SZA has no time for a case of the ex on her latest CTRL cut “Broken Clocks.”
“Been about three years since I dated you/ Why you still talking ’bout me like we together?,” the TDE songstress croons. “I moved on for the better/You moved on to whoever.”
The nostalgic track follows her previously released gems “Love Galore” with Travis Scott and “Drew Barrymore.”
A colorful indie folk outfit based out of Los Angeles, California, Magic Giant’s effervescent blend of folk, pop, and rock invokes names like the Lumineers, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and Mumford & Sons. Founded in 2014 by multi-instrumentalists Austin Bisnow, Zambricki Li, and Brian Zaghi, the group issued its eponymous debut EP in 2015, and generated some heat with the single “Let It Burn,” which garnered praise from NPR, who called it “a summer festival anthem.” In 2016 the band toured hard, hit the festival circuit, and landed another viral hit with “Set on Fire.” That same year saw Magic Giant ink a deal with Razor & Tie, with plans to release their debut studio long-player in 2017.
U.K. native Ella Mai, an R&B singer and songwriter with a casually commanding voice, wasn’t exactly an unknown artist before DJ Mustard signed her to his 10 Summers label. Originally raised in southwest London, Mai moved to New York at the age of 12, then returned to England after she graduated from high school. In 2014, during her second stint in the U.K., she competed on The X Factor as part of a trio, Arize, that didn’t advance beyond the initial audition for the judges. The group broke up shortly thereafter. The following year, Ella Mai uploaded a four-track solo EP of originals to SoundCloud, but it was through her short clips of covers on Instagram that DJ Mustard found her. In January 2016, the producer announced that he had signed her, and the following month, she released Time, a poised EP of sleek, contemporary R&B. Featuring the Ty Dolla $ign collaboration “She Don’t,” the six-track release introduced an artist who could sing of fierce loyalty and ruthless spite in an incisive manner. Mai quickly followed up with two more EPs beginning with Change, followed in early 2017 by Ready, which completed the DJ Mustard-produced trilogy.
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The “Anita” crooner talks his ‘Blkswn’ LP and how the diaspora fuels his funk
The 25-year old rapper and crooner Smino is set to be one of the next big voices to burst from the Midwest. His gorgeous love-funk single “Anita” is currently at a million plays across YouTube and SoundCloud, he’s currently on a headlining tour and his self-reflective rhymes and melodic delivery anchor a recent debut LP, Blkswn. This moment has been years in the making: He’s literally lived in studios and moved back and forth between his native St. Louis to Chicago; all the while developing a signature sound that combines elements of funk, electro, soul and hip-hop. And not even a fractured right foot can slow him down.
Only a few dates into the Swanita tour, he hurt himself in an impromptu mosh pit. Injured yet unfazed, the rapper born Chris Smith Jr. will perform on crutches for the remainder of the tour. The circumstances haven’t affected his spirits or his high energy performance. On stage Smino is animated, compelling and visibly ecstatic. He attributes this gift for performing – as well as his overall approach to songwriting – to an upbringing in church “Like, the ability for me to find a melody or a harmony or like move a concert? It’s just me seeing how churches work,” he says.
The day after an explosive performance – a sold-out show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom – Smino is basking in the afterglow in an Airbnb’d duplex on Manhattan’s Midtown East. Sporting a do-rag, T-shirt and sweatpants, Smino is laying back on a leather sectional flanked by his band and touring party, who are polishing off some Popeye’s and sorting the small vacuum-packed bags of weed that have just been delivered. Surrounded by some of Chicago’s finest young musicians (producer Monte Booker; singer, rapper, and video director Jean Deaux; multi-instrumentalist Phoelix), Smino tells Rolling Stone about Blkswn, how the diaspora fuels his funk and how to write a love song in 2017.
What are the origins of Blkswn? My album was called Zero Fatigue at first—
Which is your crew’s name. Which is another reason I didn’t name the album Zero Fatigue. Zero Fatigue is much bigger than one album, it’s some continuous shit for us. I did the Red Bull Sound Select thing where they put a producer with an artist and Sango was my produced that they [put me with]. I requested the nigga Sango ’cause I always liked his beats.
Y’all did that joint, “Lemon Pon’ Goose” together. Do you, Jean or Sango have a Caribbean backgrounds? So look, Sango spends a lot of time traveling. He love Brazil and he’s just really into all that. And he told me his grandfather brought him up on African drums like they used to just play [and] play till they hands get tired and so I came up learning African drums as well. I don’t know which region of Africa I’m from or none of that. I know how to play bongos, congas, all kinds of auxiliary percussion instruments and stuff like that so that’s just in me and she’s [turns to Jean Deaux] How do you say it? Afro Latina. So it just was me understanding that aspect of the music and being inspired by it and then Sango just knowing to do. We was in the studio, she was like, “Me ah go and steal ya heart” and he was like, “Me ah go and steal ya ‘art.” It was just a collective effort of us just studying some shit that was already pretty much in us. Just trying to bring that out. That’s something we do a lot as black people these days anyway.
It’s some diaspora stuff. Now that we’ve moved into this global phase of having easy access to music from everywhere, we’re getting in touch with all of this stuff. Like if you listen to Drake or the Wale record or a lot of stuff that’s happening with black people in London or Nigeria or the Caribbean … Everything is pretty much mixed up right now, but I fuck with it, bro. I’m a drummer, so my first love in life is the drum and my favorite thing that I learned how to do is play a 3/2 clave pattern but put in on like: [mimics the sounds with his mouth]. Like I can’t do it right now, my foot fucked up, but after I learned that so much shit got unlocked. I’m like damn, my body feel free! Like I’m not as stiff as I was. Shit like that helped my rap patterns and even with “Lemon Pon’ Goose” I was able to do [patterns] like [flowing rapidly] “I’m feelin’ amazing/I’m gettin’ acquainted with shawty.” Some Sean Paul shit! Actually the same Sean Paul flow.
So, why is it called Blkswn? I was just in the studio with Sango making the song. I only said the words “black swan” in the song once: “I ain’t never ain’t in no rush, I ain’t no Russian, I’m a black swan.” If you listen to Blkswn I’m coming to grips with a lot of shit. It’s a lot of shit I done figured out and I’m 25 now. So it’s a lot of shit that I done figured out, a lot of shit that I done been through, fuckin’ failed at and like realized this is what I’m supposed to be doin’ at the end of it. And it’s always been [music]. I just wrote this album as honestly as I could. I didn’t tell any stories that weren’t true to me. I didn’t do any storytelling, there wasn’t anything but my own truths. This whole album is just straight up day-by-day shit that I’ve experienced. Blkswn is going from feeling alienated on [2015 EP] Blkjptr to like becoming this muhfuckin’ black swan and being comfortable in that shit.
You grew up in the church, how do your parents feel about you making secular music? They proud as hell of me. My parents ain’t prudes, man. There’s a difference between being in the church, being religious and having faith. I don’t hold my faith to another person’s standards – anybody’s. One thing I learned in church is your relationship with God is personal. I make the most honest music I can to myself. I don’t try to appease anyone. I just make the most honest shit I can. My music is positive too. The most crazy shit i talk about is gettin’ pussy but [sucks teeth] everybody get pussy. That’s nothin’ major, that’s our biology.
There aren’t too many love songs in rap these days, can you talk about “Anita”? I just got a lot of love around me. I get a lot of love from women and I got a lot of love for women. Women go through a lot of shit, bro. My mama been through a lot of shit. Every woman I’ve ever known been through hella more shit than me. I don’t know, bruh, it’s hard for me to make a song [that doesn’t express that].
That’s refreshing. I don’t understand how these niggas be really hate women out here. I think misogyny has a lot to do with overthinking your part as a man. You seen Baby Boy? It’s this attitude like, “I’m your man and I do for you, so I can do whatever the fuck I want.” I have to stop myself from that [kind of thinking] all the time. I’m not above this. I’m definitely a misogynist [at times], definitely guilty of that.
You grew up in a society that’s sexist. But I also grew up in a house with four big sisters and my mama. And my dad with my mama. I’m lucky, I understand some shit. That’s why I don’t be on niggas’ heads. Y’all didn’t come up like me, I get it. I just get some shit y’all don’t get right now. If y’all willing to listen y’all would prolly get more pussy. It’s just a lot of shit that we discredit women for and we don’t understand the amount of shit they have to deal with.
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Los Angeles-based electronic trio Cheat Codes debuted in 2015 with their single “Visions,” a floor-filling, radio-ready bite of house in a vein similar to Avicii and Swedish House Mafia. The three members of the group — Matthew Russell, Trevor Dahl, and Kevin Ford — each have deep roots in L.A., working on individual projects before joining forces for Cheat Codes (Dahl once performed as singer/songwriter Pluginstereo). Their different backgrounds helped inform Cheat Codes’ stylistically varied sound, which can range from warm pop to outright big house bangers. After the release of “Visions,” they quickly followed with the tropical-tinged “Don’t Say No” (featuring Dresses), “Senses” (featuring Lostboycrow), and “Adventure” (featuring Evan Wartner). As they gained exposure on social media and spins on streaming services, they joined the Chainsmokers on tour. Successive singles continued to drop in 2016, when they unveiled a pair of global hits, “Sex” (featuring Kris Kross Amsterdam) and “Let Me Hold You (Turn Me On)” (with Dante Klein). The following year they released their biggest feature yet, “No Promises” with Demi Lovato on vocals, and embarked on the No Promises world tour (taking them to the U.S., Europe, and Australia).
