Bubblegum Club

Tag: rnb

  • Bubblegum Club mix Vol 7 by K-$

    In her bio she is described as an “internet sensation” we wouldn’t argue with that. K-$ (real name Kalo Canterbury) is a young dj on the rise. We first noticed her for a carefully curated Instagram feed and her very delicious OG-streetstyle looks but its through her sound that she is really starting to make waves. Hot off the release of her mix for NON (featured on Rinse FM) we spoke to K-$ about the exclusive mix she created for us, what she is up to at the moment and the importance of the internet to her as a dj.

     

    Can you tell us a bit about the mix you’ve created for us?

    With this mix, I wanted to create something lekker and bouncy. The songs I chose are all well recognised

    classic funk and disco because they’ve been sampled so many times within more

    contemporary music, especially in hip hop. Paying homage to some of the best bands, groups and

    artists to ever do it back in the day, in a commercially successful sense. Also, each of these songs

    carry that feel-good quality. Don’t tell me you can sit through any of these songs without busting

    out a quick boogie. I also named it “Green Tea Disco” because just like green tea, it’s refreshing.

    Plus I’m always drinking green tea when I make my mixes… Maybe I should start doing that in the

    club when I spin.

     

    What exactly is LIT…and can you tell us a bit about LIT Bassment Ting?

    LIT is a squad of DJs, producers and artists based in Cape Town. Well, we’re actually more like a

    family filled with proper experienced big names like Sumo Jac and Dplanet, to those of us new to

    the game and trying to come up, like me. It’s amazing in the sense that we all learn from each

    other, regardless of our level, so we constantly grow together. We can all hold our own as artists

    and entertainers, but we’re stronger together. We’ve all got each others backs, we all want each

    other to thrive – the support and love is unconditional and the banter is never-ending.

    If I could sum it up, we just have the same idea of what good fun and good music is, and we want

    to share that with whoever is open to it. That’s why we do LIT Bassment Ting. We went from

    throwing a weekly party at Bazinga Bar, to now throwing a monthly party on First Thursdays in the

    basement of House of H on Loop, which has kinda become our headquarters. Our first one was at

    the beginning of October and holy shit, it was LIT. We’re all excited about our second one, taking

    place on the 3rd. We plan to take over Cape Town this Summer. Just watch.

     

    Something exciting seems to be brewing in Cape Town, driven in particular by young

    people of colour and also queer / non binary individuals – why do you think this is?

    There’s a very positive thing happening in Cape Town where people of colour,

    queers and non-binary people are supporting each others art, ideas and movements. This support

    system has almost created a sense of comfortability, safeness and self-acceptance, and because

    of that we’ve become blatantly unapologetic. We don’t just dala what we must, we dala whatever we want,

    however we want, whenever we want to. It’s a gorgeous thing to witness, and an honour to be a part of it.

     

    Why has Joburg never been blessed with a K-$ set?

    I actually played Joburg once back in 2014 at Kitcheners. At the time I basically knew nothing

    about DJing in a technical sense, I just wanted to play some of my favourite songs to a crowd that

    would understand the music too. Things have changed a lot since then and my skills and sound

    have evolved, so I’d love to come up to spin as often as possible now. My pops recently made the

    move to Jozi, meaning I’ll be in the city more and more, and hopefully I’ll play and make

    connections every time I visit. On top of that, Joburg homies have always showed me love whether

    they know me or not, and I know I can bring something refreshing to the table. Holla at me!!!

     

    You truly are an “internet sensation”! How important has the internet been for K-$?

    The internet is everything to me. On a personal level, I taught myself how to play instruments and

    DJ using the internet as my only resource. It opened my mind at a very formative point in my high

    school career and showed me how big the world is. I found many sources of inspiration lurking in

    various corners of the web that influenced my style, the way I think, the way I learn, the shit I like,

    my taste, the way I carry myself. I think because I respected and understood the net when I was

    young, using it as a tool just came naturally. Like my Instagram. That started as pure fun,

    pushing an aesthetic that was true to who I am and no one else, and that persona has just taken

    on a life of its own and I’ve continued to grow with it. I think it reflects in the music I play and the

    way I play it too. The internet really is a wealth of knowledge right at your fingertips, and despite

    the way many assholes abuse it, there’s so much we can gain from it.

  • Una Rams – True Confessions

    Being sad about failed love and emotional disasters is almost de rigueur for any self-respecting contemporary star.  It shows your human side by connecting with universal experience.  In rap and RnB, (primarily male) pain has been a dominant style since Kayne released the morbid 808’s and Heartbreak in 2008. Almost every major artist who has come up since then has been influenced by some aspects of that work. The Weeknd has the whole focus on predatory relations and the hollow pleasures of fame. Frank Ocean has capitalized on the space for naked self-expression. Drake, of course, owes his entire career to his heartbroken persona, although at this point it’s clearly more a marketing tool than coming from any real personal conflict! Conversely, many female artists like Rihanna and Beyonce have adopted a more confrontational attitude to matters of the heart, and produced some of their most forthright and empowered work.

    Pretoria based Una Rams is drawing on this international pop hegemony in an interesting, and highly personal, way.  His intimately detailed work borders on certain types of confessional folk music- less trap beats, more sighs and whispers. In fact, his Pink Moon EP even shares a title with the album by doomed UK folk singer Nick Drake.

    The song  Girls Like You is a good representation of his style.  It deals with the common musical scenario of being messed around by your object of affection. But Rams doesn’t fall into the common lyrical snares of either self-pity or sexist insults. In fact, he suggests that they should just stay friends. The song’s production is subtly complex. A downtempo piano loop is uplifted by a burst of dancehall style toasting. The celebratory Nobody takes a more courtly approach in which he promotes his personal qualities to a love interest.  With his unvarnished style, he charts a heartfelt, but optimistic course through the travails of modern love.