Tag: DeJ Loaf

NEWS ROUNDUP: RIP X?, Pride @ Ladyland & More…

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LadyFag photographed by Peter Tamlin.

By Jasmine Williams

In Memoriam?

Florida rapper, XXXTentacion, was killed on Monday in his home state when a drive by shooter open fired on him outside of a motorcycle dealer. Born Jahseh Onfroy, the twenty-year-old music rose to hip-hop prominence, thanks in part to his popularity on streaming platforms..

His death leaves a wake of divided opinions and online debates. Facing accusations of repeatedly assaulting his pregnant girlfriend, XXX was one of the only musicians to be removed from Spotify’s playlists and other promotional content as a result of their recently rolled out and since repealed, “Hateful Content and Conduct” policy.

Immediately following his death news outlets such as Rollingstone began publishing articles that seemed to package XXX’s violent actions as just a controversial facet of a complicated personality while referring to his short-lived career as a “legacy.”  Similarly, tributes poured in from music heavyweights such as Kanye West, Questlove, J. Cole, and Diplo. Understandably, their praise was matched by the dissent of those disappointed that such public figures would choose to honor someone with a storied history of violence against women.

XXX’s recent streaming numbers are indicative of the music industry’s complicated relationship with the #MeToo movement and pop culture’s fascination with celebrity deaths. Since the beginning of the week his single, “SAD!” broke Taylor Swift’s global single-day steaming record on Spotify with 10.4 million plays.

Celebrate Pride at Ladyland!

In much, much, happier news – New York City celebrates Pride this weekend! Kicking off the festivities is legendary party host, LadyFag. She’s throwing her first music festival, LadyLand at Brooklyn Mirage on Friday. The massive celebration of queerness features a killer lineup including Eve, SOPHIE, Cupcakke, and more.

For more Pride events, check out Brooklyn Vegan’s rundown.

That New New

This week musicians delivered on tunes worthy of the rainbow celebrations, starting with St. Vincent who transformed Brooklyn bar, St. Vitus, into a club full of gyrating leather daddies for her video, “Slow Fast Disco.”

Leon Bridges joined Dej Loaf for a celebration of self expression and happiness in Dej’s new single and clip, “Liberated.” The rapper started the love fest last weekend by paying for marriage license for gay couples. This week she also debuted the mini documentary, “Stories of Liberated People.”

Nile Rodgers & Chic picked perfect timing to release the debut single off of their upcoming album, It’s About Time. “Till the World Falls” features a bevy of collaborators including Mura Masa, NAO, and Anderson .Paak.

We don’t need to tell you this but Beyoncé and Jay-Z also celebrated love this week. They dropped the album, Everything Is Love, under the moniker, The Carters.

End Notes

After playing the same setlist almost 150 times at his NYC residency, Bruce Springsteen deviated from his usual routine to voice his dismay about the Trump administration’s separation of migrant families crossing into the United States. He also expressed hope that the good would prevail and played the song “The Ghost of Tom Joad.”

Trent Reznor also talked politics this week, telling the New York Times that “It feels like a country that celebrates stupidity is really taking it up a notch.”

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VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Twin Shadow “Saturdays” & More

When Twin Shadow released his album Caer in April of this year, it brought a sense of relief to fans – not only did it signify recovery from his bands’ catastrophic tour bus crash, the music felt like a return to form. His first two records, 2010 debut Forget and its 2012 follow-up Confess, gained him indie acclaim thanks to their epic ’80s synth pop sound, but 2015’s Eclipse saw him all but abandon his hallmark style in favor of a more pop-friendly sound. Unfortunately, Eclipse didn’t make a good, or lasting, impression on critics or fans, while the bus accident nearly ended his career in the process of promoting it.

Caer sees Twin Shadow – real name George Lewis, Jr. – return to the nostalgic sound that made his music so immediately accessible, without sacrificing his serious pop star ambitions. There’s no one track on the album that emphasizes this more than feel-good jam “Saturdays;” it even features pop rock sister act HAIM. The video for the track doubles down on the nostalgia, as Lewis digs into his childhood memories of wiling away the weekends in front of a fuzzy television set. The video follows a young George Lewis, Jr. look-alike enthralled by what can only be a direct throwback to Nickelodeon’s “You Can’t Do That on Televison” and on into the teenage intrigue scrambled late-night signals, offering an enthralling journey through the visuals that shaped Twin Shadow.

DeJ Loaf is back, and showing fans her softer side. When she broke onto the scene with “Try Me” and followed it up one year later with “Back Up,” her sound was that of a woman trying to prove herself in the male dominated hip-hop scene. But “Liberated” represents the newfound freedom she’s found in defying convention and refusing to play by someone else’s rules. It opens with a potent depiction of the Black Lives Matter movement, eventually encompassing a number of grassroots protests that have taken hold in these challenging political times. The message is clear – the only way to get “Liberated” is to do it for oneself.

With a provocatively titled new track and sensual clip to match, Anna Calvi announces her return to rock, and perhaps her intent to destroy gender roles once and for all. She’ll release Hunter, her third full-length record – the follow-up to 2013’s critically lauded One Breath – on August 31st via Domino.

Trippy Brooklyn music collective Pendulum People continues to invite audiences into their world of spectacle and illusion. This latest video for their song “Paradise” pulls imagery from their live shows, and highlights the elaborate costuming and dance the crew’s fans have come to expect.

We couldn’t be more excited about the return of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker’s experimental rock project Low. This week they teased the September 14 release of Double Negative with a triptych of videos for “Quorum,” “Dancing and Blood” and “Fly.” The new songs and their accompanying clips find beauty in the dark, dramatic, and unsettling.

 

PLAYING DETROIT: DeJ Loaf Soars With “No Fear”

 

Detroit based hip-hop goddess DeJ Loaf returns with soft edges and a warm-hearted willingness to compromise with the whimsical visual for “No Fear” her first single from her major label debut, Liberated, due out later this year. Our beautifully braided, Gucci-clad heroine finds sunshine in exploration and confession with “No Fear.”

Tinged with Gosh Pith electro-pop feels and hand-claps, we find Lady Loaf wistful and motivated to make the impossible possible with an undeniably upbeat determination. Exploring the tribulations of a relationship with someone who is always on the road, “No Fear” is a much needed burst of positivity. Loaf sings “I’m gonna love you with no fears/We can do this thing together/Close your eyes and take my hand/What we have is something special, baby, let’s just take our chance.” Though the mobile bed gives us Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” vibes and, well, the message is not entirely dissimilar either, DeJ Loaf finds her own sweetly unabashed love language. The video mixes fantastical animation and fantastical means of travel, suggesting summertime wanderlust and encouraging listeners to overcome their love-lorn obstacles.

Buckle up and wake up with “No Fear” below:

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