Top Ten Tracks: Baby Keem, Louis Culture & Tamera 27/8/21
Welcome to ‘Top 10 Tracks’, the essential weekly round-up of the best new music.
At the end of each week, we count down the ten essential new tracks you need in your rotation. Ranging from rappers in the Emerald Isle to boundary-pushing, experimental producers and everything in between, it’s all hits, no filler.
Kendrick Lamar makes his long awaited return on a cinematic collaboration with Baby Keem, while Tamera shares a soul-cleansing new cut and Louis Culture returns with a slice of nocturnal rap.
Daniel August Touché
Belfast rapper Daniel August showcases his ability to make effortless head nodders on ‘Touché’.
Joy Crookes When You Were Mine
Ahead of her debut album Skin which drops October 15, London based singer Joy Crookes has paid homage to Brixton and reexamined an old flame in ‘When You Were Mine’.
Speaking on the track she said, “‘When You Were Mine’ is a song I wrote about my first love that ended up being with a man after we broke up. It’s a song about accepting their love, but wishing the same for myself. I wrote it with the backdrop of Brixton because that is where their love unfolded and where I spent a lot of my childhood. Brixton has always been somewhere I have associated with home – it’s where my mum and dad both moved to when they first came to this country and has always been my stomping ground.”
Tolü Makay Aye (Boku Remix)
Choice Prize nominated producer Boku has breathed new life into Tolü Makay’s ‘Aye’ with a synth-driven reworking of the track.
Caribou You Can Do It
Dan Snaith aka Caribou celebrated International Dog Day this week by surprise releasing the single ‘You Can Do It’, which arrived with a wholesome pooch-filled visual.
Tamera Strong for Me
Going through tough times makes you appreciate the brighter days that little bit more when they come back round. Tamera’s reflective slice of RnB on ‘Strong For Me’ shares DNA with the emotive tones of Kehlani and showcases her ability to craft soul-cleansing melodies.
JyellowL See Me Finish
Dublin based rapper JyellowL‘s short trip to Nigeria ended up stretching into two whole months after Covid restrictions halted his movement. In hindsight, it was a stroke of luck that allowed him to link up with a host of talented Nigerian acts, including Tee-Y, who produced his latest dance-inducing number ‘See Me Finish’. The track Lands ahead of his new EP yellowszn.
Ross From Friends The Daisy
Alongside the announcement of his sophomore album Tread, which is landing via Brainfeeder, Ross From Friends shared the transient new single ‘The Daisy’.
Joe Armon-Jones, Goya Gumbani Fix It
The avalanche of amazing jazz-adjacent music coming from London’s underground is really something to behold. American born Goya Gumbani’s slow drawl on ‘Fix It’ proves the perfect accompaniment to Joe Armon-Jones’ jazzy chords.
Louis Culture Naked
Elevation/Meditation spitter Louis Culture’s latest offering sees his vulnerable lyricism coalesce with nocturnal production on a considered cut.
Baby Keem family ties (with Kendrick Lamar)
Our first new sighting of Kendrick Lamar in what feels like forever comes courtesy of a guest feature on Baby Keem’s ‘Family Ties‘.
A triumphant and cinematic cut that sees Keem cement his spot as a rising force. Meanwhile, (Not that it was in question), Kendrick reminds mere mortals of his otherworldly status in a slew of quoteables.
“Smoking on your top five tonight” / “Don’t you address me unless it’s with 4 letters” / “I’m not a trending topic, I’m a prophet”.
