Browsing Tag

RnB Trap Pop

UK-based artist Soul has released his ethereal RnB trap track, move on.

Posted on 29 July 2021
https://soundcloud.com/soul_233/move-on

UK-based RnB artist Soul has made an ethereally dark contribution to the genre with the release of the standout single, move on. The steady, deadpan vocals occupy plenty of space in the soundscape that finds its structure through downtempo, melodic trap beats.

Soul may be fresh from his inception, but the self-taught artist is discernibly well-practised in the art of expression. His melancholy-erring sound extends compassion instead of self-apathy while he explores the dark places our minds can take us to.

We’ve come a long way in recent years with opening up the conversation around mental health. Raw tracks such as move on are only going to make it easier to break the stigma and move away from our tendency to leave mental scars on people we once found affection for.

move on is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Holly Santonato – Wildfires featuring Mona: Empoweringly Affectionate RnB

Posted on 29 May 2021

Two RnB soul luminaries in their own right, Holly Santonato and Mona, teamed up for the collaborative single, ‘Wildfires’; a serious contender for the most stylish RnB track of the year.

The release flows with the change in the tide of contemporary RnB; between the affectionate and amorous tropes, you’ll get to explore the darker, far more insidious side to love. This multi-faceted track is steeped in enough realism that it will simultaneously remind you of the importance of knowing your worth and how sweet it can be to utterly surrender to another soul. It’s a stunning extension of the ‘playing with fire always leaves your fingers burned’ motif that perpetuates through contemporary culture.

With the distinctively soulful dual vocals pulling together to offer plenty of collaborative chemistry over melodic downtempo trap beats, it’s impossible not to fall into the serene and sultry atmosphere in Wildfires.

Whether they’re working together or solo, we hope to hear more from Holly and Mona in 2021 and beyond.

You can check it out for yourselves by heading over here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pray4Diego just can’t ‘Forget You’

Posted on 7 May 2021

Based out of Brooklyn, NYC, Pray4Diego is an independent recording artist and producer; new single ‘Forget You’ is a great mix of higher-tempo, hi-hat-focussed beats, tenderly picked electric guitar, and gentle, laid-back rap groove from Pray4Diego’s chilled, controlled delivery. Lyrically, it’s a plea to an ex-lover, where regret mingles with hope and a plea for another chance to make things right. It’s a well put-together track, nicely balanced between upbeat and longing, entreaty and repentance, all set to a simple backing of bass, hats, and that cute little repeating guitar line. The simplicity of the music and melody makes the track work, focussing the listener on the vocal line and lyrical flow, encouraging us to listen and take in Pray4Diego’s appeal. It’s tidy, it’s tasty, and it’d genuinely got soul.

You can hear ‘Forget You’ on Spotify; find Pray4Diego on Instagram and SoundCloud.

Review by Alex Holmes

Bottled Minds is set to release their emotive cloud rap earworm ‘PARANOID’

Posted on 9 March 2021
Bottled Minds

San Diego-based artist, Bottled Minds is set to release their most viscerally sweet cloud rap single to date with ‘PARANOID’, the emotive earworm may battle with fraught emotion, but with the artist’s signature sound which pulls in elements of RnB to mellow out the mix, PARANOID resounds with an exemplary optimistic feel.

PARANOID is a perfect testament to the artist’s ability to explore raw and stigmatised emotions and relay them without a hint of self-apathy or romantic cynicism. If the lyrics and harmonically dynamic vocals fail to leave you enraptured, the sugared reverb-laden trappy melodies will be happy to test your soul’s capacity to feel.

Hear Bottled Minds via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hook-Filled Bars Grind Against Reverb-Softened Beats in Sammi Sosa’s latest single ‘Reckless’

Posted on 3 February 2021
Sammi Sosa

Floridian Hip Hop artist, Sammi Sosa, started to find his feet in the underground in 2020, in 2021. His unique melodic approach to rap is set to take him to new heights. His latest single ‘Reckless’ featuring Forever will have plenty to do with his ascention.

With an ambient electronica prelude, you’ll instantly be drawn into the atmospherically-layered mix which drips with serenity; there’s an arrestive contrast between the sedative reverb-softened beats and Sammi Sosa’s grinding hook-filled bars. Plenty of new artists fall in the trap of assimilating popular Rap artists. Not Sammi Sosa. His fearlessness when it came to using his natural charisma allowed his authentic talent to shine through in Reckless. We’re already stoked to hear what urban earworms are in the pipeline.

Reckless was officially released on January 13th, you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Stay up to date with new releases from Sammi Sosa via Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Demo in The Flesh has released their sonorously smooth RnB Trap hit ‘First Contact’

Posted on 11 January 2021

After making their 2019 debut, Demo in the Flesh made a 2020 return with their sensually soulful RnB Trap hit ‘First Contact’.With their sonorously smooth single, Demo in the Flesh delivers refreshing romanticism which only the lucky find outside of soundscapes. With the repetition of ‘I just wanna be direct’, the artist points out how simple love can be and sends a nuanced invitation to reject inaccessible and undependable love which appears through smoke and mirrors.

The slow tempo single is as perception-shifting as it is indulgent to listen to. Here’s to hoping we’ll hear plenty more from Demo in The Flesh in 2021 and beyond.

You can check out First Contact for yourselves by heading over to Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

evan. – ‘Do It All Again’ (Feat. Xodrew)

Posted on 13 November 2020
https://theevanliu.bandcamp.com/releases

What do you do when you’re 19, going through a breakup, and quarantined at your grandparent’s house with no microphone? Well, you call up your friend and get him to ‘Voice Memo’ you vocals to your new track, of course. Never let circumstances get in the way of creativity.

And with that, evan. wrote and produced ‘Do It All Again’, his debut single, with vocals added by Xodrew – a plaintive, trappy hip hop epic, all deep beats and synth tags, Xodrew’s rapped delivery pushed high, front and centre. Sitting at a slightly-hotter-than-dubstep 150 BPM, ‘Do It All Again’ falls just in the perfect groove between dubstep and drum & bass, but with a melancholic piano hook and a deep, reverby feel that perfectly matches the lyrical subject matter. ‘Do It All Again’ is a mature, intelligent debut from a songwriter who’s clearly got significant potential.

Hear ‘Do It All Again’ on Bandcamp, and follow Evan on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Piff Cherry has released her distinctively seductive genre-mashing track “Ride”

Posted on 29 August 2020

The first few pensive notes in Piff Cherry’s recently released single Ride set you up for a stylistic feat of Indie in the same vein as the likes of the National. Yet, the ever-evolving soundscape was given free rein without the constraints of genre boundaries.

With elements of Hip Hop, Indie, Pop and NeoSoul all weaved into the short and sweet mix, it’s dynamically captivating from start to finish. There’s little room to wonder why Piff Cherry has garnered plenty of hype with her distinctively seductive sound. The contrast between the plaintive keys and the sharp rattle of the Trap-style beats adds enough depth to Ride that it’s all too easy to sink into.

You can check out Piff Cherry’s single Ride for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

RnB artist Pavit Sanghera shows us what Feminist music is really about with “Better Decisions”

Posted on 26 August 2020

There’s been a lot of debate whether Cardi B’s latest track is Feminist. However you definite it, it doesn’t contain a fraction of the empowerment found in Pavit Sanghera’s latest single “Better Decisions”.

It’s a straight-up assassination on Fuckboys who think that sex and respect can’t be synonymous and think you owe their raging hormones your body. Just to reaffirm Pavit Sanghera’s point, you don’t.

Pavit Sanghera’s unapologetic resounding attitude in Better Decisions is something I’ll never forget. The laidback RnB rhythms create the perfect atmosphere to allow the listener to soak up all the empowering enlightenment Pavit Sanghera has to offer. We’ll definitely be reserving her a spot on our radar to see what aural gold she serves up next.

You can check out Better Decisions for yourselves by heading over to Spotify or Apple Music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Qeeran – More Than Enough: RnB-Infused Bedroom Pop

Posted on 25 August 2020
Qeeran

Even a global lockdown couldn’t stop Malaysian-born, Melbourne-based artist and producer Qeeran releasing yet another smoothly amorous RnB-infused bedroom Pop single.

Hit play on “More Than Enough” and you’ll sink into a hazy, atmospherically sweet soundscape which has plenty of familiar sentiments to share with anyone who has experienced conflict burning between insecurity and infatuation.

Any fans of The 1975, SG Lewis, Alina Baraz and ELIO will undoubtedly want to delve into this evocatively nostalgic melancholic bedroom Pop masterpiece.

You’ll have to wait a little longer before you can check out More Than Enough for yourselves. In the meantime, check out Qeeran’s equally as airy and resolving releases via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast