We haven’t heard much from Negative Shawdy since she released her debut album in 2020, but the handful of songs uploaded across SoundCloud and Spotify reflect the young artist’s evident prolificacy in the realm of cloud rap. Which makes it a bit of a surprise that her recent activity on Instagram teasing a new single features an audio clip that’s much more upbeat—clubbier, even—than the confrontational “Hit My Limit” or the smoked-out “Old Self.” As it turns out, “Dancing with the Lights Out” is the first single from an upcoming album of the same name that will see the artist fully leaning into the variety of sounds and experiences that have helped shape her as she’s moved around from the DC area to Hawaii, New Orleans to Arkansas.
The biggest shift exhibited on the new single is her switch from rapping to singing—albeit fast-paced singing—as her light vocals dance around a manic hyperpop beat. It’s a fun track, and one not only unique to her discography but also to the musical landscape more broadly. “This song is my anthem for those moments of transformation, feeling every high and low on the way,” she shares. “It’s a curious twist of fate that my late aunt, Christina Veronica, once captured hearts with her single ‘Dancing in My Sleep,’ and here I am, stepping into my own groove.”
Check out the track below, and expect Dancing in the Lights Out to arrive this fall via Future Gods and Negative Shawdy’s own Silver Lab(s) production company.
