Browsing Tag

RnB Rap

Jay Activist turned relationship fault lines into hip-hop gold with ‘MAYBE IM THE PROBLEM’

Posted on 27 September 2026

Jay Activist has stormed through 2026, solidifying his status as an artist who can spin soul into playlist-staple-worthy material. MAYBE IM THE PROBLEM, the title single from his 3-track release, which dropped on September 1st, exhibits the organic warmth of his sound and lyrical proclivity while placing the Southside Atlanta artist on an even more sure-fire trajectory.

The title track strips back the bravado, leaving behind an onslaught of intimate, accountable thoughts that skew the fault lines within relationships until everything feels far less black and white. Jay Activist invites listeners into a world of rhythmically colour-soaked feeling, where Latin guitars, gentle reverb-lush layers, inventive strings and his voice itself become instruments of pure passion. This is not the hollowness of lust; it is the virtue of looking within and feeling a fervid fire ignite as you attempt to reconcile yourself with the mess that surrounds the periphery of your world.

Sitting in the elastic space between rap and R&B, MAYBE IM THE PROBLEM carries the loose melodic charisma you hear in Smino’s more sun-warmed work, the conversational openness of Chance the Rapper and the soulful ease of rappers who allow feeling to outrun ego.

After building from college stages and open mics into venues that scouted him, Jay Activist is way beyond cutting his teeth; this year, he’s been biting down on the airwaves with a razor-wire bite, and we can’t wait to hear what’s next from one of the most promising names in Atlanta’s rap scene.

MAYBE IM THE PROBLEM is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rapid-fire bars surge through dark trap atmospherics in Arden B’s sophomore track, ‘Back in the Day’

Posted on 19 September 2026

If you like catching rap artists on the way up, be quick to jump on the hype of Arden B; there is rocket fuel behind his ascent. The independent Rap and R&B artist, entrepreneur and tech executive hit the ground running with his debut single, WORK, and now, with his sophomore single, Back in the Day, in transmission on the airwaves, he is becoming an unreckonable rap force.

Looking to the past in his lyrics while fully embracing modern production around rapid-fire bars, boom-bap beats and dark trap aesthetics, Arden B feels fully locked into his own lane. He is carried by the volition in his own conviction as he waxes lyrical with the kind of confidence only true talent can hold without sounding overcooked.

The spacey, wavey atmospherics pull you into a vortex of Arden B’s ingenuity, while his hypnotically cadenced bars cut like razor wire. There is a sleek melodic pull here that sits comfortably near the after-dark flex of Bryson Tiller, the motivational hunger of Nipsey Hussle and the clean, self-assured melodic rap charge of A Boogie wit da Hoodie, making Arden B the kind of triple threat artist that could leave most up-and-coming rappers cowering.

Back in the Day raises the stakes ahead of his November 2026 mixtape; he’s set the bar high, but we have no doubt he can defy the gravity that keeps the majority of rap artists down.

Back in the Day is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shadow-Glazed Seduction Cuts Through Cinematic Hip-Hop in Pink Jagg’s ‘Shotgun’

Posted on 23 August 2026

Pink Jagg went deeper into the archives of old-school sample culture for their hypnotically stylised hip-hop single, Shotgun. Built around the brotherly creative partnership of Austin and Jagger Spacy, the project lets Jagg take vocal lead while Austin shapes production that challenges rap’s usual contours with a shadow-glazed, cinematic appetite.

From the intro, Shotgun unravels like a scene from a seduction-swathed espionage film from the golden age of Hollywood, all smoky brass crying out into the atmosphere only a deliciously arranged production can deliver. There is a darkness to Shotgun, one that comes without novelty macabre theatrics; it feels closer to a mind more comfortable in shadow than light.

As the single progresses, it moves further away from old-school hip-hop completely, slipping into a contemporary frame as the cadence of the rap bars sharpens and desire reaches fever pitch. Pink Jagg’s charisma carries a shadowy sense of sex appeal, exhibiting Jagger as a hip-hop heartthrob with poet-at-heart bars that reward repeat listens.

The way the duo wrap soul, RnB, jazzy old-school hip-hop and contemporary rap around one silk-lined threat is enough to spark an unhealthy level of obsession. After DONTFEELBADFORME, Pt. 1 surpassed one million streams with its trip-hoppy leftfield attack on rap monotony, Shotgun is set to fire Pink Jagg onto an even more mainstream map.

Shotgun is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kinju – Lights Out: An RnB Rap Retaliation of Resilience

Posted on 9 May 2026

A trifecta of rap and RnB titans came together for what deserves to become the evocative stormer of the summer, Lights Out. Kinju, DNA Picasso and Keenan TreVon collaborated on a fiery, feverishly fresh contemporary RnB rap anthem which swaps out lingerings of lust for the spite of picking yourself up from the floor when the people around you trampled on you and counted you as down and out.

Everything from 90s pop boyband harmonies to blazing rock riffs to storming rap bars that amplify the sting of spiralling was poured into the alchemic cocktail of innovation, earworm appeal and visceral vocal layering. The ability to impart the emotional architecture of the lyrics into the production, and ultimately the listener, clearly isn’t something that evades Kinju. It’s the kind of track that fuels you with hate for the haters and leaves you under no illusion that Kinju and his collaborators are more than worth championing.

Lights Out hits with the force of a comeback sworn through clenched teeth, while the official video sharpens that sense of purpose into something visually lean and hard-hitting. Produced, mixed and mastered by Slumped, then directed and shot by Jacky Velvet, the single carries a polished bite without sanding down the raw nerve in the writing and performances.

Lights Out is now available to stream on all major platforms, including YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

‘Illegal Ring’ Struck with Midwest Heat and RnB Conviction in Will Ellsworth’s Fire-Brand Single

Posted on 12 July 2025

With an RnB backbone strong enough to carry the weight of Midwest hip-hop and drill’s relentless drive, Will Ellsworth’s Illegal Ring featuring Sincerely… Jxdie and Nolo Ruffin sets the speakers ablaze with a chaos that knows exactly what it’s doing. From the moment the production kicks in, it becomes evident this track wasn’t built to sit politely on playlists; it was made to detonate.

Illegal Ring ricochets between raw confessionals and fired-up declarations of unshakeable loyalty. It’s all heat, no hesitation. The chemistry between the three artists could boil steel; the momentum builds with Ellsworth’s hook, explodes in the verses, then settles into something almost serene before roaring back with a vengeance. It’s a pressure cooker of pain, power, and purpose.

Rather than hiding behind polish, Ellsworth lets every scab and scar show, creating a sound that hits harder because it’s rooted in experience, not industry trends. As a writer, producer, and artist, he’s sculpting movements. His influence is already beginning to ripple through the underground, and with over 10k views on the official video; his command over cultural tides is impossible to deny.

The drill elements don’t just lurk in the shadows, they puncture through the reverb-heavy gloss of RnB, grounding the track in something far more visceral. In a world spinning on shallow content, Illegal Ring keeps its boots firmly planted in realness.

Illegal Ring is now available on all major streaming platforms; for the ultimate experience, stream the official music video on YouTube. 


Review by Amelia Vandergast

BRIEL the Artist Drifted into a New Soul Dimension with BLUR, the Alt-RnB Serenade to Emotional Ghosting

Posted on 16 June 2025

BRIEL the Artist turned a hollowing sense of emotional dislocation into an alt-RnB siren’s call with their latest single, BLUR. Produced in collaboration with brokebwoy, the track leans into a duality of smooth torment and quirked-out levity. Every bar comes cushioned in velvet, yet weighted with enough introspection to crush the psyche if you sit with it too long. Instead of relying on vocal acrobatics or histrionic dramatics, BRIEL exercises a patience in delivery that echoes the paralysis felt when you’re trying to claw through silence to reach someone who has already started leaving the room in their mind.

As the track threads through woozy synth glitches and percussion with clipped sharpness, BRIEL steps between two selves. The late-stage romantic unravelling is narrated both by the ever-earnest BRIEL and his alter ego, P!MP B, who shuffles in as the cheeky shadow self trying to breathe levity into suffocating voids. It’s that tension between despair and forced humour that cuts the deepest; it all feels brutally real, but nothing in BLUR ever begs for sympathy. It just shows you the ache in hi-def.

Pulled from the upcoming debut mixtape, DAMN GENESIS, BLUR introduces BRIEL not as a facsimile of the old school, nor a preacher of post-genre theory, but as someone who takes cues from the soul and sculpts his own sonic altar. This is confessionalism channelled through sonic architecture so twisted, it teeters on avant-garde. Fans of RnB who crave vulnerability without showboating will want to keep BRIEL firmly on their radar.

BLUR is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

– Review by Amelia Vandergast

Raymond Theard & Frannie EL delivered luxe euphonic soul in their latest single, She Wants Me

Posted on 24 April 2023

For their latest single, She Wants Me, the New Orleans born and raised RnB luminary and owner of 4u Productions, Raymond Theard, roped in the vocal cords of Frannie EL to deliver luxe euphonic soul, served with a slice of seductive rap that effortlessly coalesces with his 90s-ESQUE harmonies that turn up the heat on romantic gratitude.

The perfect soundtrack to a late-night drive through a glistening metropolis, She Wants Me reached the pinnacle of sonic sex appeal as it cruises through the mellifluous progressions with groove pockets so deep that you could bed down in them. Instead of solely pulling at the roots of RnB, Theard planted a few soul seeds of his own, enabling the hit to set the bar for any contemporary looking to tattoo themselves in their audiences’ memory.

She Wants Me hit the airwaves on March 31; hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

C Note91 calls for an end to ambiguity in his old school RnB single, How Deep ft. SIR Linho

Posted on 3 November 2022

After the success of his 2022 debut single, Hear No Lies, C Notes91 harmonically laid his love down on the line in his sophomore single, How Deep, featuring the rap artist SIR Linho.

The authentically 90s RnB single keeps the focus on the sweet and smooth vocal lines while the piano keys amorously intersect with the drum pads. SIR Linho’s rap verses which come mid-way through the track with soaring guitar notes add an incredible dynamic to the release that drags you deep into the impassioned outpour of emotion which calls for an end to romantic ambiguity.

It is almost impossible to believe C Notes91’s bio which covers the start of his journey when he had the passion but none of the vocal talent. He’s living and breathing proof that if you endeavour, you’ll get to where you want to be.

How Deep is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Untold Poet is due to drop his most pensively poignant single yet with “Pieces” featuring Megan Rose

Posted on 17 April 2020

Essex-based wordsmith and Rap artist Untold Poet’s latest single “Pieces” featuring Megan Rose adds a significant amount of sincerity onto the airwaves. And that kind of honest, unfiltered connection is more essential now than ever.

Pieces puts our obsession and habits with social media under the aural lens, alluding to the suffocating nature of people’s behaviour online. Everyone’s an expert, everyone is holier than thou, everyone’s quick to judge, everyone is filtered… You may just end up wondering why you spend so much time scrolling through your news feed.

As the poetic Rap bars run through, you sink deeper into the narrative of the arrestive single. The pensively melodic Indie Hip Hop instrumentals also play a heavy hand in submerging you deeper into the soundscape. Adding Megan Rose’s smooth yet piercing RnB Pop vocals into the mix added even more weight to the track. Her vocals may be light and accordant but they share the same haunting air as the atmospheric stripped-back downtempo beats.

We’re ridiculously happy that Untold Poet has dropped onto our radar. After the transfixing track has faded to a close, you’ll undoubtedly feel the same.

Pieces was released on April 17th, you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast