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Another exclusive sneak preview for you guys – this time its from Hygher Baby, the new full-length collaboration from Swedish producer/MC Pure P and singer/co-producer Melo. Their debut album together, Let Me Play U Something U Have Never Heard, is a fresh blend of cool, mellow (no pun intended) vocals and smooth, melodic beats that still have the right amount of bump to them.

The name Hygher Baby is a playful continuation of the now-defunct rap/production duo, Up Hygh, which Pure P was one half of, and whose sole release had Melo featured on a track. As a part of Up Hygh, P had done remixes for Steve Spacek and Owusu & Hannibal and collaborated with the likes of Little Brother, Planet Asia, and Eska – since the group split, he has released solo 12″s and numerous compilation tracks, and has being holding down DJ residencies in his hometown of Stockholm, as well as touring abroad. At the same time, Melo has been appearing on singles from a slew of artists including house producer Rasmus Faber and Raw Fusion labelmate Simbad for years now, and has just released his debut solo album, Off My Chest, earlier this year.

Let Me Play U Something… is a sonic meeting between the spacey, Detroit-inspired funk of Up Hygh, and the soulful, chilled out vibes of Melo’s solo album. With both styles in tact, the tone of the album spans the spectrum of multiple moods and settings, including the bedroom (“Coming Home,” “Let U Go”), more involved relationships (“Grow Old With U,” “Missing U Simply”), and some more upbeat club work-outs (“Intergalactic Love,” “Struggle”) – but my personal favorites are the album’s slow jams. Included below are three highlights from those – a free download of the laidback-but-progressive first single, “Let U Go (Parts 1 & 2),” and streams of both the future slow dance anthem, “Grow Old With U” and the back-and-forth duet with an unexpected-but-welcomed twist, “Coming Home (Parts 1 & 2),” which features promising London-by-way-of-Stockholm songstress, Fatima. You can expect to be hearing a lot more from her in the near future, so remember the name.

As a bonus, I’ve included the Pure P-produced, self-titled Thrilla crew anthem from rising Portland MC’s, Epp Saheed and DaveNotti. Also, after the jump, I’ve included two of my favorites from P’s work in Up Hygh, plus the video for “Real Slow” off of Melo’s debut album.





Hygher Baby “Grow Old (With U)”


Hygher Baby “Coming Home (Parts 1 & 2)” (feat. Fatima)

DOWNLOAD: Hygher Baby “Let U Go (Parts 1 & 2)”

BONUS DOWNLOAD: Epp Saheed & DaveNotti “Thrilla” (prod. Pure P)

SUPPORT: Hygher Baby’s Let Me Play U Something U Have Never Heard will be released on Circulations in Japan on November 8th, and will be available worldwide in early 2009.

BONUS TRACKS:

Up Hygh “Get Out My Face” (feat. Melo)
from The Venus Album (Raw Fusion, 2006)


Owusu & Hannibal “Delirium (Up Hygh Remix)”
from the Delirium 12″ single (Ubiquity, 2006)

BONUS VIDEO:

Melo “Real Slow” (directed by John & Karl-Uno Lindgren)
from Off My Chest (2008, Raw Fusion)