nixx: The Sounds of Fleeting Optimism.

nixx is a brand new artist we came across after our posts about drama trial. He told us he had a song coming out very recently with drama himself and that he was super excited for us to hear it. We were instantly blown away with the unique sound and progression of the track. nixx came into the scene because of his love for song writing and has been at it for 6 years but, only creating music of his own for 3 months. Granted, the sound nixx has obtained in 3 months is already leagues ahead of some of the most decorated producers. nixx owns their sound and executes it confidently. nixx’a self proclaimed grunge music is not only hard hitting but, also inspirational with a blend of triumphant chord progressions and ethereal sounds playing them. Taking inspiration from the likes of rouri404, jane remover, and many more; you know strangers has the mixes that hit.

“zombie (feat. drama trial)” is no exception. starting with bubbly chord arps and choir stabs; the tone is set almost in a fairy tale state as nixx goes on about feeling like a zombie in more ways than one. Low energy, soul sucking, and no way of coherent thought are all ideas we can relate to and understand as the instrumental puts a warm blanket over the listener. The song abruptly drops into more of the grunge sound we mentioned earlier. Distorted guitars, hard drums, and fast hi hats flip the energy on it’s head and leaves you with a super satisfying ending as the synths slowly fade us out.

drama trial: One of the Best Tapes of the Last Year.

We’re a little late to this one but, nonetheless; it still deserves to be talked about. drama trial is a new artist that we actually came across from Tik Tok. He was doing a break down of his newest track “Repercussion”, from his EP “(Re)”. As I said earlier, it has been a while and since then drama has been working hard and has released two mini EPS since then. You already know drama trial is for the people and ready to devote his time to the music. This review, however; will be about “(Re)” and the immense amount of creativity that went into it. drama has claimed to just have a spark of creativity and basically making the whole EP within a couple weeks. That being said , this EP does not sound like a couple weeks of work. “(Re)” is littered with powerful, well spread instrumentals and thought out, well written lyrical content. Starting out with “Restart” we are given a dream like sound with fluttery high end percussion and wavy synths. The layers so perfectly intertwined right before it drops to an unorthodox vocal mix that you’ll be hearing for the entire record. Restart drops to almost a DnB club sound and the bass keeps a consistency that would keep your grandparents dancing. Moving on we get a lot of the same inside of “Relapse” with the metronome counting the listener in and euphoric and dreamy instrumentation. Rather than a full on dance track, drama seems to slow it down a bit introducing some piano chops and really dialing into the emotion until we get a HARD kick and bass drum starting another amazing and satisfying progression inside the song. This whole album is filled with vague feelings of hopefulness and smiles but, nothing on it can prepare you for the behemoth that is “Repercussions”. The track that brought us here with its stellar sound selection and design. From the machinery type sounds ringing out at the beginning to the infectious vocal melody. This whole track tickles your brain in all the right spots to the point where you’ll replay it once it’s over. The euphoric emotion that has been perfectly built up comes crashing down at the end of the track as drama screams that he’s tired of wasting his time on people who don’t deserve it. This is by far one of our favorite tapes released in 2022 and we cannot recommend it enough.

Alvin Tatums: Angelic Vocals on Knocking Beats.

Alvin Tatums 2nd project of this year, “Talking to the Moon” is a well crafted and energetic LP. Jugg King and Alvin first came together for those first project/album together inside of “ The Mind of the Hoodlums “ and now tatums is back with a solo project with all super producers, Jugg was executive producer of the project along with J2. The project is filled with guest appearances from Runthatbackwest, Kv on da beat, & J2.

This new album has a mix of sounds all cohesively coming together to create a strong hip hop record with knocking drums and great vocals recordings. Alvin even self produced the intro single of the album. He’s bringing everything to the table on this one. From production to writing and recording, Alvin can do it all and at a high level. We can’t wait to see what is next from the whole team. This album will definitely have us coming back for more. From the hype of “No Jumper” and the slower laid back sound on “Stars in the Room”; there’s something for everyone.

Kiran The Nomad: The One and Only is Back Again.

The one and only Kiran the Nomad has returned with his newest 9-track album , “Woes on Wax.” Running just under a half hour, this listen is easy and enjoyable. The time will fly by and you’ll find yourself starting it all over again. With infectious bars and heavy hitting bass, it was hard for Kiran not to hit it out of the park again. Not to mention, his pure taste for quality. The album is self released but easily comparable to the professional record labels. Our favorites have got to be “Him!” and “That’s Life!” Although, we think every song has its place and is enjoyable in its own right. Take some time to kick out your feet and listen to the one and only Kiran the Nomad.