The first time that we came across 070 Shake and her one-of-a-kind flow was for an impressive Freestyle lasting eight minutes posted on YouTube which also featured other members of her 070 collective, with Shake injecting the first two minutes with a rare kind of musicality and swag. Since then, the New Jersey rapper, real name Danielle Balbuena, has made a name for herself on the underground scene and even caught the attention of none other than Kanye West, who invited her onto two tracks on ye (without formally crediting her, though this did not stop her from being propelled into stardom). For her first studio album, released on G.O.O.D. Music (Kanye West’s very own label), the rapper who has only just turned 22 years old has almost become a fully fledged pop star. On Modus Vivendi, a large part of which was produced by Dave Hamelin (from Canadian indie rock band The Stills), and which features surprisingly little rap, she confirms her amazing intuition for harmonies and melodies which she manages to transpose into her own very personal world, between autotuned R&B and new wave. She also reveals an ability to produce some real hits, with lush arrangements and airtight hooks (Morrow, Guilty Conscience). The last third of the album is darker, more minimalist and features more rap and is just as convincing. “I don’t know if I’ll be here tomorrow”, she sings at the start of the album; we’re not too worried for her. © Damien Besançon/Qobuz