GRUNGECAKE

Author: grungecake

  • Watch British Hip-Hop/Grime duo Rare Experience’s official visual for ‘Draw for the Pen’

    The streets of the United Kingdom are heated. Packed with talented producers and rappers with stories to tell, each artist presents their haunting material with ace production and matching visual components. Even at the lower levels of productions, they continue to impress me with what they’re able to bring to the marketplace. ‘Yin Yang Freestyle’ (or ‘Draw for the Pen’) by Hip-Hop/Grime Manchester duo Rare Experience (Wrecker Don and Maelstrom Jetson) and produced by Anyllson and Finicox features bone-chilling vocals that ascend the gruelling production. Check the Nessaro direction out via Cryme Records now.

    [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHKTtbKKOmU&h=315]

  • Listen to German producer Kevin de Vries’ vivacious remix of the Chicane original ‘Saltwater’ featuring Moya Brennan

    On the Kevin de Vries remix of Chicane’s ‘Saltwater’ featuring Moya Brennan, he brings the high-energy vibes we all need to continue to stay in good spirits during the pandemic-related lockdowns. There’s no other way to describe the song aside from brilliant. To get your daily workout in or to have some music playing at home as you plan for post-COVID-19, consider the masterfully-produced remix.

  • New York City artist Leaf returns with dark visual for ‘Fashion Bitch’: Watch

    Back with a high fashion-inspired track, New York City-native rapper Leaf shares ‘Fashion Bitch’, an ode to the eighties and nineties à la Grace Jones and Donatella Versace. The gender-fluid track is a follow-up to her 2015 Fool’s Gold release ‘Magnet Bitch&rsquo. Check out the official video directed by Steven Gomillion below. It’s a well-done “reimagined zeitgeist of Aaliyah’s ‘contemporary cool’.

    [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGxcqQVLN5E&h=315]

  • GRUNGECAKE team stops by SoundCloud’s New York HQ with GRAMMY U mentee

    In February, the GRUNGECAKE team stopped by SoundCloud’s with Recording Academy’s GRAMMY U mentee Aryana. There, she had the opportunity to speak with Albert, also known as AC. AC on this visit, shared with Aryana a little about himself, his previous work with Def Jam, and his role at SoundCloud.

    GRAMMY U mentee Aryana

    The conversation covered a range of topics, including artist development, playlisting, and ways to monetize music on SoundCloud. Aryana, a developing artist, had the opportunity to play some of her original music for those in the room.

    Aryana also had the opportunity to meet and take a picture with Phantogram, who happened to be in the building that day.

    Brandon Wint, contributor at GRUNGECAKE
    Frank Morales, photographer and contributor at GRUNGECAKE
    GRAMMY U mentee Aryana and Richardine Bartee, CEO of GRUNGECAKE/GRUNGECAKE Records

  • CRASH shares visual component for a song about being ‘Homeless In LA’: Watch

    ‘Homeless In LA’, unfortunately, will resonate with so many people around the country and the globe, living on the streets. The Los Angeles Times reported that in 2019, approximately 60,000 people were without homes.

    [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wJnZWBZel0&h=315]

    CRASH, the new artist, sings about a past lover who has a place, and he knows he can’t stay. Nonetheless, he’s letting them know he feels because they remind him of home. It’s a deep one. Check out the official visual below. It’s different to hear someone sing from the perspective of a homeless person.

  • Watch Grime artist Yizzy’s official video for ‘Don’t Feel A Way’ with a cameo from the legendary Dizzee Rascal

    In case you missed out on our post on the audio, we’re back with the official video for Grime artist Yizzy’s ‘Don’t Feel A Way’ produced by English legend Dizzee Rascal. It is a proper party song that showcases the artist performing the song in a club. Other shots show the artist in-studio with the producer, working and having a good time. Watch the video, that we are assuming that was shot well before social distancing, below.

    [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CInGT6Yq8Hw&h=315]

  • Watch Brooklyn Drill star Sheff G in short clip for ‘Moody’ directed by Nicholas Belotti

    Brooklyn Drill rapper Sheff G released the official video for ‘Moody’ eight days ago. Showing scenes of him and his friends at a house party with stacks of cash in hand, ‘Moody’ is a snippet into their lifestyle. To date, it has over 1.2 million views. Initially inspired by ‘Kill Shit’, the Haitian-Trinidadian artist is making his mark with short yet catchy tunes for the upcoming party season. Hopefully, we will be able to get outside and go to packed parties again in the future. Until then, check out the Nicholas Belotti direction below.

    [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNROfAPuD3w&h=315]

    PS: Our former social media intern is the main girl in the video.

  • Missy Elliott tells SiriusXM about her new film ‘The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel’, the inspiration and influence behind the Gospel sensation

    Yesterday, American rapper, singer-songwriter, Missy Elliott called into SiriusXM’s Urban View show “Heather B Live” to talk to host Heather B Gardner about the movie Missy Elliot, Queen Latifah, and Mary J Blige came together to executively produce called “The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel,” which airs today on Lifetime.

    During the interview, Missy told Heather B how the idea for the movie came about and what inspired the powerful trio to join forces and executively produce this biopic about the world-renown gospel group, The Clark Sisters:

    Well, we all go way back… We’re all sisters, beyond the cameras… and to find out that there was something that we all loved, like I mean, to the tenth power was The Clark Sisters. We always spoke about The Clark Sisters. No matter what conversation we were having we always ended up talking about gospel records and The Clark Sisters always came up and this has been for years that we’ve sung their records.

    She went on to say that one day Queen Latifah called her and said she had the rights to The Clark Sisters movie and she knew how much Missy loved them and wanted her to be a part of producing the movie if she was interested.

    Missy told Heather B: The Clark Sisters have had such an influence on the way (clearly not lyrics) but the way I structure my songs, my harmonies and stuff that I’ve done on my records, and I’ve done on other people’s records, that I’ve been inspired by them when it comes to their vocal sounds… and then she talked about Mary being involved and I’m like it don’t get no better than that! Three strong women. And we already know each other and we all know how much we love The Clark Sisters, and we wanted to make sure that justice is done correctly. We want people to walk away respecting who these women are.

    The Clark Sisters have impacted other artists throughout their careers and Missy told Heather B the importance of learning who they are: A lot of artists may not know the history of different artists and it’s so important because they have had an influence on me, Mary [J Blige], [Queen] Latifah, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Faith Evans… so many people that people love.

    https://www.siriusxm.com/clips/social/embed/clip/7bcbe3c4-a385-f50b-f32e-5d0dcb8830f8/97a98699-70fc-4429-b326-afa162a5c9a9

  • Watch Toronto artist Mustafa’s emotional plea to end gun violence in his visual for ‘Stay Alive’

    In the midst of a global pandemic, the title of this track, ‘Stay Alive’, seems more and more relevant as a message of perseverance in the midst of a scary time. That’s the beauty of this track, performed by Canada’s Mustafa. The song is written as a plea to end gun violence in his neighborhood, but its message is applicable to really any situation that requires a cool head in the midst of a storm. The video clashes gently against the lyrics–play the visuals on mute and you’d believe you were watching a hardcore Hip-Hop track. Increase the volume and you are soothed by Mustafa’s unique sound. Mustafa has effectively set himself apart from the crowd with this release.

    [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E26_sjxbYY&h=315]

  • New Jersey-native artist pineappleCITI returns with Trap-Soul single ‘Believe’: Listen

    Talented recording artist pineappleCITI has dropped another banger, this time hitting us with her latest release ‘Believe’. The track comes at a rough time in the world, but bursts with positivity. She beautifully speaks life into herself on the track; something we all should do whether we’re in a global crisis or not. In the midst of her speaking life and love into herself, she manages to make it so catchy and captivating that we’re dancing along to her affirmations. She believes in herself, clearly, and that confidence exuded on the track makes us believe in her too. She has already proven herself as an artist in various ways, but her takeover mentality is infectious, and we have no doubt that she’s going to do just what she says.

    Photo: Thomas Falcone