The intersections between hip-hop, pop, and electronic music are being defined by a number of aspects, musical or otherwise. But arguably among the most telling of the strictly non-musical facets that play into this description is how pure and utter emotion factors into this wholly nuanced mix.
Artists that teeter between straight hip-hop stylistics and pop sentimentalism are doing so with all the grace and passion in the world, with quite the large amount of talent to back them up. This notion has been repeatedly exemplified to an absolute tee by Sweden’s very own d1v — easily one of the forefront figures of this musical attitude moving into the future.
The Boysnightsout purveyor recently dropped a track that reflects all these past descriptions in one small package with “The Only Thing I Know.” Rich with detail in all the right places, this single does all it needs to in truly defining what makes this style-defining act who they are and what they have come to represent during their already-resounding career thus far.
The instrumental provided by Shinjin paves a clear path for d1v to embellish on throughout its runtime, as they craft together a beat that sees its constantly solemn main riff only compounded by smooth percussion and some effective synth entrances throughout. It creates the most optimal atmosphere for d1v to take center stage — not doing too much, but certainly not doing too little.
d1v’s performance here is just as typical as the rest of their tracks before this, being that it is another example of how masterful of a performer they truly are in their own right. The poetically strung together lyrics work in tandem with their always-biting vocals as the song moves onward and onward, only becoming more effective as more seconds past. Their voice is far too captivating and impassioned to be ignored, which lends quite the large amount of weight onto the indecisive themes that the track coveys.
These aspects cap off another masterful offering from one of the defining figures of their particular style, a title they will undoubtedly continue to carry moving into the future. Tracks like this prove what these descriptions entail on the outset, and any one listen would cement that motif in its fullest effect imaginable within any given listener.