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.
SDBoomin:
Globalqtheartist:
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Would Johnny Marr place one of his solo songs ahead of favourites from The Smiths and Electronic? His choices are revealed in NME’s Blind Ranking video below.
Ahead of the release of ‘The Age Of Everything’, which arrived last Friday, October 2, NME sat down with the guitarist for a look back through his catalogue. Marr was challenged to place five songs in order of greatness, choosing a position for each without knowing which song would follow.
Electronic’s ‘Getting Away With It’ came first, with Marr saying it “goes down very very well, even if people are hearing it for the first time”. Next came ‘Spin’, taken from his latest solo album. Reflecting on the newer song, he admitted that “not everybody knows it, but it makes an impression”.
When ‘This Charming Man’ by The Smiths came up, Marr observed: “Obviously it’s very well known, but it goes by so quick.” The track remains a “connection” to his younger self, he explained: “I can hear the young man who wrote those guitar parts”. He described his 2014 solo release ‘Easy Money’ as “pretty catchy”, adding that it “goes off bigger than any other at any gig”. He then considered another much loved Smiths song, ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’.
“Beautiful song to play. Very proud of it still,” Marr reflected. Recalling a recent performance in Liverpool, he added that “it occurred to me that it’s the ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ of my generation.”
See where each song landed in Marr’s ranking by watching the video below, then share your own order in the Instagram comments.
The wider conversation with NME covered his “emphatic” album ‘The Age Of Everything’, his admiration for The Cure and Fontaines D.C., and his thoughts on why Andy Burnham should be able to listen to The Smiths. Read the complete interview with Marr here.
A Liverpool concert on November 14 is next on Marr’s schedule, followed by a brief run of dates with stops in Mexico, São Paulo and Chile. His largest solo headline performance to date at OVO Arena Wembley had been planned for later this month, but has been postponed, with a replacement date yet to be announced.
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