcLyYtm?si=3EIaZxmFRYOc0B3eLq47DQ
Future Drops Beastmode 2
Future connects with fellow Atlanta producer Zaytoven for a 9 track mixtape Beastmode 2. This is the sequel to Future and Zaytoven's 2015 collaborative mixtape Beastmode.
The glorified lyrics about the wealth and success are balanced with flashbacks of the struggle. On "Red Light" Future says, "Sleepin' on the carpet made a man out me". Then later reflects with, "I finally start to embrace that I'm famous. It's hard for me to erase when I was nameless".
On the closing track, he reminisces about his rough past while detailing his drug use.
"Pouring up in public, damn, I hate the real me
My mama stressing out, she say these drugs got me"
Stream the project below:
Sebastian Kamae's Makes "Waves" Around The World
Dutch producer, audio engeineer, and composer, Sebastian Kamae released his debut album last week. As a whole the album is a trip around the globe, showcasing the community that rap has build around the world. With features from artists from Toronto, Chicago and the Netherlands the album is also inadvertently auto-biographical. Last year Sebastian Kamae was an intern at SoundScape Studios in Chicago. "Everything that I learned in the past years are coming together on this album. I was already making lo-fi beats for a while, but was still searching for artists to lay vocals on my beats. During my internship at SoundScape Studios and Closed Sessions in Chicago, I got to meet a lot of new people. I finally found talented artists that fit perfectly on my beats. Delivery, lyrics and sound-wise."
The 10 track album consists of 3 instrumentals and 7 tracks with vocals from Femdot, Ajani Jones, Jack Red and more talent from around the world. The 3 singles off of the album that were pre-released have already ammased more than 120,000 aggregated streams. This is a personal project for Sebastian with every single sound created and controlled by him, "After my intership, I finished the album back home in the netherlands. I mixed, mastered, produced, recorded and composed everything myself."
Stream it here.
https://soundcloud.com/sebastiankamae/sets/waves