A late-night treat for all you Flowers of the Universe. My thanks to No I.D. And thank you to @SadeOfficial. You are a queen and a visionary and we love you. #WrinkleInTime https://t.co/oen0etyYFi
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) March 6, 2018
get mesmerized with hypnotic vocals in neo-soul songstress iyamah’s groovy new single
Iyamah, pronounced (i..yam..ah) grew up in the seaside town of Brighton, surrounded by the sounds of African drumming and reggae music. She first picked up piano at 13 after spending her time imitating the likes of Alicia Keys and Adele playing on the radio. When her teacher convinced her to start singing solo, she started singing lessons, starting her on the journey to becoming a Neo-Soul artist to watch.
Iyamah developed a strong love for neo-soul and hip-hop, listening to and appreciating the likes of Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill. She also immersed herself in Brighton’s club scene, writing toplines for Drum and Base features that culminated in a collaboration with Black Butter Records’ My Nu Leng, featuring on their festival anthem ‘Senses’. She performed with them at Glastonbury last year and festivals throughout 2018.
The singer/songwriter found her home in her Neo-Soul and R&B roots, producing stunning vocals in her latest offering ‘Silver Over Gold’. Her vocals detail the relatable struggle found in moving to a new town while also living through life’s many disappointments. The mesmerizing guitar matches her natural musical prowess, delivering a fully realized piece of music. The songstress has already sang alongside Kojey Radical and Poppy Ajudha and supported Mahalia on her UK tour, displaying her undeniable talent and hinting at her imminent rise.
‘Silver Over Gold’ is out now.
the internet released the sensual soundtrack to your summer with new album ‘hive mind’
In this time of uncertainty, long Summer days can feel never-ending. Luckily for us, The Internet came through and gifted us with the sensual, funky soul album of the Summer with their latest release, ‘Hive Mind’.
When the band went on to pursue solo projects after releasing ‘Ego Death’ back in 2015, vocalist Syd, guitarist Steve Lacy, producer Matt Martians, drummer Christopher Smith and bassist Patrick Paige II came back and combined all their individual growth to create a cohesive “slow burn” masterpiece that can easily provide the perfect soundtrack to our memorable Summer moments.
The band will be bringing their sensual funk and smooth vocals to AFROPUNK BROOKLYN and ATLANTA so I hope yall copped your tickets!
premiere: feel an overwhelming gratitude for the beauty of life in soulful artist mayaeni’s single ‘cool’
Just in time for the weekend, we’re excited to premiere Detroit singer-songwriter Mayaeni’s brand new sizzling R&B cut that invites us to “cool off.” It’s a damn near perfect summer song that combines elements of R&B past and present, washed out synths, slinky guitars, laid back percussion, and always Mayaeni’s evocative but chill voice floating above. “Cool” does to your ears what ice does to your drink.
“The melody for this song came to me around 3:00 am on a Sunday night in mid June while I was jamming to 3 chords that kept resonating with me,” Mayaeni tells us, “I recorded a voice note of it and fell asleep. The next few days I sat outside on my deck with headphones on & my laptop and built the music around my idea. I was inspired by how happy Summer makes me feel. Just the simplicity of enjoying life. Watching everything in my garden grow, the birds singing, and the sun shining. Essentially, ‘Cool’ is a song about appreciation.”
Stream it below:
Photo by Xavier Cuevas
sade is working on a new album and we’re not ready!
When beloved songstress and hiatus queen Sade emerged from her infamous slumber to grace us mere mortals with a hauntingly beautiful song for the ‘A Wrinkle In Time’ soundtrack, we got excited at the prospect that this could mean solo music could be on the way. We weren’t disappointed.
Stuart Matthewman, a British musician and longtime collaborator of Sade spoke to Rated R&B in an exclusive, stating, “We’re working on a new album.” Needless to say, we are EXCITED! We don’t see much of Sade because she doesn’t seek the limelight and thus never feels the need to force the timeline on her creative process. Matthewman went further by mentioning that Sade and her creative team have worked on a few songs but will only release them once they’re satisfied with the final product.
“It might sound funny but we write and do music to please ourselves and just hope that [we] have good taste and other people will like it.” – Stuart Matthewman.
‘Flowers Of The Universe’ marks 8 years since Sade released ‘Soldier of Love’ (2010), which is not unusual for her considering there was an 8 year gap between ‘Love Deluxe’ (1992) and ‘Lovers Rock’ (2000), followed by a 10 year hiatus between ‘Lovers Rock’ and ‘Soldier of Love’.
Matthewman tells a funny, yet relevant story that perfectly sums up the expected time frame for Sade to drop new music. “Years ago, I think it was when ‘By Your Side,’ the song came out, and big posters were stuck around New York. Someone sprayed or wrote on top of it, ‘Bitch sings when she wants to.’ Sade loved it.” – RatedRnB
Listen to ‘Flowers Of The Universe’ below.
this former prince background singer is bringing the funk in the video for her new single ‘the pepper club’
Judith Hill already boasts the kind of career musicians would KILL for and the songstress is just getting started. The singer/songwriter/musician has snagged a Grammy for featuring in Academy Award winning documentary ’20 Feet from Stardom’. Hill also released an album in 2015 called ‘Back In Time’ that was produced by the late legend Prince, who also performed on the album. Hill’s career highlights don’t stop at Prince either, having previously done backing vocals for the likes of Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.
On May 18th of this year, Hill released the video for her new single “The Pepper Club”, the first single released on her new 13-track studio album “Golden Child”. “Golden Child” is also the name of the musical she penned as she was making her album. “As I kept creating, I realized there was a story to be told, a message that carried a common thread. That’s what inspired the musical.” Hill told Billboard. The musical will be an immersive experience where the audience will sit in the middle much like an installation “celebrating the collaboration between art, fashion and music.”
Rolling Stone has praised Hill for her “stellar powerhouse vocals” that she lends to her to feel-good, funkadelic track ‘The Pepper Club’. Characters in the play are introduced in the video which is littered with a groovy choreography and sweeping camera movements that match the constant energy shown by the inhabitants of ‘The Pepper Club’.
future funk ogs bad rabbits turn the tables with their #timesup anthem “f on the j – o – b”
It’s the rare song that can make your skin crawl at the same time it makes your body move. But Bad Rabbits have always been a rare kind of band. Easily one of the best live bands out there, for their first new song since 2013, the band shreds their corporeal form for an animated alter-ego. The band adopts the inner monologue of an office creep who harasses his coworkers and pays the consequences. It’s a smart and chilling inversion of the band’s usual future-funk, that highlights the line consent draws between sexy and monstrous.
Singer Fredua Boakye intended it as a statement of solidarity with women who experience workplace harassment, saying “The song and the video shame and mock the men who feel entitled to sex just because they are attracted to a woman. The narrator in this song is the guy that Mimi deals with every day at work. To the douchebags that sexually harass women, your time’s up. To women, we just want you to know that we support you.”
mend your broken heart with indie soul artist mayaeni’s healing single “everything”
Detroit-bred songbird Mayaeni’s latest single “Everything” is a heady cascading waterfall of indie-pop mixed with shimmering chords and R&B soul. A track of an introspective, self-exploratory nature, there’s a soothing quality to the singer-songwriter-producer’s search of self that’s both relatable and endearing. “‘Everything’ came from that hollow feeling you get in your heart when you have to be away from someone you love. When circumstances pull you in different directions yet you still wish you could be together Those long distance relationships where one person may have to change their life to fit into the other. There is a sense of fear & sadness in the song but it is also hopeful and slightly dreamy,” says Mayaeni.
Animation:
Photo by Mayaeni
premiere: dive into james bambu’s alt-r&b paradise, “del sol”
James Bambu’s ‘DEL SOL’ is a must-hear for anyone in need of a healing journey into their own subconscious. From the jump, DEL SOL reminded me of literary works like Heart of Darkness, not because of its subject matter, but because of the deeply exploratory themes that radiate throughout the album’s varied musical stylings. A little bossa nova, a little jazz, R&B, tropical melodies and afro-beats, ‘DEL SOL’ is a sun-soaked oasis in a desert of forgettable music. Every track peels back another layer, creating a truly stunning glimpse into Bambu’s authentic self and the listeners.
Bambu tells AFROPUNK: “I’m a very private person, and when I started working on DEL SOL my life began to change for the better. With this, I felt the need to welcome people into my personal world through my music. It was always a goal of mine to use my music as a tool to speak to the Soul, but this project [for me] was about expressiveness, and being honest and open in doing so. I wanted to use DEL SOL to show that there’s no barrier to creativity in any field, and that as a young Black man, expressing one’s self organically is not a dying art.”
Stream the EP below!
Photo by Mr. Iozo @mr._iozo
Photo by Nico Kartel @NicoKartel
PRODUCERS: Herrick & Hooley (full project), Flwr Chyld (Succulent only)
Cover Art & Tracklist: (photos) Mr. Iozo, (design) Anne Heilner, JoyPop Magazine
blast-off with movakween’s afrofuturist rollercoaster of a short film, “peachy”
Shot by visual artist Kyle Yearwood, MovaKween’s short film “Peachy” is an absorbing afrofuturist adventure that bends reality and defies the laws of physics.
With the use of surrealist photo manipulation and animation, “Peachy” tells viewers: “you can create the reality that you want.” Its creators describe it as a “psychedelic rollercoaster”.
Keep an eye on these two.
watch sza and donald glover get real close in the video for ‘garden’
SZA’s brand-new video for her single ‘Garden (Say It Like Dat)’ features Donald Glover as her lover. The two artists had already collaborated when SZA made a cameo in Glover’s latest video, ‘This Is America’ (Childish Gambino).
Catch SZA Live this year at AFROPUNK Paris on July 14!