Favourites 2020: EPs (5/5)

Australian rapper and singer Tkay released the second volume of her Last Year Was Weird trilogy this summer. She proves that she can produce multiple high quality bangers, from the anthemic and warm hip hop opening My Flowers, to the hard-hitting bassy Awake with JPEGMAFIA, and the smooth funk of the closing track Don’t Call Again. Looking forward to the third volume of these EPs!

Eclectic, weird and unpredictable, this is the duo’s first release since signing to Warp Records, created whilst they were still students at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. It journeys through harsh chaos to cinematic strings and everything in between. By merging Georgia’s songwriting skills and soft singing voice, and Taylor’s experimental electronic input, they have found a sound that is distinctly their own, and it seems to be just a taste of what they are capable of.

On this EP, the supergroup of musicians and producers combines all of their expertise in soul, jazz and hip hop. The smooth and upbeat sound of the project doesn’t come without the exploration of deeper themes, such as reflections on police brutality in Freeze Tag. They also released a remix EP featuring rappers such as Snoop Dogg and Rapsody.

Glasper said, “It wasn’t like we’re four musicians and we’re coming together for the first time. It was like, ‘Yo, this is normal for us.’ Now we’re going to get together and let the world hear it.”

Singer, DJ and producer Park Hye Jin finished off this EP whilst she was travelling the world for the first time. With dreamy synths and Hye Jin’s low-key vocals as well as more urgent and high energy beats, she showcases her capability and versaility as a producer across these six tracks.

Not an EP but forgot to put it in my previous lists so I’m sliding it in here! Jim-E Stack collaborates with a range of artists on this album, and the end product is a set of uplifting, emotional and catchy tracks. My favourites are the opening track with Empress Of and the closing track with Kacy Hill.

“Basically, the album came to be by just not really thinking or essentially not trying to make an album. It was just born out of the scraps of making music with other people over the past three years.”

Jim-E Stack in Forbes