We Speak Music
Free Hamze Shares New Album ‘FREETAPE 3: Survival of the Realest’
Lebanese rapper Free Hamze returns with his brand-new six-track offering ‘FREETAPE 3: Survival of the Realest’. Rising Houston producer K33F, well known for his collaborations with JAN HVPE and TSF, produced this tape. Combining Free Hamze’s distinctive lyricism, trap-inspired production, and unconventional revolutionary viewpoints, ‘FREETAPE 3: Survival of the Realest’ features rappers Blakchyl and TTBBY.
‘FREETAPE 3: Survival of the Realest’ reflects on the idea that the only way to thrive in a world that is becoming more and more superficial and distant is to be true to who you are. Free Hamze’s passion for preserving community led him to establish Sahar Studios in Austin, where he records local musicians for free and hosts showcases. Along with his collective, A5, he is currently working on creating an intentional community on 40 acres of property in the American Southwest. Free Hamze continues to be dedicated to using all available means to better the material and emotional circumstances of his friends and family, using music as his main medium of expression and spirit. Freedom is his ultimate objective.
Inspired by present trap music and Houston hip-hop, the song was written on FL Studios. Strong bass lines are used throughout the beats, accompanied by both hard 808s and more conventional bass guitars. There are also indications of electronic and anger influences.
Free Hamze spent a month recording ‘FREETAPE 3: Survival of the Realest’, when he was dividing his time between Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles, California. The studio where the entire project was recorded is called Sahar Studios, which he owns. The word “magic” in Arabic is “sahar.” One of the cornerstones of the Austin rap movement, the studio’s tagline is “music is a mirror made from magic.” he and K33F locked in at SXSW, and he sent him a selection of beat packs.
Like much of his earlier work, the majority of the songs on this mixtape were recorded as freestyles. Free Hamze selected his favourite rhythm among many that K33F sent him. When he was ready to record, he just followed the beat and recorded whatever came to him, without hesitation or second-guessing. Both “Kill Me Twice” and “D.A.R.E.” were recorded in a single take without a single word being jotted down. He rerecorded “Gold vs. Silver” after making some adjustments to the original freestyle version. The songs “One in the Same,” “Revolutionary Trap$tarz,” and “Better Forreal” were all composed with the mixtape’s theme in mind.
Free Hamze greatly respected the two features, Blakchyl and TTBBY, who are skilled collaborators and artists from Texas. Blakchyl, who is from Austin, is a frequent visitor to Sahar Studios and they have collaborated on multiple songs. After TTBBY’s performance at a Sahar Studios showcase during SXSW, the two artists became friends. He greatly admires both of these artists, and he felt that their contributions to the song meant a lot to him. TTBBY is a well-known rapper from Houston who shares a similar background with producer K33F, and Blakchyl is one of the best rappers in Austin.
Although it was not the original plan, the themes of the project were impacted by the ongoing genocide in Palestine; for example, the project begins with a quote from Ghassan Kanafani and finishes with an homage to Gaza. The war struck after Free Hamze had finished a few songs, and he felt obliged to express some of his emotions on the subject through his music. He feels that it is his duty to at the very least address these issues in his artwork. He released another song, “Raji’un,” ahead of the mixtape’s release. The song borrows the Quranic phrase “Inna Illayhi Raji’un,” which laments the passing of family members. The mixtape’s title, ‘Survival of the Realest’, was likewise inspired by these experiences and emotions. He previously stated that it is “a rumination on the belief that staying true to yourself is the only way to survive in an increasingly detached and superficial world.”
On the album, Free Hamze comments, “When I gave FREETAPE 3 the title ‘Survival of the Realest’ it was because I wanted both me and my listeners to be constantly reminded how critical it is for us to stay real. In this world and in this lifetime. So much suffering, insecurity, fear, and misalignment comes from people refusing to prioritize realness in their lives. And what does it mean to be real? To me, it means being honest with yourself, it means being brave in the face of suppression, it means being dedicated to your dreams, and much more. And survival isn’t just about staying alive – it’s about living in alignment with your highest self and in alignment with the principles of righteousness. So much music is about needless violence, unchecked greed, and superficial gain. To truly survive in a corrupted world, we need to elevate beyond these limitations and embrace realness within ourselves and within our communities.”
We Speak Music
Acclaimed US singer-songwriter Juliet Lloyd to tour the UK for the first time this summer.

Shortly after releasing her sophomore album in 2007, US-based singer-songwriter Juliet Lloyd walked away from music completely for more than 10 years, feeling burned out and unhappy with her career progression like so many other independent artists. After going through a divorce in 2019 and in the midst of a global pandemic, she found herself pulled back toward the siren call of songwriting and again making the leap to pursue it full time. Her latest album ‘Carnival’, released in 2024, is in many ways the culmination of those decisions, and the reintroduction of an artist who now has the wisdom of experience.
There’s an unmistakable urgency you can feel when a song is written and performed from a place of complete honesty. That feeling permeates ‘Carnival’. “I’ve always been envious of writers who say they write songs because they have to, because they had these things they just had to get out of themselves,” Juliet says. “I had never really felt that way until this album. I’ve become someone who writes because they have to.”
Stylistically, ‘Carnival’ draws on a range of influences from Laurel Canyon-era singer/songwriters, to Lilith Fair rockers, to confessional country/folk balladeers, to indie pop. The central theme of the record and that of its title track is not being too precious about any one experience or decision. Take them for what they are, live in the moment, and move on when they’re done. It acknowledges also that memory can be subjective, and ambiguous—was an experience ultimately a good thing or a bad thing? And whose memory can you rely on to determine the answer to that question?
‘Carnival’ doesn’t just deal with the complexities of ending relationships, it also deals with all the feelings that come with moving on. The album’snine songs feature evocative storytelling that reveals a simple truth: when the carnival inevitably leaves town, you’re left with an empty parking lot. And how you remember, it is a choice. As Juliet sings in the title track, “If only there was a way you could bottle up that feeling / and you’d drink it in / when the days are short and you long.”
Across her 20+ year career, Juliet has been admittedly stylistically non-monogamous. Her first full-length album, ‘All Dressed Up’, was released in 2005 and was heavily jazz-influenced- a label that she rejected at the time. “I am a piano player and a woman, so I was immediately compared to Norah Jones—and I bristled at that,” Juliet says. “Listening back now, I can totally see that it was true, and it of course wasn’t a bad thing.” Her follow-up release ‘Leave the Light On,’ came out two years later and featured a slick piano-pop production that led to five of its songs being placed on reality TV shows on MTV and VH1. Coming back after her 10-year break from writing and recording, Juliet released ‘High Road’, a collection of five Americana/soul-tinged songs produced by Jim Ebert (Meredith Brooks, Shai) that earned her widespread recognition and songwriting awards both in her home region of DC as well as nationally.
Now with her first ever UK tour scheduled for July 2025, Juliet has also dropped a completely brand-new single ‘Wild Again’, which like ‘Carnival’, was written with and produced by Todd Wright (Lucy Woodward, Butch Walker, Toby Lightman). ‘Wild Again’, however, charts yet another new step in Juliet’s journey.
“Carnival’, is full of deeply personal songs that are drawn from my real-life experiences and relationships. Coming out of that album cycle, I was feeling a little exhausted by my own navel-gazing and I was craving inspiration elsewhere. So, a lot of the songs I’m writing now are an evolution of sorts – focused more on external stimuli and finding the personal stories and humanity in that. Wild Again is a perfect example of this,” she explains.
The idea for ‘Wild Again’ was born out of a NY Times podcast Juliet listened to about the real-life efforts to return the whale that played Willy in the iconic movie ‘Free Willy’ back into the wild.
“It’s an insane, heartbreaking story that asks all kinds of thorny questions about human responsibility and humility and what’s the “right” thing to do and is that the same as the “kind” thing to do. There was a line that one of the trainers said in the podcast, explaining that they were trying to “train him to be wild again.” The complete absurdity of that statement hit me in the moment, and I immediately started jotting down lyrical ideas”, Juliet says.
Catch Juliet Lloyd on her UK tour this July:
1st July: The Folklore Rooms / Brighton
2nd July: The Hyde Tavern / Winchester
3rd July: Hen and Chicken / Bristol (CRH Music promotions)
4th July: Artisan Tap Hartshill / Stoke-on-Trent
5th July: Waggon & Horses, Nottingham
6th July: Cafe#9 / Sheffield
7th July: Hyde Park Book Club / Leeds
10th July: FortyFive Vinyl Café / York
11th July: The Muddy Puddle / London
13th July: The Wrotham Arms / Broadstairs

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