Songwriter and celebrated Beyoncé collaborator Diana Gordon didn’t have the most conventional of childhoods, but it’s through these early life challenges that the New York-raised, Los Angeles-based musician found her voice. Speaking about newest single ‘Kool Aid’ on her Instagram, Gordon explained that “I wrote this song about having to step up and be a parent to my brothers when I was just a teenager ..I don’t have kids but I do have kids .. it’s weird. My family is wild .. but I love them . .. well it’s out to the world.” The song itself is a simple suggestion of life on the West Coast, an honest, lightly-produced vocal, acoustic guitar and sick percussion that allows the lyrics to speak directly to the listener. Gordon bridges pop and DIY spectacularly, her bold attitude imbued throughout the instrumentation and her heart in the words. It’s a particularly powerful message to her brother who Gordon found homeless on the streets of L.A. following a sixteen year separation, and so we can listen with a smile that he finally came home. - Hannah Thacker