Single released: September 30
Remixes: 88 Keys (‘No Church in The Wild), The Nextmen (Plan B),
Remixes: 88 Keys (‘No Church in The Wild), The Nextmen (Plan B),
London Records have announced plans to release a unique, one-off collaboration by Grammy-nominated hip-hop legend Nas and stunning South London newcomerArlissa. ‘Hard To Love Somebody’ is due out on September 30, and features remixes by 88 Keys (who most recently produced ‘No Church in the Wild’) and celebrated DJ and production duo The Nextmen (Plan B, Paul Epworth). Further information will be announced shortly.
For
Arlissa, it was the call of a lifetime. At just nineteen years old, the
singer and songwriter with that unusual name – half German, half
American, but raised in Crystal Palace – had finished her A-Levels, and
was contemplating her next move. She’d broken up with her first
boyfriend of three years, moved out of the family home, and watched her
friends go off to university, whilst she stayed put; intent on making
music her life. And then one such song, ‘Hard To Love Somebody’, found
its way largely via word-of-mouth from her producer to a publisher, and
then finally to Nas – who has sold over 13 million records in the United
States alone, and recently spent two weeks at number 1 in America (and
returned to the UK Top 10) with a new album, ‘Life Is Good’.
Nas
was such a fan of ‘Hard to Love Somebody’ that he not only asked to
record an alternate rap version of it, but flew Arlissa to L.A, wishing
to do so in-person. The resulting collaboration is an infectious and
emotive mix of Nas’ idiosyncratic delivery with Arlissa’s gorgeous
original chorus (“oh it’s hard to love somebody, when all I want is you”).
“The whole experience was completely surreal,” Arlissa recalls. “My ex
was obsessed by Nas, and we used to listen to him all the time...though I
was only a year old when ‘Illmatic’ was released.” Typically
charismatic, Nas wrote his rap virtually on the spot, and proved an
encouraging presence for Arlissa: after all, the only other time Nas has
featured a UK artist was with the late Amy Winehouse. “He just makes
you feel so comfortable,” Arlissa says, “that it wasn’t until I was on
the plane home that I suddenly realised, ‘F**k, I just did a track with
Nas’. It’s been an incredible opportunity.”
Aged just nineteen, Arlissa has emerged overnight to become one of the brightest UK talents of the moment. Armed
with a dauntingly strong set of songs, Arlissa’s is a voice – and a
name - that looks set to be planted firmly in the pop map heading into
next year.
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