Dawn Richard: Armor On
ROBOTIC R’N’B
Who knew Diddy’s attempt at manufacturing an r’n’b girl band would lead to a legitimate solo act emerging from his failure? Dawn Richard, formerly of Dirty Money, goes solo with EP Armor On, showcasing some vintage sound of the late ‘90s to early ‘00s r’n’b songstress era. Because Dawn is not your average urban gal, the EP is something of a concept album centred around armoured, and the fragility, of emotions.
This is contrasted by how explosively dancey producer Druski’s beats are on the EP, the armour to the fragile emotionality of Dawn’s Brandy-esque vocals and lyrics. Take the robotic beat of ‘Automatic’ in contrast to her lyrics on it; “I wanna be human.” Might not be the most original of ideas, but on a pop record it’s a novelty that we’d like to see more of.
LISTEN TO: ‘Automatic’ ‘Black Lipstick’
IF YOU LIKE THIS YOU’LL DIG: Brandy, Kalenna
RATING: 3