HUGEL’s debut album Twenty One is out now on Make The Girls Dance Records. The 21-track record features Snoop Dogg, David Guetta, French Montana, Big Sean, NBA YoungBoy, Ty Dolla $ign, Quavo, Bryson Tiller, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and more. Lead single “Shine” with David Guetta, French Montana and Aidan Martin is already streaming having premiered at Guetta’s three sold-out Stade de France nights to more than 80,000 fans per night. HUGEL calls the album a self-portrait. “I put everything I had into it,” he says.
The Single
“Shine” earns its collaborators. Guetta brings stadium-scale production. French Montana, Diamond-certified, Grammy-nominated, and currently riding his third Billboard Rhythmic Airplay number one brings the international credibility. Aidan Martin, the Platinum-certified Newcastle songwriter behind credits including ILLENIUM and Teddy Swims, delivers the emotional centrepiece. HUGEL holds all of it together with the Afro House groove that has driven him past 27 million monthly Spotify listeners.
The Album
Twenty One does not stay in one place for long. Snoop Dogg opens it. Big Sean and Scott Storch appear on “Body Drop.” NBA YoungBoy lands on “150 Bands.” Tokischa brings Latin energy on “Quiere Party.” Ultra Naté connects the album to house music’s past on “Movin’ To The Sun.” Interludes set in New York, Miami, Marbella and Independencia build a loose travel narrative around it all — fitting for an artist who has built his career through constant movement.
“The sounds I grew up with. The cultures that shaped me. The people who inspired me,” HUGEL says of the record. “The emotions I felt along the way.”
Twenty-one years after picking up vinyl in Marseille, this is what it sounds like.
HUGEL’s Twenty One is out now via Make The Girls Dance Records. Stream here.
