The Albums 2017 Forgot That 2018 Needs To Remember
The New Year is here. Whether entry into the unknown territory of another 12 months is met with haste, tentative steps or tempestuous tiptoe, along with it shall surely bring an onslaught of media headlines. Perhaps, in a grandiose and generalising manner, I propose we all would rather wish to see the end of: enforced austerity, mass shootings, a lack of support for the marginalized, Donald Trump’s tweets, a lack of quick action for the victims of Grenfell Tower, terrorist attacks and unpredictable severe weather around the globe. All of which, unfortunately graced the covers of newspapers, and acted as the soundtrack to a conveyor belt of worldly news-cycles. To an extent, much of the described issues even entered into the lyrics of artists who simply just had something to say such as Logic’s 1800–273–8255 — and boy did we listen.
But what about the songs by artists that didn’t necessarily reach the headlines or at least have their projects given that mainstream finesse? What about their words, their issues, their stories? The last 12 months brought upon us a world-wind of news and music, that often led to great cultivation's left in the rear view — for dust. However, let us not forget and choose to check out the albums and projects that our 2018 ought to remember.
Pink Lightning — EP
Singer songwriter Xavier Omär (formerly SPZRKT) is a wonder, birthed from the crevices of Soundcloud — at least for the most loyal of listener. Now known typically as an R&B artist, Omär has experimented in the past with everything from electronic sounds, alternative, Christian Hip-Hop, Pop and Dance. Albeit, not an album per say, Pink Lightning does act as a short, splendidly-sweet selection of tracks.
We are initially met with Runnin’ Round which really does set the great mid-tempo vibe for the rest of the extended play. Lyrics on Runnin’ Round are simple, repetitive catchy vocals, yet met with a wonderfully infectious instrumental. The standout record acts as Change On Me featuring Leuca, a swooning, soft yet ‘fear-at-the-loss-of-love-type-song’; the track is both imaginatively truthful and insecure, emotions laid completely bare alike the feet on the pink cover illustrated by rapper and prior collaborator Asaiah Ziv.
Never Twice The Same — EP
Female producers are very much needed in an industry conglomerated by the male form. Polish music producer Chloe Martini (born Anna Żmijewska) is out here to break those glass ceilings — or at least appears to be. Sliding from her initial film score compositions to electronic beats, she has been able to construct a cool, smooth-yet-sometimes-bumpy extended play, fit for a journey in a drop-top. Never Twice The Same is sadly short, but tantalisingly sweet.
Midnight Moonlight — EP
Born and raised in Chicago Illinois, Ravyn Lenae’s sound acts as alight refreshing sonic gift to the cochlea. Midnight Moonlight sends electronic vibrations that help to stand above the typical melancholic drivel often presented by mainstream music. Pressing play on track number three, sexy and sensual, Spice delves straight into the unfamiliar world that Lenae is at best able to audibly paint. So basically, without exaggeration an absolute vibe. This sense of artistic exploration continues with the visuals with second in command Unknown; the music video produced by Mike Monacho surely holds key to the inception of imaginary, escapist productions yet to come from this artist.
Perhaps for now, what is deserved is that this singer-songwriter is respectfully able to gain more of a following than the current, approximate 8,100 YouTube subscribers. A shame.
Fans may not have to sit and wait too long for new music though, as the upcoming joint-project with Steve Lacy entitled Crush, is expected to be released January 26th 2018.
In Gods Body
Wherever Little Simz ends Kojey Radical begins. An awful way to describe an artist but, perhaps what correlates the two is indeed their wonder. Sometimes the radical nature of the refreshing Kojey is hard to explain in both prose and conversation to a newbie. A poet with a background in art, who isn’t a grime artist, that is not afraid of shouting out at cultural imbalance and political hegemony. But, Kojey Radical must not be boxed-in. Here, I must refrain from doing the obvious comparison to a weaker yet more culturally penetrating, British Kendrick Lamar — but I do so anyway. Harsh, brash and rash yet equally as telling, antagonising and resonating; these descriptions alike the very artist himself, all of which is exemplified in various forms across this fantastic body of work.
In Gods Body, is a collage of outcries heard in the impressive, loud and vigorous introductions of After Winter, Mood featuring the formidable Ghetts and Utopia to the sweeter, milder, yet still audibly palatable Nostrand Ave and Love Intersection. Resonating on the more somber selection of songs such as Afraid Of and Icarus, is the stand-out record 700 Pennies featuring vocals from Shae.
Exciting crowds of London to Johannesburg and São Paulo to Auckland, Kojey Radical has surely been ordained to be a remarkable talent.
HEAVN
Love. Poetry. Activism. R&B.
“All parts strengthen the whole.”
Chicago born Jamila Woods is perhaps an artist of undeniable substance. Every record composed on HEAVN is music clearly crafted by personal passion, influence and perception. Although officially released on Soundcloud in 2016, Woods has been able to cultivate a soundtrack of emotion-evoking records, escaping the boundaries of relevance constructed by time and popular culture newness’. Be sure to over-indulge in the Donell Jones sampled LSD, featuring Chance The Rapper, directed by the gems that are Sam Bailey and Vincent Martell.
Infrared Deluxe
American singer-songwriter Dawn Angeliqué Richard, known as the logistically unpronounceable D∆WN or just simply as Dawn Richard, holds multi platinum albums under her belt. Dirty Money spawned success with Last Train to Paris, a gold single with Hello Good Morning, and a three time platinum single — Coming Home. Dawn Richard has performed with YouTube on the platform’s first ever 360-degree live performance and even created a 3D virtual reality universe for one of her music videos. These achievements act as trophies to a career still often described as “underground” of which I have previously written about here. Despite this, Richard continues to push the norms as an independent artist with the likes of influential music, that cannot be put into a box and defined by the mainstream.
Infrared Deluxe uniquely features as a 14 track project with only 4 original songs: Honest, How I Get It, Paint It Blue and Baptize. The rest of the album, act as remixes of these preceding records culminating features from the the likes of Kingdom, Helix, Rizzla, Byrell The Great and D’ivoli S’vere. However, it is Leonce a connoisseur of that bounce flow via his Soundcloud, that steals the show with his version of Baptize; the producer even has EP of his own out now — Insurgency, which you can check out here.
Laila’s Wisdom
Hopping onto the scene & into the playlists of many due that Kendrick collab, word on the street is that Rapsody, was one of the greatest Hip-Hop album’s of 2017.
Born Marlanna Evans, Rapsody is a tremendously talented rapper from Snow Hill, North Carolina. Often categorised within the realms of conscious rap and pro-black, the Roc Nation signed emcee has just earned herself two Grammy nods with her latest effort. Cut straight to the chase with the likes of Black And Ugly and Power or, delve into the depth of documentary, as Rapsody gives her synopsis, and details behind the creative process with Tidal here.
CP4
Who knew Omarion dropped new music in 2017? Albeit controversial, many of Omarion’s releases lack that impacting force we are accustomed with the likes of his U.S male R&B comrades.
Despite this, Omarion has released CP4, which is worthy of more than a social media buzz and at best a North American theatre tour. Although, nothing to be over-impressed by, Omarion has done what he has done repeatedly throughout the years — drop decent nonchalant singles.
Hoodrich Vol. 3
Trap meets soulful vocals.
Born Diana De Brito, IAMDDB sings, raps and produces all the way from the uber talented depths of Manchester, England. She happens to refer to her sound as “urban soul”, evidently and efficiently embracing her Mancunian, Angolan, and Portuguese roots; all of which blessed her with the ability of growing up in a world listening to the various genres of afro-jazz, samba and afro-soul. It is this blend of influence that forms the creation of differing, dense and distinct sounds throughout Hoodrich Vol. 3. The production value is quite incredulous on the petite 7-track project from IAMDDB, who to this day is still an independent artist.
But, despite the semantics of her description, IAMDDB is able to lean headfirst into an underpopulated arena of UK female trap, for a clear photo-finish. It is what the industry needs nationally and regionally up-and-down the UK, as well as for the culture on a global scale. Despite the needed buzz of Shade, spawning the unforgettable leading lyrics “bad b*tch no underwear” and equally hard G.A.F, the most subtly infectious is More below.
IHY
Released October 24th 2017, IHY features as Iman Omari’s latest album. Hailing from Inglewood, Los Angeles, the singer and producer continues to prove that good alternative R&B music will be heard. IHY acts as another notch to his bedpost of various releases as he has equaled nearly 10 projects over the course of four years.
Iman Omari is a songwriter, vocalist, and producer cultivating a mellow mash of relaxed synthesised instrumentation and live samples. Ashamedly, virtually unknown on a grander scale of things, it is his obvious taste that proves testament to his forthcoming bequest. The song Omari’s Mood from Omari’s 2015 release High-Loops and Higher-Loops, was used at the beginning of Kendrick Lamar’s performance at the 58th Grammy Awards. Move Too Fast featuring Anna Wise, Kama Sutra and the enigmatically escapist Deep act as the starring singles on IHY that you need to hear.
Iman Omari helps to prove once again that an independent artist doing their own thing, perhaps holds the key to initiating the true unique, creative, sonic experience. As the co-founder of Vibe Music Collective, which aims to connect that smaller collective to the globe, embrace a haulage of relating artists yourself here.
Take Me Apart
2017 saw the long-awaited return of Kelela.
Are her vocals the the return of 90’s R&B? Isn’t her sound a collective of electronic sounds with a soulful voice? Or is she simply an ode to the realms of Alternative R&B since her debut mixtape, Cut 4 Me, was released in 2013?
Despite any answer to these questions she does provide the eye-opening answer to her industry invisibility, throughout these years stating:
“…it took so long was because I had a toolbox that worked for my previous experiences and it just didn’t work in the music industry. By that I mean I had to learn how oppression works in the music industry, specific to my experience as a black woman, as a queer black woman. It just took a lot of time to adjust to that experience.”
Despite this, Kelela has continued to give us the art some are desperately in need of. Once more she returned to working with the producers behind Cut 4 Me, Jam City and Bok Bok, alongside the avant-garde Arca. However, throughout Take Me Apart is the reminiscent melody of Janet Jackson.
This is represented in two of the greatest songs on the whole album Bluff and Jupiter, which are cleverly yet frustratingly, refused their true honour. Perhaps, all entwined with both the lyrics and feels of the duo, or as an act of diversifying the sound away from a more relating sound, such as All The Way Down? Despite this, on the other hand, the listener is offered compensation with the likes of S.O.S, Enough and Waitin. The latter of which, acts as one of Kelela’s leading singles to-date streamed on Spotify and cultivated the great goosebump-primping, live rendition for BBC Radio 1’s Piano Sessions.
FR32
“And I can feel it trickle down hit the roof, make a stain
But would they really stick around when you new? They remain
When you’re old, would they stay?
Would they sing Sam Smith cause it plays everyday?
This is Hov, this is Dame
This is cold, this is play
This is dope, this is caine
This is so, innovate”— Wretch 32, Gracious featuring Loick Essien
Wretch lost out on Best Hip-Hop Act and Best Album at 2017’s MOBO Awards, of which he has had his fare share of snubs in the past. MOBO aside, how is it possible that one of the UK’s best lyricists drops an album so beneficial for the culture, but is repeatedly not given the accolades he deserves? He is even the one to amp up Mo Farah before his Olympic wins. Perhaps, now it is the expectation from societies urge for the familiar or typical high-charting tales (or lack of) from black British men who rap, and not this blur between Hip-Hop and Grime, that drives the mainstream applause?
Although, the radio friendly Whistle and Tell Me featuring Kojo Funds and Jahlani performed well, the album as a whole, is a reflection of a variation of truthful emotionally-charging perspectives. In some regards, Wretch is able to offer a deeper insightful take on topics that aren’t always presented in the package of British “urban music,” such as power struggles, spirituality, paternity and mature, complex romantic relationships.
Love You Really
Elli Ingram is a diamond. A British one at that.
What she is isn’t is that Poetic Justice cover — she is much more. At least that is what her debut album Love You Really presents to us. Instead, we are fired with a barrage of deeper, less-obvious take on the illustrious, neo-soul alleyway to R&B.
Savvy, sensual and surprisingly illuminating, Love You Really is clearly one of the UK’s debuts that missed everybody’s headtop. Albeit, not to everyone’s taste, be sure to check out the stand-out records Better Alone and Stone Cold.
Trip
The album opens with the mind-bending alteration of sounds and feelings — LSD. Here is the initial representation of Jhene Aiko’s presentation of drugs matched with the loss of love and embrace of pain. Jhene explained that throughout her life and ever since her brother’s passing, she has been intrigued in death. Aptly, followed is the saddening and reflective Jukai, a song specifically inspired by Japan’s Aokigahara, known as Suicide Forest or Ocean of trees at the base of Mount Fuji Japan; a place where hundreds of people go to commit suicide every year. As an outro to Jukai, is a questioning and eerily suspicious voice that creeps intermittently throughout. According to Jhene:
“It’s a double/triple entendre: The male voice that you hear throughout the album is the love interest or my conscience. He also represents the devil disguised as an angel, because he keeps offering me these drugs. It’s like, ‘Who are you, really?’ He appears at first to be an angel, but then he turns into someone that is not.”
It is then that and with all of this in mind that we are indeed initially on our…trip.
Aiko’s second studio album acts as 2017 greatest releases. Using the expected theme of narcotics, hallucinogenics and spirituality Jhene offers an incredibly honest, compilation of great music. Although better to be heard in its conventional order, with features from Brandy, Mali Music, Big Sean and Swae Lee you are truly spoilt.
Notably due to its expected autobiographical nature, Trip features as the soundscape of healing — following the loss of her brother, Miyagi Chilombo — and the rocky, questioning side to relationships of a romantic nature. The album is part of project MAP: a movie (TRIP -the short film), an album (TRIP) and the poetry book 2fish.
