The video for Vybz Kartel and Dre Skull’s collaboration “Real Bad Gal” is out now!
Released in January and a mainstay in the set of many a selector since, “Real Bad Gal” is an inimitable combination of Kartel’s throwback flow and Dre Skull’s minimal roughneck production that twists classic dancehall into 2018.
The video was directed by Ivar Wigan, known for his photos documenting Jamaica. Shot on location, it’s a look into a day in the life of a “bad and brave” woman.
In the time since his early days as Vybz Kartel’s protege and his breakthrough debut album Where We Come From, he has toured with Drake, been sampled by Kanye West, had mainstream hits with Jamie xx and Gorillaz, and released a stream of singles that continue to delight his dedicated fan base in the Caribbean and beyond. His journey has taken him from a promising young star to the leader of a generation of Jamaican and diaspora artists, a generation that feels their influence reverberate in pop’s continuing interest in the sonic signifiers of dancehall. Forever finds Popcaan grappling with his role as an icon of his generation, and finding his place in a pop landscape that he helped shape.
Like many great albums in the pantheon, Forever is the labour of a true artist, a body of work that defines and defies a genre. More than simply a collection of songs, Popcaan has carefully crafted this album to stand as a significant body of work and yet, it still bubbles over with singles. His storytelling has become further nuanced and kaleidoscopic on this record, with odes to love and relationships sitting side by side with spiritual and familial struggles, cautionary tales of life at the top and, of course, wining anthems.
The care-free Popcaan still rides high, on songs like “Body So Good”, “Wine For Me”, and the afropop leaning “Dun Rich”, not to mention the enviable confidence of “Superstar”. When he’s not singing for someone else, he is often turning to himself for support – creating songs that act as tonics. “Firm & Strong” is the record’s most powerful and spiritual offering – backed by a 20 person choir, and a stripped back beat, he creates a mantra for overcoming his struggles. With “A Wha Suh” he talks directly to the listeners on the power of believing in yourself, while on “Lef My Gun” he celebrates how precious life is.
Popcaan is a first-rate song maker, an artist who can write earworm melodies, hit a tone that can make you cry, coin phrases that no-one else on earth could dream up, and simply give you the gift of enjoying life. Forever is his best work to date, a record that is as much biographic as it is therapeutic, as soothing as it is fun. It is a journey through Popcaan’s life that reveals his pure spirit and his talent as a storyteller like no other.
We partnered with Boiler Room to hold the album launch party in a carpark in Kingston – watch below!
“Wine For Me” and “Firm and Strong” are the second releases from Popcaan’s upcoming sophomore album, Forever, following the exuberant “Body So Good”.
Popcaan is disarmingly effortless on “Wine For Me”, with an expert flow and expressive, catchy melodies. The airy and restrained production is anchored by a classic Jamaican drum pattern that has won over the world time again. He rides the riddim with flair & ease, and reminds us that his voice is unmatched.
“Firm & Strong” is the most powerful & spiritual offering from Forever. On a stripped back beat, Popcaan is joined by a 20 person choir, who help him lift through the struggle he describes. It is a mantra for himself, and for the listener, a reminder to never give up and remain strong in hard times. As the song reaches its pinnacle, and Popcaan leaves us with the choir, you have the sense he has ascended into rapture and gifted you the power to overcome. Both moving and uplifting, “Firm & Strong” shows us Popcaan’s ever-evolving and impressive artistry.
Florentino & Bad Gyal have just dropped the video for their track “Por Ti”, off the Fragmentos EP available now.
“Por Ti” is a heart-on-sleeve collaboration with Catalan MC Bad Gyal, a tale of desire set to a driving dembow and anthemic bassline. A companion piece of a sort to “Blink”, the Florentino- produced first single from Bad Gyal’s Worldwide Angel mixtape, “Por Ti” walks the line between Latin rhythms and UK bass pressure with ease, merging Bad Gyal’s plaintive vocals with Florentino’s sense of sonic color and melodrama.
The video invites viewers into an industrial-psychedelic wonderland, where everyday objects become portals into a phantasmic dancefloor populated by Bad Gyal and her crew. Her fierce charm creates an arresting, visually rich accompaniment to Florentino’s propulsive production.
“Por Ti” is a true representation of the sound of 2018, a borderless collaboration between two of the most exciting young artists in club music.
