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Douniah and High John are a neo soul duo from Hamburg and Berlin. “Like That” is the second single from their forthcoming debut album “Dream Baby” which will be released Nov 1st on Melting Pot Music.

John's warm, lo-fi beats and Douniah’s rich, soul-soaked voice interact in a very natural way, combining almost organically 90’s urban music with the timbre und themes of the here and now. Their first single “Dream Baby” became a minor late summer hit and the two made it on the cover of Spotify's "Butter" playlist.

“Like That‘ was one of the many songs that came out of our first sessions, which for the most part were freestyled",High John remembers , "I love the attitude of the track, because the soft and at times lightly distorted Fender Rhodes give the track a classic hip hop feel. The instrumental underscores Douniah's voice and message perfectly. The song really oscillates somewhere between serenity and certainty. I love that contrast."

While High John's beat got a mellow 90ties throwback vibe, Douniah deals with a very personal and contemporary topic in her lyrics.
“Last summer I spent a lot of time capturing my friends.” Douniah explains . “Their thoughts and their beauty in pictures and videos. We had the time and comfort to share a lot. The darkest and lightest. We took time to talk about our everyday life as women of color in this society. “Like That‘ is about what we told each other...there are pictures everywhere promoting our looks but not really speaking to us. We still compare ourselves with western and white beauty standards - Even though we have more representation now, there is still judgement when you dress a certain way or have your hair a certain way - there is still so much competition and comparison between women. I realized for myself that comparison is all right. However, it depends on your own perspective. I’m not gonna compare myself with someone that I will never be or look like. My health, especially my mental health, is what I should care about more – and not if my shirt is to short or if my hair looks nappy and Marie's doesn’t. It’s like that and I keep it like that.”

“Douniah’s lyrics brought back vivid memories of my first years in Germany after I had moved with my family from Hungary at the age of 7.” sasy High John. “Until I was roundabout 15 years old, I had a strong Hungarian accent and because of that I had to struggle with exclusion and discrimination. Sadly, a lot of the times it were actually my teachers, who gave me the feeling that I was somehow inferior. My otherness was the reason, why I was drawn to hip-hop culture early on, because hip-hop really gave me a purpose as a teenager. It was a protection that I utterly needed back then. My baggy pants were kind of my save space. Girls are reduced to their look way too often and I imagine it as very tough to be confronted with the expectation to be “beautiful”. It would be lovely, if our song gave some girls the same safe space that I found when I first discovered hip hop.”

High John released a split album with Plusma earlier this year titled “High+”. He part of the Raw Suppliers collective and has 240k monthly listeners on Spotify.

Douniah released two dope collaborations this year: “Don't You Worry” with Fuchy (aka Farhot) and “Naked Trees” with Cap Kendricks.

Supported by Initiative Musik gGmbH with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media.
www.initiative-musik.de

Follow Douniah
Spotify sptfy.com/dounia
Instagram www.instagram.com/douniahagenauer/
Facebook www.facebook.com/DOUNIAH.AMAZIGH/
SoundCloud soundcloud.com/dounia-hagenauer

Follow High John
Spotify sptfy.com/highjohn
Instagram www.instagram.com/itshighjohn/
Facebook www.facebook.com/itsHighJohn/
SoundCloud soundcloud.com/high-john

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