Top Dawg Entertainment‘s artists Kendrick Lamar and SZA respectively had a busy and acclaimed year in 2017 and it’s a good surprise to see them collaborating on “All The Stars”. The single is taken from Ryan Coogler-directed Marvel superhero movie “Black Panther”. We also know that Kendrick Lamar has executive produced and curated the soundtrack “Black Panther: The Album” and that TDE‘s boss, Anthony Tiffithand, has produced it.

Vince Staples could also be featured on it as his “Big Fish Theory“‘s single “BagBak” was used in the movie’s trailer. We should know more in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, listen to Kendrick Lamar and SZA‘s collaboration “All The Stars” below.

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100. CITY FATHER – “Coquette”

99. BILLIE EILISH – “Bellyache”

98. SABRINA CLAUDIO – “Belong To You”

97. PETRA GLYNT – “Fell In A Hole”

96. HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR + SHARON VAN ETTEN – “Omnion”

95. GIRLI – “Hot Mess”

94. THE SOFT MOON – “Burn”

93. J.I.D – “Never”

92. ACE TEE + KWAM.E – “Bist Du Down?”

91. CRALIAS – “Hope You Are”

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90. CHROMATICS – “Shadow”

89. RUN THE JEWELS – “Legend Has It”

88. CARDI B – “Bodak Yellow”

87. YELLOW DAYS – “Hurt In Love”

86. JFDR – “Airbone”

85. SUSANNE SUNDFØR – “Undercover”

84. TOM TRIPP – “Aurelia”

83. SUPERORGANISM – “Something For Your M.I.N.D.”

82. KAN WAKAN – “Still Feather”

81. NILÜFER YANYA – “Baby Luv”

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80. WAKE CHILD – “In The End”

79. JAJA BU – “Sweetness”

78. ALVVAYS – “Dreams Tonite”

77. KIDÄ – “Bone Mother”

76. HÅN – “The Children”

75. ULYSSE – “Mañana”

74. SHY GIRLS – “You Like The Pain Too”

73. GOURMET – “Delicious”

72. SORCHA RICHARDSON – “4AM”

71. MILLIE TURNER – “Underwater”

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70. NABIHAH IQBAL – “Something More”

69. KEDR LIVANSKIY – “Your Name (имя твоё)”

68. MORGXN – “xx”

67. GRIZZLY BEAR – “Mourning Sound”

66. DANIEL CAESAR + KALI UCHIS – “Get You”

65. DILLON – “2.KIND”

64. COUCOU CHLOE + SEGA BODEGA – “Flip U”

63. THE TRP – “Soda”

62. JAY SOM – “The Bus Song”

61. GFOTY – “Tongue”

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60. SELENA GOMEZ -“Bad Liar”

59. ELA MINUS – “Juan Sant”

58. EMPRESS OF – “Go To Hell”

57. SHE Major – “Please Don’t”

56. VAGABON – “Cold Appartment”

55. NADINE – “Ultra Pink”

54. SONDER – “Feel”

53. RINA SAWAYAMA – “Alterlife”

52. SEGA BODEGA + SHYGIRL – “CC”

51. GOLDLINK + BRENT FAIYAZ – “Crew”

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50. CRATER – “Unearth”

49. QUAY DASH – “Decline Him”

48. YELLE – “Romeo”

47. GABRIEL GARZÓN-MONTANO – “Fruitflies”

46. WESLEE – “Bathwater”

45. FOREST SWORDS – “The Highest Flood”

44. KENDRICK LAMAR + ZACARI – “LOVE.”

43. ALEX CAMERON + ANGEL OLSEN – “Stranger’s Kiss”

42. SMERZ – “Oh My My”

41. SASSY 009 – “Are You Leaving”

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40. CHARLI XCX – “Roll With Me”

39. TESSA DIXSON – “Prayer”

38. TOMMY GENESIS – “Tommy”

37. SSION – “Comeback”

36. PIXX – “Romance”

35. DANNY L HARLE – “1UL”

34. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM – “american dream”

33. LANA DEL REY – “Love”

32. KING KRULE – “Dum Surfer”

31. SAMPHA – “(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano”

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30. MAKTHAVERSKAN – “Vienna”

29. CCFX – “The One To Wait”

28. KLLO – “Downfall”

27. KELLY LEE OWENS + JENNY HVAL – “Anxi.”

26. BLUE HAWAII – “No One Like You”

25. FEVER RAY – “Wanna Sip”

24. JULIEN BAKER – “Turn Out The Lights”

23. LIL PEEP + LIL TRACY – “witchblades”

22. FAKA – “Uyang’khumbula”

21. TR/ST – “Bicep”

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20. SARO – “Eyelids”

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19. BROCKHAMPTON – “Summer”

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18. TYLER, THE CREATOR + KALI UCHIS – “See You Again”

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17. O-SHiN – “A Revelation”

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16. ionnalee – “SAMARITAN”

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15. Vince Staples – “Crabs In A Bucket”

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14. WWWATER – “My Hands”

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13. Björk – “Blissing Me”

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12. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Cut To The Feeling”

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11. Big Thief – “Mythological Beauty”

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10. SZA – “Drew Barrymore”

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9. Frank Ocean – “Chanel”

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8. Wy – “Bathrooms”

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7. SOPHIE – “It’s Okay To Cry”

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6. Moses Sumney – “Doomed”

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5. Kelela – “Onanon”

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4. Arca – “Desafío”

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3. Lorde – “The Louvre”

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2. Perfume Genius – “Slip Away”

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1. Yaeji – “Raingurl”

Listen to the 100 tracks of 2017 according to the HighClouds‘ staff via Spotify, Youtube and Deezer.

20) Gabriel Garzón-Montano – Jardin

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19) Pixx – The Age of Anxiety

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18) Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.

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17) Makthaverskan – III

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16) Fever Ray – Plunge

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15) Vagabon – Infinite Worlds

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14) SZA – Ctrl

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13) Big Thief – Capacity

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12) BROCKHAMPTON – Saturation II

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11) Kelly Lee Owens – Kelly Lee Owens

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10) Vince Staples – Big Fish Theory

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9) Björk – Utopia

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8) wy – Okay

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7) Moses Sumney – Aromanticism

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6) Julien Baker – Turn Out The Light

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5) Kelela – Take Me Apart

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4) Arca – Arca

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3) Perfume Genius – No Shape

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2) BROCKHAMPTON – Saturation

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1) Lorde – Melodrama

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Topping razor-sharp beats over softer pop textures, BEFFROI portray stories about people, their flaws, weaknesses & addictions. There is a heavy emphasis on creating an atmosphere that blends in perfectly with Rori’s voice, shifting from hauntingly somber to remarkably overt, with ease. Her powerful, yet sensual voice will instantly stick with you. Recently, we caught up with Rori to ask her a few questions about BEFFROI’s brand new single: “Jade”.

Highclouds: In 2015, your debut track “Swim” has been widely received: what were some of the opportunities you got from it?

We had a few offers from record labels & publishers when we released “Swim” but we didn’t want to rush things. We’ve been waiting a little then the opportunity to sign with PIAS came up and we felt like it was the perfect family to grow with as artists.

You just released your third ever track and single “Jade” after a very quiet year, what kept you busy?

We took our time because everything went too fast after the “Swim” release. We had to build the live set, the whole image and visual identity around the project but the main thing was that we wanted to sharpen our sound even more.

There clearly is an evolution with slightly more organic colours on “Jade”, yet, retaining the characteristic hazy atmosphere of your previous, electronic-led singles: “Swim” and “Faint”. Would you agree?

Indeed! The atmosphere is quite similar – I guess it comes from the texts and stories we’re telling, it’s often dark & moody – which is a big characteristic of Beffroi. Regarding the production we wanted to bring the exact emotions through the music too. “Swim” and “Faint” were released quickly and we still had a lot of things to learn before sounding exactly like we wanted – we’re still learning but we’re slowly getting there.

“If someone relates to the lyrics of our songs I hope he’ll get better soon because they are quite sad!” – Rori of Beffroi

Can you walk us through some of the vision that led to “Jade”? Darkness seems prevalent…Is there a certain vibe you hope every listener gets or relates to when listening to your songs?

I came up with “Jade”’s lyrics while driving by one of those red-light districts in Belgium is famous for – I was listening to Val’s beat while driving and watching all those guys walking, in hopes of finding instant satisfaction really inspired me. A single man on the edge, feeling numb & empty; desperately seeking answers about love & feeling mechanisms spending money on those girls to have a little taste of what love feels like. The only time he finds closure is when he enters the “Jade”, but it never lasts long. With each song, we’re trying to immerse listeners into a different universe & story but if someone relates to the lyrics of our songs I hope he’ll get better soon because they are quite sad!

Out of curiosity, what was your path to taking up music professionally?

We didn’t mean to reach a professional level with our music at first, you know we’re just doing the music we love and feel incredibly lucky to see people reacting positively!

Who are your biggest, respective influences shaping your musical sound?

It goes from Hip hop to Techno through Indie – we have so many influences… We love Kendrick Lamar, Four Tet, Jamie XX, Aminé, SZA, Nick Murphy, Kllo and many more!

What’s coming up next for Beffroi? Are you sitting on many tracks?

Yep, our first EP is actually ready. We also have a few more on the way but let’s get those out first – we’re actually looking forward to see those out! So new songs, new gigs and a few other things we can’t talk about at the minute…

Connect with BEFFROI via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

SZA (real name Solána Imani Rowe) deals with the way one’s own anxieties can affect a relationship and how not accepting one’s own flaws can lead to a refusal to believe that another person could ever accept those flaws. It’s a reminder that relationships can exacerbate your anxieties if you merely expect someone else to fix all of your problems without working on them on your own. ‘Supermodel’ opens the album with admissions so vulnerable they feel like therapy set to music. In the song, SZA writes a letter to an ex, telling him she slept with his friend and singing, ‘Why can’t I stay alone just by myself/ Wish I was comfortable just by myself/ But I need you’. With this, Rowe seems to acknowledge the complexities of a relationship in a way that is often missed; she acknowledges her own error while still managing to criticise her partner.

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At various points, SZA worries about how her clinginess and her body might lead to her partner seeking others. She sings, ‘I’m sorry I’m not more attractive/ I’m sorry I’m not more ladylike’. It’s a reminder that relationships often involve us trying to live up to society’s problematic version of how we should look or act. Struggles to attain your gender’s stereotype are magnified by relationships where we typically idealise a gender stereotype. Rowe sings of looking to be what her other wants: ‘I wish I was a normal girl/ how do I be your baby’. These are the sort of issues we can understand intellectually as problematic but still yearn to fit in. At least when you’re single you can face less responsibility for your inevitably problematic behaviour. It’s less likely to directly hurt anyone or to hang over you. Each member of a couple’s insecurities can rub up against the others in a relationship causing even greater friction.

Thematic analysis aside, SZA’s music has matured and come closer to rivalling the high bar set by her TDE labelmates (Kendrick, Schoolboy Q, etc.). Her vocal delivery throughout the album is brilliantly idiosyncratic. Her voice jumps to unusual intervals while she incorporates rap-like flows into her animated singing voice. She has progressed hugely since her mixtape ‘Z’, where she struggled to have a distinct identity. ‘Childs Play’, from that album, saw her outshined on her own track by Chance The Rapper (who, to be fair, is very hard to share a track with). She mostly struggled to break away from the anonymity of the world of the R&B hook singer. Since then, SZA has found a way to make herself stand out in an R&B world that has rarely been so full of unique talents. The beats are an enjoyable take on alt-R&Bs blend of up-to-date electronic and hip-hop textures with just a touch of older jazz or soul sounds. Muted late-night textures are generally left in favour of bright pop tones and major keys. A particular standout beat-wise in ‘Doves In The Wind’ with its 90s-ish breakbeat adorned by an off-kilter synth and a well-used sample from Redman’s ‘Let’s Get Dirty’.

While I do enjoy ‘CTRL’, I’d say much of it is merely strong. The pop direction of single ‘Drew Barrymore’ appeals less to me than the dreaminess of ‘Prom’ or the gospel-ish harmonies of ‘Weekend’. Surprisingly, the most successful of the guest rappers is not TDE labelmates Kendrick or Isaiah Rashad but Travi$ Scott, whose autotuned croon fits snugly into ‘Love Galore’.

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By an odd coincidence this piece has been written as my own anxieties have been flaring up. In the depressed states that often follow this lack of confidence, writing can seem like a pretty pointless process. The song that has hit closest to home for me has been ‘20 Something’, a song about the difficulties of figuring out your own life. It’s likely that after ‘Z’, SZA herself did a lot of soul-searching before reaching the point of greater maturity that this work represents. While your 20s are often romanticised by older people, they’re also incredibly difficult as your freedom becomes daunting rather than exciting and you yearn for a sense of stability. ‘Ctrl’ manages to be a remarkably vulnerable album in a genre that specialises in that openness.

There has been a lot of unknown with SZA in these past months. After she tweeted in October that “she actually quit,” this retirement announcement came from label mishaps and personal trials. It seemed as though the music world was set to hear the last of her, yet throughout all of the unknown, there has been some consistency in her past two releases. She began with her first release, “Drew Barrymore” which was released mid-January of the new year.

With this new single, SZA sounds more grounded like she knows more about herself, her sound and what she wants. Her honest lyrics are something to admire, and it’s simply beautiful. Watch the Nabil-directed video for “Love Galore” below:

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In a comment to Billboard, from Top Dawg co-president Terrence “Punch” Henderson, he described what we can expect from “CTRL”:

[su_quote]With this one, she’s giving you her, with a level of clarity that you haven’t heard from her yet.[/su_quote]

Her next album release, “CTRL”, was set to drop this past February yet we are now in April. We’ve been left album-less, with two singles on repeat while we wait for an anticipated release date. SZA fans are partially satisfied with this Travis Scott-assisted single…for now.

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