Tag: Boiler Room

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

NAYANA IZ is a rapidly rising, London-born and-based Indian-British artist, who grew up in an artistic home. Being naturally musical at a young age, the emerging London-based artist dabbled in jazz and pop with a stint in an indie rock band playing keys and singing before stumbling across hip-hop. As a solo artist, NAYANA IZ meshes Indian instrumentation with contemporary hip-hop with the goal of empowering young girls — particularly young Indian girls, who don’t have many Indian role models — and inspiring them to live their lives, find their authentic voice and have a means of genuine self-expression.

The up-and-coming British artist is currently a member of the NiNE8 Collective, an influential collection of London-based creatives that include Lava La Rue and Biig Piig, who I wrote about some time ago. Before the official release of her material, the Indian-British artist has managed to play attention grabbing sets at Jazz Cafe for Annie Mac and 100 Club for Fred Perry — and she has opened for Lil Tjay at Electric Ballroom. Adding to a growing profile, NAYANA IZ has previously co-presented and/or appeared on a number of radio stations including NTS, Balamii and Reprezent — and  she has collaborated with Adidas, The North Face, Redbull Music, Boiler Room, The Face and others.

The rising British artist is currently touring with Irish hip-hop sensation Kojaque. And all of this has happened before the official release of any of her material — well, until now. “how we do,” the Indian-British artist’s Karma Kid-produced debut single is a swaggering and incredibly self-assured statement of purpose from an artist so young. But at 19, the rising artist is boldly telling the world that she’s going to do it her way, despite the haters and naysayers who tried to dissuade her or made her goals seem impossible or ridiculous with a dexterous flow, and over a tweeter and woofer rocking production featuring fluttering flute, thumping beats and an infectious hook. Simply put, this young woman is spitting fire — and I suspect we’ll be hearing more from her, once her EP drops in 2020.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Dream Wife’s Dystopian Anime-Influenced Visuals for Anthemic New Single “Hey! Heartbreaker”

Deriving their name as a commentary on society’s objectification of women, the London-based punk rock trio Dream Wife, comprised of Icelandic-born, London-based Rakel Mjöll (vocals), Alice Go (guitar, vocals) and Bella Podapec (bass, vocals) met while the trio were attending art school in Brighton, UK — with Mjöll, Go and Podapec forming the band in 2015 as part of an art project conceptualized around the  idea of a band born out of one girl’s memories of growing up in Canada during the 1990s.  And since their formation, the trio quickly developed a national profile, as they’ve received critical praise for their earliest releases and their live shows from the likes of NPR, DIY, Stereogum, Nylon, Entertainment Weekly and others. Adding to a growing profile, the trio have toured across the European Union, opened for Sleigh Bells and The Kills during their respective US tours, and have played a number of the world’s biggest festivals, including SXSW.

Dream Wife’s highly anticipated self-titled debut is slated for a January 26, 2018 release through Lucky Number Music and from the album’s latest single “Hey! Heartbreaker,” the British based punk trio’s sound features stomp and shout in the mosh pit worthy hooks, fuzzy and angular guitar chords and a steady backbeat in a fashion that’s reminiscent of Is Is and Fever to Tell-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Elastica, complete with a brassy, kick ass and take names self-assuredness and bratty mischievousness at its core. 

Animated by Joe Prytherch, a former art director of Boiler Room, best known as Mason London, the recently released video envisions a dystopian yet familiar future inspired by anime, Akira, Josie and the Pussycats and Jem, in which the members of the band are depicted as robot performers held in a sleazy bar against their will, where they perform in front of bored customers. But when we catch them in the world of the video, the trio violently escape and lead the police through a breakneck escape from the city. 

As the members of the band said in press notes about the video and its concept, “We were super excited to work with Mason London to bring the world of ‘Hey! Heartbreaker’ to life. Collaboration is integral in our approach to Dream Wife, and we encourage different creative ideas and paths to mix with our own vision.

“It’s uncanny to watch these mechanical, parallel versions of ourselves rock out and then break out. We like to think that in another reality our robot versions are continuing their adventures; perhaps in the forest, perhaps plotting for a robot revolution, perhaps playing wild, secret rock shows to other robos.”

Live Footage by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Yasiin Bey Returns for His First Stateside Performance in 5 Years

Last month the great poet, singer/songwriter and actor Saul Williams presented a Boiler Room Session dedicated to lyricism and spoken word in London, which the good folks at Okayplayer presented last month. The set up of the evening was deeply influenced by Def Poetry Jam with the show being split in two distinct parts –the first being artists (emcees, poets, spoken word artists, etc.) sharing their favorite and/or brand new verses and poetry in a theater-like environment and the second half of the night had the same artists taking part in a large cypher, backed by a DJ. Williams along with Aja Monet recently brought the carefully curated Boiler Room In Appreciation of Lyricism session to Miami for Art Basel and while having an incredibly diverse list of artists performing — from including Allan Kingdom, a Kanye West collaborator; Wifisfuneral, a trap hop artist, Melo-X and a ton of local talents; however, the biggest highlight of the session was Yasiin Bey (he’s still Mos Def to me) making his first Stateside appearance in over 5 years, performing completely new material, including a new piece “No Time to Pretend,” which he performed acapella in front of an awed and completely surprised audience.