Oakland’s Ricky Lake debuts “Wino,” first single off Text Me Records
For a little while, Ricky Lake had a fear about working with a music label. Up until this year, the Los Angeles-born, Nashville-bred, Oakland-residing artist was making music solely from his bedroom, cold-emailing YouTube producers for beats and releasing impromptu projects on SoundCloud and Bandcamp. There's a rigidity associated with labels — contracts, royalties, processes, money. Ricky, who admitted that part of his creative process sometimes involves being intoxicated, simply thought that wasn't a world he fit in. But after linking with Text Me Records ("Text Me is about creativity and making what you want to make happen," he says) [...]
Phem and Fat Tony team up for Text Me Records track
San Francisco-based label Text Me Records has announced its latest collaboration with two up-and-coming hip-hop artists. Los Angeles-based artist Phem is teaming up with Houston's Fat Tony on a new track called "Amazing," set to be released by Text Me Records on December 8. You can pre-save the single on Spotify so you can hear it as soon as it drops. Phem recently collaborated with G-Eazy on a song called "Just Friends," which you can hear below. She also recently teamed up with Robokid on "Judge Me" and "I Miss U" which you can listen to here. https://soundcloud.com/g_eazy/just-friends-feat-phem?mc_cid=4167866e99&mc_eid=c70d24bf91 Fat Tony [...]
Mixtape: Great Bay Area Record Labels
Editor's note: Following the original publication of this post, we were alerted to the announcement that Death Records has closed following accusations of sexual assault against founder Brian Wakefield. Based on this news, we have removed Death Records from this post and mixtape. http://media.libsyn.com/media/thebaybridged/Record_Labels_2017_Mixtape.mp3 Download: Mixtape: Great Bay Area Record Labels (Podcast #416) This episode originally ran on KQED.org. Record labels can play an important role in nurturing the growth of emerging musicians, and the Bay Area’s many local independent labels are a key piece of the vibrant local music scene. Bay Area labels help the region's musicians develop, release, [...]
New Phone Who Dis? Showcase to feature Kyle Dion, Mars Today, Mikos Da Gawd, Social Work
San Francisco's Text Me Records brings back its monthly roster showcase and this month's edition features a nicely mixed crop of up-and-coming and seasoned R&B acts. At first glance, Kyle Dion looks like an amalgamation of R&B stars' best qualities — a retrofitted Frank Ocean (at certain angles) and gifted with a Gallant-esque falsetto. But there's an air of tenderness seeping through Kyle Dion that shines brightly in his music - songs such as "Cool Side of the Pillow" and "Hold on to Me" are vulnerable tracks in word and sound. His project, Painting Sounds, however, offers a more lively, [...]
Premiere: The lush R&B of William Robert’s “Parachute”
New SF label Text Me Records emerged out of Different Fur Studios with a slew of releases earlier this year, and today we're premiering their latest: a new single from Bay Area R&B artist William Robert. "Parachute" is a lush, inviting song, with inventive production encompassing Robert's soulful declarations of love. The new track is the third in a series of weekly releases from the singer, who previously played football with the Detroit Lions. But back to the music: this song will surely make you want to catch up on Robert's other recently released tracks, which we've included below. https://soundcloud.com/williamrobertempire/hold-me [...]