Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
“U 2 Rare,” a fun fusion of R&B, hip-hop and rap with a soul vibe, is the product of a collaboration between Globalqtheartist, an R&B/trap/soul singer from Atlanta, and SDBoomin, beat maker and producer from Mobile, Alabama.
They have found each other in Kuwait, where they are collaborating on a set of five songs, of which “U 2 Rare” is the first. It will be released on July 9.
They approach the song in entirely different terms. One is theme, one is process.
“For me,” said SDBoomin, “‘U 2 Rare’ is one of those tracks where you’re giving women the confidence that you know that they sometimes seek. So it’s more of, ‘Hey, you’re a beautiful woman.’ You know? Understand that and move forward confidently. You’re rare.”
You look so good, you gotta be good for my health
(Baby too rare, you’re rare)
You really stood out in the crowd, couldn’t tell if you were real
I’m an introvert, but you pull me out of my shell
(Ooohhh yeah)
That right there is an old-school R&B concept. In “U 2 Rare,” it is presented in hip-hop beats, R&B rhythms and soul melodies.
For Globalqtheartist, the term that comes to mind is a beautifully technical term: “embellished reality.” (“That’s what art is. You start out with a skeleton, and then you start building around it and you make it interesting.”)
“I had to make up a name for how I write and how I create,” he said. “So, when I hear a track, first I’m trying to find what kind of melodies can I come up with. So, I’ll come up with a melody, and then next is like, ‘How does this track make me feel?’”
Next are key words, and, for this song, it was “rare.”
“And you know when you’re writing R&B and hip-hop, of course it’s got to be associated with a woman.”
And that triggered a memory, “this time back in the day when I was performing, and there was a woman in the crowd, and—I don’t know—I just took a liking to her.”
“She was just very different from how everyone else was dressed, how all the other women were carrying themselves. It was something about the way she wore her hair, how she carried herself. So, I decided to write a song based around that scenario.”
And in this way the lyrics of the singer/rapper and the beats of the producer combined to create music.
SDB began in music as a child producer and rapper. He and a brother formed a rap duo, eventually expanding the group. Later, after the group disbanded, he moved into a successful career in information technology, but, he said, the passion for music remained and endured through the loss of his two brothers.
“Once my second brother passed away a couple of years ago,” he said, “I felt like I should get back into it. That’s what got me here today, but I don’t rap as much as I used to. I’m on this producer side now.”
In the five-track collaboration, he is featured on two of the tracks.
Globalq is a singer and rapper with a reputation for his lyrical skills and performing techniques in the Atlanta area. He says he “is looking to bridge the gap between the musical styles of artists such as Future, Bryson Tiller and Brent Faiyaz.” He lists his main genre mix as R&B, trap and soul.
In the five-track mix they are working on, his vocals carry three.
“From my side,” said SDB, “I definitely wanted to collaborate with Q, and hopefully we collaborate more in the future. But, going beyond this, I want to continue to make beats, continue to work with other artists that are coming out and try to work my way into the industry to work with major artist.”
For his part, Globalq said he enjoys the work with SDB.
“The beats is dope, and the vibe is crazy,” he said. “We know how to feed off each other. I am focused now on our project. I’m not trying to become some megastar or anything like that. I just know that I’m good enough to compete in the industry, and wherever that takes me, I’m good with it.”
All except the last of the five songs are finished, and the fifth is close. Once “U 2 Rare” is released, they will release another every two or three weeks.
“I would give a compliment to Q,” said SDB. “Of these five songs that we’ve pushed out, the last song is still in progress, but over like a two-week period, Q pushed these songs out.”
He continued, “I mean, talk about somebody who can write, who can come up with some concepts.”
First, though, is “U 2 Rare.”
“I think it’s a great song,” said SDB. “Q really did a great job with the lyrics, as always. I think it’s one of those songs that will motivate women. I think I can see a lot of females putting it on their TikTok, using it as their background music.”
“I just know that it’s just a real fun song,” said Globalq. “Just like SDB was saying, I can definitely see women doing reels to it.”
See where they go. Connect to SDBoomin and Globalqtheartist on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
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Arouna and Zaza Diarra are a married couple originally from Burkina Faso, West Africa. Both of them sing folk songs and world music in their native language of Bambara as well as English, French and Mossi. Their new song, “Dounouya,” comes from their upcoming album of the same name, which translates to “The World.” The track will fill listeners with joy, peace and hope.
Arouna and Zaza composed “Dounouya” after seeing the various struggles their loved ones and people across the world were going through. It celebrates universal brotherhood and not taking people for granted because while situations may be hard, loved ones are always around and by your side. Themes of love and solidarity are the throughline across the track which is not sung in English but the message still translates through their beautiful vocals and instrumentation.
“We want to communicate a sense of peace and hope through the song. Even though the song is not sung in English, we still want those feelings of joy, hope, community and love to be translated through it.” said Zaza.
Arouna Diarra plays the instruments and sings in this duo. He also builds his instruments himself. After buying instruments from others for years, he soon realized in order to get the specific aspects he wanted in them, he would just have to build them himself. He later turned this into a business and sells his handmade instruments online at burkinastrings.com.
“It was also difficult to ship instruments to America from Africa. It was also a challenge to find the right materials I needed here in America at first because I was getting wood from hardware stores and things like that. But I figured it out and made it work.” said Arouna.
Arouna is a twelfth generation musician and comes from a family of griots, who have a rich storied history of combining storytelling and music in West Africa.
“I actually didn’t have a teacher for many of the instruments I play like the Kamale Ngoni. I learned from playing them, listening to others around me and then naturally moving on to the next instrument…The music of the griots in my family is generational.” said Arouna.
Zaza Diarra sings in this duo and also plays the Shekere. She was drawn to Arouna’s balafon playing in the most natural way: she heard it from a distance. Upon hearing him perform on stage at an event she almost didn’t even attend, her reaction was authentic and natural.
“Arouna was one of the main performers at an event we have here and he was performing his last song. I was in my car and heard his balafon playing and was completely shocked by it. I had been living in America for 30 years at this point and had never heard that song played in a live setting or any music from Burkina Faso. I was really excited so I just jumped on stage and started dancing. The song’s melody was also one of my Mom’s favorites and she has passed away, so it was truly an emotion filled moment. Arouna introduced himself to me and was the first person I had met from Burkina Faso since living in America. That was our automatic connection." said Zaza.
The instinctively natural rhythm of music flows through Zaza as much as it does Arouna. Arouna noticed that when Zaza spoke, she had a natural melodic cadence which drew him to wanting her to sing as he played.
“We played our first show together right before COVID started. Since then we have played all kinds of shows together.” said Arouna.
Zaza founded a childcare center called Immanuel Care for Children and has had a natural connection with children all her life. But, even this part of her life still has music running through it. Babies and children have naturally responded with attentiveness and peace when Arouna played his instruments at the center or even when Zaza speaks due to the aforementioned naturally melodic tone to her voice.
Arouna and Zaza Diarra’s album Dounouya consists of seven songs that are “a piece of life, a lesson in wisdom, an emotion that resonates beyond borders.” Arouna has the gift of fingers with his instrument playing while Zaza has the gift of voice with her singing. Music has weaved itself across their lives and it all carries the same message of love, community and joy that they spread through everything that they do.
You can watch the music video for “Dounouya” here.
You can see more of the emotion centered music of Arouna and Zaza Diarra by keeping up with them on these platforms.
Website
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram
The Starlight PR Team thanks Arouna and Zaza Diarra for taking the time to speak with us.
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