Tag: blackwave.

blackwave. – cracked screen (feat. Lute)

Belgian duo blackwave. have become a benchmark of excellence for European hip hop.

Continuing with their run of successful collaborations, new single ‘cracked screen’ features acclaimed rap artist Lute, and serves as a taster to new album ‘no sleep in LA’ (out now).

“The initial idea came about when one day I realised how much I was ‘living’ through my phone by dropping it and by the screen cracking. All of a sudden I started to notice the screen itself, instead of being completely immersed inside this world of internet and social media. It sparked the first idea of the chorus: ‘Live my life behind a cracked screen, nothing’s what it seems’. From there it evolved into a track about all these different aspects of idolisation both from the perspective of idolising as well as being idolised. It’s about the fronts we tend to put up on the internet, and the moment those fronts start to shatter in front of you.” – Willem Ardui, blackwave.

Newly acquainted fans of this ever-rising outfit should also check out their previous projects, ‘ARE WE STILL DREAMING?’ and ‘Mic Check’.

blackwave. | Lute

blackwave. – perfume (feat. Caleborate)

Leading the way in Belgian hip hop for some time now, blackwave. return with new single ‘perfume’, featuring US rapper Caleborate.

Melodic, mellow and sleek in character, the song is inspired by the feelings and memories that perfumes can evoke within us.

“This song was written on a very early morning walk to Starbucks in sunny LA. I was up early, waiting for a phone call from someone on the other side of the world in a different time zone. I was completely inside my head, worrying about everything, thinking about wanting to get my life back on the rails, back in a rhythm. With every person passing me by on the street, everyone carrying with them their own smell of perfume, the words started coming to me. I remembered this moment when I was in the mall, contemplating if I’d buy some expensive perfume, and thinking to myself; ‘I don’t deserve this yet. When I get my life on track, that’s when I will buy this perfume’. That setting of the morning walk, and the memory of being in the mall kind of set off the whole theme of the song. After I added an arrangement for string quartet to the second part of the track, I knew I wanted to ask Caleborate to finish off the song with a verse of his. He immediately connected with the theme and delivered an amazing final touch to the song.” – Willem Ardui, blackwave.

Following on from their debut project back in 2019, blackwave. have since garnered support from the likes of COLORS, Billboard, Complex and Wonderland, while amassing close to 500k monthly listeners on Spotify. New album ‘no sleep in LA’ is out in September.

blackwave. | Caleborate