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Thursday, Nov 12 2020, 5AM
'Trip' is an autobiographical soundscape of Los Angeles singer and songwriter Aiko's healing journey follows the loss of her brother, Miyagi Chilombo, to cancer in 2012, and her futile quest to replace that love with romantic relationships and vices that failed to fill the void. n.pr
www.jheneaiko.com
Check Nick Hakim's beautiful performance of this song and others for KEXP Live at Home here: www.youtube.com
New music from London artist Loyle Carner:
“It’s really just about what it is to be black and white, in a world where you pretty much have to be one or the other,” Carner explained. “It hurts the way I felt about my race back then, is the same way I feel now. Nothing’s changed since my last entry, nothing’s changed since the last century. . . I hope that soon this song is nothing more than a reminder of a different time, and collectively we’re able to move forward to a time of more respect, acceptance and understanding.”
www.nme.com
New music! Salaam Remi explained the album’s meaning:
“We couldn’t gather in the way we were used to when we needed each other most... Now we are more than likely going to be in for another round of quarantine and we will need each other and music more than ever. ... We were black before the election and we will be black after the election.”
Over on the KEXP website you can find a 2018 interview with Seattle's Black Stax founders Felicia Loud and Jace - on a mission to "honor the legacy of Black Arts & Culture by ‘stacking’ all forms of Black music and art."
www.kexp.org
Black Stax also played live in the KEXP studio in 2018 - catch that performance now on our YouTube channel:
youtu.be
In a breakdown of this track, Solange told Song Exploder, “I’ve had an extremely difficult relationship with meditating and trying to silence my brain, which is what so much of this song is about.”
www.solangemusic.com
Exclusive world premier of new music from London-based KOKOROKO!
KOKOROKO channel the greats of West Africa through a jazz-rooted approach, building on the foundations laid by Fela Kuti, Tony Allen and Ebo Taylor; they lace interrelated influences together into a soul shaking, horn fueled sound. They draw from the music they grew up with, the echoes of Afrobeat and highlife heard in melodies, drum patterns and harmonised vocals.
kokoroko.bandcamp.com
The title 'Diaspora' refers to the entirety of Adjuah's listening public, even though the term has specific meanings in the African-American experience, celebrating the rhythmic feels and traditions that arose from the historic movement of African peoples to the Americas and around the globe. The New Orleans trumpeter explains "We're trying to highlight the sameness between seemingly disparate cultures of sound as a means of showing a broader reverence and love for the people who create the sound and the experiences that lead them to those places."
"I have always felt that my journey has been a selfish one. I’ve been very much about my own healing. But what I’ve realized is that when you do tell an authentic story, something resonates with others. And so inadvertently this story has been my generation’s story. I think that there’s a certain honesty that an artist has to have. And I’ve found that it was really important to inject as much honesty as I could."
Read a thoughtful interview with the South African musician:
afropunk.com
Brooklyn-based hip hop recording artist, actress, and comedian, Jean Grae first performed under the moniker "What? What?" as a member of the indie group Natural Resource, providing classic singles such as "Baseball" and "Bum Deal." She has been featured on tracks with Pharoahe Monch, Talib Kweli, The Roots, Wale, Lil B the Based God, Phonte and Joell Ortiz and a long list of others.
jeangrae.bandcamp.com
DC-based singer/songwriter Be Steadwell's original music features earnest lyricism, and proud LGBTQ content. With roots in jazz, acapella and folk, Be calls her music QUEER POP.
bsteady.bandcamp.com
“Your freedom is beyond anyone outside of yourself’s controllin’, it can’t be bought and sold, given away, or even stolen,” Big Rube proclaims. “It’s a divine entitlement, vital to the nourishment of the soul.”
Check out the official video for "Hapi": youtu.be
Rolling Stone writes about the new release "How Spillage Village Hunkered Down in Atlanta and Captured the Chaos of 2020" bit.ly
This song contains "Let Me Try", written by Frank Tirado, performed by Kaleidoscope; samples of "Collection Speech/Unidentified Lining Hymn", recorded by Alan Lomax in 1959, performed by Reverend R.C. Crenshaw; and samples of "Stewball", recorded by Alan Lomax and John Lomax, Sr. in 1947, performed by Prisoner "22" at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.
From NPR: Soon after its release, "Alright" became an anthem for black protest and resistance. The refrain, "We gon' be alright" was a defiant promise — that no matter what happened, black people would lean on each other to make it through.
www.youtube.com
Though we lost his earthly presence earlier this year, Bill Withers continues to provide comfort, encouragement and inspiration through his music, everlasting.
Toronto-based collective of musicians representing Uganda, Bangladesh, Barbados, and India featuring vocalist Rosina Kazi, laptop musician Nicholas "Murr" Murray, and bassist Ian de Sousa. Fusing South-Asian roots, West Indian fruits, and melancholic vocals with jazz and hip hop influences, down tempo grooves, broken soul, and electro, the collective's song lyrics are socially conscious poetry.
Always hauntingly beautiful, "Sometimes It Snows in April" gained a new mythology after Prince's death on April 21, 2016, 31 years to the day after the song's original recording.
Seattle rapper Khingz gained a reputation as a skilled battle emcee in the early 2000s. From there, he performed as part of hip-hop group Abyssinian Creole with Gabriel Teodros (2001-2008), and performed as a member of Seattle-based hip-hop supergroup Good Medicine (with Geologic of Blue Scholars, Gabriel Teodros, and Macklemore), the trio Hi-Life Soundsystem (with B-Flat and Crispy of Godspeed), and The Livin Yard (with Gabriel Teodros and Nam) and as a solo artist.
khingz.bandcamp.com
The British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer has received the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards. This song was written for Ms. Dynamite's younger brother, the MC, Akala.
"Ethiopian-born and San Francisco-based singer-songwriter, Meklit Hadero's music and life are inextricably linked to the rich cultural tapestry of her background. A catchy crossroads of Chicago blues and New Orleans soul, singer, guitarist and bandleader Quinn DeVeaux has been packing Bay Area dance floors for years. Now, for the first time, these two artists of universal appeal and unbounded optimism join forces. Their chemistry and piquant blend of influences drive this selection of originals and covers of their favorite pop songs. From Patti Smith and Talking Heads to Stevie Wonder and Arcade Fire, the San Francisco duo's imagination and passion bring well-loved songs to new life."
Check out her incredible music and much more about Meklit at
www.meklitmusic.com
and from Quinn at
www.quinndeveaux.com
"When Stevie Wonder applied his tremendous songwriting talents to the unsettled social morass that was the early '70s, he produced one of his greatest, most important works, a rich panoply of songs addressing drugs, spirituality, political ethics, the unnecessary perils of urban life, and what looked to be the failure of the '60s dream -- all set within a collection of charts as funky and catchy as any he'd written before." -Allmusic.com
Love goes out to all those hurting in these hard times - you are not alone! Take care of yourself, and be good to others!
Watch Sampha's beautiful, heart-healing live in-studio performance of this song:
youtu.be