Aloe Blacc ‘Songland’ Preview: Here’s Who’s Competing + A ‘Fast & Furious’ Twist!
NBC Reading Time: 3 minutes
This week’s Songland with Aloe Blacc has an interesting twist: the winner will be featured in the next ‘Fast & Furious’ movie! Not only will the artist record the single, but the song will be added to the ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ soundtrack. So the stakes are higher than ever!
Here are the four songwriters competing for this honor.
Kyle Williams
Kyle Williams is an Oklahoma native but now lives in Chico, California. He signed a publishing deal with Centricity Publishing in 2018 but has been writing and singing much longer. Kyle is currently a member of the Christian rock group, We Are Messengers. He also releases music under his pseudonym, Willyecho.
While the previews haven’t been an indication of who wins on Songland each week, it definitely doesn’t hurt! Kyle Williams received that treatment this time around. His song for Aloe Blacc is called “I’m Just Getting Started.” It is so catchy and familiar, but still unique and powerful. This wouldn’t be his first time writing for movies either! According to his Instagram, his song “Welcome to the Fire” was featured in the film “Backdraft 2.”
Afika
Afika Nxumalo is a writer, producer, and performer. He was born in North Carolina to South African and Swazi immigrant parents. He administers his own songwriting school, hosts a travel series for Rolling Stone magazine, and writes pop songs for major label acts. Afika’s songs have even reached Spotify’s US Viral 50 chart! His latest tracks are available on SoundCloud. For Aloe Blacc and Songland, he wrote a song called “Chosen.”
TVTE (Maggie Gabbard)
TVTE is an urban/pop singer/songwriter originally from Lexington, Kentucky, currently based in Los Angeles. Her real name is Maggie Gabbard. She lists her musical inspirations on her Facebook as Alicia Keys, Drake, Beyonce, Tove Lo, and Mary J. Blige.
Her Songland song is called “Call For A Hero.” She has a crazy good voice and rap flow. I love the lyrics and the beat. And it all seems really fitting for a “Fast & Furious” movie too! Aloe Blacc even comments that he “almost threw his hat” at one point. Ryan Tedder suggested arrangement changes though, changing the chorus to “lift the song.”
Steve Fee
Steve Fee is a Christian songwriter, producer, and worship leader from Franklin, Tennessee. He was the front-man of a band called FEE, named after him. Their song, “All Because of Jesus” hit #2 on Billboard’s Hot Christian AC Chart and #4 on the Hot Christian Songs chart in 2008. That song was also recorded by the Counting Crows. So he has quite the singing and writing track record! Like Kyle, Steve also has a publishing deal with Centricity Publishing.
