‘The Hit List’ : Music From Khalid, Afrojack, Zedd, Robin Thicke, Verse Simmonds…

Khalid & Normani – “Love Lies” : It was last year when Fifth Harmony’s Normani signed her own solo management deal, and this week she dropped her brand new single “Love Lies” featuring Khalid. This has sparked rumors that this is the end of Fifth Harmony, but Normani in an interview with Beats 1’s put them to rest saying “Everything that we’ve been through, I feel like literally it’s us against the world and that’s together and apart. We’ll always have some place to call home, which is Fifth Harmony.” “Love Lies” will feature on the soundtrack to an upcoming LGBTQIA+ teen drama entitled ‘Love, Simon’. The film looks set to be massive and we reckon that ‘Love Lies’ will be just as huge too. The video was also released this week, check it out below and let us know what you think.

Zedd (featuring Maren Morris and Grey) – “The Middle” : Russian-German producer Zedd released his brand new single which is his first crossover with a country singer called “The Middle”. The song features Grey and Maren Morris has already peaked at number one on the Billboard charts. The single in just it’s second week of release has already stemmed 13.8 million streams in the US alone, making “The Middle” the fourth Dance/Electronic Streaming Song that’s hit No. 1 for Zedd and the first for country singer-songwriter Morris and dance/pop duo Grey. It’s not hard to see why this song is doing so well as it contains everything popular music is made of, a catchy hook, great singers, and a club banging instrumental. Zedd spoke in an interview just how much effort he put into this new track saying they “worked really hard on this record to get it just right”. He also opened up about the opportunity to work with both collaborators, stating that working with Morris was “super fun because she is clearly an amazing singer and very talented musician”, and that he loves working with Grey because they strive to “make the best music possible”. “The Middle” is out now.

Afrojack (featuring Stanaj) – “Bed Of Roses” :  There was no better time for DJ Afrojack to drop his latest single then on Valentines Day. The new song called “Bed Of Roses” is slow, yet with a sensual EDM synth while Stanaj brings the soft r&b vocals. Afrojack has pushed himself a lot more over the last year working outside his comfort zone with a variety of artists including Charli XCX and French Montana, and his diversity it seems is continuing to grow. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Stanaj, he’s made a name for himself working with artists like Drake and recently released his new EP “The Preview”.

Robin Thicke (featuring Nas) – “Deep” : This song was released back in 2016, and yes while it’s not new I thought I would rewind back the clock because I feel it’s a track that went unnoticed. The song is hot, with a killer hook that samples the efforts of Mobb Deep’s hit record “Shook Ones Part 2”. “Deep” is as smooth a track as you’d expect from the soulful crooner like Thicke and while he had a catalog of hits around this same time line I am very surprised this didn’t chart. It could have to do with the solid dose of outspoken consciousness thanks to a feature from rapper Nas, who addresses the epidemic of police brutality with lines like “Man, it hurts to see a ‘cop killed a black man’ alert.” If you haven’t heard this song yet you’re missing out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPFJw2EqBWE

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London Jae – “Back In My Bag” : Now for all the rap fans out there, Hustle Gang’s London Jae is a hot new talent who’s been taken under T.I.’s wing and has dropped a new single “Back In My Bag”. The song is about getting focused on the cash, and is lead by an upbeat flow crafted by producer Yung Lan. London has done his part to stay on the radar, releasing his “10 Summers” mixtape in July of last year. He also made his presence felt all over Hustle Gang’s “We Want Smoke” album. I haven’t been a fan of much rap as of late but this caught my attention and is worth the listen.

Audio Push – “Pump Fake” : A name that might be unfamiliar to a lot is the hip hop duo Audio Push, but their new single I think will get them the recognition they deserve. The members of Audio Push have been keeping busy since releasing their most recent album “Last Lights Left” and duo Oktane and Price are set to launch a new album called “Cloud 909”. In advance of the record, A.P. is putting out a video for one of the project’s highlights, “Pump Fake.” The video for the single carries a basketball theme directed by Price himself and shot by New High Filmz and Joey Swahv, finds the group and some friends suiting up as the Goodvibe Globe Trotters, playing against the Denver Dreamteam. As a lover of sport and music this combines the best of both worlds, “Pump Fake” is out now.

Lauv – “Getting Over You” : Since dropping my favorite song of 2017 “I Like Me Better”, Lauv has quickly hit the spotlight as an artist to watch out for. His new single “Getting Over You” once again shows his incredible musical talents. An artist, songwriter, and producer, Ari Leff (one half of the Cheat Codes) has recently opened for Ed Sheeran’s Asia tour, and has had a hand in the creation of such amazing pop tunes for some of the worlds biggest artists. His latest single, released this past Valentine’s Day, is perfectly timed for anyone working through a breakup this month. This is just another hit from Lauv’s debut album called “I Met You When I Was 18” which revolve’s around the highs and lows of a single relationship. This particular track features some truly spectacular vocal work, and somehow manages to strike a perfect balance between an emotional ballad and a low-key pop track. Lauv show cases his songwriting story telling talents yet again on this single and is setting the anticipation levels very high for his debut album.

George The Poet x Maverick Sabre (featuring Jorja Smith) – “Follow The Leader” : This track I thought was one to be heard, it’s by George The Poet and Maverick Sabre and features the soulful vocals of Jorja Smith. “Follow The Leader” has both George and Sabre providing verses on the track, but it’s the infectious hook that really bring it to life, from both the instrumentals and the amazing singing from Smith. “It’s about how problems can persist and keep going around in circles because people are sometimes too scared to stand up and do their own thing,” Jorja says about the record.

“It was written around two/three years ago,” explains Sabre. “I had already been working with Jorja for a good while, and George and I had worked together previously in South Africa. This was our first time all in a room together. It’s about how problems can persist and keep going around in circles because people are sometimes too scared to stand up and do their own thing,”. This is another win for UK rap and I love them bringing back that old garage instrumentals on the production.

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Verse Simmonds – “Date Night” : His recently released album “Diamonds” was a R&B success and now the 5 x Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Verse Simmonds drops his new single “Date Night”. This would have to be the best R&B single I’ve heard this year, and it’ll definitely have you adding it to your Valentine’s Day playlist next year. There’s not much else to say about this song, so I’ll let it do the talking for. Check it out it’s out of this world good. And if there’s anything you would like me to feature on our next ‘Hit List’ drop me a line at neillfrazer@hotmail.com and tell me what you wanna hear.