Carlitta Durand

If you ever trudge through North Carolina's urban music terrain, the first thing you'll notice is the hip-hop gridlock. The soothing part is that, for every 20 maddening rappers, there's a couple of soothing voices to carry you away. Carlitta Durand is one of those voices. For the past several years, Durand's role as ad hoc hook singer has provided an extra dosage of comfort, creating a space for her to launch her own career as a viable solo artist.

What once began as the blaring clarion of Little Brother's "Life of the Party" has now gradually grown to become the calming, candle-lit navigator of our intimate evenings. The release of Durand's 2009 mixtape Carlitta's Way: The Prelude introduced us to a woman unwilling to hide her vulnerabilities and secrets. Her next project—a collaborative EP with producer Vaughn Garcia, The Doug & Patty EP—captured Durand at an imaginative peak, funk-lust in tow. Her work with Foreign Exchange producer Nicolay on his Shibuya: City Lights Vol. 2 opened her voice to the multitude of Nicolay's new styles and findings as a traveled musician. The sum of Durand's output could be seen onstage as her band, Fat Snacks, refined her live show, properly dropping Durand into the soul diva slot that she had longed to occupy. The Nostalgic Nights EP—her most recent project before the release of her official solo LP later this year—ends Carlitta's trilogy of mixtapes and EPs on a melancholy note, covering the last base before she delivers the total package. And that she is. —Eric Tullis