The Culture (Ep. 07) w / Bada$$ MoralesPresented by Half-Moon Music // Hosted by Adria del Carmen Morales
Los Angeles, California, USA
April 15, 2024{Intro Title}
This is “The Culture”, this is what we do it for. You’re locked in to “The Culture” with the freshest RnB and Rap hits around, mixed with some of the stone-cold classics. You’re on Half-Moon Music and this is “The Culture”. Sit back and vibe out right now, we’ve got you covered. The freshest RnB and Rap hits around. “The Culture” with ya girl Bada$$ Morales, only on Half-Moon Music.
“Holy fuck, we are back and shit has been going crazy this year! What is happenin’? my Queens and Kings! Things went quiet at the end of 2023 so we’ve been away for a hot minute but ya Hoodrat princess is back to take a look at the trending topics within the RnB and Rap culture and the way things having been shaping up, you know you can expect us to return to our regularly scheduled programming, bigger and badder than ever before. Our last show was July 2023 so we got a lot of talkin’ to do but we just gonna keep it relevant from this year only because there’s a lot of shit going down in the scene right now and I’m ready for it. I think it goes without saying that RnB and Rap has fully taken over as the number one genre in the industry right now and it shows no fuckin’ signs of stopping anytime soon. We got so many teases for albums this year, so you know we gotta get into that later.
It's been a crazy busy start to 2024 with new singles hitting us fast and furious, we’ll be highlighting three of them later in the show. But we just gotta run them down real quick to kick things off. First off we have our classy RnB Queen Alicia Lena delivering two singles with “New Light” and “Love Comes Not When You’re Looking”, two songs that showcase her smooth as fuck voice with tracks that are all about delivering positive vibes into the world and it’s much fuckin’ needed right now. She’s been dropping singles over the last few years in anticipation for her crazy long awaited fourth studio album over twelve years since her last studio album and we have word that we’ll be getting one more single drop real soon before the album is finally delivered to us. My insider information says the album is expected to be released in May.
On top of that we had singles from Layla with “The King is Dead” and Tisha Jackson with “Prime”, both delivering on that RnB and Pop hybrid that both these insanely talented females do best. Taken as the second single from Layla’s upcoming 2024 album I’m pretty sure we can expect to hear more singles in the build -up to that album later this year and it’s already pretty obvious that it’s gonna be a no-skips record from our certified future Queen. Tisha Jackson surprised us all by finally dropping the first single from her tenth record “Album of the Year”, over a year after the album was released. That is the craziest fuckin’ promo method I’ve ever seen but that shit seemed to work for her, she dropped an album and dipped, let it marinate and came back promoting the shit out of it over a year later with her single “Prime” and a headline performance at the first ever Universal Music Awards. More on that shit later!
Younghood looks set to have a huge year in 2024, he’s delivering big time with “Gang Shit”, regularly dropping new material on us from that record and rumours are going around that he’s about to jump on board at Just Record with a potentially big collab album with Kidd Amaze and Big Stacks which would be total overload in the rap game, I don’t think anybody would be able to compete with a record on that level. There’s also no doubt that Younghood will be constantly working on other stuff in the shadows as he always does, so keep your eyes open for a huge year for Younghood.
Amy-Jayne is another artist that has confirmed that an album will be dropping this year and it’s expected to be coming very soon too, she delivered vintage Amy-Jayne vibes as she continued to blend her natural RnB style with Electro-Pop and Avant Garde pop styles with “Selfish” and has fans waiting on that new record with baited breath. Some reports have said we’re just weeks away from it finally dropping and we can’t wait to see her dominate in 2024.
Orion made their return this year after a year of rumours about them not being able to co-exist as a group, Jadyn Ghalen showing his own ability to have a successful career away from ‘Orion’ if he chooses in the future, but the trio have been in the studio since August last year, working on their sophomore album which is also expected later this year, my people have said the summer is likely to be when they go all out on the promotional train, but they’ve already gotten started with “All Accelerator, No Brakes” being the lead single from the project, I love me some ‘Orion’ and all of the drama that comes with those men, so you can count me in as an excited motherfuckin’ bunny!
And finally, we have to showcase the latest single from Billy titled “Model Citizen” and he’s brought along a couple of friends with him with Kara Romero and Kidd Amaze jumping on the track, helping him to deliver some serious shit and showcasing his chops in tackling legit topics and emotions. He’s another artist that can never release anything of poor quality, he delivers every time and I love the fact that the man backs up everything he believes about himself. He knows he's a fucking talent and he showcases it every time his name is included on something. Love that we have Kidd Amaze on the track, with him being rumoured to be working on a project with Younghood I think we can see Kidd dominate once again and I love the flowers that have been given to one of my closest bitches Kara Romero in being part of such a huge track. I’mma have to put my cards on the table and say this is my early contender for ‘Song of the Year’ at next years UMA’s. I think we’ve got a lot of great shit coming our way in 2024 but it will take something special to create something bigger than “Model Citizen”.
We saw the first ever Universal Music Awards in March with Rnb and Rap dominating with wins for Kara Romero, Jadyn Ghalen, Layla, Billy and Thickmouse showcasing just how dominant the genres have been over the past year. We also saw some juicy drama in the form of CCTV footage of Jadyn Ghalen and Tisha Jackson getting into some sort of argument during the after-party. We ain’t heard anything from either person addressing this and can only go with what we can see in the footage and the sources from around the show and venue. I’ve read a lot of wild fuckin’ theories online and I’d love for some of them to be true. I think it’s all just a bunch of people stepping on each other’s toes, two artists from different era’s with a disagreement. You know your Tijuana princess Morales ain’t gonna shy away from voicing her opinion, but I think it’s just two ego’s clashing mixed with a little sexual tension too. Ya’ll look at the footage, they get pretty close to each other when they get into their argument, there’s definitely some lust there. Try changing my mind if ya’ll like, but I don’t think they left that shit unfinished, the CCTV footage from Tisha’s hotel room is the real shit I wanna see cause you know these two be fuckin’ rough after this showdown. Sometimes it’s the only way to resolve that typa shit. You already know I’mma work overtime to try to get that exclusive Tisha interview. I’m here for the drama and all of the juicy details.
And finally, I think the only way to end the return show is to talk about the upcoming album releases we’ve been told will be coming this year. Alicia Lena and Amy-Jayne have both been building to their album over the last few months and it looks like they’ll both be one of the first of the bunch to release their next records. Alicia will no doubt be delivering something to re-charge our souls with that vintage classy style and Amy-Jayne is in her Queen era right now, she’s experimenting with different sounds but also keeping true to her RnB roots, she’s also adding a little independent bitch attitude in her recent stuff so I can’t wait to hear the full album which is one of the ones confirmed to be real close to being released.
Billy has been teasing his debut solo record “BILAL” for some time now, he’s already dropped three huge tracks with “The Entertainer”, “Safe Passage” and “XXXHIBITION” and then delivering with “Model Citizen” already this year on top of two other huge tracks previously, the only problem is that this is a record that has been rumoured for years now. I have belief that the album will be released in 2024 even though a bitch has been burnt by BILAL before. But he can keep dropping singles for another two or three years and I’ll still take it like a pro, just begging for the release. And YES, I’m referring to Billy on both levels, just in very different situations.
We also got confirmation that ‘Orion’ are gearing up for the sophomore album with the release of “All Accelerator, No Brakes”, they confirmed that “Orion II” will be released this year, this one I’m expecting to be late summer, early fall purely because we’ve only had one single drop and they like to go on a heavy promotional run. I think we’ll get at least another two or three singles before the album drops, so we’ve got some time before those guys really started to ramp things up a little. But I ain’t even ruling out the possibility that we get a solo album from one of them before we get album number two. They seem to be working at a different level, so it’s anyone’s guess right now.
And this one is a little exclusive, my bestie and partner in crime Kara Romero will have at least one major project released this year but she’s aiming for a bunch of releases. Ain’t nothing certain yet, but she said she expects her follow up album to last-years “Post-Traumatic” to be later this year, if not early 2025 and some other cool shit to be released before then, maybe two studio albums and an E.P or two so you know that my lil’ baddie is working like crazy this year. I’m hyped as fuck for whatever she delivers.
My early vote for MVP of 2024 will have to be Younghood, I think he went off at the Bring the Heat Festival and I’ve been waiting for him to go into God mode ever since. He’s delivering with his album “Gang Shit” and continuing to drop new stuff on us from that project. The rumours that he’s moving over to Just Record and is gonna be collaborating like crazy with people over there like Kidd Amaze and Big Stacks just sends chills down a bitches spine and I think he’s got a whole lotta surprise moves up his sleeve too. I’m here for the Younghood God mode in 2024 and you all should be too!
So that’s the rundown right now, that’s the most up to date shit happening in the industry in 2024. You know I’m happy to be back, we gonna try to keep more episodes coming, I’m working on getting an interview for the next one real soon so keep an eye out for it. But for now, we got the three hottest tracks right now for ya’ll!
Orion – “All Accelerator, No Brakes”
“Gloves on, chin up, walk tall, king up
We take this shit serious
Despite all the rumours and the cheap talk
We got a commitment to the legacy
That’s why we’re in the booth when the time comes
We could all make the paper on our own name
But we’ve only delivered the first act of a three act play
This shit is our legacy, this shit is our story
We got our plan to take it to the highest of heights
And motherfucker when the time’s right
We gonna burn it all down ourselves
In a blaze of glory
Never a comeback
Never departed
Stuck in your brain
Or we were stuck where your heart is
Never forgotten
R.I.P to the real ones
Gone too soon
Bitch we were barely gone
Take five, timeout
Back to your corners
Let’s not have a blow-out”
Amy-Jayne – “Selfish”
“We know what we always sadly do
We torturing us thats what we do
We wants to seperate yes we do
Am I selfish for wanting me time?
Am I selfish for loving me more?
Am I selfish for trying to fix us?
Are you selfish for wanting your time?
Are you selfish for loving me less?
Are you selfish for saying you're lonely?
Guess we both selfish
We float on water, lighter than air,
We fought on the daily, harder than the rain
We lost forever, longer than the Zelda
You know what can we do to survive this,
To survive we need to look at our credentials”
Billy – “Model Citizen” (feat. Kara Romero, Kidd Amaze)
“A moment of silence for all our deceased
Prayer circle right in the belly of the beast
Officers don't want to practice what they preach
Where's the fuckin' law and order in these streets?
Youths just dropping dead in the inner city
Stanley in their pocket in case man's acting iffy
More blood in an alleyway, shit's getting crazy
Another statistic, a point raised for the committee
16 year olds out here lacking guidance
Speak up and the powers go for silence
Trying to get by on a complex, secret code
It's a slippery rock, it's a fraying rope
No room for mistakes, it's so unforgiving
All out here just dying for a living
Thank the Lord it's them and not you
They were never real, another name on the news
We all end up bleeding red, white and blue
It's not perfect but it's what we have to do
Switch the station, nothing can be done
No questions raised, not like it was your son
Don't want to face the barrel of a smoking gun?
Just walk on by like a model citizen
Cross your heart and hope to die
For the piece of fabric flailing in the sky
And if you should go before you wake
Pray to the State, your shit to take”
