Rye Rye Records Debut With Bangladesh, Pharrell
M.I.A. protege Rye Rye broke out on the club scene back in 2006 when she was just 16, with her Blaqstarr-produced jam 'Shake It to the Ground.' As a result, the teen kept fans waiting for her 'Go! Pop! Bang!' debut. Now, it's finally seeing the light of day.
Though the album was first scheduled for release on M.I.A.'s N.E.E.T. imprint back in 2009, with two big singles featuring Rye's mentor in 'Bang' and 'Sunshine' and songs produced by dance heroes Diplo and Sinden, the 20-year-old Baltimore grime MC has decided to refresh her long-delayed album with some hip-hop heavyweights.
"Now it's just basically me deciding to go in and record new stuff to swap in and out of the album, just to refresh it," Rye Rye told Rap-Up. "I might actually record songs that I like better or want to put on the album or take off. Basically, getting into my comfort zone."
The young rapper, whom M.I.A. has referred to as "the voice of Baltimore," has two songs crafted by 'A Milli' producer Bangladesh: a club track called 'Hatter' and street record dubbed 'Homeboy.' Then there's a "tribal"-sounding banger 'Shake, Twist, Drop,' produced by Pharrell of the Neptunes.
"We did a drum beat. To me, it sounds like just a bunch of drums. It's real dope. It's an uptempo beat, of course," she said of the Pharrell-helmed heater. "It sounds like tribal drums, to be exact. M.I.A. said it reminded her of home."
Though M.I.A. has been a longtime Rye Rye supporter -- signing her, taking her on the Kala tour when she was 17, featuring her in the music video for 'Paper Planes' and producing four of the songs on her album -- the British electro-rap queen is now taking a step back from executive producing the younger artist's debut to work on her own career.
"She started working on her album and touring, so it's sort of like she was trying to manage both, but I was still going it alone, doing my own thing and recording," Rye Rye explained. "But at the end of the day, all of the tracks go to M.I.A. and she says which ones she likes and doesn't like. She's major on the album. They go to her for all the decisions and stuff."
While fans continue to patiently await the release of Rye Rye's debut 'Go! Pop! Bang!,' she recently released a pre-album mixtape 'RYEOT POWRR,' and will be performing live at the Coachella music festival this weekend.
Watch Rye Rye's 'Party in the USA (Remix)'