Tag: Karma Kid

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.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Known as the head of trendy, taste-making, French indie electronic music label Roche Musique and as a highly-regarded, up-and-coming electronic music and artist, whose production and sound possesses elements of house, R&B, hip-hop and nu-disco, Kartell, along with labelmates and friends Kaytranada, Stwo and Bondax are at the forefront of a “French touch” electronic music revival, which has also helped the Paris-based producer, electronic music artist and label head develop a growing international profile. And adding to a growing international profile, Kartell has remixed the work of Karma Kid and Lianne la Havas, collaborated with a number of renowned artists and producers, including Flares and others, as well as a busy touring schedule that included more than 100 dates across Europe, Asia, North America and South America.

Sapphire and Tender Games Kartell’s last two EPs were released to critical praise — and his soon-to-be released EP Last Glow, which his label Roche Musique will be releasing will further cement his reputation for slickly produced electronic music as you’ll hear on the house music and R&B-leaning “5 A.M.” And as you’ll hear on his latest single, Kartell employs the use of stuttering and cascading blocks of shimmering synths, boom bap-like beats, a chopped and cut soulful vocal sample to craft a song that feels sinuous and sensual and nods at Octo Octa and the 100% Silk Records roster — but with a populist, late night, club-banging feel.

 

 

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

As a blogger, I receive emails from PR firms, labels and artists from all over the world. Recently, I received an email regarding a young, up-and-coming electronic music artist and producer from Derby, UK by […]