September 10, 2014   Ones To Watch alum Kid Ink has stealthily clocked in some quality studio time since the finale of his My Own Lane tour, evidenced by a star-studded new single released yesterday.

June 30, 2014   A little Monday education in hip-hop via a mix of the week’s freshest tracks. 

June 27, 2014   As luck would have it, 2014 has been the year for Erik Hassle to move alongside some of music’s most fascinating up-and-comers. Prior to joining breakout Danish artist Mø on a sold-out North American tour, the Swedish born singer-songwriter released his EP Somebody’s Party in February of this year, which included guest appearances by 2014 XXL freshman class’s Vic Mensa as well as rising R&B starlet Tinashe. For Hassle, whose past writing credits include the Shakira and Rihanna collaboration “Cant Remember To Forget You,” his EP marked a re-introduction to the world and a readiness to make it out on his own. Already surrounded by great company, Hassle is only getting started.  On Somebody’s Party, the track “Talk About It,” featuring Mensa, is an eerily recanting R&B ballad filled with dramatic vocals billowing forth from a sparse electronic arrangement. The song, detailing a problematic relationship sustained by one partner’s secretive suffering, is telling of Hassle’s talent for fusing narrative with a penchant for what constitutes the right amount of production, the basic formula to giving any song its real wings. From Somebody’s Party, one derives Hassle’s style is fashionably lean and smooth, geared towards and equally attuned to both R&B and pop. With his producing intuition and the fact that his vocal versatility alone could hold an audience, it’s almost as if he’s Timbaland and Justin Timberlake in one observing, hip package.  We recently caught up with Hassle in Los Angeles after he wrapped his tour with Mø. Watch our interview above, where we discuss songwriting and Somebody’s Party, and stay tuned for more updates on his album. 

August 22, 2014   This week hit us hard with a slew of new guitar-laden albums for us to choose from.