Songs from Head in the Clouds II Album

Head in the Clouds II is the 2nd album by 88rising Records and 12Tone Records. 88rising Records is part of the American mass media company 88rising, which primarily represents Asian artists. Head in The Clouds II is a compilation album, a follow up to the debut Head in the Clouds which was released in summer 2018.

HITC II was released on 11th October and consists of 16 tracks by artists such as Indonesian rapper and singer Rich Brian, Indonesian singer NIKI, Japanese singer/rapper Joji and Hong Kong rapper and singer Jackson Wang. You can read more about it here: https://www.complex.com/music/2019/10/88rising-head-in-the-clouds-2-stream


Rich Brian and Chung Ha- These Nights

First up is These Nights by Rich Brian and featuring Korean singer Chung Ha. Rich Brian's real name is Brian Immnuel Soewarno, he's Chinese Indonesian and is from Jakarta, Indonesia. He launched his career online, posting videos on YouTube. He released his debut song Living the Dream on YouTube in July 2015. In March 2016 he brought out Dat $tick, which I think was his first official single. He also teamed up with American rappers Ghostface Killah and Pouya for a remix of Dat $tick.

Brian's other singles include Seventeen, Glow Like Dat, See Me, 18 (with Kris Wu, Joji, Trippie Redd and Baauer), History, Yellow and Kids. He released his debut album Amen in February 2018 and his second album The Sailor this July.

Brian was originally known as Rich Chigga but changed it to Rich Brian last year, since many people considered his stage name offensive.

These Nights is the first track on HITC II and features Chung Ha (former member of K-pop girl group I.O.I and now solo singer). It's one of the lead singles from the album (4th to be released) and came out on 3rd October. The video has a retro vibe and Brian's hairstyle is retro too, (an 80s mullet)!

For more on Rich Brian check out these links:

Official FB: https://www.facebook.com/iamrichbrian/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianimanuel

Twitter: https://twitter.com/richbrian  

Also if you're a Chung Ha fan you may like these posts:

Chung Ha solo debut: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/06/chung-ha-solo-debut.html

Includes her Gotta Go video: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2019/01/new-music-for-2019-k-pop.html


Joji and Jackson Wang feat. Swae Lee and Major Lazer- Walking

Next is Walking by Joji and featuring Jackson Wang, Swae Lee and Major Lazer.

Joji (real name George Kusunoki Miller) is a Japanese singer and rapper and record producer. He is half Japanese and half Australian and grew up in Japan, before moving to the US at 18. Joji started out as an internet personality and comedian, posting videos on YouTube. He originally released music under the name Pink Guy, before releasing the songs I Don't Wanna Waste My Time,  Rain On Me and Will He in 2017. I remember hearing Will He on Spotify, I think that's the first Joji song I heard.

His debut EP under Joji was In Tongues, which came out in November 2017. It was re-released as a deluxe version the following February. He released his first studio album Ballads 1 in October 2018. He was executive producer on Head in the Clouds II.

For Walking Joji teamed up with Jackson Wang (member of K-pop boyband GOT7 and solo artist), American rapper Swae Lee (one half of hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd) and Jamaican American dance trio Major Lazer. This is the lyric video.

Follow Joji at these links:

FB page: https://www.facebook.com/jojikansai/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sushitrash/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sushitrash
 

Jojo and GENERATIONS from  EXILE TRIBE- Need Is your Love

Here is another Joji song, which features Japanese boyband GENERATIONS from  EXILE TRIBE. This is also a lyric video.

You can also watch the music video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8eCwlYUeQE

NIKI- Indigo

Indigo by Indonesian singer NIKI was the first single from HITC II, released in August. I featured it as a Weekly Music Video last month: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2019/10/weekly-music-video.html


AUGUST 08 and Barney Bones- Calculator

Calculator is by  American singer and songwriter AUGUST 08 (real name August Grant). He has written songs for other 88rising artists as well as stars such as Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber and G-Eazy. He released his debut EP FATHER in May 2018 and his second EP Happy Endings with an Asterisk this August.

Calculator is a song about things just not adding up in your love life and also features rapper Barney Bones. I like the laid back vibe in this song. Sounds a bit 90s as well. :)

Update 15/1/24: I just found out that AUGUST 08 died last summer, of unknown causes. I hope he's resting in peace.
 

For more on AUGUST 08 check out these links:

i-D.com article: https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/ne9qpk/august-08-is-set-to-be-88risings-next-breakout-star

DJ Booth interview: https://djbooth.net/features/2018-04-11-meet-august-08-interview

FB: https://www.facebook.com/augustoheight/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/august08
 

NIKI- La La Lost You

Another song by NIKI. I featured this is in my recent Asian Music- Part 2 post:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2019/11/asian-music-part-2.html


Also check out Hold Me Down by Chinese hip hop group Higher Brothers and I Love You 3000 II, the English version of Jackson Wang's I Love You 3000 which features Indonesian singer Stephanie Poetri.


Listen to the whole album on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7bOpX6Ilc9UCFmH9uGyUDy


Hope you liked the post! :) I've never written about a compilation album before, so it made a change. Do you like Head in the Clouds II? What's your favourite song or who's your fave featured artist/s?

P.S. For another 88rising artist check out Chinese singer  Lexie Liu in this post: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2018/12/c-pop-saturday.html