Die Antwoord
Zef South African rap-rave duo Die Antwoord have shared the first track ahead of the release of their forthcoming fourth studio album. Following on from the recent Suck on This mixtape, the album is called Mount Ninji and Da Nice Time Kid and features guest appearances from Cypress Hill’s Sen Dog, Dita Von Teese and Jack Black. More information and the full tracklist can be found on Pitchfork.com.
More info: Soundcloud, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and DieAntwoord.com.
Prophets of Rage
Rather predictably, the first release from rap-rock supergroup Prophets of Rage is a cover of Public Enemy’s Prophets of Rage although any band featuring a lineup of this quality (Tim Commerford, Tom Morello and Brad Wilk from Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy‘s Chuck D and DJ Lord, as well as Cypress Hill‘s B-Real) can be forgiven a multitude of sins. I just hope the rest of their output is a little more adventurous.
More info: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and ProphetsOfRage.com/.
De La Soul
From the forthcoming crowd-funded album and the Anonymous Nobody… (due out on the 26th August), hip-hop mainstays De La Soul have shared a new track, Royalty Capes.
More info: Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud and the De La Soul website.
M.I.A. Featuring Skrillex
More info: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and miauk.com/.
Lolawolf
R&B is not normally my bag but Lolawolf’s electropop/R&B/trap clashup style is not your usual bitches and bling fodder but rather tidy urban class that could easily cross over to both mainstream pop and hipster taphouse playlists.
Formed in February 2014 by actress and singer Zoë Kravitz (daughter of Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz), keyboardist James Levy, and drummer/producer Jimmy Giannopoulos. Lolawolf is based in Brooklyn, New York City.
Keep an eye out for their tasty, stripped down track Teardrop</> featuring Miley Cyrus on vocals.
More info: Soundcloud, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.
Willow Smith
While we’re on a bit of a ‘celebrity daughter R&B’ tip, here’s another track I stumbled across, this time by Willow Smith, the daughter of uber-megastar Will Smith and sometime rockstar Jada Pinkett-Smith, who you may remember from the diabolically catchy ‘Whip Your Hair’. Willow Smith has definitely come of age, delivering a properly sophisticated, minimalist chunk of wine-bar cool with this track 8. Attention seems to have diverted away from Willow since her debut on to her gender-fluid brother but she deserves the limelight to fall back on her if she keeps delivering stuff like this.
More info: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and WillowSmith.com.
Pet Crow
Derby’s finest garage rock outfit Pet Crow have just signed to Reckless Yes records following their recent gig at The Hairy Dog supporting Menace Beach. One to watch, this two-girl, two-boy outfit are gonna be big.
More info: Bandcamp, Instagram and Facebook.
Menace Beach
Like something straight off of 90s US college radio, Leeds-based five-piece Menace Beach will appeal to fans of bands like Pavement, Pond and Seaweed or more recent bands like Marmozets.
More info: Facebook, Soundcloud, Twitter and MenaceBeach.co.uk.
Skrillex & Rick Ross
Another fat jam from Skrillex, this time with a tonne of gangster-shit strapped to it courtesy of Rick Ross and the added weight of the attachment to the forthcoming Suicide Squad movie soundtrack.
More info: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Soundcloud and Skrillex.com/.
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