MP3: ill-esha & K.E. On the Track – “Stop Playin'”
ill-esha Teams With Hip-Hop/EDM Producer K.E. On the Track for a Simmering Pop Ode to Lost Love, Premiere via Earmilk
12.15.2014
The Song:
ill-esha isn’t your regular EDM/DJ princess. The Canada-bred, Denver-based singer/producer/DJ is a jack-of-all-trades, and nowhere is this more evident than on her new single, “Stop Playin,'” which premiered via EARMILK. Amid a shimmering guitar and gleaming synths, ill-esha reminisces on moments that she’s attempting to re-capture. As EARMILK states, “her vocals are fun and exciting, and she’s got talent to back it all up.”
“Stop Playin'” is the first release of ill-esha’s forthcoming collaborative Autopilot EP with acclaimed hitmaker K.E. On the Track, whose credits include work with Nicki Minaj and Future. The whole affair is a sugar rush of pop, R&B and electronic influences that sees ill-esha and K.E. fusing their disparate worlds into something equally new and adventurous. “We met up while we were both passing through LA and really dug each others’ production,” explains ill-esha. “The next time I played in Atlanta, I stayed at his studio and developed most of the ideas that ended up on the EP… based on other ideas he’d already sketched out. The finishing touches were done back at home in Denver.”
Slated for a release on January 13th, the Autopilot EP is co-produced by ill-esha and K.E. On the Track.
Listen to “Stop Playin'”: https://soundcloud.com/ill-esha/stop-playin
Check out the Earmilk premiere of ill-esha’s “Stop Playin'”: http://www.earmilk.com/2014/12/11/ill-esha-tells-us-to-stop-playin-premiere
Watch a live performance of “Stop Playin'”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrnckGd5Mh8
Please contact Michelle or Rory if interested in talking with ill-esha.
ill-esha Background:
For many years ill-esha has weathered the dynamic, often ephemeral soundscape of electronic music, simply by being an original. “I’m not really an observer. I’m very much a participant and a creator,” self-describes the Vancouver, British Columbia-born artist, songwriter, producer, and DJ. From growing up in the EDM hotbed of the Pacific Northwest, attending raves in her teens, ill-esha accelerated her musical passions to the fullest. Authenticity has been a driving force in ill-esha’s albums, including 2008’s The Perfect Circuit, 2010’s Circadian Rhythms, and most recently, 2014’s Open Heart Surgery, among a plethora of singles, EPs, and various appearances and side projects. After years of suffering the music industry’s sexism, from being mistaken as a visual designer or a dancer to being discounted despite her expertise, it’s only made her sound hit harder. “I have to be better cause people expect me to be worse,” ill-esha says, noting that she plans to lead workshops that inspire at-risk youth—young women especially, to pursue the technical arts.
With turntables, keytars, vocal loopers, and other instrumentals integrated within her sets, all of the iterations of ill-esha’s journey are represented. A blissful ill-esha describes her newest creations as upbeat, positive parallels to her life. “I feel resolved now. Hopefully my happy music is just as good.” With that constant driving bass, freestyle, and soulful lyrics, it surely is.
Links:
official website | twitter | facebook | youtube | soundcloud | myspace | band camp
“Stop Playin'”: https://soundcloud.com/ill-esha/stop-playin
“Eye Of The Tiger” (Remix): http://youtu.be/9wVd6mvW1i0
Open Heart Surgery: The Remixes – http://music.gravitasrecordings.com/album/open-heart-surgery-the-remixes
Open Heart Surgery: http://music.gravitasrecordings.com/album/open-heart-surgery