Onra – High Hopes
Onra is the latest musician out of Paris being played to death in my life. A real student of the sampling game, he draws influences from all walks of life while creating some of the sexiest beats you’ll ever hear. His critically acclaimed debut, Chinoiseries, was laced up from a collection of vinyls he picked up when he visited Vietnam.
Onra became something of a beat making legend when his track “The Anthem” was featured in a Coca-Cola advertisement for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
While the Asian-centric sound is what he’s best known for, it’s not the only trick he has up his sleeve. He’s made tracks derived from the Bollywood style of music, as well as going all-out funk in his latest release. The heavy bass grooves, painted over by soul sounding vocals, of the latter (Long Distance) have provided me with many, many hours of head nodding.
My favourite track hitherto has been “High Hopes”. It’s the perfect Nu-Funk sound; it’s vaguely reminiscent of Private, which is always a plus.
Onra has yet to come stateside, but has toured extensively around his hemisphere. I can only hope that I get to throw down to one of his sets sometime in the near future.
