Sina Lark has released a great new track called “Everything I Want to Be” This is a romantic gesture that some of us have been in at least once in our life. The keyboard is the compliment to the lovely voice in this track. take a listen and see for yourself how great this is…Be sure to leave your feedback below. Add this beautiful music to your playlist.
Something different for your playlist! NOVI is here with an electrifying new single titled, Concrete Jungle. It seems to blend EDM, alt R&B and some pop to create a burst of a new center. Every time you hear it, you hear something new almost. I couldn’t get enough of it, very attention grabbing track. I also love how the vocals matched as well.
Get the track: music.apple.com, youtube.com, spotify.com, deezer.com
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Christian rap artist, D’Vo has released a new gospel rap single, What I Can or Can’t Achieve’. The gospel banger knocks nicely in your speaks with the beautiful bassline. The catchiness of the chorus will have you singing along on first listen. I like the confidence he projects in the lyrics, inspires you do be as confident as well. I love that he praises God in all his music, you can honestly never go wrong doing that.
Christian Hip Hop’s newest artist D’Vo, is from Houston Texas. His brother plays multiple instruments the bass, violin, saxophone, and piano. His mother is a singer and a published author. His dad is a musician who plays trumpet and multiple instruments as well and has had several studio albums under his belt. His dad performed opening acts for legendary artists like Smoky Robinson the Bar-kays, Cameo. Growing up with a recording studio in his home, D’Vo has always had musical passion; but now he is harnessing this passion to serve for God.
I’ve Got Next is the debut album from that n.e.r.d life by D’Vo. The acronym n.e.r.d. stands for Needing Eternal Redemption and Deliverance, a reoccurring theme within the project. The official release of the album was December 22, 2019. Get the full project now.
New York rapper B. Chaps & Big O has graced us with another great track called “Kinfolk” (Wake Me Up) I love the mellow sounds as the song begins…The vocals are unique and fantastic! Love the lyrics as they form into skilled rap. The bass beat is really cool. The background harmony is the “bomb” Great song. This is the first track from the brand new EP “Parking Violations” Be sure to listen to this bad rap above and please share your feedback below.
Get the track: music.apple.com, deezer.com, youtube.com
photography & Interview by Shannon Williams
Recently you’ve released your first solo song, what made you want to do it? “What made me release my first solo song would have to be the love I have for my girlfriend. At the time I had zero plans on even putting out any song of my own but during that certain week when I made the song “ Dear Akasha, Is There” I had built up feelings for my girl that I didn’t exactly know how to write on paper or say exactly to her face. So the best way and the most comfortable way I thought I can express those feelings I had towards her at that moment was through a song.”
You’ve always spoken about helping local creatives in your community, how would you help them? Do you have any plans to do so? “Some plans I did have in mind to help out the locals would have to be starting My Independent Record label called “ Musty Records” in the future. With the label, I would try to help young creatives who don’t have a name for themselves in every way possible, teaching them everything that I have learned throughout the industry so they can try to use it in their own way to be successful. I would also like to open up my creative center/ safe place in the city where creatives can come and work on their craft. Being a creative can be hard at times because people might look at you as being “Weird” for following your passion or doing things out of the norm for them. So the center I have in mind building in the future would be a safe place where creatives can call home. It would consist of multiple studio spaces for the artist who would want to record and make beats, space for designers to plan out ideas/ t-shirt makes for them to bring their ideas to life, and area where photographers or video editors can come to lay down some of their ideas.”
Would you ever release a solo project? “I would actually! When I first came into the production scene in 2016 I always vowed and told myself that I would stick to just making beats/always be the behind the scenes type of person because I disliked my voice. But now in 2020, A lot of things have changed for me., I gained more experience making songs, gained more confidence in my voice, lived my life a little more and now I think it’s time to finally share some of my stories with the world within my music.”
Photography by Shannon Williams
Are there other things you want to branch out to creatively other than music? If so, what else would you do? “Some other things I had in mind to branch out doing is to Act/direct movies and be a broadcast journalist for music blogs. Ever since I was little I always had a fascination with acting or doing voice-overs for cartoons so doing one of those would be a dream come true. I also love to watch interviews online so I would love to work for a company like Complex News, Vice, or Genius to be a media personality.”
What inspired you to start making music? “The thing that inspired me to start making was watching my older cousin make music and being around music my entire life. My older cousin named Levi has always been a huge inspiration to me since I was a little kid. He was my super Hero when I was young. He was the person I looked up to the most because he was so fearless, he did not let anybody boss him around or do things he didn’t want to do, he always did things so effortlessly. So watching him also do music made me want to start making some songs of my own. Also ever since I was small, Coming from a Nigerian family, my parents would always play some type of music from the range of Nigerian music to Bob Marley, Shaka Chan, all the way down to Outkast, Beyonce, Kanye West, and The Neptunes from my oldest sister.”
With the state of the world, lots of creatives are finding it hard to go out and create like before. Have you found yourself struggling during this crazy time? What have you been up to while everything has been put to pause? “This COVID-19 situation took everybody by surprise because nobody at this time would have seen this coming at all! When the stay at home order got put into place I was struggling quite a bit because all the plans I did have in mind such as throwing mini shows for the locals, BBQs for the neighborhood, photoshoots, and things in things in that matter had to be pushed back. But by staying home for a couple of weeks and being by myself for most of the time I concluded to change the way I looked at the situation by stating “ why not make the best out of staying home for who knows how long by using all my free time to work on the things I wasn’t so good at music-wise so when it’s finally time to go back outside I can be a better version of myself”. So that is exactly what I have been doing since.”
Photography by Shannon Williams
Photography by Shannon WilliamsWho inspires and motivates you to keep going with music? “I would say my family and city inspires me to keep on going with Music. Harbor City doesn’t get the credit it deserves when it comes to the musical talent it has in the area. So I feel like it is my job to try to break out that box the media tries to put us in and show the world that Harbor City is more than just Gang banging and negativity! We are a place of where you learn the definition of hard work a lot of hard work gets put in”
If you have ever been given the opportunity to work with anyone, who would you choose and why? “Dang, this is a TOUGH question lol If I had the opportunity to work with anyone it would have to be either The Neptunes, Kendrick Lamar Kid Cudi, or Playboi Carti. The Neptunes have been in the game for so long, Consistently making bangers no matter what generation. So I would work with them because I feel like they can teach me so much about making beats. I would Kid Cudi because his melodies have always stuck with me for years. His music has helped me through so many dark periods in my life so it would only be right to work with Cudi. Kendrick Lamar because I find him so wise and lastly, Carti because his music is so fun and energetic to me.”
For the past couple of years, you’ve been putting on your own small festival, Stank Fest, what inspired you to do it? How do you choose the creatives that get to be a part of the festival? Have you already started planning the next one? “Choosing artist to be apart of Stankfest would be too hard if I was by myself so I picked a team of people who I trust to help me chose an artist to be apart of the festival, certain things we can add to make it better than last years, which vendors to choose and so on. At the moment I haven’t really started planning for the Stakfest due to the Covid-19 situation, the only thing I can say I have been doing is keeping my eye on a certain artist who I think would be a great fit for whenever I have the next festival.”
Photography by Shannon Williams
What do you plan on releasing for the rest of this year? “For the rest of the year, I am planning to maybe drop One more Single before I gear up to release my main project …. Not too sure to be honest, I sure shall tell though I always change my mind on stuff haha.”
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photography by Keitaro Cloward
story by Ella Audrey Rae
a talented actress and singer/songwriter, Diamond White has proven she is built for this with compelling bangers and her ability to take any role and make it unforgettable. Diamond started her journey at a young age and went on to compete on X-Factor, star in films, do voice over work and get a recurring role on the last season of Empire. I first saw Diamond on YouTube when she released her music video, ‘Cleopatron’. After that I became obsessed and I wanted more. She inspires many with her fearless vulnerability she displays in her music. Her lyrics were always relatable and her vocals were captivating to say the least. I immediately had to get her for the cover. Can we also state, how photogenic she is? When I got the cover photos back, I couldn’t breathe. I was blown away by her ability to not only be so original with her style but also not feed into the ‘trends’ or ‘standards’.
How are you handling the pandemic so far? // “at this point eating takeout in my bed has become a regular occurrence. a day not spent scrolling down tic tok is a great one.”
Has it messed with your creativity yet? // “I’ve definitely been more crafty. Hot glue gunning everything. I also shaved my head and that made me feel like a rockstar so that gave me a boost of creativity.”
You got a major role on Empire for the last season and you were incredible. How did that role come about? // “I sent in a self tape after several glasses of wine and the offered me the role HA.”
How did you prepare for the character? // “LALA was a nervous mess in the beginning andim the same way especially when it comes to meeting new people my age. Sooo I just pulled from my social anxiety.”
How was it meeting all of those legendary actors and actresses? // “It was a bit nerve wracking. I stayed to myself. Im a bit awkward. Everyone knew each other and had there own inside jokes and what not so I would just sit and snack on the food on set. I just be mindin my business”
What did you learn from that set? // “that Taraji p Henson is hilarious”
What was your favorite memory from the set? // Taraji P Henson accidentally calling me Rihanna
photography by Keitaro Cloward
Aside from acting you also have done some voice over work, how does one get into that kind of field? // “literally just having an agent that has a voice over department
What has been your favorite character to voice so far? // “I loved doing FULI in the lion guard buuut now it’s my most recent one but that’s a secret for now”
During the LA uprising, you went to the rally in FairFax to support. What did you experience as you watched this all unfold? // “it was cool to literally watch history right before my eyes. The energy was something over never felt before. The protests are still strong and happening even tho the news isn’t showing it and I just hope justice actually gets served cuz there’s a WHOLE lot more cops that need their karma and Families in pain because of their careless actions. I hope people don’t stop and don’t forget that black lives matter when it’s not right in there face”
How did you deal mentally with all of the craziness that was going on when it came to seeing black Americans being mistreated almost everywhere? // “it’s been like this. Im black it’s almost like we’re born knowing the bullshit. We’re strong as hell for that. For me, what I do is try to do my part. Im the girl at the party that’s checking a white kid I saw saying the “n” word. Period.”
photography by Keitaro Cloward
Have you ever personally experienced racism? And if so how did you deal with the situation? // “of course. I by far haven’t gotten the worst of it. I live in la so people are pretty human here but the shit I don’t like is seeing the “ur so pretty for a black girl”. THAT irks me. A black guy LITERALLY said this to me in person and I responded “get the fuck out of my face” bc at the end of the day. If a BLACK man is saying that to me? He don’t even appreciate himself.”
What is your advice to others about dealing with racism in America, especially the younger generation? // “educate! Have the tough conversations. Don’t feel like your being the angry one. You have every right to be.”
What has been your hardest song to release and why? // “Well all of them bc im just doing this shit by myself so getting the music out is hard as it is lol”
How do you come up with these bangers? Do you have a process? // “I make music constantly. Some days are hard some days are easy to come up with ideas but my best ideas happen when im peeing honestly.”
photography by Keitaro Cloward
photography by Keitaro ClowardYou’ve been a creative in LA for awhile now. What are your tips for the new comers? // “literally just figure out a way to figure it out. There are no rules.”
Your new single, ‘Fck What I Need’ is such a banger. I can’t stop playing it. How did this track come about? // “I’d just broken up with my ex and and I wanted was freedom and fun regardless of what I actually needed. I wanted that hot girl summer.”
How do get over someone that you feel that strongly about in your opinion? “Tequila and game nights with ur friends”
photography by Keitaro Cloward
What made you cut your hair off for this new visual? Was it a split decision at that moment or did you plan to do it anyway? // “i was making dinner with kyllo (who produced the track) and it popped up in my head. We’d been getting super into this artist named yung lean and I was really inspired by his energy. Kyllo goes ” that would be crazy and fire” my mom said “don’t do that, you can’t do that”. So i planned it and did it.”
What makes you want to experiment with your style like that? // “well I love the idea that I can literally do I want. Because I literally control everything in my path. Everyone does. So I do what I feel.”
Do you think your fashion ever influences your music? // “hell ya. The more manic I am the better the fits and better the music.”
You can get her new single, ‘(fck) what i need’ on digital platforms now and watch the official video on her YouTube.
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Toronto-based artist, Melissa Lamm has released a fantastic new track titled, “No Thrills” Thanks to her fans, she was able to fund this by live-streaming musical performances on Twitch.tv. The upbeat pop track was co-produced by Lamm and Phil Hotz (Hailee Steinfed, Charlie Puth, Johnny Orlando), and takes influence from pop artists including Lennon Stella, Julia Michaels, and Astrid S. It comes in nice and smooth with an airy beat. Her vocals match the summer type vibe of the track. The catchy chorus gets stuck in your brain on first listen. Be sure to listen to this great song above and share your thoughts below. Add it to your playlist.
Jon Crouse has released a new track called “Your Eyes Got Something to Say” I enjoyed this upbeat song with the soft vocals, it’s nice with the constant beat. The background harmony was very nice as well. I liked the sound of the keyboard (organ) great music. This track is good for relaxing to. I enjoyed it.
“A song I wrote a long time ago while I was in school, just about knowing when something is over and just wanting to be said instead of letting it fester. “, he explained about the track.
Be sure to listen to this track above and leave your feedback below. Add this to your playlist.
D.A.D. has released a brand new track called “Win You Back” (ft. D Spins) I love the vibe in this track, The soft keyboard and drums with this wonderful voice is outstanding! The lyrics are fantastic, so romantic! I played it several times. According to his press release, In this song, the artist has realized they have chosen the wrong person to chase. He wishes to win back the old admirer that he has hurt by selecting another. He only needs one chance to prove that he can make her world a better place. This song is the message. Be sure to listen to this track and enjoy then please add your thoughts below. Add this to your playlist today.
Get the track: https://open.spotify.com/track/0fJPL4gPey3DXaFduWF2Zg
Connect: https://dreamzaintdead.com/
Hip-hop and spoken word artist Shaheed404 has released a new track called “Do it Again” This song starts off very soft and calm but…the serious rapping comes in and now you get to hear the pure gold of the track. The storytelling is once again being positive, letting the younger ones know they have an opportunity to do great! The beat is great. Please listen to this track then share your feedback with us below.
Get the track: soundcloud.com, music.apple.com, youtube.com, deezer.com
Connect: https://shaheed404.com/