Soundclouds of the Underground: Space Travel Edition

ABOVE: PRINCESS NOKIA. PHOTO COURTESY OF CLASS NYC.

These days, music truly lives online, with an infinite number of websites dedicated to hosting tunes for the laptop-wielding masses. However, the web’s bottomless pit of blogs isn’t the only place to troll for mp3 treasures—some of the newest and most exciting (Internet-friendly) artists can be sought out via Soundcloud, the online stage that allows musicians to promote and distribute their music to fans and friends across the globe. In this weekly column, expert Internet sleuths go into the depths of the music-sharing site, in hopes of shedding light on emerging acts, as well as sharing some digital diamonds in the rough.

We were sort of hoping that space travel would be common place by 2014, but alas, it is not (we blame Virgin Galactic for being slow). As a consolation prize, we’ve found three songs that bring listeners to a totally different universe. Close your eyes, steady your breath, and drift off into another dimension…

Princess Nokia: “DRAGONS”

Who: Destiny Nicole recently transformed from the hard-rapping Wavvy Spice to Princess Nokia, experimenting with supernatural R&B and straight-up tribal hymns. We’re into it.   

Song: Princess Nokia’s strong, billowing sound floats over a fast paced and frenetic beat, creating the perfect tension for a captivating love song. Witness the true love vibes  in the video for the song featuring Nokia’s real-life boyfriend Wiki Morales of Ratking.

Upcoming projects: Stay locked into Princess Nokia’s Soundcloud for updates.

Kitty Pryde: “I’m Learning How to Make Things But My Voice is Not Good”

Who: Danny Brown’s red-headed, Florida-born protégé has moved on from her Tumblr days of cute bedroom rap. Now it’s all sugar-coated electro-pop. 

Song: This soft tune manages to sound like low-key ’80s disco, while packing enough bleeps and bloops to keep all the machine heads happy. Kitty’s light and airy voice floats above it all, and honestly, it’s not that bad. Take it easy on yourself, Kitty. Too much self-deprecation isn’t good for the soul.

Upcoming Projects: According to recent tweets, it seems like she’s filming a movie, but you can also visit her Facebook and Souncloud to stay up-to-date.

Robokid: “So Close Yet So Far”

Who: Robokid, né Ethan Budnick, is a 21-year-old student at UMass who makes surprisingly great remixes of songs recorded by Disney Channel stars. 

Song: Demi Lovato has never been so experimental. Robokid strips down “Give Your Heart A Break” into a distorted, lilting R&B track. When space travel becomes so natural that we’ll just get in our rocket ships on Saturday night to hit all the clubs with the best view of planet Earth, the DJ will play this and we’ll all dance in zero gravity.

Upcoming Projects: Stay tuned to Robokid’s website.

Soundclouds of the Underground runs every Thursday. For more, click here.