Release artwork courtesy of the artistOakland DJ, producer, and curator Esra Canoğulları, aka 8ULENTINA, today shares a club-ready pair of edits called 8ULENTINA BLENDS. The tracks, which THUMP is delighted to premiere today, find the Club Chai co-founder coaxing unexpected registers of feeling out of softer R&B by Mila J and Tink, pairing their work with more exultant, bustling instrumentals in the ballroom and mahraganat genres. The release celebrates a special occasion, too: Club Chai's first ever London party this Friday, presented in collaboration with Tobago Tracks.The artist gave THUMP some backstory for 8ULENTINA BLENDS via email. "My mixes combine diasporic sounds with western club or vocals," they said. "I have accumulated a lot of blends using non-Western instrumentals and R&B vocals, and I don't produce a lot of club tracks, so these two releases are a taste of my mixing. The first one is Mila J's track 'Next Up' mixed with DJ Delish's 'banjcunt harami mami bootleg,' and the second is an Amr 7a7a instrumental 'مزيكا كوكب القرود' mixed with Tink's track 'What is Real.' I love the way downtempo emotional femme R&B can come together with celebratory rhythms like mahraganat in the club."Earlier this year, 8ULENTINA curated the DISMISS U compilation, which they described as "a sonic dialogue highlighting difference within the diaspora in resistance to generalisations and false notions of solidarity."
Follow Alexander on Twitter.