Ibeyi: Juice of Mandarins The floating and rhythmic “Juice of Mandarins” is the newest offering from Ibeyi (aka twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz) since their third studio album, Spell 31. Longtime collaborator and beat-maker Richard Russell lends the track a pared-back production, letting it groove and glide on the Afro-Cuban-French duo’s lilting harmonies and vocal-derived instrumentals. Managing to be both relaxed yet danceable, the …
From Mykki Blanco’s upcoming Stay Close To Music (which features Kelsey Lu, Jónsi, Saul Williams and others), “Pink Diamond Bezel” demonstrates, once again, the artist’s adroitness for bending and blurring genres. The track begins as a sultry number before turning into a psych-rock banger. They say in a statement, “When I think about the vibe of ‘Pink Diamond Bezel’ I imagine a stretch limousine riding …
Rapper, singer, songwriter and producer Sampa The Great (aka Sampa Tembo) has been appointed the poster-child of various movements, communities and cultures—without acquiescence—and, as such, she’s no stranger to myopic perceptions, reductive takes and misrepresentations. While she was born in Zambia and raised in Botswana, she’s often described as an Afrobeats (a West African genre) artist. She lived in Melbourne, Australia for several years and …
