Bump To This is BE’s monthly curated playlist of the tracks that we’ve had on heavy rotation. We’re coming out of winter hibernation with a selection of hot and steamy songs by some of our favourite female music makers. Scroll through the newest additions including Jorja Smith, Meg Thee Stallion, Teyana Taylor, Saweetie and Ari Lennox. Link up to our Spotify to hear more!
Jorja Smith and Burna Boy are leading us out of winter and into spring in the best way.
This seductive song features a laid-back, afrobeat/dancehall rhythm that is accentuated by Jorja’s effortless yet angelic tone. The London R&B singer finds the perfect balance between suave, sensual and sassy lyrics to basically tell the guy that’s into her not to waste her time.
They created a retro-style video for ‘Be Honest’ and I’m honestly obsessed with it. It’s been a cold month this August in Melbourne and this video came to heat things up. The colourful clip was filmed various places around London, showing Jorja and her friends sweltering in the summer heat and cooling down in the local pool. Burna Boy’s verse is like the cherry on top of a sundae. The Nigerian breakout star serenades his love with a singing rap style which moulds perfectly to the song. He adds a little flavour by switching up the flow three times on us which is complemented by the phenomenal production.
The girls came through strong this month! If you think this track has a 90’s vibe then you are absolutely right! It’s actually the beat from Ma$e’s 1998 hit ‘What You Want’. The old school R&B instrumentals combined with Teyana’s smooth vocals are a recipe for success. In true Teyana style, she brought us back to hip hop’s golden era with the video she directed herself – can we get snaps for a multi-talented woman? The fashion, props and set all paid homage, while TT showcased both her masculine and feminine styles, leaving us seeing double. King Combs, son to Diddy (who’s label Bad Boy Records released the original ‘What You Want’), came through for the feature with a flow that sounded eerily like his father. Teyana and King even did the whole Ma$e and Diddy light tunnel from the ‘Mo Money Mo Problems’ video. A whole throwback.
I’ve been on the Saweetie train ever since I heard Icy Grl in late 2017. I was hooked by the classic Khia ‘My Neck My Back (Lick It)’ sample and loved when Saweetie rapped “You tryna get a bag of weed?/I’m tryna get a bag a week/Put it in my savings and invest in the right companies”. We love a boss chick about her business. ‘My Type’ from her second EP Icy, features another throwback beat, this time Petey Pablo’s ‘Freak-A-Leak’. The song was released back in March when the EP dropped but was pushed as a single in June. Saweetie raps about her type of guy “eight-figure… eight-inch” and it’s proved to be one of the hot girl tracks of the summer in the U.S. The video represents her hometown, the Bay Area, and features it’s signature hyphy style as Saweetie twerks on a basketball hoop and dances with her girls. It’s super bright, colourful and just as turnt as the track is. “I was inspired by my childhood and want the world to see how we have fun,” she told Complex. She even brought out other Bay locals, Kehlani and Kamaiyah.
‘BMO’ which stands for Break Me Off, is a fun, mid-tempo track from the Dreamville neo-soul artist. The funky beat and racy lyrics are a bit of a switch up from some of Ari’s slower hits such as ‘Night Drive’, ‘Shae Butter Baby’ and ‘Whipped Cream’. It’s the fourth single from her debut album Shae Butter Baby, released in May. What I love most about the track is Ari’s tone. She jumps between sexual innuendos and straight up describing how she wants it while staying light and soulful, even though there’s a strength to her sound. Earlier this month, the video was released and did not disappoint! The visuals took inspiration from Missy Elliot and Total’s music videos and featured colourful outfits, metallic backdrops, love heart bubble baths and Ari Lennox sitting pretty on top of a pink Cadillac. Very R&B circa. 1998.
We are warming up for our very own Australian Hot Girl Summer. Megan Thee Stallion was bubbling up over the last year around the U.S. and finally boiled over as one of the biggest hitmakers of their summer. Her raps are skilful, quick, unique and in your face explicit. She’s challenging what we’ve all grown accustomed to in the rap game by being aggressively sexual in the exact same way male rappers have been doing for years. The Houston native has also been studying Health Administration at college. Even throughout the spring semester when her album Feverdropped, she was still attending Texas Southern University. “On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’m in school all day,” she said in a May interview. Eventually, she did switch to online class but still kept the full-time course load. A successful, talented female rapper who keeps pushing to learn, we love to see it.
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