This album has been doing wonders since it dropped and it's only been a couple of months. She's just finished supporting Ms. Lauryn Hill at Wembley Arena this weekend and now soaring in at my number 12 spot is Nao with Saturn.

The first time that I heard about Nao I was on my way to see Little Dragon for the first time four years ago and had no idea what to expect until I saw it with my own eyes. Almost instantly I could see that there was something special in Nao. However, looking at her album now and realising how much she's grown since then and how much potential she still has; I might even have underestimated her initially. It's only been a couple of years since her debut record and she's already improved leaps and bounds - not only vocally but also with production and DJ-ing. She's even launched her own record label since then.

Tracks that shine through for me right now are "Another Lifetime", "Make It Out Alive (feat. SiR)", "Saturn (feat. Kwabs)", and "Drive And Disconnect". I still remember exactly how I felt and exactly what I was doing the first time I listened to these songs. Being able to hold a presence in any moment in time is so important for a great piece of music and Nao's been able to do this with an entire record. I'm almost embarrassed that I continue to be surprised by how good Nao is.

Overall as an album I feel like it trumps her debut For All We Know, particularly in aspects such as production and song selection. However, I feel like the songs that stood out to me on FAWK like "Blue Wine" and "Bad Blood", rest in my mind with a little more weight than the stand-out tracks on Saturn. Nao's star has risen quickly over the past year and I don't see it slowing down any time soon. I am abundantly happy for her success with this, and can't fault her getting credit where credit is clearly due.

Have a look at what other UK songstress took the number 12 spot in 2017 here. Funnily enough it also included a feature from Kwabs.

Well, well, well. The last time I saw an artist that was such an integral part of the soundtrack to my childhood was probably at Lauryn Hill a few years ago, and similarly to that show, seeing someone in the flesh, playing these songs that you know so well, that take you back to so many different moments in your life - was very surreal.

Having six incredible albums to choose from, Erykah Badu definitely wasn't short of material and if I'm honest, she could've just played through Baduizm in its entirety and she wouldn't have heard people complain, but the more I think about the setlist, the more perfect it feels to me. She played me through some of my absolute favourites and delivered them with such ease. To be honest I think that was the most striking thing about her set - yes, the level of performance was outstanding, band and all - but my goodness did she make it look easy. As talented as the band was, they could've comfortably overshadowed an amateur, but everytime Badu's voice crooned above the music there was no questioning whose show it was. Stand outs for me have to be "Appletree", "Soldier", "Danger", "Love Of My Life", "Back In The Day", and "Out My Mind, Just In Time", and that's the narrowed down version.

At one point during her set Badu walked through her album roster speaking about the thoughts behind each one and whom they were most intended to reach. As she went through the list it was crystal clear that she'd succeeded in reaching all those intended as heads nodded in agreement and "90's babies" piped up. Being a 90's baby myself I thought to myself that it's insane to know that just after I was born, Erykah was making music for me to listen to then, and resonate with 20 something years later. I'm not sure how many names we have buzzing around in today's mainstream that will be able to have such an effect, but I expect that another 20 something years down the line, my children will be bopping along to Baduizm and I'll still be finding new meanings in Erykah's lyrics.

As for the set itself, yes, there were some things that left room for want - the timing was off, meaning that Erykah had to cut her last song "Soldier" short and couldn't come out for an encore due to the venue curfew, and the heat was very intense in the arena. However, despite leaving the crowd wanting more, and the exhausting level of heat; this didn't dampen fans' spirits, cheers and applause never faltered, and speaking for myself, it's not a night that'll be forgotten any time soon.

Overall Rating - 8/10

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this gig and Ms. Lauryn Hill herself and I'm still a little bit unsure about where I stand but here's what I thought about the first of her string of UK arena shows.

Prior to coming to the show, I hadn't heard about any support acts but as the ticket said "Plus Special Guests" I was definitely expecting somebody. At first there was a DJ (whose name I didn't catch) and he was actually really good, not interactive at all but it wasn't really necessary - his song selection spoke for itself. However, his set did go on for a long while and towards the end I was beginning to get a bit restless. Because of the length of his set I figured that he would be the only support act and that Lauryn would be on after. I was mistaken. Another DJ then stepped on stage and he seemed to be a bit more of a performer, talking to the crowd, shouting lyrics and cutting the track for people to sing along. Although if I'm honest, he overstayed his welcome. After his first couple of songs he announced that Lauryn and the band would be on very soon and started to get the crowd excited but it wasn't until about 15 songs later that the band actually stepped on stage followed by Ms. Hill. I really can't say I was even the slightest bit surprised that she was late because I'd heard about it happening lots recently but it just meant that I was expecting even more from her.

When she stepped on stage, suddenly no one was tired anymore. Everyone was jumping and screaming and rightly so! She has such a huge presence. She opened with a rearranged version of "Killing Me Softly" and as soon as she started singing everything that happened leading up to that point did not matter - her voice was magnificent. She continued, playing lots from The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill like "Ex Factor", "Everything Is Everything" and "Lost Ones". However, she'd remixed all of the songs to the point where you often couldn't recognise the song until a fair bit of the way in. This was bittersweet because although the remixes were great and showed off her talents both as a rapper and a singer, this just wasn't crowd pleasing at all. At most points the crowd were unable to really sing along because there was no way of knowing what would come next and a few of the songs (I felt) went on for a bit too long. And here's why I'm torn - her band was super talented, she herself was of course abundantly talented however there was not one element of crowd pleasing or attention to the crowd in this show. That can sometimes be good and bad but after seeing a lot of comments after the show, most people were not pleased by this at all.

Either way, she went on to perform some Fugees songs (much to everyone's delight) and actually incorporated an awesome cover of "Jammin'" into the setlist finishing with the amazing "Doo Wop (The Thing)". Aside for the continous mixture of boos and woops the vibe was great and most people seemed to be enjoying it. I just feel the rearranging of the tracks brought the set down overall.

Overall Rating - 7.5/10


Here are some pictures from the night...

So, Notting Hill Arts Club is fast becoming one of my favourite places in London and it's all thanks to New Shapes. They've gone two for two, first Superfood and now Mapei - might have to start looking for apartments in the area!

Earlier this week (12/08/14) I headed over to the venue ready for another cool set but this was way more than I could've ever expected. First of all, I was actually under the impression that it was Charlotte OC's headlining show and Mapei was supporting. However, when I walked in and saw Charlotte walking around the club getting ready to go up, I figured that she was the support. Having seen her a couple of months ago at Field Day here, I already knew how fabulous Charlotte was, but even still, she blew me away. Opening with one of my favourite songs of hers "Hangover" and playing through the rest of her huge hits, again she had the crowd screaming by her final song "Colour My Heart" - I'm sure she made a lot of new fans that night. Generally it was a pretty intense set, she is consistently great live - absolute marvel! Tough support to follow. Quick shout out to Dashy Dashy DJs again - absolutely smashed it! Tune after tune and no time to rest. Love these guys.

Originally I was going to write about Mapei as a "new discovery" but when I found out about this gig I thought I'd just wait until afterwards to write about her in this gig review. I'd only heard her two songs "Don't Wait" and "Change" before coming to the gig and they didn't the least bit prepare me for the awesome show I was about to witness. Mapei stepped onto the tiny stage with her two back up dancers joining her bassist and drummer and already the atmosphere was heated. Her dancers were great - seriously added to the atmosphere. Even though I was on my own after a few songs I found myself full out dancing as if I was up there on stage with them. Also, I didn't know that she rapped so much, she really reminded me of old school artists like Lauryn Hill throughout the set and her outfit was very Erykah Badu inspired. Amazing stage presence and a really calm aura. And then of course there's her band.  Her band were on FIRE! Her bassist was amazing, switching between his bass (a very nice bass at that) and his keyboards and playing both fantastically. Then her drummer shone when given chance for a solo - the crowd couldn't blink as fast as his hands were moving! I had such a good time - extremely enjoyable set! Every song that she performed, I liked - I just can't wait until her debut record Hey Hey out on the 23rd of September. The best first impression of USA's new star, Mapei.

Overall Rating - 8.5/10


Here are some pictures from the night...