10/10 Would Listen: Cloudwaves

Cloudwaves is a radio show making the late night a great night on RTRFM. On a Friday morning from 12am - 2am, the Wavvy gang - Sleepyhead, Aslan, Dani M, Dan Dalton and Jai Chouhan - select tunes you can get wild and wavy to in your crib, car or club, showcasing a supa-fresh mix of turn up raps, sexy, futuristic R&B, chill low-lying raps, and experimental club tracks. Show Coordinator Dani M rounds up her faves from the last month.

Partynextdoor feat. Drake – Recognise

“I want you, to turn up on me / Every night when I see you.”

This burner from OVO-affiliate (that’s Drake’s label)’s Partynextdoor has been at the top of my “tunes to tune to” playlist for a minute now. Proper bedroom jam, in which PND is just hanging out for women who will turn up on him every night. Some nice bars from Drake, too. I was very down with Partynextdoor’s track Persian Rugs but this has taken over as my new Partynextdoor favourite, it’s just such a strong track. It’s off Partynextdoor’s recent PARTYNEXTDOORTWO, which is well worth your time if you’re partial to beautiful, hazy, druggy, seductive R&B.

Goldlink – When I Die

“When I die, I need a hundred bitches to call my phone.”

This is one of my favourite tracks off 20 year old Virginia up’n’comer Goldlink’s incredible debut, The God Complex. The usually bright rapper (he describes his style as "Rick James meets Justin Timberlake (*NSYNC days) with Backstreet Boys and a little D12 and Tupac) takes a sad turn on this one. Goldlink - who we play a fair bit on the show - performed his debut live show in the UK last week to a sold out crowd, which is a huge indication of the success to come for this guy, given it was his first live show and he’s from the US. Oh and Andre 3000 was just randomly chilling in the back, endorsing the young talent (!). He’s headed here for Origin NYE, see him now before he explodes. 

LV & Josh Idehen - Make It Count

“I always stand a certain sort of loss, like I paid the price before I knew the cost.”

MCJosh Idehen, who crosses between spoken word and rap (kind of like Ghostpoet), has made his second collaborative LP with *lords* Will Horrocks and Si Williams of LV – it’s called Islands and its out now on grime-focused label Keysound.Hyperdub artists LV’s incredible beats are ‘impossibly London’ - aka future garage, grime and glitch. Their stuff is always really sharp, and combined with Idehen’s clever rhymes and streetsmart lyrical narratives, Islands is quite different to a lot of stuff out there, it’s so varied – it really fits the Cloudwaves definition of something to be enjoyed while flying high (coz of the up tempo club tracks) or laying low (coz of the melancholic tracks).

Ryan Hemsworth feat. Trim - Difficulties 

"This situation's difficult to work in/they say my difficulties make me perfect."

Oneman's Solitaire Vol 3 is just about here – it just launchedin the UK so hopefully we should see it on the Internet in a matter of days. It’s a project that sees the South London DJ recruiting great, disparate acts from the far-flung corners of contemporary hip hop, R&B, and club music. To tide us over while we wait for salvation, he's released a cut from it, feat. a collab, Difficulties, which sees London grime MC Trim link with Canada’s club music poster boy Ryan Hemsworth. Switching it up from his usually bright styling, Hemsworth shows off his melancholy, melodic side and together with Trim’s slow rapping it makes for a gloomy, subdued track that is right bloody good!

Young Thug / Rich Homie Quan - Get TF out of my Face (Visionist V-Signs Edit)

“Get the fuck out my face or else we fiiiiiiight.”

I first heard this edit in a Dark0 mix and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since, like it gets minimum one play a day. Thug and Quan brings an unmatched intensity to this track. Visionist adds this level of iciness to it that makes Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan’s hood frontin’ seem that much more… actually threatening.  The original’s off RH’s 2013 release I Promise I Will Never Stop Going In. For more recent Rich Homie Quan, you could listen to his track with Mariah Carey, Thirsty.

King Louie – Fuck You

“You dont fuck with me, okay, I wont lose no sleep.”

I’m into the woozy drill beat on this and the nonchalant but hard ass tone of King L’s delivery – recommend turning up the volume high and singing along to this when people are pissing you off. This comes off the Chicago rapper’s Tony release. 

Popcaan - Naughty Girl (Dubbel Dutch Hyperwine Rmx)

I’d jump rope with Brooklyn producer Dubbel Dutch any damn day. I recently saw Dubble Dutch turn a room full of slightly swaying people into a crazed rabid bunch of highly energised animals at Fabric London with his rollercoaster mix of triumphant rave and minimal club rhythms. After having produced a bittersweet slow beat for Jamaican dancehall artist Popcaan’s summer killa Everything Nice, he’s now remixed the artist’s track Naughty Girl. Check out Popcaan's debut album Where We Come From out now on Dre Skull's Mixpak label, which features even more Dubbel Dutch prods. 

XXYYXX - Unknown

“I could just crawl up in a ball.”

So XXYYXX's got a pretty nice new track out: it’s all spacey and jittery production and booming bass with plenty of the Florida producer’s signature wavy broodiness. What makes it though, is the sultry vocals from R&B singer Vanessa Elisha, who is actually from Australia! And who could give Banks/FKA a run for their $ in the babe stakes (check header photo for proof). XXYYXX has an EP coming out soon apparently, so stay on it – his track certainly has us thirsty for it.

KIT & Sasha Go Hard - I Sell Everything 

“I got molly, I got lean, just tell me what you need.”

This is pretty turned up/trappy for Chicago’s KIT, who usually specialises in dark, slow, smooth bangers (listen to Bad Bitch next time you’re fragile/tired/high and feel hot salt come out of your eyes and run down your face). He teams up with fellow Chi-towner, rap queen Sasha Go Hard, who spits on-point venom as usual. Speaking of venom, StakzDaProducer’s beat is super snaky. Sasha just welcomed a baby to the real world so we’re concerned at this point that she’s hustling – dat baby needs mothers’ milk, not molly milk, yo! I guess they don’t call her ‘Go Hard’ for nothing. 

Yung Lean - Yoshi City 

“Lonely nights, finna sacrifice, Fuck your life I need mine.”

Your first impression may be that he’s some kinda real life meme, but 18-year-old Swedish rapper Yung Lean is no joke  - he’s just released his debut album Unknown Memory, (following up his widely received mixtape Unknown Death 2002) and it’s already on heavy media hitters Nardwuar and Pitchfork’s radar. On the album, he speak-sings over cloudy beats created by his Sad Boys squad – Yung Gud, Yung Sherman and White Armor. While he’s got his aesthetic down, grounded firmly in the ideology of post-ironic Internet culture and vaporwave, Lean lacks a fair amount of, erm, technical prowess (his delivery is mediocre at best) but he’s always landed in that ‘so bad it’s good’ realm of appeal; and has cleverly positioned himself at the antithesis of mainstream hip hop anything. Lean will appeal to anyone who knows how to be a little open-minded about the music they listen to. He will probably never make a ripple in the mainstream hop hop world, but this track’s already racked up a million plays on Youtube and Lean is a super heavy hitter in the world of underground hip hop right now, about to embark on his first tour of the States where he’s already selling out shows. Have a listen/brood to Unknown Memory - it’s trippy, it’s druggy, it’s the kind of music that inspired us to start Cloudwaves in the first place. For vintage Lean, check out Gatorade, and for more sad boy stuff, take a look at Ecco2k and Bladee. If you like the muddled beats of Clams or the lyrical absurdity of Lil B you will surely grow to love the Yung Lean doer! #sadboys4life

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