South London singer/songwriter/producer DWY shares an intimate 6-song mixtape titled Self-Contained. Over stripped-down soulful production, the R&B artist delivers emotionally vulnerable lyrics about love, relationships and human connection. Self-Contained follows DWY’s acclaimed debut mixtape and short film 8-Bit Memories released in 2020.
“On 8-Bit I felt I was hiding in the music a bit, so on this mixtape I stripped it all back,” explains DWY. “I’m way more confident in my voice than I was before, my voice is defo front and center. I produced or co-produced almost every song and really feel it sounds like me more than before. I wrote from a much rawer and visceral place this time around, I guess had a lot of time to think and search my feelings about my relationships and my own depression. I really want to bring back the rawness of the R&B mixtape.”
To celebrate the release DWY shares a Bedroom Live Performance of “dreamlike, tranquil and other-worldly” Self-Contained track “Pull Up” here. The song was added to TIDAL’s playlist Rising: R&B. He’ll continue to release live bedroom performances for other songs from the project on his YouTube channel. Additionally, he released a music video for the alluring “Badu Feels” that follows him reflecting on a Summer day and joining friends for some fun in the sun at a backyard pool party that is available here. Lead single “Solid Gold” is a self-reflecting romantic jam written while he was experiencing some of his brokest and lowest moments.
DWY describes, “Most people didn’t know during the writing of ‘8-Bit Memories,’ and at the start of ‘Self-Contained’ I had periods of not having a place to stay. I was couch surfing, sleeping in studios, spent a night or two in a diner…I just put all the pain and fear into the music. I feel like I was fighting for my life.”
Complex Magazine named DWY a ‘10 British R&B/Soul Artists To Watch’ in 2020 calling his music “understated yet deceptively addictive thanks to his knack for catchy, hypnotic melodies.” Atwood Magazine says, 8-Bit Memories is a “dreamy, soul-stirring debut” that “showcases the scope and breadth of a fast-emerging, socially-conscious artist who deserves a space on everyone’s radar.”
Inspired by artists like Frank Ocean, James Blake and Kanye West’s album 808’s & Heartbreak that DWY calls “life-changing,” he focuses on storytelling and the human experience. In 2020, he wrote and starred in the short film 8-Bit Memories directed by Quran Squire and produced by Radical Media. Variety described the mixtape visual companion piece as having a “gritty fantastical feel with magical realism.”
ABOUT DWY:
DWY is a South London raised singer/songwriter who marries music and film in this expressive storytelling. Following his debut mixtape, DWY dove right back in the studio on what is to be his follow up mixtape ‘Self-Contained’. Self-Contained finds DWY at his most vulnerable and naked. The production stripped and the lyrics raw. “Most people didn’t know during the writing of 8-Bit Memories, and at the start of Self-Contained I had periods of not having a place to stay. I was couch surfing, sleeping in studios, and spent a night or two in a diner… I just put all the pain and fear into the music. I feel like I’m fighting for my life.”
With a sound that is described as “understated yet deceptively catchy” (Complex), with “emotional complexity” (Lyrical Lemonade), DWY focuses on human connection and the human experience. An avid storyteller, DWY wrote and starred in the short film 8-Bit Memories, directed by Quran Squire and produced by Radical Media. The film was premiered by Variety Magazine who described the film as having a “gritty fantastical feel with magical realism”. Self-Contained sees DWY come back with a newfound confidence not only in his art but in himself. His voice is front and center, and he’s ready for the world to hear his ‘raw soul music’.
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