Infinite Sounds UK: Single Review: Fake Friends / Hip Hop Saved My Life

Fake Friends / Hip Hop Saved My Life

Holly Flo and Crease

The double single release Fake Friends / Hip Hop Saved My Life is the debut release from Holly Flo and Crease. It features Holly Flo on vocals, Crease on production with SIR Beans OBE on the cuts and mixed and mastered by Rola @ Khameleon 107.

For those of you who might not be familiar with these two, then here is a little background for you.

Crease is a DJ, Producer and Graff artist from Bournemouth. Part of the Legendary Outkastz Crew (O.K.S.T), he has been closely associated with the B-Line Recordings family for many years and has been in the sound and production game for some 30 years, recording under various names and across various genres of music. Among his recent releases was the awesome Anything You Want single, alongside Chrome and Specifik, which was released on B-Line Recordings in May 2021 and which I featured in a review.

Holly Flo (formerly Holly Flo Lightly) is an underground emcee and singer from London who released her debut single Tryin’ back in 2014. The Northeast of England is now her home, where she collaborates on both music and radio projects, plus studying a BA in Music and Sound. She has close connections with Bristol’s Hip Hop community, releasing her Aperitif EP through Sika Records in 2016. Following a few appearances at the B-Line Recordings Rope-A-Dope events in Bristol, she linked up with Crease which led to this latest release. Holly Flo’s most recent releases include the Get Lit Not Gaslit EP (Coming Soon with GasLit out now), produced by Konchis, and a collaboration with Beyonders (Metalheadz/HeadzState) on the soulful jazzy vibes of the Moves Like Water single. She also has several underground collabs and EPs on the way.

The two have been working together on material for two and a half years now and have recently performed together at 2021’s Rope-A-Dope 6 and this year’s Lindisfarne festival.

Fake Friends drops with a solid boom bap beat with a classic drum sample, bass and piano with horns featuring on the chorus and more, creating this lively sound that just makes you wanna bounce around. Holly Flo mixes her rap vocals with a soulful sung chorus and speaks openly and unashamedly on those people who are only there for you while things are going well and you are in a good place, because it is to their advantage. But the minute things are not going so well, and you find yourself in a tough spot, they drop you or turn on you, being among the first to stick the knife in your back and twist it.

Hip Hop Saved My Life sees Crease dropping a laid-back drumbeat, over which is a jazzy piano and guitar, which brings this chilled Jazz Hop fusion sound, that is a proper uplifting head nod vibe. Holly Flo once more brings her rap vocals and sung chorus to bear on a track that sees her open her heart on how she discovered Hip Hop music from the US to the UK artists. She tells how making her first track about Hip Hop truly helped her at a time she was at her lowest point. Then from living in Barcelona and back to the UK it’s all about having Hip Hop in your soul so “put your fucking hands up”.

Here are two tracks that are drastically different, in as much as they cover topics that display the yin and the yang of life. One person’s experiences of life that are joined by one common element, the love of real Hip Hop music.

Crease brings two solid real Hip Hop tracks that show his pedigree when it comes to music production. On Fake Friends his boom bap vibe brings the kinda vibe that brings light to the shadowy nature of tracks subject matter, while on Hip Hop Saved My Life, he brings a Jazzy-tinged vibe that carries the track along while giving room for you to focus on the lyrics from Holly Flo. You just get this sense that he understands, on a deep level, exactly what is needed from the music to fully compliment the vocals, masterful production…

Holly Flo demonstrates why she is more that one of the UK’s finest upcoming emcees. With these two tracks she shows her solid lyrical wordplay, of which you can hear every word, alongside some stunning soulful sung choruses and if you have ever seen her live performances, then you will have an even better insight into her vocal range and prowess. I am sure that with this release she is going to absolutely cement her place on the UK Hip Hop scene and probably beyond. With some guest appearances out now and some exciting in coming releases with Crease, Holly Flo is most certainly one to watch.

Make sure you keep watch for future releases from Crease and Holly Flo as there is, I’m reliably informed, at least one album scheduled for future release.

So, there is not much more I can say now except that I hope you have you orders in for this one as its out today and is gonna be on fire, for sure.

On that note,

I’ll see ya next time,

Peace Out,

Steve

LINKS

Get the Single from Holly Flo on Bandcamp:

https://hollyflolightly.bandcamp.com/album/fake-friends

Holly Flo on the Web:

https://www.getlitnotgaslit.com/

Holly Flo on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3ldRhDAkrzPLfeLIR9UZK4