RA.818 Flava D

  • Published
    Feb 6, 2022
  • Filesize
    139 MB
  • Length
    01:00:22
  • Flava D brings us into her world of garage, bassline, grime and, now, drum and bass.
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  • The timing of Flava D's RA Podcast feels fortuitous, because it lines up with a return to touring after the UK DJ spent most of the pandemic roving around the US. Before then, you'd catch her all over England every week and weekend, playing her trademark blend of garage, bassline and grime that has endeared her not just to the clubbing hotspots but smaller towns and cities all over the country. Basically, if you go see Flava D DJ, you're gonna have fun, and you're probably gonna smile. This mix is a good summary of everything Flava D does. In her words, it's "a great place for someone to step into my world and see what I'm about. You get the whompers with the huge basslines, the irresistible vocal chops and the full-on vocal features, plus her life-affirming collaborative project with Royal-T and DJ Q, T Q D, something of a bassline supergroup. Towards the end, you'll also hear Flava D's newest interest: drum & bass. Signing to the world-famous label Hospital Records, she's set her sights on the genre as her next hobby, and you'll hear some blazing, catchy highlights towards the end of this mix. What have you been up to recently? Since returning back to England a few months ago from LA where I have spent the majority of my time during the pandemic, I've been transitioning back into touring life. Whilst it was nice to enjoy some downtime, I'm happiest when DJing. So it's been great to reconnect with my audience again. I'm also having a lot of fun with the drum & bass sound right now. Being able to experiment with multiple genres at the same time, and somehow linking them all together in a way that works has been quite a challenging but exciting journey for me. I've got some really exciting things lined up for 2022! How and where was the mix recorded, and can you tell us the idea behind it? I recorded this mix through Ableton on my laptop in my front room. I've just moved house, so my studio setup isn't quite there yet! This mix is all about me showcasing a lot of my own catalogue, ranging from some of my earliest UK garage productions, some classic grime, moving all the way in to my recent drum & bass joints. I've also included a few unreleased bits that I made last summer whilst travelling America in my van. For anyone who may not be aware of who I am and what It is I do, this mix is a great place for someone to step into my world and see what I'm about. It's my aim to keep things sounding fresh and surprise the listener with what comes next. What are you grateful for these days? I'm grateful for the simpler things in life. Things like spending physical quality time with my loved ones. It's easy to take people’s existence for granted sometimes, and the last two years has really shown me that it's important to make the most of what we have, whilst it's still In front of us. You've recently made a sort of stylistic pivot towards drum & bass and signed to Hospital Records. How and why did that come about? I've always been a lover of drum & bass since an early age, but it was only four years ago that I decided I'd have a go at trying to make some. It was more me making it at home for fun, without the intention of ever showing it to anyone. But one day on the way to a gig, I happened to be sharing the artist transportation with Tony, the cofounder of Hospital Records (and producer London Elektricity) and I plucked up the courage to ask him if I could send him some of my drum & bass ideas. I never expected much to come from it but a couple weeks went by and the Hospital team wrote back saying they'd like to sign "Return To Me" and the rest is history!  At this point you dabble in so many genres, but your sound is remarkably consistent and recognizable. What's the one thing about your music or approach that you keep when trying out different sounds, genres or styles? For me, I think my signature elements are my chord progressions and the basslines. One of my favourite things about producing is creating that second drop. No matter what style it is I'm producing, I'll always make sure that I keep that element of surprise there.  When I'm making music, I always ask myself… is there enough colour in this tune? No matter what style it is, I'll always make sure that what I do has a soulful melodic vibe in there somewhere. What are you up to next? I currently have a lot of exciting collaborations in the works. I've recently filmed an in-depth DJ course that is gonna be dropping soon. So for anyone thats keen in wanting to learn DJing, keep an eye out for that! I’m gearing up to make sure this summer is an epic one!
  • Tracklist
      Flava D - Happy (XOYO Dub Mix) feat. Miss Fire Skepsis & TS7 - Freak (Flava D Remix) Flava D - Acting Stank Flava D - Oh La La Bootleg Flava D - Pick Pocket Flava D - Desperation VIP Shanique Marie - Breezy (Flava D Remix) Flava D - He Loves Me TQD - Letter To EZ (VIP) The Streets - Who's Got The Bag (Flava D Remix) TQD - Baked Beans Flava D - Get Money Refix Redlight & Flava D - Show Me feat. Shanique Marie Winston Surfshirt - Complicated (Flava D Remix) feat. Young Franco Sammy Virji - Spice Up Your Life (Flava D Remix) Flava D - Untitled Shakedown - At Night (Flava D Bootleg) Rick Live - Something In Your Eyes (Flava D Remix) Flava D - Untitled Flava D - Spicy Noodles Skepsis & Flava D - Secure The bag Flava D - I Got The Vibe Flava D - Berlin Netsky - Memory Lane (Flava D Remix) Friction & Flava D - Now Or Never feat. Charlotte Haining Flava D - Springloaded Flava D - Snakebite Flava D - Mesmerise x All We Ever Do Flava D - Womp Machine Flava D - Untitled Flava D - Desert Lights Flava D - Reflection Skit
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