This week’s edition of YO! HIP HOP RVA is eclectic: BAVA perfectly balances soul and trap on “Me vs BAVA.” Peter $un’s “MY FAVORITE DRUG” remixes have unique grooves all music lovers will enjoy, and Bradford Thomas’ LP is an enigmatic amalgamation of Black music.
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BAVA – “Me vs BAVA” (single)
“Me vs BAVA” takes me back to watching hip-hop music videos on BET’s 106 & Park. At the beginning of a video, in the bottom left corner, occasionally the song title was hyphenated meaning there would be two songs featured in the video. It was always an exciting experience because you didn’t know when the beat switch was coming (Ludacris’ “Number One Spot/The Potion” is a perfect example of this). BAVA captures this nostalgic approach with “Me vs BAVA.” However, unlike Ludacris’ video, the beat switch wasn’t expected, but it was such a pleasant surprise. The first half of the record weaves in a melancholy sample lifted from Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s “Where Do I Go From Here!” The second half—hard-knocking 808s and snares. Polarity is the basis of “Me vs BAVA,” it’s in the song title, production and story direction, but the constant throughout the video is the sharpness of BAVA’s pen. Give BAVA a follow on Instagram. Also, check out his LP L.M.S. which dropped earlier this week.
Video credits – Directed by Moodie Visuals
PETER $UN – “MY FAVORITE DRUG” (single)
“MY FAVORITE DRUG” does not hide from the fact it is a summer bop (the music video premiered in July and was one of three songs featured on his aptly-titled EP 3 Piece). On Dec. 5, Peter $un breathed new life into “MY FAVORITE DRUG” and released a handful of remixes from Karen Nyame KG, Uncle Kizzy, Blinkie and Jae Murphy. Each remix is completely different from the next, ranging from lo-fi to Afrobeat. Escape the cold dreariness outside of your window and relive the summer with these infectious remixes. Follow Peter $un here.
Spotify link:
BRADFORD THOMAS – Bradventure Seven: The Enigma Zone (album)
Upon the release of Andre 3000’s highly-anticipated New Blue Sun—an album where the MC ditched his cerebral raps for an ambient, exclusively instrumental sound—prompted lo-fi legend ohbliv a.k.a. Bradford Thomas to tweet “So y’all ready now for Black folks ambient music?” ohbliv’s pinned Tweet—“There’s three sides to every story”—perfectly encapsulates the differences in sound you can expect on an ohbliv, DarkTwaine_ and Bradford Thomas record. ohbliv’s soundbed is funky, “dirty” soul, DarkTwaine_ is moody, cosmic ambience and Bradford Thomas is a combination of the two; Different monikers, same soul. Bradventure Seven is an adventure in every sense of the word. It opens with “Unsolved Mysteries Of The Unknown”—lush guitar chords weaved in with what’s reminiscent of music you’d hear during the loading screen of a retro video game (and I mean this in the most flattering way possible). The next song and title track is aptly-titled because it is organized chaos. Frolicing through the rest of the 13-song soundscape, you’ll come across frantic jazz melodies, hazy drums and horns, and piercing keys. Bradford Thomas, ohbliv and DarkTwaine_ all refuse to be boxed into one sound. This Bradventure is another testament to that.Â
Check it out on bandcamp.
My favorite tracks:
- “Love Is The Real Revolution”
- “The Last Generation”
