Indie pop: Skylar Grey

The first time I heard of Skylar Grey was in 2010 as a featured artist on the song Coming Home by Diddy-Dirty Money. A great hip hop song and probably still one of my favourites of 2010. 
It wasn't until two years later that I heard Skylar's first solo song C'mon Let Me Ride. It's a catchy song that makes fun of the sexualisation in the music industry. But although I like it very much it's not really representative for Grey's style. Take for instance Final Warning and White Suburban, which both come from the same album but have a more modest arrangement and are darker in tone.

A signature sound which Skylar often uses can be clearly heard in her collaboration with Travis Barker (Back From The Dead) and the more recent and beautiful Come Up For Air. Both of these songs prominently feature the drum part, only accompanied by some minor additional instruments. This is something that I, being a drummer myself, can really appreciate.

Last month she released her latest album called Natural Causes. The album features several great songs, like Kill For You (again a collaboration with Eminem) and Lemonade. My favourite song of the album at the moment however is Moving Mountains. It's a very plain song, just Skylar and her guitar. Normally I don't care much for this type of song, but this one's got me hooked.

Other favourites: Wear Me Out, Coming Home Pt. II and Cannonball

Check out Skylar Grey's Official YouTube channel for more videos.

Country Rap: Yelawolf

When people think of hip hop they usually think of East Coast hip hop (Nas, Puff Daddy, Jay-Z) or West Coast hip hop (Tupac, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg) but tend to forget about Southern hip hop. As the name implies, this genre of hip hop is made in the southern part of the United States with Atlanta being at its centre, producing artists like Ludacris, T.I. and 2 Chainz. The artist I want to talk about however comes from the more suburban Gadsden (Alabama): Yelawolf. Yelawolf's country roots are clearly noticeable in many of his songs, both musically and lyrically. I particularly like Till It's Gone, a song that perfectly captures the muggy atmosphere of the southern swamps. Yelawolf's Alabama origin also becomes apparent in the more upbeat party song Let's Roll, in which the chorus is performed by Kid Rock. In the more country-pop sounding American You Yelawolf sings the chorus himself, something that not many rappers attempt. Last but not least I'd like to mention Best Friend which features Eminem. I'm a big fan of Eminem and this collaboration, which is kind off obvious since Yelawolf is signed to Shady Records, is pure gold.
For more songs check out Yelawolf's VEVO channel on YouTube.