Posted by Don’t look now but British soul music is in rude health.
It’s been bubbling up for the past few years now, that nexus of R&B meets neo-soul meets gospel, resulting in a slew of terrific new voices.
Ragz Originale has been there every step of the way. Lauded in his own right, the London artist is a key facet of the Mini Kingz collective, whose imposing number also includes Oscar #Worldpeace and Benji Flow, amongst others.
Someone who is constantly advancing, Ragz matches a singular viewpoint with a rich ability to work as a collaborator.
His new mixtape ‘WOAH’ lands on January 29th, with new single ‘Brush U’ erupting online a few moments ago.
To celebrate and platform this surge of energy within British soul music, we invited Ragz Originale to pick out just a few of his favourite artists…
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Tiana Major 9
Man, where do I even start with Tiana… I’ve watched this girl grow for so many years and I’m so proud of her.
T is what I call a classic/timeless artist, I feel years down the line we’ll still be banging out her riddims. She is such an important, fundamental figure in our culture, especially for younger women… she keeps it about her music, no gimmicks and I’m here for it. As I write this she is GRAMMY nominated, WOW! Ain’t it lovely when someone amazing gets their flowers?
Her favourite song of mine is ‘Exclusively’. Don’t play yourself, listen to that NOW!!!
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Miles From Kinshasa
Another friend of mine, if you’re looking for an alternative way to tell a thousand stories this is your guy! Some of the melodies that come out of this man’s mouth are unbelievable, like wheeeeereee the hell did you find that!
With Miles, you’ll probably never hear the same sound twice… so you never know what you’re getting into, which is fun. Listen to ‘Could We Just Talk Instead?’ NOW!
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LOLA
This is my little sister from another mother… I think Lola’s super power is packing layers on layers of dreamy harmonies… I’m convinced this is what angels bath to in the heavens.
One thing I love about her is how daring she’s willing to go with her choice of production, it’s only just begun for her.
Check out her song called ‘Feral Soul’ which I produced for her… The video is incredible, INCREDIBLE!
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Bellah
Big bells, another artist I’ve worked with on my own last project! In all my time, I’ve never heard her sing a flat note… she’s actually incapable of it… most definitely one of the best voices we have in the UK.
What I love most is her fighter spirit, it really shines through her melodies… you can literally hear the pain through her vocal.
Her favourite song of mine is ‘Stand’ cause I relate to it so much!
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Scribz Riley
Another one of my homies I’ve seen grow… Scribz is a guaranteed showerman producer, we know this already… But he just broke out as an artist, and is already making major waves.
Scribz’ music is a perfect bridge between the culture here and US, I’m excited to see where he takes this journey.
Listen to his new EP ‘Wish Me Luck’… 10 songs of pure smoke!
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‘WOAH’ is out on January 29th.
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