RāViewz: Music | March 2022
Here's what Rāwiri is jamming to this month...
Lucky Daye - Feels Like
With an enviable 15-year career as a songwriter for major artists, Lucky Daye has invested the last few years establishing his own unique take on contemporary R&B.
His second album Candydrip dropped this past week and is a sensual, seductive ode to hitmakers of yesteryear. Here on Feels Like, Daye is in In full Prince mode, delivering an evocative falsetto over a fat, funky beat.
Muni Long - Hrs and Hrs
Another artist with an incredible career as a hit songwriter, Muni Long has taken her personal and professional triumphs and tribulations and turned them into her Public Displays of Affection EP.
A sultry, seductive listen, Hrs and Hrs finds Muni waxing lyrical about the benefits of her man investing time in her. Her pen game is as strong as ever and her vocals work beautifully across the melody and harmony lines. What she lacks in vowels, she more than makes up for in hit potential.
bbno$, Rich Brian - Edamame
Canadian Armenian rapper bbno$ hit the bigtime in 2019 with Lalala and his star has been on the rise ever since.
Teaming up with Indonesian rapper Rich Brian and channelling 2013 Macklemore, Edamame, the latest track from Bb's EP Eat Your Veggies, is a funky and relentless good time.
Baby might not have any money but he does have an ear for catchy pop hooks and rhyme play clever enough to warrant unironic replays.
Tyga & Doja Cat - Freaky Deaky
Two of pop music's biggest stars team up for the first in three years for the lead single of Tyga's upcoming studio album.
Big, brash and bouncy, Freaky Deaky is exactly the type of upbeat lyrical come-on that works across multiple genre charts. For their parts both Tyga and Doja Cat lean in, with yet another set of tight rhymes to show off their sparkling collaborative chemistry.
Hamo Dell ft. Kings - Ora Ai
Māori songstress Hamo Dell's 2021 hit Feeling Right showcased the talented diva's vocals and songwriting capabilities. Riding a subtle R&B beat, it didn't look like there was any way you could improve the song.
And then, she delivered in her native te reo Māori. The result, Ora Ai, is an even more ethereal, evocative listen. With an impassioned main vocal line and featuring some of the finest three-part harmonies you'll find anywhere in the Southern hemisphere, this love ballad will have you feeling ora ai in no time.
Nija - Finesse
Yet another singer/songwriter who deserves her flowers, Nija is stepping out of the booth from Ariana Grande and Summer Walker to deliver an album of her own material, Don't Say I Didn't Warn You.
A gifted talent and still only 24, the New Jersey native's mid-tempo kiss-off Finesse is a relatable and enjoyable spin. "You got bad intentions, baby, I could tell..." she sings resignedly. His game might be all finesse, but Nija's response is all gold.
Check out all of this month's tracks on the RāViewz Spotify playlist!