Fridae

"The Wait" is an accomplished collection of thirteen tracks that masterfully fuses contemporary urban pop with gritty production stylings that reflect Marshall's underground sensibilities.

Featuring atmospheric grooves, pulsing electro, infectious hooks and a proper dose of attitude, L Marshall is most comfortable on the edge of mainstream music. He evangelizes a progressive and genre-mashing London pop sound that was first popularized by artists like Tinie Tempah, Labrinth and Wretch 32. Slowly but surely that ahead of the curve sound is now finding acceptance in the rest of Europe, and sooner or later North America will be turned on it by it as well.

The title track of "The Wait" is a perfect tastemaker for the mixtape that is ruled by Marshall's bare-knuckle lyricism and passionate delivery. In many ways, Marshall's musical vision was shaped by his life experiences. He bounced around from London to Brazil and back to London to end up in boarding school in Lagos, Nigeria to learn discipline after he got into trouble at high school in London.

Away from family and inspired by his culturally-rich environment, Marshall developed a passion for making music. He started writing songs and pursued a career in audio engineering after finishing high school. After recording demos, writing songs and trying to find his own groove back in London's bustling music scene, he received his big break when he was given the beat to a song by the producer Yogi (Professor Green, Plan B) that L Marshall turned into "Traktor," a track that was pitched to Tinie Tempah but ended up in the hands of acclaimed British MC Wretch 32 who turned it into a monster smash in the U.K. charts.

Now it is time for Marshall to step into the limelight. He has been working with people like Jerry Duplessis (T.I., Lupe, Mary J Blige), Supa Dups (Drake, Eminem,Bruno Mars) and Novel (Lady Gaga, Jason Derulo) to create a debut album that ranges from "dark hip-hop to straight up global pop," as he likes to say.

The mixtape is a good indication of where he's heading. Listen for example to "The Wait" and the delicate "Nightbus" that highlights his emerging brand of straight talk that is reminiscent of Drake's emo-fueled storytelling. Also, check out the subtle rave ballad "So Cold," the club-edged euphoria on "Lying" and a beautiful acoustic cover of "Traktor." The mixtape gives us a peek at L Marshall's budding talent. He is one of the brightest new stars on the pop scene who can elevate the urban pop to a new level of excitement. Highly recommended. (Listen to "The Wait" in the player below.)

L Marshall - The Wait by Simply Muzik