Juletta + Ishan: Gut Feeling

Juletta + Ishan’s “Gut Feeling” is best described through its beautiful contradictions: haunting and luminescent, smooth and uneasy, buoyant and weighty. Written and produced by both artists, the track appears on the NYC-based duo’s debut album, If I Never Hit Land (out this Friday), which is based upon real stories Juletta heard from 30 women she interviewed in New York over the course of two …

Chika: U Should

Premiering as a live performance on Showtime’s DESUS & MERO, Chika’s  slow-burning “U Should” is drenched in confidence. The Montgomery, Alabama-born artist’s track begins with a sung introduction—which repeats in the chorus—and Chika (aka Jane Chika Oranika) unpacks a lot in her subsequent verses. From love to her career, confidence and perseverance, her verses play with the track’s title, leaving the listener wondering whether Chika …

REASON: Something More

Rapper REASON (aka Robert Lee Gill Jr) released his first-ever studio album New Beginnings this week. Introductory track “Something More” begins with vocals from singer Zacari that set the stage for REASON’s origin story—from former relationships with lovers, friends and foes, to getting signed by Top Dawg Entertainment, up to the day his debut album dropped. When REASON steps in, he unleashes all the talent …