Jung Kook featuring Latto | ‘Seven’
Breaking away from global supergroup BTS for his first solo single, Jung Kook has run away with one of the biggest hits of the dog days of summer. Adding another layer to the multifaceted love song is his wise inclusion of Atlanta’s verse virtuoso Latto, seen in this video causing a stir as she raps atop a coffin.
In a first-person piece published in Harper’s Bazaar this month, Latto reflected on her career, the ascendance of a new generation of women rappers and how this musical genre may continue to evolve: “I hate when people say hip-hop is dead. So many subgenres of hip-hop have been made over the last 50 years. The versatility is there, the trendsetting is there and hip-hop really is the blueprint for every other genre — including pop, country and R&B — to the point where they want us on their songs. Hip-hop might be 50 years in, but it’s really just getting started.” (Photo above: Big Hit Music)
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Grouplove | ‘Eyes’
More fully settled into their new Atlanta home than they were the last time we covered them, the West Coast transplants from Grouplove have returned this summer with their sixth album, I Want It All Right Now, just in time for their current nationwide tour supporting Pink.
This single speaks to a myriad of themes, framed as a “song about love. A song about leaving Los Angeles. A song about time passing and how we want to spend it. A song about death,” according to Christian Zucconi, one half of the married duo that leads the band. The other half of that partnership — in music and love — is Hannah Hooper, who’s also an accomplished painter.
For her part, Hooper told FLOOD Magazine that she thinks of this tune as the point “where the album starts to transition into this realization and discovery that we need to surrender.” Grouplove formed in 2009 and may still be best known for its shortest work, “Back In the 90′s,” the seconds-long — but nonetheless iconic — BoJack Horseman theme song, recorded in 2017. Look out for their solo tour coming down the pipeline sometime next year.
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Ruby Velle & the Soulphonics | ‘My Dear’
The neo-soul group made its debut in 2012 with It’s About Time, an album that kicked off with our Vintage Track of the Week and launched the band into gigs at SXSW in Austin and the Governor’s Ball in New York City — and shared stages with the Temptations, Iggy Pop, Erykah Badu, Goodie Mob, Gary Clark Jr., Animal Collective, The Wailers, Peaches and Kendrick Lamar — to name just a handful.
Originally assembled as an instrumental funk-jazz band based in Gainesville, Florida, with core members Spencer Garn on keys and Scott Clayton on guitar, the outfit changed its tune, literally, when Velle arrived as its vocalist and front person.
Velle grew up in Toronto, the daughter of Indian immigrants who eventually moved the decidedly warmer climes of Florida, where Velle attended the University of Florida and wound up meeting Clayton and Garn in 2005. Influenced in equal measure by singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco and Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, Velle’s emotive voice and timeless style prompted the band to change its name and fully lean into the new genre.
Eventually, the Soulphonics made their way to Atlanta when Velle decided to pursue graphic design at The Creative Circus and her bandmates followed suit — accurately guessing that a bigger city would lead to bigger platforms. They quickly landed a residency at Star Bar in 2008, which meant they had a guaranteed gig one night a week for a full year. And the rest is history.
Although they’ve slowed down since their auspicious recording debut, the group still plays and creates music together, having performed this past spring at the Callanwolde Arts Center’s spring concert series. In honor of It’s About Time’s decade anniversary, the band also recently released a remastered edition for their fans.
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