- 2023-11-22
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MUSIC
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Jacob Collier Premieres New Song “Witness Me” featuring Shawn Mendes, Stormzy & Kirk Franklin on BBC Radio 1
British singer-songwriter Jacob Collier premiered a new song “Witness Me” on BBC Radio 1's Future Sounds with Clara Amfo.
This time, he teamed up with Canadian singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes, British rapper Stormzy, and American gospel singer-songwriter Kirk Franklin on the track.
The song is the fifth single off of his upcoming fourth album “Djesse Vol. 4” of the Djesse series, which is set to be released on February 29, 2024.
The track was written by Jacob Collier, Shawn Mendes, Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr., Kirk Franklin, and Scott Harris. Produced by Jacob Collier.
Jacob Collier told Clara Amfo about the collaboration with Shawn Mendes, Kirk Franklin and Stormzy, “I love it. I'm so about collaboration. This particular combo is not one that I saw coming, but it feels so right that has happened right now. And it's funny because we've never met in person until about two weeks ago, all of us in real life first and last time Shawn got some Stormzy, I've spent lots of time with Shawn, lots of time with Stormzy, but the three of us as a team, it was such a vibe, you know, we were like brothers. It was really something really beautiful about it.”- He continued, “So I've known Stormzy for a couple years now. I actually worked on his latest album 'This Is What I Mean'. I went to that legendary Island, OC island where it was made and we threw a bunch of paint wielders legends on the island. So I've known how he thinks and works and his human spirit and how magical he is. Anyway, he was actually that same year that I first met Shawn as well. And I met Shawn very far from where I met Stormzy in Malibu, California, and we threw a bunch of paint and thought very carefully about music and the power has to bring people together and Kirk, I''ve been a mad fan of for so many years. He's an absolute like living legend for everyone who's listening who knows Kirk. It's if you know, you know.”
He added, “He's a giant! He's a total icon and legend that amazing gospel sound. And that really was the fundamental kind of that breathed the most life into this song and it because it had been kind of kicking about for two years. And so we flew to Arlington which is where his studio is like a legendary studio. And he assembled his like a A squad, his dream team that have, like illustrated so many albums I love and, I've learnt from, that amazing gospel sound. And that really was, that was fundamental kind of that breathed the most life into this song, because it'd been kind of kicking about for two years or so. But when we went to Arlington, we recorded with Kirk, it was like this song is special! And it needs to be in the world.” -
Shawn Mendes said, “I met Jacob probably so long ago, I don't remember but we had a connection. The moment we met and we were just talking about music and the power that music has to heal and connect everybody removing the eye eye and it becoming the way we we and the US. Yeah, we both clicked immediately about that.”
Jacob Collier said of the song, “To me, it's about the power of really seeing a person which begins with releasing yourself that's hard to do, but the world needs it so desperately at the moment. There's so many people, communities of people all around the world individuals collectives who feel unseen, who are being unseen and who were just hurting. And I think that this song is rooted in the power that music can hold and humans can hold when they come together realize how similar they are to each other how similar we are to each other and just the sweetness and power of being one. And as Shawn said, it's about we I've never seen a time, more need of music and more need of connectivity and healing. And my dearest hope is the witness me right now can just help and provide a little bit of that of that remedy.” - source : BBC Radio 1
