Magro – Need A Friend feat. Rapturous

Magro originally hails from Ludwigsburg, close to Stuttgart, in southern Germany. Having grown up around music, and learnt both piano and drums as a child, this musical prodigy moved to Berlin in 2015 to take in its vibrant music scene and feed off of his love for hip hop and soul music. It was here that he honed his craft as a producer, and Magro was born.

“Producing has opened up a new musical world for me, because I’ve learned to listen in a completely different way.” Magro

In 2021 he released his debut album, entitled Trippin, featuring artists from an eclectic selection of musical genres and was awarded the German Jazz Prize for Debut Album of the Year. The follow up, II, came the following year, deftly combining out there space jazz with hip hop beats, and seeing the producer collaborate with rapper Rapturous, who now features on the second single from his forthcoming Tokyo Tree EP.

Rapturous, otherwise known as RAH (of RAH & The Ruffcats fame) was one of Magro’s first musical contacts when he arrived in Berlin. They met at the famous underground Swag Jam, at which Magro would play the drums and Rapturous would be on mic duties. Having worked together so well on Magro’s second LP, and with RAH already signed to Sonar Kollektiv with The Ruffcats, it made complete sense for the two friends to work together on Magro’s debut release for the label.

The aptly titled Need A Friend was originally produced by Magro as an instrumental cut, until RAH wrote lyrics and added his distinctive, smooth part-sung, part-rapped vocal, somewhat reminiscent of Anderson.Paak. It’s a song that sums up the pair’s relationship and celebrates the joy of having a friend who understands you and that you can rely on. RAH’s flow sits perfectly over Magro’s tight rolling drums and optimistic keys.

Signing to Sonar Kollektiv marks an important moment in Magro’s career as it’s sure to bring his distinct but hard to pigeonhole, international sound to a new audience of music lovers with a broad palette. The forthcoming debut EP for the label provides a tight snapshot of his mellifluous sound.