Palms To The Sky On A Religious High

In the past two years, rapper Azealia Banks has served up a masterclass in squandering hype. Alienating those who fell in love with '212' by picking internet scraps with anyone and everyone, while repeatedly pushing back the release of her fabled debut album 'Broke With Expensive Taste', she has found the likes of Iggy Azalea and Angel Haze muscling in on the playing field.

Although his behaviour has been considerably less objectionable, UK producer and singer Jai Paul too seems to have crumbled under the pressure of premature hype. A bizarre incident earlier this year apparently saw him 'go renegade' by leaking his own album and now there are a number of emerging artists, gunning for the 'sound of 2014' tag, producing music that seems to be influenced by his.

One such artist is UK singer/producer Ben Khan. The spidery guitar and breathy bedroom-soul vocals of Khan's track 'Eden' certainly recall Paul's 'Jasmine', and the inclusion of elephant-like blasts of horn seem in keeping with Paul's inventive approach to production.

Khan is pulling the ol' 'mystery identity' card, which has perhaps inevitably led some to speculate that he is in fact Jai Paul. Whatever the case, Khan is probably be a safer bet to have an album out in 2014 than Paul. Or Azealia Banks, for that matter.

Someone Who Gives A Fuck

There's a peculiar thing happening in music right now. R'n'B singers like Ciara, Cassie and Brandy can't seem to catch a break and, despite their best efforts, haven't troubled the charts for quite some time.

And yet, vocal tracks by these very same artists remain in high demand among a generation of emerging producers, who are appropriating elements of late 90s/early 00s R'n'B for futuristic dance concoctions (see: Jacques Greene, Le Youth, Follow Me).

Perhaps inevitably, we're beginning to see a new wave of artists emerge producing music that owes a debt to R'n'B's Timbaland-helmed heyday but also embraces up-to-the-minute production. Los Angeles singer Kelela is one such artist.

Her debut mixtape 'Cut 4 Me' is available free from Kingdom's Fade To Mind imprint. Established beatmakers Bok Bok, Nguzunguzu and Kingdom himself bring their respective A-games to the table but, a few tracks in, it's clear that Kelela's running the show.

Her 'light-touch' vocals certainly have more in common with the likes of Aaliyah, Kelis and Cassie than today's crop of chart-toppers and, over the course of the mixtape's 13 tracks, she showcases remarkable versatility and range.

From the spiky sass of 'Enemy' to feather-light slow-burner 'Cherry Coffee', 'Cut 4 Me' is the sound of a bright new talent making her presence felt.

Dowload the mixtape for free here:

As We Are Floating In The Blue

Sometimes when two artists you like join forces, the results can be underwhelming, no matter how mouthwatering a prospect it sounds like on paper.

Thankfully, that's not the case on the new version of Woodkid's single 'I Love You' that features Brooklyn rapper Angel Haze, which somehow manages to add up to more than the sum of its parts.

All credit to French musician/filmmaker/generally talented person whose original version of the track was pretty decent to begin with, but Angel Haze steals the show on this occasion with a part-sung part-rapped contribution that elevates the track to new realms of greatness.



Check out the video for the original version here: