070 Shake, otherwise known as Danielle Balbuena, propelled herself into a group of unmatched artists (Kanye West, Teyana Taylor, and Pusha T to name a few) and chose to create a debut studio album with no features. She entered the industry with her genuine, entrancing voice backed only by simple synths.
If you look back at Balbuena’s history, you see an artist who stays loyal to her hometown. She tattooed 070 on her left cheek, the first three digits of New Jersey’s area code. Starting off on SoundCloud, she had hundreds of thousands of streams when social media influencer YesJulz found 070 Shake and offered to be her manager.
Through YesJulz and some luck, 070 Shake’s music was placed in front of Pusha T, the president of Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music label, and peaked his interest. After signing onto the label in 2016 070 Shake’s career lurched forward, and many opportunities flew her way. She played at SXSW. Her song “Glitter” was the intro to the season premiere of Netflix’s hit series “On My Block.” She was featured on DJ Khaled’s album, Father of Asahd.
However, what resonated with her the most was working with Kanye on his album, ye. As she said to Pigeons and Planes about the moment, “‘The experience I had in Wyoming makes me want to make music on a different level.’”
She accomplished that with Modus Vivendi, her debut studio album. Most of the songs toy with sound bits and synths, but everything is held together by her strong and commanding voice. The album starts off sharing the deterioration of her relationship and spends the second half reflecting on what went wrong and who she will become on her own. Through it all, the motif is her constant movement as if she’s orbiting through space. While all these opportunities and successes fly her way, she still has a grip on reality. She knows who she values, what vices she grapples with, and that there’s no way to predict the future trajectory of her career.
Enter the giveaway below by Tuesday, March 3rd at 11PM for a chance to win a pair of tickets to her show at Brighton Music Hall!