Hip hop meets different genres: the two rappers are multi-faceted.
This week’s hip hop recommendations come as a surprise and surprisingly different than expected. Little Simz is releasing the seventh part of her ten-year-old EP series DROP 7 without prior notice. And even though her last album NO THANK YOU is less than two years old, the 29-year-old presents a new, clubbier sound. However, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to grab. She uses almost every danceable beat and genre influence. If you’d rather stay at home on Friday evening, light a few scented candles and bring Selfcare Sunday forward by two days, Layla’s new track “Lügenbold” is the perfect musical accompaniment. The Hamburg native swaps rap for R&B singing.
Layla – “Liar”
Anyone who has been following Layla for a while now knows that the rapper likes to play around with different genres. But why not? Her warm voice knows how to nestle into smooth melodies or control electronic beats. In 2020, Layla released mostly singles that primarily highlighted her rap skills and proved how smooth hip-hop can be. On her EP TRABOE, released in 2021, she also moves somewhere between rap and R&B. It should be said: Layla raps, no question about it. It’s more of a relaxed and confident flow reminiscent of R&B. Her new track wasn’t quite so predictable, because a hard electronic sound followed in 2022 with “Pose” and fast, wild beats with “Poster Girl” a few months later. In 2023 she will combine the best of both in “Waterloo”. And now she sings the two-minute song “Lügenbold” completely.
Layla describes a monotonous love relationship in which one began to only tell the other “half the truth”. A connection that is no longer maintained out of love but out of fear of loneliness. The conclusion: It doesn’t prevent a separation, it just prolongs it, because ultimately the following applies: “Every untruth wants to come back into the light, every ambiguity speaks for itself.” The producer Urban underlines Layla’s gentle voice with a harmonious, calm R&B instrumental.
Little Simz – DROP 7
After their surprise album NO THANK YOU 2022, the SURPRISE EP DROP 7 follows. And in terms of sound, Little Simz doesn’t miss the “Wait, what?!” effect, because they serve club music – but for two different dance floors. First and foremost, the British native gives us electronic, tight beats for the next rave and at the same time provides subliminal ones Reggeaton and trap influences à la Rio de Janeiro for a fusion of two parties. And all of that meets rap. And on singing. It sounds like a wild mix, and it is when you first listen to it. The second, however, reveals an interplay between the genres: they complement each other, merge with each other or replace each other.
Everything different than expected
DROP 7 has a total of seven tracks, in keeping with the title, and this time it was not produced by Little Simz regular producer Inflo, who worked on GRAY AREA in 2019, but by Jakwob. It all starts with the song “Mood Swings”, which wakes up Little Simz fans with its flow and officially ushers in the experimental era. A thoroughly electronic sound that is always replaced by dominant drums. Little Simz raps more slowly, almost sliding into the singing, until the beat change brings out hard rap parts again. Electronic dance meets hip hop and grime, while the drums are slightly reminiscent of funk mandelão. If you don’t hear the Brazilian influence here, you’ll notice it in the next song “Fever” aware. In addition to a reggaeton-like sound, Little Simz also switches to Portuguese here and there. Even with a strong accent, she raps smoothly to the flow of the song until “Torch” becomes more hip-hop again. It seems like a rap track with an electronic touch, in which both genres seem to completely merge. In “I Ain’t Feelin It” and the short interlude-like “Power”, rap takes over again until the last track “Far Away”, where the 29-year-old completely throws the previous concept aside and sings throughout.
Drop 7 is by far Little Simz’s most experimental work. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, the rapper throws everything over her head. It’s atypical for them and may disappoint some fans, but that doesn’t make it any less good than their previous records. Little Simz offers varied music, shows that genres have no boundaries, and therefore offers new discoveries with every listen.