Yesterdays song of the day got me delving further into the Melbourne-based HopeStreet Recordings, a vinyl/digital label that specialises in funk, soul and Afro-beat; their soul: “to capture the crusty analogue soul and funk sound of a bygone era.” There is definitely plenty of interesting stuff to uncover here.
What I found today was the single ‘Cosmetic Love’ by one of Australia’s leading rap lyricists One Sixth (aka Aaron Stephanus), a Namibian Australian artist who has gained high acclaim in his decade long rap career, from the Hilltop Hoods award in 2010 to a critically acclaimed solo album ‘Electric Mail’ released by Pang Productions in 2012.
‘Cosmetic Love’ is a track that examines the nature of relationships and originally began its life as a jam session that went to tape in the early days of the Hope Street studio, based on an idea by HopeStreet’s The PutBacks guitarist Tom Martin. The session lay unused for years until One Sixth came across it and laid down his inspired rap verses. Adding to the track Public Opinion’s producer and musical director Triston Ludowyk, (see B Side of this single), introduced some organ, additional percussion and brass onto the track until suddenly ‘Cosmetic Love’ wasn’t just a song but an A-side born of happy accident!
The story behind the B side to the single (which I have equally enjoyed and enclose a link to) is described here – as taken from HopeStreet’s page:
“On the B side: The Public Opinion Six, formerly The Afrobiotics. The rhythm section behind the POAO starts with the same idea and re-imagines it, creating a whole new song. With lyrics written and performed by Lamine Sonko, “Jappo” in the Senegalese language of Wolof means “unite”. Behind Lamine’s straight-out-of-Dakar vocal stylings, The Public Opinion Six bring a heavy 1970s Lagos influenced groove, creating a pumping Pan African mélange”
Artists: 1/6 (Cosmetic Love), The Public Opinion Six (Jappo)
Formats: 7″ / Digital
Release Date: January 26th 2015
Purchase your copy here
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