DRAMA • "Hopes Up"
Songstress Via Rosa and producer Na'el Shehade are hardly new to the Chicago music world, but their collective DRAMA makes its debut today with an up-tempo, house-inspired offering called "Hopes Up". Affiliated with producer and artist collective THEMpeople, Via has quietly been releasing music consistently for years (check out DeathViaLove which dropped last year and was entirely produced by the collective). For the most part, Via has paid no mind to a conventional PR plan, but her music is crafted with an immense amount of care and emotion. Although at times, I must admit, I've slept on some of Via's more spontaneous loose single releases, I've not once encountered a work of hers that I've disliked upon hearing it.
The second half of this dynamic duo DRAMA is producer and sound engineer Na'el Shehade. Na'el is known well in the Chicago community as the the owner and operator of Force One Seven Studios where he helped craft Chance's Acid Rap and GOOD Music's Cruel Summer album ((among other projects). Here, Na'el and Via's experience and friendship combine perfectly for a debut they can be proud of and listeners can get their hopes up for. They're off to a great start.