Buy / Stream: ffm.to/black-hawks-of-panama-hurts

Did someone order a piano banger? Black Hawks Of Panama debuts on Exploited with an absolute monster in the form of ‘Hurts’ that’s set to get pulses racing and fists pumping skyward, ready for the Ibiza season.

Supremely chunky ‘90s house beats with a gently distorted techno undertone pummel away underneath the phat bassline whose tone is perfectly balanced between weight and melodic overtones. Piano chords bang a jaunty, rave-influenced hook, and Bisi’s sweet vocals provide a sensual, soulful counterpoint. Little else is needed to make this track thump hard except subtle sustained strings and big cymbal crashes, and there’s an instrumental available which cuts to the meat of the track.

And who is Bisi? She’s better known as British actress Victoria Ekanoye, a woman of many talents who featured on Black Hawks’ previous single on Future Disco ‘Mercer Street’. She starred in the West End musical ‘The Lion King’, toured the US with ‘The Blues Brothers’ and fronted the show as Mistress of Ceremonies at both the London and New York infamous nightspot ‘The Box’. She takes her influences from blues, jazz, Stax-era soul and trip-hop.

“Our mutual friend Lisa Forshaw had worked as a PR for Victoria whilst she was on the nation's most popular TV show” says Black Hawks Of Panama. “Lisa got in touch with me and explained I should work with Victoria. Immediately I was struck with vocal range but also her presence as a performer. So I hired a commercial recording studio in Manchester as we didn’t know each other then and we agreed 'Feel For You' would be a great track to do as it’s a joint favourite! Although I didn’t want a carbon copy of the Chaka classic—I don’t see the point in that—I wanted something more lowdown and sultry! After a great first session we discussed Bowie, Prince and Patti Labelle, so it was pretty clear from this point this was going to work out well!!”

The Mancunian producer behind the track took his name from an inspirational time spent in Panama City and its surrounding rainforests. Born to parents who both had influential roles in the Manchester music scene of the 1970s and 80s, he has spent time living in Ibiza and DJed under another name for many years. Black Hawks of Panama is a project that’s going from strength to strength, and this hot new single looks set to break down yet more doors for him.

Artist: Black Hawks of Panama
Release: Hurts Feat. Bisi
Label: Exploited Club
Cat: EXP117
LC: 96788
Publisher: Exploited Ghetto Music Publishing
Beatport Pre-order: 17.06.2022
Releasedate Beatport & Streaming: 24.06.2022
Releasedate Global Download: 08.07.2022

Hurts

Buy / Stream

Black Hawks Of Panama - Hurts Feat. Bisi | Exploited Club

Soundtrack to my life so loud that I can't hear my thoughts

Exploited Rec label founder, internationally renowned DJ/ promoter/radio host and talent scout Shir Khan brings Berlin's finest Disco, House & Techno to the table.   
A decade into shaping careers of artists like Claptone, Adana Twins, Joyce Muniz and Budakid, he continues to remain on the pulse of the global underground shaping dance music through his label, productions and unconventional, uncompromising and unpredictable sets. 

Shir Khan established his label night at Berlin’s Watergate over the years, did a groundbreaking weekly radioshow at Radio Fritz for over 8 years whilst regularly touring all over the world. He is currently based in Bangkok, Thailand. 
His music is exciting and full of amazing tracks that you most likely will not have heard before.
In 2016 Shir Khan released the album compilation ’Dancing & Romancing’ to great critical press acclaim.
Label boss Shir Khans excellent A&R skills proceed him by this point, but taking stock of just a fraction of what hes signed along the way really drives his reputation home. From breaking Claptone as an unknown artist to helping him become one of the biggest-selling names in dance music to introducing the world to other major players like Adana Twins, Doctor Dru and Joyce Muniz, he has unearthed a staggering amount of talent in such a short space of time. Browse through the labels 150+ releases and you’ll also see an impressive plethora of acclaimed names from across the house, techno and disco sphere: Tensnake, Metronomy, Modeselektor, Siriusmo, Munk, Whitesquare, Julio Bashmore, Michael Mayer, Shit Robot, Fort Romeau, Frankey & Sandrino, Untold, John Tejada, Phil Weeks, Cosmin TRG, Art Department, Freeform Five, Locked Groove, Deetron, Detroit Swindle, Mark E, Acid Pauli, Ralph Lawson, Fred Falke – the list goes on and on.
In 2017 Mixmag nominated Exploited as Label Of The Decade in the genre house.
Shir Khan is also a fan of disco house reworks and established the cult Vinyl series Black Jukebox. Shir Khan’s  trusty team of terrace-friendly edit specialists, alchemy masters of turning the raw ore of disco’s past into soundsystem ready house bangers for the outdoor summer parties has seen wide support from big DJs such as Solomun, Bicep, Soul Clap, Tiger & Woods, Jamie Jones, Loco Dice, Tensnake, Pete Tong, Laurent Garnier, Eats Everything, David August and many more.
Shir Khan furthermore launched the Secret Gold series on Exploited which features extended family members and a new sub-label Exploited Ghetto NOW Exploited Club.
Remember, the fun never stops when Shir Khan’s in town.

DJMAG:
“A labour of love for label boss Shir Khan, Exploited Records has built its name by releasing danceable, hard-working records. Larger than life.”

XLR8R: “SHIR KHAN is one of Berlin’s hardest working and most entertaining DJs in any of the dozen genres he plays in.”

PITCHFORKMEDIA: “It’s like everything good that’s happening in dance culture right this second.”

Shir Khan started Exploited in 2007. Exploited Rec now plays host to some wide-ranging and innovative electronic talent - including Adana Twins, Claptone, Budakid, Joyce Muniz, James Curd, Shir Khan (to name a few) - and its artists have been receiving numerous supportive spins from the likes of Solomun, Pete Tong, Soul Clap, Wolf&Lamb, Azari&III, Jesse Rose, Axel Boman and A-Trak.
This is serious dance music at it's most cutting edge with all the juice to really get you going. It's totally contemporary, innovative and has a chunky dirty feel. "Exploited" take you on an invigorating roller coaster ride back to your youth when you first listened to dance music with all the thrills and spills you so enjoyed about clubbing. It's heavy, exciting and special.
'"Exploited Records" is a seamless melting pot of varied styles that simply can't fail to please even the most discerning ears. Highlights here are plentyful. Not to be missed at any cost.' (Clash)
'Musical hybrids are truly the flavour of today, but few have managed to capture the atmosphere of an unpredictable microcosm of a night out on a recordlabel - until now. Shir Khan's label "Exploited" bottles the zeitgeist's giddy thrills with plenty of style and substance. This is dance music hybridism in all its most glorious forms, and Shir Khan is an expert at making square pegs fit round holes.' (DJ-Mag)
'"Exploited Records" boss Shir Khan has been gaining a lot of acclaim recently, and deservedly so - as he has shown us the high quality, diversity and forward-thinking nature of his label. Engaging, riveting and diverse.' (Data Transmission)