Devin Nash is a Baltimore-born and-based singer/songwriter and musician, who quickly established a sound that blends contemporary R&B and 80s synth pop with the release of his full-length debut, 2016’s Her.
Nash’s forthcoming EP Pretty.Sexy.Love reportedly features material that channels Frank Ocean, Miguel and others, while giving listeners “a genuine outside-the-box soul transformation” — with a soulful sophistication. The EP’s latest single “Swayze” is a sleek, club friendly banger featuring glistening synth arpeggios, skittering beats paired with the Charm City-based artist’s soulful delivery and uncanny knack for a catchy hook. While seemingly channeling Usher, Miguel, Frank Ocean and Steven A. Clark‘s Fornication Under Consent of the King, “Swayze,” tells a story about a guy who fell for the wrong girl and having a difficult time moving past it — to the point that he’s obsessed with both the girl and the heartbreak as a result. Lyrically, the song seems rooted in the specificity of lived-in experience.
Rukmani is an emerging Port Harcourt, Nigeria-born and-based R&B artist, who prides herself in sharing her unvarnished life stories, feelings and thoughts through her music.
Released a few weeks ago, the Nigerian artist’s latest single “No Social Media” is a slickly produced, hook-driven bop featuring soaring and cinematic bursts of strings, skittering boom bap, squiggling funk guitar, a supple bass line and a supple bass line serving as a lush bed for the emerging Nigerian artist’s swaggering and self-assured delivery, which sees her alternating between spitting bars and soulful crooning. “No Social Media” is rooted in a bold, much-needed message for all of us: stop doomscrolling, unplug from the apps, embrace your true self and reject the pressures to be airbrushed perfect.
More than that just ditching the apps, “No Social Media” is also a call to snatch back your time, your energy and your voice — and to create a space for genuine connection and for chasing dreams that really move you, not just amassing likes. “This isn’t just a song; it’s a movement,” says Rukmani. “I want this to inspire people to break free from the shackles of online validation and embrace their true selves, flaws and all. You are enough, just as you are.”
Directed by Planetsbb, the accompanying video follows the emerging Nigerian artist through an eerily empty amusement park.
Esotera is an emerging Pine Hills, FL-born, Atlanta-based pop artist, who specializes in a unique take on bedroom pop that draws from rock, pop and R&B among others. Her work sees her haring her experiences with falling in love, the heartbreak of falling out of love, growing pains and spirituality — paired with lush and cinematic productions.
Her latest single “Reflection” is a slickly pop banger built around twinkling, reverb-drenched keys, skittering boom bap and the Pine Hills, FL-born, Atlanta-based artist’s sultry and self-assured delivery. The song is a love song that’s partially about having a deeply sexual yet spiritual connection with someone that could also be read as a love song to music.
Over the course of the lat handful of years, the Roskilde-born, London-based singer/songwriter, musician, producer and JOVM mainstay Marie Dahlstrøm has developed and honed a reputation for being one of the most prolific and acclaimed artists in contemporary, indie/underground R&B.
The JOVM mainstay’s third album, last year’s A Good Life was a deeply personal album that was informed and inspired by the recognition that she contained multitudes, thousands of different selves co-existing and contradicting each other — simultaneously. For the Danish-born artist, she’s an acclaimed singer/songwriter and producer. Producer Dan Diggas‘ romantic partner and creative collaborator. A mother, and on and on.
“These different pockets of life also create friction,” she acknowledges. “I’ve been figuring out where I belong, what I’m supposed to do and how I fit into all of this — because I am so much more than an artist. When you have big dreams or goals and you see time being taken away from achieving them, and going towards something else — how do you make that a positive experience? There are always challenges, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good life.”
Fittingly, A Good Life thematically explores dismantling the long-held idea that your validity as an artist somehow diminishes when it’s not the focal point of your life and that somehow being a parent negates creativity. Of course, that can be said for artists, who have to support themselves and their creative endeavors with a day job not even remotely related to their passions.
The JOVM mainstay announced the forthcoming release of A Good Life Deluxe, which will feature two previously unreleased tracks “Glass,” and her latest single “Nothing On You” feat. Odeal, as well as two new remixes and reworks of album tracks “If I Belong” featuring contributions from Samson Jatto (drums) and Jay Asafo (bass) and “Now my Own,” featuring frequent collaborator, London-based rapper Aligo.
Anchored by a shimmering, looping guitar line, reminiscent of The Isley Brothers‘ “Footsteps In The Dark,” a sinuous bass line and a swaggering four-on-the four, atmospheric synths and twinkling bursts of keys, “Nothing On You” is driven by Dahlstrøm’s and Odeal’s yearning yet effortlessly soulful and gorgeous solos and harmonies. While sonically being a remarkably contemporary bit of neo-soul tinged R&B, the song thematically harness back to classic soul — a sweet and earnest longing and desire for a deeper, sustainable connection with that special significant other.
“This song was made in the very first session Odeal and I had together. It was such a natural and smooth process,” the acclaimed JOVM mainstay explains. “Daniel’s production provided the perfect foundation and it felt really natural to develop the song. The song is a true love song – feels like a nice way to start the year.”
