ON THE RISE
Hip-hop and R&B duo AstroBlack delivers a new single, “What You Came For,” reminding listeners to get with the vibe or walk away. The single is authentic and uninhibited — listeners can feel the pulse running through it — while introducing the world to AstroBlack’s fresh take on old-fashioned R&B and hip-hop.
AstroBlack is the brainchild of musicians KingJu1c3 and AcWolf. KingJu1c3 is a Bellflower, California, native who has transformed from a combat veteran into a full-time musician. With a deep understanding of pain, struggle, and war, KingJu1c3 explores the contradictions of life through a positive lens as much as possible. His style is influenced by ’90s R&B and early 2000s hip-hop, creating a new layer with his penchant for authentic storytelling.
“I started writing music in high school,” shares KingJu1c3. “Then life got in the way, and I took a hiatus. Now I’m back and figuring it out.”
When he first began, KingJu1c3 looked to Michael Jackson for inspiration. It wasn’t until the 2000s that R&B — particularly Ne-Yo — took over.
“That was the prime era that I want to encapsulate in a bottle.”
AcWolf hails from Inglewood, California, where the artist developed a passion for music through overcoming obstacles, including gang life. AcWolf now guides others toward spirituality and personal growth, inviting listeners to partake in the higher vibrations of life.
“What got me started in music was, at a particular point in my life, I was going through different things, and music was the outlet I could be heard and be completely transparent. It was the vehicle to express everything going on in my mind and heart — music was my pulpit.”
AcWolf found inspiration in many musical talents, including the late Nipsey Hussle, also from Inglewood. After leaving gang life, AcWolf found solace in music. Nipsey taught him to appreciate his viewpoint of struggle.
“It’s a space where others can learn, and you can’t judge a book by its cover,” adds AcWolf. “It’s about recognizing that light and believing in yourself.“
AcWolf also admires Drake’s ability to talk about life authentically, openly.
The artists chose the moniker AstroBlack as a representation of a more spiritual side.
“When we look inward, there’s a black shadow we all have,” shares KingJu1c3. “Inward, there’s a shadow of the things we hide. Astor is the possibility that we can create infinitely. It’s all connected.”
AcWolf adds, “The universe is vast. There are different meanings and factors. Everything is part of the design. Nothing is confidence or happenstance. It’s all part of the process of you becoming complete.”
It wasn’t until KingJu1c3 and AcWolf joined forces as AstroBlack that AcWolf jumped into the music scene. Together, they created “What You Came For” to capture a very real sentiment.
“We out living life, and there’s a higher level inside that’s taking place here,” shares AstroBlacK. “‘What You Came For’ breaks down the wall of social nonsense. It gets the foolishness out of the way. We’re literally high off life, not substances. It’s a euphoric space.”
The single tells listeners, “I know why you are here and what you came for. We’re vibing and you’re coming in with foolishness.”
As authentic as its message, the song came together organically during a recording session. While browsing beats, AcWolf was thinking about KingJu1c3’s versatile style and how they needed a song to bring that out.
“When I came to the studio, I put the beat on and described an event, like when we were two boys. And we tuned into that,” shares AcWolf, recounting an adventure they shared driving through Iowa.
“I was seeing him in that space. The ride, the road, clear and dark. Cornfields. The sky all clear. It was that perspective I wanted to fall on this track.”
“We’re just trying to get back to the chord, the reality of the art,” AstroBlack explains.
“What You Came For” is meant to capture the feeling of what comes after all the chatter is done.
“This record creates the feeling of being made in a space of organic flow. Life is chaos, but in the midst of it, we’re thriving. We’re here for what we came for. Bring the right energy and be synergetic, or I’ll look at you like, ‘Why you over here?’”
“What You Came For” will be followed by AstroBlack’s EP, Watch Close, coming in August. The duo is also planning to perform in the Coast to Coast rap competition.
“We’re doing this for the people, not for the recognition,” they add. “We already know we’re great. This is to inspire and uplift—and inspire others to be creative and use their talents and gifts as well.”
Make sure to stay connected to AstroBlack on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
ON THE RISE
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LOS ANGELES — Damion Seraglio Bond and Hannah Leyla are turning up the heat with “Pina in Your Colada,” a playful tropical duet built around flirtation, humor and the kind of chorus that practically demands a room full of people sing along.
Featured as the opening track on Tropical Vacay, “Pina in Your Colada” drops listeners directly into vacation mode. Tiki lights are glowing, steel drums are playing, drinks are flowing and Hannah and Damion are trading lines back and forth like two people who have decided subtlety can wait until after the trip.
That exaggerated approach was intentional.
“I worried that if I hewed too closely to a serious sexual expression, today’s rather Me-Too sensitive folks might misinterpret the point of the song,” songwriter and creator Lloyd Eric Cotsen said. “By keeping it light-hearted and even cheesy over the top, it’s clearly aiming for fun.”
Cotsen envisioned the track as the kind of local favorite heard at a packed tropical bar, where vacationers already know every word and become part of the performance. That idea shaped the song’s crowd vocals and call-and-response structure, including Hannah’s equally confident answers to Damion’s advances.
Creating that chemistry, however, became one of the biggest challenges behind the track.
Cotsen used AI music platform Suno to develop the recording, but directing the male and female vocals proved considerably harder than expected. He ultimately worked through more than 160 versions while trying to get the exchanges right, eventually bringing elements from separate versions to a sound engineer to create the final result.
That persistence helped produce one of the song's defining elements: a performance that feels less like a conventional studio recording and more like stumbling into a beach bar where the entire crowd already knows the chorus.
“Recreating the vibe of a live performance in a bar with a crowd finishing the lines of a song they know and love was something I would have bet Suno couldn’t do,” Cotsen said. “It did it masterfully.”
That atmosphere also made “Pina in Your Colada” a natural opener for Tropical Vacay. Cotsen wanted the album to function almost like a vacation soundtrack, maintaining a tropical atmosphere while moving between comedy, romance and more reflective moments.
“It seemed like the most fun, captured the tropical spirit of the album best,” he said of choosing the song as its first track.
The project continues Cotsen’s genre-hopping approach to songwriting. His work has moved through folk-country, blues, soul, gospel and dance, while Tropical Vacay gives him room to explore Trop Rock and the stories that emerge when people temporarily leave their everyday lives behind.
For Hannah and Damion, that means a relationship that is flirtatious, competitive and occasionally more complicated than the beach-bar antics suggest. Cotsen describes the pair as having a “playfully combative romantic relationship,” with Hannah written as a confident character who can give Damion every bit as much as she gets.
And the fictional duo may eventually move beyond the digital world. Cotsen plans to host a concert with live singers performing selections from his catalog within the next year while continuing work on several additional albums.
For now, “Pina in Your Colada” offers a simpler invitation: turn it up, embrace the ridiculousness and pretend the nearest drink comes with a tiny umbrella.
“Pina in Your Colada” is available now on Spotify as part of Tropical Vacay.
