070 Shake Is Making Art For Your Ears
070 Shake Is Making Art For Your Ears070 Shake, the stage name of Danielle Balbuena, is bringing drama and intensity to every masterpiece she creates. The Jersey-born artist creates spellbinding stories combining soul, hip-hop, and R&B with her soaring voice. Her artistry stems from her time in the 070 crew, which then, later got her picked up by Ye‘s record label Def Jam. Since eventually debuting on her own in 2018 with her Glitter EP the artist has gone on to tour with The 1975, work with Ye on his album of the same name, and release her 2020 debut LP Modus Vivendi. Chronicling her life with themes of romance and heartbreak, she transcends the genres she samples in her work. In the end, creating a cinematic world of her own with her music.
A Tug-Of-War With Peace
On her second studio album, You Can’t Kill Me, Balbuena nearly turns every nob to the max while simultaneously teasing you with blasts of emotion and sound. Notably, she opens the album with the transcendent “Web.” The track is a slow crescendo that goes from genuine curiosity to uncontrollable anxiety: a juxtaposition Balbuena fights throughout the project. The anxiety often brings out darker sides to her. Like in “Medicine” and the sinister hum of “Come Back Home.” The latter teases an unleashing of anger. “This one talks ’bout that one / That one talks ’bout blah / Tell me somethin’ more than how much more you got” the outro repeats before defeatedly slipping away.
In the poppy, “Stay,” it’s the connection from physical companionship that shines in this catchy track. It brings light to this album. A light that indeed peaks throughout this project. Balbuena describes the album’s title by saying “We’re so attached to this physical world, it makes us more susceptible to being hurt… You can’t kill me because I’m more than my body.” In “Vibrations” the chorus bounces in singing; “Feelin’ the vibrations, the vibration / That’s why I never say shit, I never say shit.” Capturing that sentiment of being more than a body; we are energy.
070 Shake’s second full-length album, You Can’t Kill Me, is out now.
