Tagged: Childish Gambino

The Weeknd – Drunk In Love (Remix)

Since the release of Beyoncé’s self-titled visual album in December, every singer/rapper/producer and their mother has been remixing the insanely successful song “Drunk In Love”, including James Blake, Diplo, Future, Detail, Angel Haze, T.I., and more recently, Kanye West, with his Western-psychedelic inspired video.

This remix comfortably trumps them all. Canadian artist and producer The Weeknd, has just dropped his take on the sexually charged track. With gritty lyrics and smooth vocals, his cover holds on to the hook from the original, but mixes up the rest with less romantic verses about hard drugs and fucking models.

The Weeknd is known as a bit of an enigmatic character in the industry, shying away from interviews and cameras.

“In the beginning, I was insecure. I hated how I looked in pictures. I just fucking hated this shit, like, crop me out of this picture right now. I was very camera shy. People like hot girls, so I put my music to hot girls and it just became a trend. The whole “enigmatic artist” thing. I just ran with it. No one could find pictures of me. It reminded me of some villain shit,” he confessed in an über exclusive Complex interview.

Abel Tesfaye, the talent behind The Weeknd, is probably one of the most underrated artists in the industry. Part of the emerging contemporary R&B scene, his music seems to effortlessly combine vulgar lyrics about sex, drugs and partying, with elegant vocals and a downtempo melody.

A seriously steamy and drug-addled remix. Have a listen below.

THE BREAKDOWN:

Hometown: Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.
Latest album: Kiss Land, released 10 September 2013.
Sounds like: Drake, Miguel, and Frank Ocean.
Say what? Though Tesfaye was born in Canada, his first language is Amharic, a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. “Had no dad and mom was working 24/7 so my grandma raised me until I was like 5. No English.” he stated in a Reddit AMA.

Ciao ciao, Arianna

THE WEEKENDER

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If you wanna cut to the chase with some quick and solid pointers to get you in the know, our new weekly guide The Weeekender has got you covered! In here, we’ll give you a rundown in what happened in the music world this week and give you our favourite tracks of the week.

The 27th ARIA Awards 2013 occurred this time last week, with fairly expected nominees and winners. If you follow this blog at all, you’ll have noticed our slight obsession with all things Flume, and so we’re happy that he cleaned four awards out of his eight nominations including Best Dance Release, Best Producer, Breakthrough Artist and Producer of the Year. That’s gotta be good for the ego. Tame Impala deservedly took out the big one, Album of the Year with Lonerism, as well as Best Group and Best Rock Album. Find the full list of nominees and winners here.

After looking back at 2013, we can look to the future of music with the BBC Sound of 2014 longlist being released this week as well. This list was compiled by 170 industry trend setters with each of them choosing their top three favourite rising artists, so generally it’s a fairly spot on assessment of the year ahead. We reviewed Sam Smith this week, but other artists that made it onto the list include Chance The Rapper, Sampha, FKA Twigs, George Ezra, Banks, Royal Blood and Say Lou Lou – full list here.

It’s clearly been a big week – Grammy nominations also came out! We’ll run you through the finer details soon but for now all you need is to get yourselves ready for full crazy day of music and drinking – both the Grammy’s and Triple J’s Hottest 100 will be held on Australia Day 2014. We’re excited.

THE SETLIST:

The best new music of late? Look no further than The Weekender Setlist. 

Childish Gambino – Telegraph Ave

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Despite being unhappy and unimpressed by the unauthorised early leak of his new album Because the Internet, Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover) has gotten back up and given us a beautiful soulful track. It’s a shame the leak happened when he apparently had some innovative launch events planned, but it seems all too common and ironically apt considering the title of his album. It hasn’t stopped him though, with announcements of secret mansion house parties in several cities across the US (we wish we were there!). In an indication of his versatility, Telegraph Ave channels more of the Drake and Frank Ocean vibe. I have to admit, it was love at first listen for me, and makes me want to check out Oakland…

Childish Gambino also asked our very own Aussie producer Ta-Ku to do a remix of this new song. Ta-Ku does an amazing job, creating atmosphere with just Glover’s distorted vocals, building into a smooth, more electronic sound while staying true to the original’s soulful vibe.

THE BREAKDOWN:

Hometown: Georgia, US.
Latest album: Because the Internet, out December 10.
Sounds like: Frank Ocean, Drake
Say what? You might have recognised the face if you’re a fan of community – Donald Glover plays college student Troy Barnes. He also recently signed on for a music-themed show called Atlanta. Keep an eye on this busy boy!