Browsing Tag

Jazz Hip Hop

Jfons proved pace is the trick in his soul-driven old-school hip-hop single, Can I Get a Minute

Posted on 22 August 2023

If you’re looking for your next 80s hip-hop nostalgia fix, don’t look past the slick with jazzy retro soul latest single, Can I Get a Minute, by the rap trailblazer, Jfons, who knows exactly how to push euphoria through his grooves to create perennial urban earworms.

The progressive structure of the lush with reverb hit ensures that with every beat, you will become deeper entwined with the smooth melodies and arrested by the sultry narrative that humbly captures the pure and innocent moment of attempting to catch someone’s eye. Even the staunchest romantic cynics won’t be able to proclaim that romance is dead after easing themselves into the grooves in Can I Get a Minute.

Can I Get a Minute has already racked up over 40k streams across all streaming platforms, and it doesn’t look as though the momentum driven by the hype around the track is going to falter any time soon. Get Can I Get a Minute in your ears by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Smokerface Chris Clay created the ultimate hip-hop anthem for morning mourning, Don’t Wake Up

Posted on 1 May 2023

Smokerface Chris Clay pulled out all the subversive stops in his latest single, Don’t Wake Up, by fusing consciousness regret with jazzy high vibe hip hop instrumentals to create a sonic contradiction that is wholly relatable to anyone who knows how it feels to greet the cold light of day with morning mourning. Don’t Wake Up is the ultimate testament to his playfully pensive autonomy, which proves that no picture can be painted in only tones of black and white.

When it comes to rapper origin stories, Smokerface Chris Clay’s is hard to beat. When driving through Hurricane Isabelle, he hit a car head-on and was ejected from his back windshield, unbeknownst to his friend, who was driving behind him, who ran over his head. He was declared head on-site but later revived before he was comatose for a month. When he woke, he freestyled to the nurses – despite never having expressed an interest in rap before. In his semi-conscious state, he made his determination to become a rapper known; in 2022, he stayed true to that promise by dropping his first official single, Live It Up.

Don’t Wake Up is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Danny Whacko is scintillatingly speculative in his latest rap track, I got a question… (Humble Thoughts)

Posted on 16 April 2023

Even though the muse evidently found rapper Danny Whacko before he polished off his latest single, I got a question… (Humble Thoughts), plenty of ruminative musing runs through the contemplative single, which speculates on how long it will be before the world wakes up to the injustice and takes collective action.

Philosophers have argued that it is the age of the individual, but the masses are all united with their heads in the sand to what is tearing through the lives victimised to systematic oppression. I got a question… (Humble Thoughts) is a sombre experience, lightened slightly through the gentle jazzy soulful beats, but there is no fully dampening the lyrical blows which pull all the punches on the apathetic. It’s a stunning release that will ensure your eyes are prised wide open.

The official music video for I got a question was released on April 7; view it on YouTube.

Amelia Vandergast

DreadpooL resisted oppressive gravity in his upraising Old-School hip hop hit, Nothing Comes Easy

Posted on 8 April 2023

If everyone was exposed to the harsh and universal truths in DreadpooL’s single, Nothing Comes Easy, before stepping into the jaws of reality and felt how sharp the teeth are first-hand, there would be infinitely less disillusion amongst the disenfranchised youth.

The lyrically rich old-school hit is the perfect introduction to the Springfield, VA-based artist and producer, who formerly released music under the moniker Crescendo. He lay it all down on the enlivening luxe backbeats that are heightened with the jazzy trickling keys and smoky sax lines that bring filmic class to the addictive release that keeps on giving with every listen. It is the ultimate manifesto on how to keep your head high, even when everything is working against you and pulling you down. Piteous apathy won’t stand a chance agains this trailblazing hit.

Nothing Comes Easy is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Emotional Connection Amplifies the Sultry Chemistry in Keldamuzik’s single, Mind Sex, ft Kafani & Mika

Posted on 18 March 2023

Keldamuzik (AKA Kelda Williams) is taking over the entertainment industry with her hip-hop hits, TV hosting and acting career; her talents notably know few bounds, and her iconic hit, Mind Sex, more than proves she’s the queen of all trades.

The single, created in collaboration with the featuring artists Kafani & Mika, salaciously tips the balance towards soul while never turning down the heat to a simmer; her red hot vocal lines scorch through the jazzy RnB hip-hop instrumentals while the lyrics narrate soft sensuality into lascivious empowerment.

Cardi B could notably learn a thing or two from this testament to how sexual friction always tastes sweeter when there’s an emotional connection stirring the passion. If you’re not turned on by the outro, you might want to hold a memorial for your libido.

Check out the official music video for Mind Sex via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lemar French created a jazzy celestial tapestry with his suspensefully filmic hip-hop single, Moving Stars

Posted on 9 March 2023

Here to prove that hip hop can be classy and gritty in the same suspensefully cadenced breath is the Steel City, PA native and seasoned MC Lemar Fresh, with his immersively elevated hit single, Moving Stars.

With all the smoke and glamour of a metropolis after dark, Moving Stars moves like a starlet on a red carpet under his magnetically low-timbered bars and jazzy interludes, which find the perfect balance between sultry and sophisticated.

With 15 years as an MC under his belt and production receipts with everyone from WQED to Rhymefest to Mac Miller to Diamond D, the Houston-residing artist strove for hip hop purity and came up with 24 karat hip hop gold.

Stream Moving Stars, which was released on February 27th, by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jazzy hip hop hit the streets of London through Dylan Dixon’s luminary hit, REAPER

Posted on 9 February 2023

After a hiatus, Southwest London’s slickest rapper, Dylan Dixon, is on razor-sharp form in his sophomore single, REAPER. With instrumentals that would be equally as home in the East Coast hip-hop arena, the trumpet-infused triumph is a scintillating hit that more than compensates for the lack of experimentation in the UK hip-hop scene that scarcely looks beyond drill and grime.

While the cinematic soul of the jazzy instrumentals set a euphonic score, Dixon comes in heavy with his bars that are enough to leave your head in a spin with their cutting canter and charisma-dripping wordplay, which inadvertently makes a mockery of what most rappers think are dynamic bars.

Influenced by the likes of Griselda, Kanye, and Ghetts, Dixon found his own urban signature in unchartered territory, through determination to never to assimilate while paying homage to the pioneering acts who came before him.

Stream REAPER on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Solomon Jones released the dualistic hip-hop single of the year with the subversive single, Snowberry

Posted on 28 December 2022

Taken from his album, Glass, the standout single, Snowberry, from the up-and-coming New Jersey-residing hip-hop artist, Solomon Jones, is a lesson in subversive expression.

From a smooth and jazzy prelude that drips pure soul and seduction through the backing vocals around his hushed spoken-word timbre, the track abruptly yet seamlessly takes a drastic turn in direction.

After confessing amorous feelings, Solomon Jones exhibits his dark and “cursed” side before bringing the soul back in, proving that the line between light and dark resides in us all and we’re only fooling ourselves by denying our intrinsically dualistic nature. Sonically, Snowberry is subtle. Yet that didn’t stand in the way of the versatile artist from delivering one of the most impactful hip-hop singles of the year.

The album was released on December 10th; it is now available to stream and purchase via apple music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Karrell – Mama’s Boy I: Jazzy Grooves, Choppy Flows and Endless Introspection

Posted on 26 December 2022

‘Kid in a Box’ is the debut LP from the up-and-coming hip-hop artist, Karrell, who is making short work of winning fans over with his old-school jazzy grooves, choppy flows and lyricism that brings a whole new level of introspection.

The standout single from the 12-track album, Mama’s Boy I, exposes Karrell’s softer side while establishing himself as an artist that knows how to carry conviction in every bar. The self-awareness in the confessionally narrative release, which can dizzy you with the cadence, absolutely sets the bar for other artists wanting to make an impact on their audience.

With both the intro and outro leaving ample room from cinematic old school samples, there is plenty of room to find yourself in the release after understanding Karrell’s vices, history, talents, and shortfalls that have left to expressive triumph.

Mama’s Boy I was released on December 14; catch it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Roc Flowers elevated the airwaves with his ground-breaking LP, Ovision

Posted on 3 November 2022

Roc Flowers became the Mike Patton of his generation with the launch of his genre-melding gospel album, Ovision, featuring various artists, including Fabrizio Bosso, Max Ionata, Stefano De Donato, Francesco Cherubini, Leonardo Volo, and Toti Panzanelli.

The opening single, God is Blue, starts with a quiescent neo-classic deliverance of jazzy pop tones, before hushed harmonic vocal lines and rap bars recontextualise the soundscape in scintillating fashion.

Not only would you be hard-pressed to find another artist delivering such a cathartic fusionist sound, but Roc Flowers also ensures that you’re left so sated that you’ll want for nothing while immersing yourself in this exploratory album which covers plenty of the tonal spectrum while indulging you in Gospel-Esque soul.

It’s easy listening as you’ve never known it before. The reference to Peaches in track 3 in the lyric “I can move the pussy like Peaches but I’d rather get our souls into deepness” was completely unexpected, but my god, it was appreciated. It truly is an LP that keeps on giving.

Ovision is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast