Day 46: 11 Minutes by YUNGBLUD ft. Halsey and Travis Barker

New music Friday brings us a cracking track from up and coming YUNGBLUD, established pop vocalist Halsey and legendary rock drummer Travis Barker.

Travis is most famed for his crazy drum solos as one third of the iconic Blink-182. His inclusion on the track is an interesting one, but it is very clear that his signature has been stamped heavily across the instrumental and fits the trajectory of YUNGBLUD’s young career. Dominic Harrison is from Doncaster and, whilst similarities are easily made to Jamie T and Ratboy, his hip-hop influences are also clear to see. The use of the word “yung” is an obvious example, as that has been adopted by the new breed of rap stars. His rock music also has inflections of hip-hop as well and it is this theme that ties the three artists together.

The song is a punk song at heart, with an ominous guitar chord progression and desperate lyrics that make for a great driving song, or a gritty montage track for an on-the-clock situation.

The artwork again evokes images of 90s punk and grunge, with the graphic to the right reminding me of a Banksy piece. This isn’t the first time Halsey has moved across into the emo space, as she collaborated with Juice WRLD on a remix of her smash hit Without Me, as well as covering the artists breakout single Lucid Dreams in her BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge a few months ago.

This song is a great example of how fluid music genres are becoming. Hip-hop is not just rap anymore, and rock isn’t confined to four-piece bands. The culture around genres are driving the development of the sound and this allows for some truly complex masterpieces being released almost weekly. This genre-bending, generation-spanning track is my favourite release of the week and is a testament to where music creation has reached.

Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex

Day 45: Selfish by Future ft.Rihanna

A great collaboration for you on Valentine’s Day, though not the most romantic song that you’ll ever hear! Rihanna joins Future on Selfish. From Future’s 2017 album HNDRXX, it is a song that reevaluates a past connection and, to be honest, feels like the anthem for many people in the run-up to this year’s Valentine’s Day, desperately searching for a date.

There is very little instrumental in the song, which for Rihanna’s solos makes for a beautiful RnB track that makes her incredible vocal range the focal point of the song. Future’s verse is accompanied with a few more trap drums and a substantial dose of autotune, as has been the standard for the Atlanta trailblazer over the years, but the blend between verse and chorus and back into verse is smooth and isn’t a noticeable distraction from the song.

It’s no wonder that the song (and indeed the album as a whole) is melancholy and gloomy. Future released the album less than a year after his very public split from fellow artist Ciara, whilst this follows Rihanna’s eighth studio album, ANTI. The album comes from a similar, emotional place and the collaboration in this song is a perfect storm that has created a moody slow jam that might just be the perfect soundtrack for your Valentine’s. I hope you are listening to Luther Van Dross. But if not, then you could most certainly do worse than Selfish.

Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex

Day 42: Homerton B by Unknown T

It has been a devastating week for the world of grime. Over the weekend, up and coming star Cadet died in a car crash in a taxi on the way to the gig. The whole scene came together; AJ Tracey postponed his album promotion, and there was a large gathering in a London park where, led by Cadet’s mum, balloons were released in his memory. Events like this make you value life and how cruel a mistress death can be, no matter your status.

Cadet was rising with a new breed of grime superstars, including the likes of Dave, the aforementioned AJ Tracey, Tion Wayne, drill-based Headie One and today’s featured artist, Unknown T. Ironically getting more and more traction from his hit song Homerton B, T has taken the genres of grime and drill and tried to make the latter more palatable to the masses. It is a controversial song, mainly referencing the East London artist’s E9 borough of Homerton and the gang violence in which he was embroiled in during his earlier years.

Released without a label, as much of the underground London music is nowadays, it reflects a potential transition that is currently happening, with grime allowing room at the top of UK hip-hop for drill artists like Unknown T and Headie One to create crossover bangers. I’m very interested to see how this grime/drill crossover develops and continues to co-exist. The sounds of the streets will never die, but is it possible that perhaps the BPM will?

Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex