Ahead of the release of her long-awaited debut album, rising UK R&B star Charli Taft links up with the hotshot US rapper Justin Starling for ‘Ride’.
Produced by Charli’s partner in crime, the acclaimed GRAMMY winning producer Daniel “Obi” Klein (Method Man, Fat Joe), the sexy, laid-back jam is written as a celebration of the initial stage of a new relationship – the excitement, the energy, the feeling of togetherness. Taft’s silky-smooth banger explores the particular feeling when you first become aware that you truly click with somebody and being with them is just completely natural.
Perfecting her signature fusion of ‘00s golden era nostalgia with world class vocal talent, ‘Ride’ hits all the markers of a soulful R&B classic. Now with an assist from the multi-skilled Justin Starling, the NYC based rapper’s fresh topline brings a breath of contemporary hip-hop to the slinky single.
Speaking about the track, Charli explained:
“I had a feeling that ‘Ride’ was going to be an important song for my project, as it really encapsulated the soulful R&B/Hip-hop flavour I was creating on the album. To me, ‘Ride’ totally captures the laid-back feeling of 90’s R&B but feels like a completely fresh take on the genre. ‘Ride’ was written during the Summer of 2020. That entire year, I just buried myself in making music and writing my debut album. At the time, I was listening to a lot of early 90’s Hip-Hop and was inspired by the idea of taking a straight up Hip-Hop track and making it my own – I love taking typically masculine beats and flipping them into songs females can 100% relate to.”
Inspired by the icons she grew up listening to like Brandy, Faith Evans & Mariah Carey, Charli’s authenticity as a songwriter and creator has marked her one of the most interesting, talented and promising new voices in the scene. As a major frontrunner in bringing back the R&B vibes of yesteryear but in her own matchless style, Taft’s growing catalogue of instinctively irresistible original music has earned support from the likes of COMPLEX, VIBE, BILLBOARD, WONDERLAND, CLASH and EQUATE, alongside spins by legendary radio tastemakers including Trevor Nelson, MistaJam and Adele Roberts.
Taft has also over the years built a solid reputation for herself by quite famously injecting her signature take on music into the Korean music scene; with her credits amassing over 120M+ streams to date, she is at the heart of much-loved hits by some of the country’s most commercially successful names including LOONA (‘Eclipse’, ‘Sweet Crazy Love’, ‘Puzzle’), Taeyeon (‘Christmas Without You’), Red Velvet (‘Automatic’, ‘Time Slip’), SuperM (‘Step Up’) and Taemin (‘Ace’).
An undeniable creative talent, ‘Ride’ further cements Taft’s growing reputation as a bona-fide talent – stay tuned for her debut LP dropping soon.
‘Ride’ ft. Justin Starling is available now via all major platforms. Out on the 22/7/2022, pre-save ‘DLUXLIFE’ here.
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