Recent News

If you want protest music for the uprising of the American consciousness, then look no further. Sa-Roc (born Assata Perkins) is an emcee from southeast Washington, D.C., and the second woman signed to Minneapolis-based hip-hop label Rhymesayers Entertainment, home to Atmosphere and Brother Ali among many others. In this Tiny Desk (home) concert, she debuted two exclusives, “Deliverance” and “r(E)volution,” both from her upcoming album, The Sharecropper’s Daughter, which is produced by her partner in life, Sol Messiah, and scheduled for release this fall.

Sa-Roc bears her heart and soul here, weaving together influential threads from her upbringing; Pan-Africanism, the hardship of her father’s experience as a sharecropper in Virginia and her own childhood in Congress Heights, D.C., an area ravaged by violence and the crack epidemic in the 1980s. On “r(E)volution” she spits bars: “Embedded in the home of the brave, the darkest of interiors. / Saw street scholars and soldiers defect cuz they post-traumatic stressed from the American experience.”

“Music I was exposed to, as well as their ideology, was all politically minded and African centered,” she expressed to me on the phone. “The culture of DC go-go, Gil Scott Heron, and The Last Poets shaped me.” 

Sa-Roc is a modern day griot whose aura radiates calm in a world of chaos. This Tiny Desk (home) concert is as close as it gets to required viewing.- NPR

Run The Jewels, the duo of Killer Mike and El-P, have just released their new album RTJ4 two days ahead of its planned release date as a free download and across all digital platforms. The album features collaborations with & contributions from Pharrell Williams, Zack de la Rocha, Mavis Staples, 2 Chainz, Josh Homme, DJ Premier, & more.

Stream/Download Run the Jewels 4: runthejewels.com/

State the duo: “Fuck it, why wait? The world is infested with bullshit so here’s something raw to listen to while you deal with it all. We hope it brings you some joy. Stay safe and hopeful out there and thank you for giving 2 friends the chance to be heard and do what they love.  

With sincere love and gratitude, Jaime and Mike.”

For fans looking to do some good through donation, Run The Jewels have provided a list of organizations on their website that are fighting for justice, change, and equity in America, including their longtime allies the National Lawyers Guild which, amongst other things, provides legal representation for lawful protesters. You can find the full list of organizations here: runthejewels.com/pages/donate

Following their respective stints in funky DJ group Beat Buffet, and alt-rock band Jefes del Desierto, siblings Raul and Paulina Sotomayor came together as an outfit under their surname in 2014, releasing their debut, Salvaje, the following year. The Mexico City-based group now includes two additional members on keys, guitar, and bass.

On their third full-length album, Orígenes, Sotomayor nails a dynamic and accessible pop sound without sacrificing complexity. The recipe? Strong pop vocals in tandem with inventive, dance-oriented electronic beats. Their ambitious sound is a mixture of influences from across the Latin music spectrum, drawing inspiration from dancehall, cumbia, merengue, Afrobeat and a variety of other genres, and is written entirely in Spanish. There’s an undeniable commercial quality to their music, but it’s delivered with striking soul.

There’s a hypnotic quality to the songs on Orígenes. A large part of this is Paulina’s captivating vocals, which can morph from breathy like in “Tu Cuerpo y el mío” to commanding like on “Latin History Month,” over the course of the record. Lyrical repetition and ever-present, thumping percussion add to the effect. “Menéate pa’ mí” stands out with its relentless tempo, Paulina’s rapid singing, and catchy army of horns, bouncy synths and spirit. It’s a whole new tone that leaves the listener to imagine it’s a taste of what to come. The song stakes a line in the sand for the territory they’ve charted and for new frontiers to come in the future.-Bandcamp

OUT NOW – “Take It All Away” is the latest offering from San Francisco Bay Area-based band The Seshen, taken from their upcoming third full length LP ‘CYAN’ (out 28th February). This album opener sees vocalist and lyricist Lalin St. Juste invoke imagery of power, strength and independence reflect on her own transformative and bold decision to cut ties with the things that no longer serve her;”As a black, queer woman, there are a lot of ways in which I have been conditioned that do not serve my truth. I’m in a continuous process of taking away all these layers, healing this confusion, and taking back my power, my voice, my sense of self.” Built around synth sounds that feel warm, yet distant and set against a backdrop of dry and unforgiving drums and bass, complimenting the lyrics of the track, bassist/producer Akiyoshi Ehara creates a soundscape rife with a sense of longing and grasping at something that is just out of reach.

Last month, Thundercat returned with news of a new album called It Is What It Is, his followup to 2017’s Drunk. The announcement came with a lead single, “Black Qualls.” (It was a promising initial preview, ranking amongst our favorite songs that week.) Today, the man otherwise known as Stephen Lee Bruner is back with a new called “Dragonball Durag.”

The first part of the song’s name comes from Bruner’s love of the Dragon Ball franchise. “I have a Dragon Ball tattoo… it runs everything,” he said in a press release. “There is a saying that ‘Dragon Ball is life.’” He continued, talking about durags: “There are two types of people in the world, the guy with the durag and the guy who doesn’t know what a durag is. The durag is a superpower, to turn your swag on… it does something, it changes you. If you have one in the wardrobe, think about wearing it tonight, and it may pop off because you never know what’s going to happen.”

Not that Bruner needs to evoke the mystical characters of Dragon Ball or a superhero costume change by way of a durag to activate his own powers, but it seems to help. “Dragonball Durag” is the kind of liquid funk Thundercat excels at, with calling cards like that muscular-yet-psychedelic bass-playing and a sticky groove. Check it out below. – via Stereogum

Ultraísta have shared a new track from their first new album in eight years Sister – out March 13 via Partisan Records. “Anybody” weaves an orchestra through the band’s sophisticated, enthralling, electronic pop sound, and singer Laura Bettinson uses her face as a canvas in the accompanying self-directed music video. Watch below and feel free to share.

Ultraísta consists of Laura Bettinson (who also performs as FEMME / lau.ra), multi-instrumentalist/producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead) and drummer/producer Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M., Atoms for Peace). Last month another ‘Sister’ highlight – “Tin King” – landed spotlights with NPR Music (Top Songs of January), Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Fader, Cool Hunting, Hypebeast, Stereogum + more.

Sister grew out of several years of sporadic improv sessions, with Godrich ultimately piecing everything together at his London studio space. The album is a cinematic sci-fi soundscape that’s both exhilarating and laser-focused. Behind Bettinson’s warm, inviting vocal delivery and anchored by Waronker’s sophisticated percussion work, ‘Sister’ easily stands tall among the impressive and extensive career resumes of each bandmember.

Georgia announces 2020 North American Tour Dates! For Georgia, the last year has been hugely triumphant. Her new album Seeking Thrills Out Now, she’s had three singles shot to the top of the UK radio charts on BBC Radio 1’s A-list, she played a debut set at Glastonbury Festival, and in October she toured the US for the first time ever before returning home to the UK, where she performed on the late night TV show Later…With Jools Holland.

She capped off the year with a nomination for BBC’s Sound of 2020, while her summer smash, “About Work The Dancefloor”, was included in Pitchfork and Gorilla vs. Bear’s Best Songs of 2019 lists. And the response to the album has been exultant, with people drawn in by the dancefloor-ready hooks and won over by Georgia’s charm.

Make sure you catch Georgia on her first major headline tour in North America this Spring!

Georgia North American Tour Dates
Wed, March 25 – Brooklyn, NY – The Sultan Room
Sat, March 28 – Boise, ID – Treefort Festival
Sun, March 29 – Boise, ID – Treefort Festival
Wed, April 1 – Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret
Thurs, April 2 – Seattle, WA – Barboza
Sat, April 4 – Portland, OR – Holocene
Tues, April 7 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
Thurs April 9 – San Francisco, CA – Popscene @ Rickshaw Stop