ON THE RISE
Emerging hip-hop artist, Saint Tatum shines light on his truth in his latest EP, Are You Awake Yet. The young rapper seeks connection with listeners by telling his stories authentically—and set to a solid beat.
Hailing from eastern Canada and raised across multiple households, Saint Tatum is a bold storyteller eager to share his stories with the world. At only 16 years old, he is on track to continue developing his unique sound as he puts out EP after EP.
Even when he’s at school, Saint Tatum is thinking up his next hit. “During free time, I’m trying to find my next beat and write my lyrics to that beat. I don’t really stop at school. I just like doing music.”
“I want to spread my love and all good intentions as other artists have done for me,” adds Saint Tatum, who is set on creating a style uniquely his own. He finds inspiration in hip hop, particularly mumble rap, but his homegrown sound infuses a variety of styles.
Saint Tatum has loved music for as long as he can remember; the confidence to make his own, however, took time to develop. “I never thought I had talent because I didn’t like my voice. But then I came to a point where I realized that everyone has their own voice and a different way to tell stories. You’ve just got to find it.”
When it comes to crafting his songs, Saint Tatum always starts with the beat. “I don’t write unless I hear the melody,” shares Saint Tatum. “It comes from my heart—it’s authentic. I have inspirations but I try and sound the furthest away from them and more of what I sound like—more like myself.”
Currently, he produces his music from a home studio. Working with a MacBook and Focusrite Scarlett Interface, Saint Tatum captures his sound and produces each track. As for software, he prefers BandLab because of one effect he loves using time and time again.
Saint Tatum’s new EP, Are You Awake Yet, contains six self-produced tracks. “I think they have their own sound. They’re similar, but not all have the same vibe—there’s different emotions to them.”
The first two tracks, “The Mirage” and “Love It Like That” have what Saint Tatum calls a “more nonchalant vibe.” “The Spot” explores a more psychedelic sound, leaning on vocal effects to set it apart. “Abominal” returns to the “nonchalant” chill of earlier tracks.
Saint Tatum’s favorite track of the bunch, “Don’t Ask Me Why,” is based off pure emotion. “I layered my voice with a negative state of mind. Every time I listen to it, I can feel it,” explains the artist.
In terms of sound, “Pretty Boy Life” shares a similar beat with “The Mirage” and “Love It Like That,” which has become a fan favorite. Overall, Saint Tatum’s voice and musicality ring true across all tracks.
“I want listeners to feel connected when they listen to my songs,” tells Saint Tatum. “When I listen to songs, it’s like some artists are explaining your life. They’re relatable. I want that relatability. Not everyone will feel that way, but certain people will see we’re the same.”
Ultimately, Saint Tatum wants listeners to know he’s made a community for them. “Feel free to check it out and see if it’s a space you resonate with,” he adds. “You can’t know about me unless you want to find out what the space is like.”
Make sure to stay connected to Saint Tatum 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.
