Max's Music Mondays with Dhavid and Moses Ideka
Two GREAT songs and a mini Bonnaroo preview!
Welcome to Max’s Music Mondays. My ~music discovery newsletter~ where I get too excited about songs I love. I hope you love them too. If you do, you can follow along on spotify and please be sure to absolute smash that dang subscribe button! tysm :) Your paid subscriptions go towards supporting the artists you read about here too!! That’s right(!!), the artists who made This Weeks Songs are getting paid!! <3
A little bit of an abbreviated issue this week, but don’t let that fool you, I am OBSESSED with these songs. To be honest, I’m feeling incredibly stressed right now. I leave for Bonnaroo tomorrow evening, and like always I feel like I just don’t have enough time to do everything I want to do before I have to go. Scared that I’ll forget something or drop the ball on something at work, let someone down. This happens every time I take a true vacation, and can feel it creeping in on me now. Even though I know as soon as I make it to the farm in Tennessee all will be good, all will be out of my hands. But it still feels like a mad dash until then. So as a powerful act of Self Care (tm) I am writing a shorter newsletter today. Thank you for understanding.
Meanwhile, things are as exciting as ever in MMM world right now. Continuing to grow our community, and build some special things for the back half of the year. More artist performances, maybe an interview, and also a big project that I can’t wait to tell you more about (but will because it’s not ready yet), and of course, The Maxies.
But first!! Bonnaroo. Spending the next week outside with friends and with so much good music. I can’t wait to experience it all, leave with a new favorite band, and come back with more to tell you about. But a few lesser known artists that I’m most excited about:
Makaya McCraven - exciting and alive jazz music, The Fours and Seventh String are my favorites from his last record
Danielle Ponder - I’ve mentioned Ponder before, but I’ll take any chance to do it again. WHAT a voice.
Tiny Habits - The harmonies!!! Sometimes you just wanna cry a little. You’ve definitely seen them on TikTok and I can’t wait to see live myself.
Ok on to this week’s picks!!
Dhavid - Bet It All Up
Saw one tiktok and sprinted to spotify where I was immediately hooked and obsessed and thrilled and freaking out. The choir’s chords melded so beautifully with the strings. All of it playing off the record player in the living room, Dhavid clearing his throat to put on a show. I think the thing that catches me most in music these days is someone with a voice. Both the literal voice and the writing style. Dhavid’s is clear and strong and unique on both counts.
His tone cuts with clarity, feeling so at home on this beat. It has a natural melody to it, like he’s singing even as he raps. Through this big verse, Dhavid has bounces over the beat, finding new rhythms landing where ever feels right - and it always feels right. I’m really taken by his writing, word play galore and just feels like he’s having fun putting this all together. The adlibs, pitched a little, giving so much texture and joy to this one too. The end of the verse, bodies on the pavement section hits hard. Falling into that familiar one two three count, that just begs to be sang along to. Carpet ripped from beneath us at 1:38, that count shifting into a higher, faster gear. Bet it all up turns to sped it all up, am I right? I am sorry! Giving the chorus an entirely new shape and style, I really love it as an exciting way to close out the song.
Just based on this song and the clips he’s been posting on tiktok, I am SO excited to see what Dhavid is working on next. A pretty wild debut single, and clearly a lot more special music to come.
Follow Dhavid on IG / Spotify
Moses Ideka - Cast Out
Another stunning debut single, Moses Ideka delivering this unbelievably haunting and loving number. Another artist with an unmistakable voice, someone finding their sound so quick and finding ways to flex it naturally. Cast Out is a heater and I know you’ll enjoy.
Holding the spotlight from the beginning, Ideka’s voice impossible not to love. I love that percussion arpeggiated and sent running around the mix. Feels like we’re in the middle of the storm, Ideka holding us close as he sings. Damn this whole moment is so intoxicating, really something special. Then that gentle falsetto layer, come on. This one is so sick. Percussion peeling off so that bass descend off the cliff, oozing out with those ooo’s. The high hats start rolling, punctuating Ideka’s expansive melody with a bit of urgency. It’s an eerie and beautiful chorus, all the pieces that came before swirling together under his control. The post-chorus section bouncing from one vocal to the other, dipping down for some more talky notes and back into this register for the rest. It has a really cool effect and only pulls me deeper into the moment and the groove. Then, right there after 2mins, it fades to black. Only to explode right back with the perfect keys, dancing, almost poking, through some gorgeous chords. A choir of Ideka’s begging for honesty as the song comes to a close. It’s such a surprising and wild moment, a perfect end to the song.
Another artist I’m so stoked about, a few tiny clips of other songs hitting IG here and there and I seriously can’t wait. Get on board now, there’s something brewing here!!
Follow Moses Ideka on IG / Spotify
Thanks for reading this far - as always, even on a shorter week - this week’s picks are getting paid thanks to the paid subscribers!! Supporting independent artists and my dang writing, bless ur souls for real.
Alrighty, signing off for the week - gonna be off next week, but back the following week with a June recap and more!!
See you next week. With love,
Max