Playlist News

Charlie Butler Takes a Look at the Mi-Soul Playlist.For Free’ – DJ Khaled feat. DrakeDrake is the King of Rap at the moment. Any track he touches is worth a listen and any album he releases becomes a hit. Here we have him featuring on DJ Khaled’s new record: ‘For Free’. He’s rapping about girls again, this time showing us the Hyde side of his attitude towards the fairer sex. As always it’s tempered by a hint of irony but just enough to make the rapper relatable and interesting. The production is standard DJ Khaled fair – a hand clap-driven beat with a good bass line and a summery synth – but Drake steals the show. How could he not when he proclaims that he ‘shouldn’t have to f*** for free’?  LUV – Tory LanezStraight out of Canada and following in the successful footsteps of The Weeknd and K’naan, Tory Lanez has been slowly making a name for himself since 2009. ‘LUV’ is the second single from his highly anticipated new album and is a genuinely fun track. Ethereal whisperings start off the song and a tropical dancehall beat underlays the story of a man falling in love accidentally. Not a particularly original idea but then very few are these days and it’s delivered with aplomb as Lanez raps and sings (via autotune) with true feeling. Definitely one for the summer.  Midnight Mischief – Jordan RakeiJordan Rakei’s new song ‘Midnight Mischief’ sounds like its title. The long intro of faceless voices, soft drums and wistful guitars is all very sultry – it’s a smoky jazz bar in a 1920s American city. And following in the form of spontaneous jazz the lyrics aren’t a continuous narrative but a sequence of misty images. A story is definitely being related but it’s more that we’re glimpsing Rakei’s mind’s eye than listening to him tell us something explicitly. For fans of romantic soul music touched with a hint of melancholy, ‘Midnight Mischief’ will be right up your dimly lit street.  High Grade – AosoonAosoon makes music that makes you feel better. Perhaps it’s apt that the London two-piece named their latest single ‘High Grade’. There’s no doubt the pair have something special, a unique chemistry that radiates good vibes – it’s something that can’t be manufactured but just happens. ‘High Grade’ is a love song about the ‘fever’ and ‘electricity’ of genuine feelings set to a calming acoustic melody. The stripped back production on the record lends it a certain campfire feeling; I can imagine someone getting out the guitar as the sun rises and strumming it quietly as everyone listens on with glazed eyes.