DO IT: THE NEW SINGLE FROM ALT-R&B SINGER, SONGWRITER & PRODUCER MERCY’S CARTEL
London alt-R&B singer, songwriter and producer Mercy’s Cartel shares her new single ‘Do It’ out everywhere on 4 July. Mercy also shares a self-styled and co-directed music video.
Naming Missy Elliot, Amy Winehouse, Toni Braxton and MIA as her main musical influences, Mercy’s Cartel creates genre-bending music, influenced by R&B, hip-hop, and gospel. Mercy is driven to create music that is unique to her experiences with racism, mental health and a turbulent journey through adolescence. Her songwriting skillfully blends soulful melodies with strikingly observational and witty lyrics.
With slick production, an infectiously catchy chorus and Mercy’s captivating vocal delivery, ‘Do It’ is a quintessential summer anthem about going after what you want, having fun and being carefree. Playing on 90s nostalgia, the music video is completely self-styled and co-directed by Mercy.
Speaking of the track, she says, “During the first lockdown I met and fell in love with another musician who I felt such a strong attraction and respect for because of his talent. So the hook in ‘DO IT’ is about me seeing him “work in the booth” and getting turned on. I’m using the song to entice him and show him all these unique quirks about me because I was feeling myself and I felt like we could be some type of power couple at the time!
Since I wrote the track a while ago, I re-recorded the vocals and backing vocals and also enlisted the help of my longtime friend/collaborator, the producer, JSTRNGS, who the played guitar we hear at the beginning and sprinkled throughout the track.”
A formidable artist on the rise, Mercy has already received much critical acclaim and industry support. Currently, she is 1 of 2 black recipients of Abbey Road Studio’s scholarship in Music Production and Audio Engineering. Other support includes plays on Radio 1 (on shows including, Rickey, Melvin and Charlie, and Jack Saunders’ Future Artists show) and support from BBC Introducing West, as well as key tastemakers such as Mixtape Madness, Clash and Earmilk.
Growing up in Brentwood in Essex, Mercy had a turbulent childhood, and spent some years in a Christian cult. After a stint at the University of Bristol, Mercy decided to actively pursue a career in music. “I wanted to create music based on my live events and write, record, and co-produce my own alternative R&B/hip-hop tracks. I started uploading songs that me and JSTRNGS made together and people really love it, so I just kept writing and recording myself. Getting my first song played on BBC Introducing West in 2016 prompted me to pursue a career in music (slightly eager, in hindsight), then I enrolled at BIMM Bristol for Songwriting. At BIMM, I stepped-up my writing and production knowledge by collaborating with a producer. During the pandemic, I panicked and got a job in animation at Aardman in Bristol then ended up being promoted to 3rd Assistant Director on Chicken Run 2. When I started feeling unsatisfied with that, I reapplied for the Abbey Road Scholarship and got it and moved back to London!”
With ‘Do It’ being the first of a string of new releases for Mercy this year, 2023 shows no signs of slowing down for the multifaceted artist, watch this space.