Today, genre-blending artists Kanii, Riovaz, and Nimstarr join forces as ‘The Heart Racers’ to drop the aptly titled The Heart Racers EP, a new collaborative project coated in soaring vocals, unfiltered emotion, and a dynamically retro style. Listen HERE via Masked Records/Warner Records.
Checking in at four tracks, the EP sees the three vocalists swerve between aesthetics and sensations for passionate songs that are as heartfelt as they are infectious. For “tell me,” they traverse new wave production for a rumination on damaged romance and personal catharsis. Coasting over the soaring soundscape, Kanii lets loose lyrics that feel like loving surrender: “I’ve been battling my demons, girl — hopefully I win this time.”
The vibes only grow more immersive from as displayed on “diva,” where they combine their voices and a four-on-the-floor drum pattern fit for any dance-party. Meanwhile, “heart racing” trades steamy impulse for a lover’s anxiety, and “lost without you” blends gleaming ’80s R&B with disembodied melody and impending heartbreak. Refined, yet uninhibited — of the past, future and present — The Heart Racers is a shapeshifting showcase for young artists who learned from their forebears while creating artistic wavelengths all their own.
“It’s the start of something fresh and exciting,” Kanii says of the collaborative project. It’s a sentiment shared by Riovaz. “This project is a clear example of what we’re all capable of as a group,” he says. Nimstarr then hints that it might not be the last time the trio joins forces. “It’s a nice intro to our potential and what we can do as a boy band.”
The Heart Racers is just the latest sign of Kanii’s all-around ability — lithe vocals and a stylistic malleability that enable him to shift between themes, textures and sensations with languid ease. It follows the November release of it was nice knowing u, a virtuosic EP coated in transparency, romance and kaleidoscopic production. With his refined songwriting technique and all around dexterity, the project has already picked up millions of streams, building off the success of his exiit, a project he released last June.
His RIAA Gold-Certified viral hit “I Know” entered the Billboard Hot 100 last spring, while “I Know (PRISVX Edit)” climbed into the Top 50 of the US Spotify Chart and Top 120 of the Global Spotify Chart, amassing north of 264M global streams. To date, Kanii has earned over 512M global streams and has been covered by Rolling Stone, UPROXX, Wonderland, Lyrical Lemonade, People, and more.
Fans can see Kanii’s expansive skillset in full effect when he accompanies PinkPantheress as main support on her forthcoming US Tour. Additionally, he is scheduled to play Rolling Loud in Inglewood, CA, on March 15th. From the charts to the stage, Kanii is in the middle of a level-up that’s poised to continue.
D.C.-born singer Kanii is focused on the future. Though he’s just graduated high school, he’s looking ahead to where his boundary-pushing music is taking him next with a fearless proclivity for new sounds and styles he might conquer. In doing so, Kanii continues to create energetic anthems like “I Know” from his debut EP exiit via Masked Records / Warner Records which became a cultural phenomenon amongst young people all over the world and is now RIAA Certified Gold status. On his new EP, it was nice knowing u, Kanii trades in dancefloor-ready beats and dynamic synth melodies to create addictive refractions of R&B. Kanii may still be a teenager, but he already displays the songwriting chops of a seasoned veteran. It’s a blend of old-school wisdom and new-school ingenuity, informed by the music he grew up listening to plus the digital recording software he taught himself to use. Kanii acknowledges his influences but refuses to be pigeonholed: He wants to be boundless. Throughout it was nice knowing u, Kanii shows he isn’t willing to rein himself in or commit to any one musical subgenre. His brilliance as a songwriter lies in his ability to fuse strands of pop, R&B, and jersey club—and all sorts of otherworldly sounds beyond that—into a style that feels informed by just about everything you can think of, while never sounding like any one thing in particular. He takes the familiar and makes it sound wholly new.
Tracklisting:
1. tell me
2. diva
3. heart racing
4. lost without you
TOUR DATES:
3/15: Inglewood, CA – Rolling Loud
4/09: Subterranean – Chicago, IL – ‘it was nice knowing u’ tour
4/11: Gramercy Theater – New York, NY – ‘it was nice knowing u’ tour
4/12: The Foundry – Philadelphia, PA – ‘it was nice knowing u’ tour
4/14: Jammin Java – Washington, DC – ‘it was nice knowing u’ tour
4/17: Vinyl – Atlanta, GA – ‘it was nice knowing u’ tour
4/20: Brooklyn Bowl – Nashville, TN – Opening for PinkPantheress
4/22: House of Blues – Dellas, TX – Opening for PinkPantheress
4/24: White Oak Music Hall Downstairs – Houston, TX – Opening PinkPantheress
4/25: Emo’s – Austin, TX – Opening for PinkPantheress
4/28: Observatory North Park – San Diego, CA – Opening for PinkPantheress
4/30: The Palladium – Los Angeles, CA – Opening for PinkPantheress
5/01: The Palladium – Los Angeles, CA – Opening for PinkPantheress
