Words by Tim Hakki @TimHakki
As far as debut singles go, they really don’t get any better than Aadae’s ‘River of Tears’. Having found a way to bring afrobeat kicking and jiving into the digital teenies, Aadae incorporates Fela Kuti style funk rhythms into her sound which is a seamless and vibrant patchwork of the organic and the synthetic. Her naturally brilliant singing voice evokes Beyonce’s ability to project power and presence in any mix she jumps on, and Aadae’s main infectious vocal hook (‘I will never drown in a river of tears’) is pithily poetical. South London can boast a whole new sound.