In the Caribbean coastal city of Barranquilla, Colombia there’s a movement of freestyle rap battles where up and coming rappers get together to spit fire and make a name for themselves. The best of the best inevitably end up in Flowkillas Studios, working with Curvelo James. Curvelo and his partner Morley de Moya have been hosting the Freestyle Barranquilla competition for five years, inspired by the pro freestyle league Urban Roosters which originated in Spain but quickly spread throughout Latin America. This movement has fueled an emerging Colombian Latin Trap scene, and Curvelo James is right in the middle of it all working with the best talent his city has to offer. His brand new single “Doble” features two gifted young rappers Lil Eish and Ricky C. Part of his upcoming “Ciclos” album which has coalesced over the course of 2021 as a series of collaborative singles, “Doble” features a […]
The 1990’s and early aughts were a golden era for hip hop and R&B, and as an original member of Jurassic Five DJ Nu-Mark was there for it all. Fast forward two decades and Nu-Mark is bringing old school back to school with a new project titled “Run For Cover”, focused on reinterpreting songs from this era with live instrumentation from around the world. The first single off the record just dropped last week, and it’s a Middle Eastern take on the classic all-star remix “Pass The Courvoisier” from Busta Rhymes’s 2001 album “Genesis”. Decked out with tons of hand percussion, oud, doumbek, and a full horn section, this track will have you feeling like you’re blasting through the Sahara in a Range Rover. Producer, turntablist and veteran member of the legendary hip hop group Jurassic 5, DJ Nu-Mark is considered one of the most creative on the scene constantly […]
Michael Martinez has come a long way since his days of street busking on the streets of Bend, Oregon. More than a decade into his career you can find him in the studio writing and recording with heavy hitters in Los Angeles, producing custom music for brands like LG, Samsung and Facebook, as well as running his own film production company where he directs projects for Marvel and Disney. And on top of all that, he still finds the time to make impeccably written and flawlessly produced Americana records under his artist moniker Meekoh. This week he released “From The River”, the lead single from his upcoming EP “The Sun”. The song was written as a tribute to the love of his life, whose tragic struggle with cystic fibrosis necessitated their retreat back to his home state of Oregon in the leadup to the pandemic lockdown in Los Angeles. “We […]
In her stunning new single “Visiones Doradas” (“Golden Visions”), singer/songwriter Loli Molina conjures up an introspective journey through the rugged terrain of the Andes region. The overall tone of the song is melancholy, meant to evoke both the harshness and beauty of the environment. The “golden visions” are an apparition, a mirage in the desolate landscape. The poetry doesn’t translate so well into English, but perhaps it’s beside the point. The music tells its own story, as all great songs do. Loli Molina was born in Buenos Aires but is now based in Mexico City. Her deep connection to Latin America, as viewed through the lens of her own Andalucian ancestry, has an omnipresent influence on her sound. Her goal in music is to always transport her listeners to faraway places, bringing these locations to life and showing that anything is possible. Written and recorded in collaboration with Argentinian singer/songwriter […]
We’re often asked what kinds of songs are in high demand and low supply for sync, and one of them is “sexy but not sexual”. It’s a tricky balance, but you know it when you hear it. Chi-town native Johari Noelle absolutely nails this vibe with “Get Free”. In the opening minute of the song her soft and sultry voice sits atop a subtle dancehall rhythm, then out of nowhere a smooth drum fill launches us into a Badu-esque neo-soul groove. Johari wrote this song to try to bring ease and joy to herself and others, just like that old adage you can’t love anyone until you first learn to love yourself. “My music is about getting out how I feel and being very present in that moment. It’s important for me to embrace myself in a way that empowers me to feel each emotion and remain in touch with […]
British singer-songwriter Jacob Browne releases his brand new single “Say Something” today, an infectiously rhythmic pop song about the tension that arises when communication breaks down in a relationship. “I remember getting to the studio the day of writing and felt so trapped in my relationship. I had been with my partner for over four years, but things just didn’t feel right and we weren’t talking as honestly as we used to. I was so madly in love, but the communication between us was breaking down to a point of no return. After messaging her a few times with no reply and having already confided in my struggles with my songwriting partner; that’s when “Say Something” was born. After this point, we knew we needed to create a production that was extremely powerful and exceptionally melodic as to ensure we were matching the emotive story that we had come up […]
When Scary Pockets joined our roster back in March it seemed less like an artist signing than a full-on enterprise level partnership. The band is like a well-oiled machine, relentlessly cranking out a new cover every week accompanied by a professionally filmed live video posted to their highly successful YouTube channel. Their massive catalog has single-handedly more than tripled our covers library, opening up some excellent opportunities for us to work on productions requiring a degree of recognizability. This week Scary Pockets released a new cover of one of our all-time favorites, the Isley Brothers classic “It’s Your Thing”. This isn’t so much of a reinterpretation as it is a gender flip, with the fabulous Brooke Simpson absolutely crushing it on vocals. Scary Pockets is comprised of two core members, musicians Ryan Lerman (John Legend, Michael Buble, Ben Folds) and Jack Conte (Pomplamoose, CEO of Patreon), featuring some of LA’s […]
Dan Berk is a bit obsessive, which might actually be his secret weapon. As a child, his deep love for acoustic cover artists like Leroy Sanchez, Megan Davies, Boyce Avenue and Emma Heesters led him to start over-analyzing every detail of the craft. He soon found himself cracking the code to the perfect acoustic cover and set out to begin recording his own. Starting in 2018, Dan released a steady string of acoustic covers that quickly racked up well over 100 million streams on Spotify. These covers seemed to resonate deeply with the Gen Z crowd who found comfort in his emotional renditions of songs like “Solo”, “Burn”, “Hey Brother” and “Ruin My Life”. Now with a devoted fan base of 1.1 million Spotify monthly listeners, Dan Berk is moving into the next phase of his career by finding his own voice as an artist. This past week he debuted […]
Back with a brand new single “Fuego”, Bronx native YONAS brings back the 🔥 once again. For the past decade YONAS has been consistently putting out some of the best underground hip hop records you’ll find anywhere. During that time he’s racked up over half a billion combined streams and sales (man, remember when people used to actually buy records?), put out collabs with artists like Logic and Cherub, and shared the stage with Macklemore, Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q. Standing on the shoulders of thought leaders like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Big L, Immortal Technique, Common, and Lauryn Hill, YONAS aims to challenge the mind while still bringing good vibes. His music is thought provoking, highly polished and straight up hooky as hell. These attributes are sadly in short supply these days. “It’s crazy because the song is almost written in parts like a piece of classical music. The […]
Here in Brooklyn this time of year is a big deal, it’s when we finally get to enjoy our first taste of warm and breezy weather. And after the brutal COVID winter, it’s all the more special to finally be able to get outside and bask in the sun! This feeling isn’t lost on native New Yorker turned L.A. music supervisor Russell Manning, aka Rush Midnight, whose new single “Wine & Summertime” is the perfect soundtrack to getting back to enjoying the simple things in life. The second single off his upcoming album “Delilah”, the song is dreamy, sensual and subtly funky. Somewhat reminiscent of Tame Impala, “Wine & Summertime” strikes a balance between retro and futuristic depending on the perspective of the listener. As you might expect from a band led by an Oberlin-trained jazz bassist, Rush Midnight’s music is centered around Manning’s flawless melodic basslines. With less emphasis […]