H.E.R. - Fight For You
“Fight for You” is a new single from H.E.R. which appears in the soundtrack for the film “Judas and the Black Messiah” and it follows the Gospel infused “Hold Us Together” as songs she has created for movie soundtracks. The film details the life of Civil Rights Activist Fred Hampton and his role within both the NAACP and Black Panther Party (BPP). The track has also recently been nominated for Best Original Song – Motion Picture at the 2021 Golden Globes.
The lyrics within “Fight for You” address social injustice and the many hardships the movement had undertaken as a result of rebuttal from law enforcement. The following words provide evidence of these sentiments: “All the smoke in the air / Feel the hate when they stare / All the pain that we bare / Oh you better beware”. The pre-chorus is the most emotive and touching element of the track. It almost acts as a rallying cry as it attempts to galvanise disenfranchised communities and provide a means of metaphorical protection from the hostile attitudes they had fallen victim to “Freedom for my brothers / Freedom 'cause they judge us / Freedom from the others / Freedom from the leaders, they keepin' us / Freedom gon' keep us strong / Freedom if you just hold on / Freedom ain't free at all”
The sonic direction of the track is heavily inspired by 60s and 70s production with its smooth jazz and funk feel. It makes great use of a foundational double bass to act as the glue and then seamlessly adds an array of percussion intersped with a soft higher pitched guitar riff to fully capture the essence of the sound present within this era.
Lucky Daye, Tiana Major9 - On Read
Lucky Daye and Tiana Major9 combined to put together the track “On Read'' which can be seen to be both respective artists first musical contributions to the new year. This single comes from Lucky Daye’s upcoming EP, “Table For Two” which is scheduled to be released on February 12th.
“On Read” sees Lucky Daye and Tiana Major9 assume the roles of two characters within a couple of whom have had a falling out which has resulted in a non-response from Tiana. Lucky Daye expresses his helplessness and need for his partners return whilst simultaneously highlighting that she couldn’t do better than him in the following words “Baby, call me / We've been off, way off track / You don't hit me back when I need you / Making me weak / What, you gon' make me beg? / I'd get on my knees if that'd please you / Chat it up / You ain't gon' find, how you gonna find a nigga like me, babe?”. Tiana later articulates the rationale behind her disregard in her verse where she discusses her frustration with her partners inability to keep to his word “This ain't no fun / You love the back and forth / Never back your chat with your actions / I ain't the one Baby, I'm so headstrong / It's your lucky day if I answer, oh, ooh-woah (Ooh-woah) / You ain't gon' find the sort of reply you're wanting to get out of me, bae”
The backing melody compromises of a steady guitar loop , a heavy bass pattern and and later apparent trap hi hats which set a sombre and sobering emotive environment to set the scene for the impassioned back and forth present within the song.
Joeboy - Count Me Out
“Count Me Out” features on Joeboy’s newly released debut album “Somewhere Between Beauty & Magic''. This project follows up his wildly successful EP “Love & Light” that included the song “Baby” which helped fasttrack his accession to household status within the Afrobeats sphere.
The song itself discusses Joeboy’s rapid ascent to stardom and the euphoric feelings attributed to reaching such levels of notoriety. He also details his desire to keep pushing to higher heights to prolong this elevation. “As I reach here e be like magic / I know you don’t understand it ye / I drop hit / I drop smash hit / And na so e go dey / I’m never stopping ye / As I reach here e be like magic / I know you don’t understand it ye / I drop hit / I drop smash hit”.
The instrumental within this track exudes themes of triumph with carefully layered violins , horns and percussion perfectly reflecting the victorious and all concurring precedent set within Joeboy’s lyricism.