This summer, I watched a new show on Netflix called The Get Down. Set during the birth of hip hop, the show is filled with music including disco, soul, and rap. One song in particular has stood out to me the most and I have been playing it non-stop. The song is by a British singer by the name of Michael Kiwanuka and the song is entitled "Rule the World".

When I first heard it, I honestly thought that it was a song that had been released in the 1970s. This singer reminded me so much of Bill Withers, I had look him up and see who this person was. To my surprise this person wasn't some old man who had been singing for decades but a 29 year old. Who had just released his second album.

The song itself starts off calm with a guitar and then about 20 seconds in, Kiwanuka's voice is heard with "Do I have to rule the world or will it come to me?" This placidity continues until strings are introduced to add more texture. Then after a slight pause of sound, beautiful background vocals are introduced along with Michael singing the chorus. There is a continuous build up throughout this song that really intrigues the listener. By the end of the song there are drums, a strong female voice ad libbing, and a guitar solo. By the time the 5 minutes and 42 seconds are over with, I'm ready to press play again.

The thing I love about Kiwanuka's voice is that it has a lot of soul in it and it's also very calming.He might give a Bill Withers vibe but he has his own voice that is still unique. This song with it's soul, vocals, and instrumentation is definitely going down as one of my favorites of 2016.