bb’s “Lights” is a soulful taste of inner-city freedom

U.K. producer bb has established himself in recent months as the man behind the luxurious and jazz-tinged beats for rising rapper Sainté. Today, however, he strikes out on his own with solo single "Lights."

There is a feeling of tension on "Lights," a party tune but one that is more about the anticipation than the release. Vocalists 9/9 & Jahni are fed into the mix like another part of the instrumental, their voices shifted in pitch and distorted along the way, too. There's a lightness to the production but also a healthy dose of grit thrown in for good measure.

That same rule applies to the "Lights" video, which captures the inner lives of its subject with HD realness. What goes on in a city once the sun goes down is a question with many answers. The "Lights" video offers a series of vignettes providing a few ideas: including amataeur pyrotechnics and late night rides down the motorway.

Speaking about "Lights" in an email, bb said: "When i’m in the studio I like to experiment and try new things as much as possible. I think you can hear that in this song and with the other music I have on the way. 'Lights' was made at the beginning of the year in north London. I had come out of a session with my friends JONAH and Jahni, two guys i’ve worked with for a long time, feeling really good about the music. It exists is in its own little world, we really didn’t stick to any traditional structure or sounds when we made it and I did some things on the mixing that aren’t great for your speakers.

Everyone I show the video to goes crazy for it, Arran [Ashan, director] really made the most of what we had. When we were making the video, we wanted to have loads of different scenarios that matched the feeling of the song. It took a while to shoot and put together but I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. I hope people enjoy watching and listening as much as we did making it."