Listen to a Mix of Hip Hop and Indie Pop from Oakland. - Ricky Lake: Princess Diana

Marcus McAlpin left his home in Los Angeles at the age of fifteen and moved to Nashville with his family. For years, he was making music, and doing what he loved, but it wasn’t until he found the artsy enclaves of Oakland, CA that he became the dark but delicate trap-craftsman known as Ricky Lake.

Collaborating extensively with other artists (such as Taifa Nia) and his adopted family at Text Me Records in San Francisco, Ricky dug deep into teenage influences like NERD, Blink 182, and Crystal Castles. He took his favorite elements of modern pop and Soundcloud rap and combined them to create a sound that is both big and sensitive; stylish yet personal. "Last Summer Sucked" is Ricky Lake’s most coherent and exciting release yet, featuring top-notch collaborations from a number of artists who make their home at Text Me HQ, where Ricky took up residency through the recording of the album. With an introspective writing style and a weakness for fast love, McAlpin lives and breathes the stories and emotions that bring each track to life. "Princess Diana" is a short, rhythmic indulgence that mixes hip hop with flavors of indie pop, and delivers a tight series of lyrical narratives that combine references to popular music with a west-coast lifestyle, a weakness for mind-altering substances, and the glorious impatience of youth.

This song is featured on our Groovy Summer playlist.

Read this story on Apple News.