FKAjazz released the single “Star-Crossers” today, marking the follow up release from Musician/Producer/Writer Samir Zarif to 2017’s Stereotype Threat.

“Star-Crossers” features American Idol finalist Elise Testone and rapper/singer Edson Sean,
and blends traditional jazz, R&B and hip-hop into a painfully refined track. Zarif’s horn lines are the perfect compliment to Tetone’s vocals- with the two operating as sultry-smooth bookends framing Sean’s bars. This track has an instantly classic sound, with Testone dealing early, delivering a Bobby Caldwell type phrasing that’s been updated for 2019. Sean’s bars are themselves familiar sounding, recalling early Nas or Tribe in delivery, scratching this blog’s deep itch for Queens culture.

Stay tuned for Beautifully Awkward coming this fall, and listen to the track below: