The Weekly Dip 5/27/22

In the midst of everything going on, it’s nice to be able to offer at least some sort of silver lining with the music. Music holds so much power to uplift & even alleviate in some cases & each of these artists we’ve picked today do just that. We’re grateful that they’ve blessed us with some light to illuminate the dark on today’s Dip!

The Alien Babe - Light It Up (Single)

After receiving her first ballad of 2022 back in February, The Alien Babe decided to follow it with a new track titled “Light It Up,” which dropped in the middle of May. The single is charged up with this mystified sound that sonically rushes down your spine, clutching your heart and dropping it out of her skin right in front of her stiletto heels as she crushes your very existence with a stomp. This track has to be one of her more aggressive records and possibly the fiercest. She battles through dominance with slick wordplay and empowerment in her tone to make sure you know that she’s the baddest female rocking and not no other woman or man from this planet is going to take that from her. She’s out of this world, and her name isn’t the only thing backing that narrative up; listen to the full force of her pedigree in the single and be amazed at her extraterrestrial senses as they go off in a celestial wave. - Frank Campos

Twnty8 feat Lilly Aviana - Starburst (Single)

Earlier this week, Lilly Aviana had posted a new single she was featured on with artist Twnty8 titled “Starburst.” Of course, anything we see Lilly on, we’re always going to gravitate to, which is what we did with this release that had our ears and eyes peeled back from beginning to end where we were amazed at everything we heard and saw. This record was the first introduction to Twnty8 we had, which was one helluva start to his talent. He balanced his efforts to create this soulful essence to his flow while Lilly's angelic vocals strummed in the chorus to her own verse, making a beautiful ballad come to life. I love the concept for the visual where it took inspiration from classic horror movie tropes like Friday The 13th & Sleepaway Camp, which show the killer behind the scenes creating this eerie ambiance. At the same time, the twist ending captures the vulnerability of his emotions in the record. We all have something creeping in the distance waiting to strike us when our guard is down, it’s either we let it take us, or we fight back to become its new nightmare. Twnty8 will be someone we keep close on our radar moving forward since we enjoy this release very much; plus, it’s always great to see a horror movie with a great ending. - Frank Campos

Dreamiecloud - Gimmie (Single)

After her single “Icie” dropped back in January, we began seeing moments of Dreamiecloud step away from music to working hard behind the scenes to creating new music to release. No announcements or updates had been made for the first few months until mid-April, when she dropped the cover art that appeared on our timeline of an upcoming single from her titled “Gimmie.” It was then followed by a post that mentioned it would be dropping later in May. Her cover art showed her in an outfit we had seen before on her IG story of her working with CLUBHRTBRK, which we knew this be a joint that would delight listeners once it surfaced. Sure enough, we were right since as soon as it was available on DSPs, we saw many fans rushing to the single that shared a jollification sound in mere seconds of your listening experience. It’s a beautiful soundscape record full of fantasy and love like it’s sipped from a potion to make every ounce of your being feel a vibe when parading around the track during your function. It’s one of our favorites from Dremiecloud that I’m sure will see a follow-up happen in the next upcoming weeks. - Frank Campos

Morgan Gold - Back Up (Video)

I don’t know what it is but lately, social media been recommending me some great artists on my timeline & as a result, Morgan Gold is one of my new favorite artists. Upon stumbling on the cover art for her upcoming “Midas” album, as well as the video for “Back Up”, I was immediately sold. On the subtle record, Morgan is urging this person to back up off of her, they’re getting a little too close to discovering the real her. Yet, she longs for that intimacy with this person, so as they distance themselves further, at her request, she can’t stand it. It’s a real push & pull dilemma she has going on here & it’s beautifully captured in these self reflective visuals. The edits from both night & day represent both sides of herself. She wants to shine but that darkness is all too intriguing to not at least, step into it & peer around a bit. With this being the 1st taste of what we can expect on this album, entirely produced by 730SKYLAR, as well as handling some additional production as well alongside, I’d say this album is indeed going to be the whole movie she described it as. July 8th can’t get here soon enough!

Stina Mori - Cold (Video)

Don’t you dare call this emo like you ain’t heard of emotions. Stina is baring it all on this whiskingly airy number. The gusts of cold wind she’s been feeling have been sharp enough to tear away at her, little by little, pieces of her icy exterior chipping off & melting away. She’s still willing to take the time necessary to make things work but it don’t seem like this other person is willing to do the same, they’ve grown so inclement towards her efforts & now all she’s left with is this fatigue in her bones. Yet even in her bane, this person has a stronghold on her heart, even if they don’t necessarily know it yet. I’m certain they hear her cries as she bares her heart & soul to this person. Hopefully her fervor can melt the ice surrounding this persons heart so they can breathe in warmth together again. A subtle, yet passionate little number that has us longing for more of Stina’s vulnerability.

Tylynn & Litepole - Cafeteria (Video)

Don’t you just miss those days of freestyling, that one kid making an insane beat with just a pencil, his hand & the lunch table, just beating away as a whole cypher breaks out. Tylynn really took me back to those days with this one, we used to have the cafeteria so litty, maybe not as much as this but it was pretty hype. Tylynn is not only a problem lyrically but she sure can rally people up with her anthemic sound, I mean just look at that choreography, these kids was definitely feeling all the shit she had to pop off on this record. The way she’s riding this Litepole production is absolutely ridiculous, her flow is as dizzying as it’s ever been as she fires off quotable line after quotable line, the double entendres & metaphors throughout this lyrical flexercise is gonna have those muscles burning & those gears in your brain turning trying to fathom the amount of bars being hurdled at you. Now we’re even more excited for a potential collaborative album from them, two singles thus far & the chemistry is so immaculate!

Quelle Chris - The Sky Is Blue Because The Sunset Is Red (feat. MoRuf & Pink Siifu) (Video)

Lo-Fi Hip Hop deserves so much more love than it gets. Knxwledge alone is one of the best producers in the game & quite arguably the best in terms of this Lo-Fi sound. On his latest work with Quelle, he gives him, as well as MoRuf & Pink Siifu, a soothing little soundscape for them to speak their poetry into motion over. I also have a deep affinity for the long title & this title just adds to the elegance of the record. Quelle is smoking one with the homies to honor those who’ve fallen, while also breaking down the sadness he & a lot of his people are feeling as they all try to maneuver their way throughout this flimsy little life of ours. It’s a beautifully subtle display of introspection & nice to see beautiful people encourage one another to be more communal & spend as much time as possible with your loved ones while you still can. Tomorrow ain’t promised but I can promise you today is beautiful if you were blessed enough to wake up again & see your loved ones.

Alexcis & Samara Cyn - Backseat (Visualizer)

Bootleg Kev sent me here so shoutout him for always putting us onto new talent. After being slightly impressed by his last single “Late Night Shawty”, I was anxious to hear more & my wish came true out of the blue upon the release of this new number. His sound has a nostalgic feel to it but the autotuned crooning balances it out with that new school flavor. “Backseat” is just another one of those simple yet infectious records. We can all relate to the glow up after a break up, we’re now single & just looking to, be free to do as we please. He just wants to holler at this new girl but his old bitch had been trying to prevent him but he ain’t having it anymore. Samara Cyn steals the show though with a scathing verse that really helps you understand just why Alexcis is so infatuated by the way she carries herself. Excited to hear more from Alexcis in the near future & even more hyped about Samara so bless him for also putting us onto new talent!

Minus & Royce da 5’9” - Plug

After recently sitting down with Mazi for a beautiful conversation, Minus is back with another demonstration on how problematic a lyricist he is. Not many people can stand alongside an MC like Royce & still hold their own, if anything, what Minus did on that first verse brought out the best in Royce. Minus is no slouch so anyone who gets on a record with him knows to bring their A-game. Neither MC in my opinion outshines the other, rather they simply came together for a mutual cause, teaching these little boys that they ain’t nothing to play with. When you rhyme at elite levels like this, people gonna try you, as if they aren’t a sorry excuse for competition, it ain’t even worth waxing these cats so they should feel so grateful that they only offered this stern warning & honestly, their light work still did immense damage. Thank God we got MC’s who still care about the craft, who still offer what makes Hip Hop so fun for me personally.

Baby Aztro - False Idle

It’s always exciting when Aztro has something to say & with bolde.hu behind the production, we have n other choice but to listen & more importantly, heed. His words make you think while also making your head spin & on this number, he’s calling things out for what they are. The unnecessary idolatry of us praising these artists he’s talking about as if they have anything of substance to offer. The amount of syllables & wordplay is respectfully disrespectful but it’s questions like “who’s more addicted, the fiend or who’s selling rocks”, that really stand out, even more than the mind boggling lines like “secure digits like watch bands”, he’s just so effortlessly elite when it comes to balancing his social commentary with his love for this craft. The title alone is a play on words for Christ’s sake, the man can’t help himself. On top of this immaculate first single to his upcoming album, also titled the same, is his new Take A Break segment where he’s offering fans to break away from their routines & earn a chance to receive a gift box that I’m certain is full of very limited items that you’ll probably never be able to get anywhere else. There’s more details on his IG post for this single so be sure to get in on that.