I love following the horse race for summer jam of the year, though I gotta say, 2014’s crop of contenders was one of the weakest that I can remember.
There wasn’t a huge single for everyone to get behind (and inevitably burn out on) through the summer like in years past.
The big winner of the Summer of 2014 (by default) would appear to be Iggy Azalea; an artist who’s risen from middling pop/rap wannabe to something resembling a household name in just a few short months here in the United States.
And while race for Summer Jam of 2014 is over here, down under in Azalea’s home country of Australia, things are just starting to heat up with a new crop of artists vying for the Australian Summer Jam title.
One such artist is Tkay Maidza, an 18 year old MC from Adelaide who has grabbed my attention recently.
I got turned onto Ms. Maidza through a listener from Australia last week and now I’m addicted. One listen to the infectious single “U-Huh” and it’s easy to figure out why.
The girl’s got SKILLS!
Her flow, the hook, the beat, the melody — everything — I LOVE IT! This is one of my favorite discoveries of the year.
“U-Huh” is her most commercial sounding track, but check out her Switch Tape Mix Tape for a taste Maidza flowing over an array of harder club beats.
Tkay Maidza’s brand of dancefloor-friendly rap is more Azealia Banks than Iggy Azalea, with a healthy dose of early M.I.A. and a dash of Rye Rye for good measure.
“Switch Lanes” is the latest single from Maidza’s new EP and features young MC flexing some serious range (and a cool animated video that takes me back to MTV’s Liquid Television).
It’s still a small sample size, but based on what I’ve heard it feels inevitable that Tkay Maidza is going to blow up in 2015. Stay tuned.