The space between Christmas and the New Year doesn’t usually yield premium new music. Fortunately though, acclaimed Illinois singer, rapper and producer Kweku Collins has just released an impressive single for us to enjoy.
‘Tangerine’ serves as the penultimate song on Collins’ dynamic ‘Then Spring, [Side A]’ EP (out now), and presents listeners with a refreshingly experimental and eccentric fusion of genres.
“Tangerine” is the come down. I wrote the hook in January of 2020, watching the sun go down in LA. Sometimes I feel really happy and really sad at the same time. Hope and dread hold hands. Tangerine is about realising “I’m lost. Do I stay lost or do I find my way?”
“I also wanted to give a nod to New York and London drill music. Rhythmically, it makes me think of reggae. The use of the upbeat in reggae, and the use of tresillo in drill (listen to the hi hat patterns) remind me of each other in the way that they made a pre-existing music into something new.“
Since the release of his 2015 debut ‘Say It Here While It’s Safe’, Collins has garnered critical acclaim from the likes of Pigeons & Planes and Pitchfork among others.