Who loves ya, baby? IHEARTCOMIX does, of course! And that’s exactly why we’ve handpicked eight LOVE & LUST themed ditties for you to get down like this to on V-Day. Seriously, though– we really do expect you to get down like that. Not joking. Enjoy!
1. ANTWON – 3RD WORLD GRRL
LAAADDDIIEESSS! This catchy-as-hell jam about fleeting crushes + casual hookups finds alt-rapper Antwon being his usual vulnerable/funny/profane self over a throwback party beat guaranteed to get even the lamest lames nodding. In an inspired take on ‘Twon’s lewd yet weirdly endearing lyrics, the vid follows the misadventures of his disreputable puppet alter ego as he macks on a variety of honeys over the course of one v boozy night. His best line isn’t even a come-on, but rather a clutch rationalization for the morning after: “Just charge it to the game, girl: no Visa.”
2. TONI ROMITI – MISS ME (DJ SLIINK REMIX FT. DJ BAKE)
Miss Me, a plaintive pop-R&B number from 19 year-old Chicago songstress Toni Romiti, is an appeal for warmth from a lover turned cold (“Tell me that you miss me”), even as it’s clear that the relationship has run its course (“Tell me what I wanna hear/ right before you leave me”). On the remix, self-proclaimed king of the Jersey Club scene Dj Sliink (with an assist from up-and-comer Dj Bake) gets Miss Me club-ready with bass, frequent switch-ups in tempo, and some ironic– given the dying relationship’s deficit of intimacy– sampling, replete with squeaky bed springs + Drizzy’s proclamation that “You gon’ get this work!”
Don’t miss DJ Sliink with Joaquin Bartra, Gianni Lee & Swisha Sweet on Friday, Feb. 20th @ The Lash Pop-Up in Hollywood! –> FACEBOOK | TICKETS.
3. GOLDROOM – FIFTEEN (FT. CHELA)
“It’s been a long time, wondering why, the summer smells like sin and wonder.”
I knew that I loved Chela the first time I heard her oh-so-melancholy vocals on this lush, sun-dappled slice of nostalgia from LA producer Goldroom. Folks most likely to find Fifteen bittersweetly resonate include those who have ever had and/or lost: a first love, a summer fling, youth, “simpler times,” all the feels.
To read up on Chela and check out her most recent single, Handful of Gold, go here.
4. JMSN – THE ONE (STARRO REMIX)
Ghostly falsetto vocals weaving in and out of the mix? Densely layered production anchored by a strong backbeat? Lyrics that temper bursts of joy with anxious skepticism? Check, check, and check! StarRo‘s remix of JMSN‘s The One is my kind of love song.
Get sensual with starRo at one (or both!) of his performances at upcoming IHC shows:
SAT 2/28: Goldenvoice & IHeartComix present Giraffage‘s No Reason Tour with Spazzkid and StarRo at the El Rey Theatre! –> FACEBOOK | TICKETS.
FRI 3/13: Club IHC Presents: Pomo with starRo, Mike Gao, and Brogan Bentley at The Lash Pop-Up in Hollywood! –> FACEBOOK | TICKETS.
5. TOKiMONSTA – REALLA (FT. ANDERSON PAAK) & ANDERSON PAAK – GET EM UP (PROD. TOKiMONSTA)
Producer TOKiMONSTA and singer/multi-instrumentalist Anderson Paak are both children of the L.A. beat scene, so their multiple collaborations should come as no surprise. That connection also no doubt serves to amplify the sublime– and complementary– charms of the sultry Realla and frothy Get Em Up. Both songs describe the romantic limbo that often stretches between an exhilarating first connection and the ever-perilous “But what are we?” convo. It’s all Get Em Up‘s fun and feigned nonchalance (“[I]f it’s love, then it’s love/ But if it’s not love, then it’s all love”), until someone catches feelings stronger than their pride. Realla‘s Romeo isn’t quite there yet (“It can’t be obvi/ I’m way too fly to let you out me”), but Paak’s tenderized vocals and the escalating march of TOKi’s brass synths betray that he’s indeed getting– wait for it– realla close.
For more of IHC’s TOKiMONSTA coverage, click here.
6. JANET JACKSON – SOMEONE TO CALL MY LOVER (GIRAFFAGE REMIX)
Whether you’re on the rebound or still picking yourself up off the floor, the ecstatic rush that Giraffage builds to in the first 54 seconds of this JJ remix will elevate your spirits. Before you know it, you’ll be high as a kite on unencumbered optimism and a renewed faith in your ability to manifest a loving and mutually fulfilling romantic partnership. At 0:54 anything seems possible. Maybe you’ll meet at a bar! He’ll drive a fancy car (beep beep)! With a drop this big, a lesser remix would proceed to crank everything up to 11, but Giraffage knows that doing too much won’t help you manifest anything but a headache. Instead, pausing a beat, he drops a soul-satisfying Trap-N-B groove, and by 0:56 you and Janet have hopped in the drop-top whip on the road to new BF/GF’s and self-actualization.
Catch Giraffage’s No Reason Tour with Spazzkid and StarRo Saturday, Feb. 28 at the El Rey Theatre! –> FACEBOOK | TICKETS.
7. KELELA – FLOOR SHOW (PROD. GIRL UNIT)
“Ain’t never left, although I tried a million times. Wonder how it feels; I’ll never know, you’re never mine…You forget my name, but you say it every night.”
Oof. Ever known that you were being strung along, stuck on an endless feedback loop of attraction and resentment– to someone too ain’t sh*t to even claim you in public, no less? It’s the worst, and really one of the only comforts you can take is that apparently, even a chick as badass as critically revered alt-R&B singer Kelela has succumbed before. On Floor Show, she addresses one such shady paramour, wrapping her serpentine voice around a Girl Unit beat that I can only assume was produced in an abandoned factory in the dead of a very cold night. As Spin puts it, it’s a “brittle, hollow sound…littered with broken glass…scraped metal and cocking guns.” The melding of Floor Show‘s vocals and production yields something so sinister and hypnotic that you start to wonder whether Kelela is ultimately the predator in this relationship– not the prey.
See Girl Unit in his element with MikeQ, Night Slug’s Helix and Team Supreme’s Patrick Brian this Saturday, Feb. 14 (V-Day, baby!) at The Lash Pop-Up in Hollywood! –> FACEBOOK | TICKETS.
8. RUN THE JEWELS – LOVE AGAIN (AKINYELE BACK) (FT. GANGSTA BOO) [EXPLICIT…FOR REAL FOR REAL!]
Look, El-P and Killer Mike already told you that they only do two things, and guess what…this deep cut off of RTJ2 is NOT about rapping. The title alone, a shoutout to the Queens rapper responsible for ’96 cult hit Put It In Your Mouth, should clue you in as to the X-rated, orally fixated subject matter to come. (No pun…) Because what good is “romance” without a healthy dose of pure, unadulterated filth?
XOXO!
-All your bb’s @ IHEARTCOMIX. <3
