It’s time to get familiar with LA-based R&B-pop princess on the rise, Liz.
Liz hails from Diplo‘s Mad Decent label — home of Bauuer, Zebra Katz, Crookers, Rusko and dozens of other dancehall, moombahton and techno acts. That’s a little shocking to hear, because unlike the off-the-walls, twerk-filled Block Party insanity that the label tends to conjure, Liz is providing nothing but smooth, throwback ’00’s pop sound.
The singer’s sweetly-sung R&B-pop ditties serve all sorts of millennial pop (or “Y2K Pop,” if you will) realness, bringing everything from Destiny’s Child to Britney to Aaliyah to mind.
After dropping a few intro tracks last year, “Hush” and “All Them Boys” (which reaches slightly further back into early ’90’s House — no complaints here!), the singer’s just released her debut (free!) EP, Just Like You…and there’s not a flaw to be found.
The C.Z.-helmed “Say U Would” is a dreamy dose of ’90’s R&B nostalgia, while “Do I Like U” slaps with a “Say My Name”-esque kind of urgency. “Just be patient, I won’t keep you waiting forever/But I need a little time to figure out, boy do I like you?” she sweetly teases. There’s chilly electro-R&B banger “Don’t Say (feat. Tyga),” which is more of a Cassie throwback, while “Y2K” — as Carl pointed out over at Idolator (who was already on the Liz beat months ago) — is a drippy, Lido-produced Timbaland homage with some modern gloss.
It’s all super cute, saccharine ear candy packed in a Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper. Much in the same way that Ariana Grande, Katy B and Little Mix are dabbling in influences from yesteryear, Liz is bringing that future sound by taking us back to the days of AIM, MIDI ringtones and Napster.
Give it a spin below.
