• Artist: Miguel
• Track: Hard Way (Remix)
• Feat. Gilbere Forte'
• Producer: Salaam Remi
• Album: All I Want Is You

If I can be excused a little name dropping, I ran into fast rising emcee Gilbere Forte' during last weekend’s Grammy festivities and frankly it’s not hard to picture the man on the other side of the fence someday, acceptance speech in hand; especially if he continues to turn out material like Hard Way (Remix). Here Salaam Remi’s pounding yet haunting beat is the same, as are Miguel’s powerfully understated lyrics, are left essentially untouched, meaning the real addition here are Forte’s bars. In usual Gilbere fashion, the Philly representative drops off two smooth but deeper-than-they-may-initially-appear verses, proving he has the versatility to sound as at home on r&b/pop as on bangers (like Push the Bar). Nothing good comes easy, so if you like doing things the hard way be sure to cop both Miguel’s All I Want Is You album, out now, and Forte’s new mixtape Eyes of Veritas, which dropped last week. Something tells me there might be a gramophone or two in store for both artists, but in the meantime…