How 070 Shake, the North Bergen music sensation, made em proud with Modus Vivendi,’ her debut album – NJ.com

Danielle Balbuena found herself in a Wyoming field, dancing and waving her arms above a crowd that had gathered for a major music industry event.

Kanye West, the host, closed his eyes and sang along to Ghost Town, a track on his new album Ye. He then walked over to Balbuena and helped hoist her in the air. It was his listening party, but this was her moment.

Balbuenas voice rang through the loudspeakers under the night sky, beckoning everyone to let go of their burdens, at least for one evening.

And nothing hurts anymore, I feel kinda freeeee! Were still the kids we used to beee!"

The North Bergen singer and rapper egged on the crowd like a freewheeling conductor, swaying and bouncing to her words in the song. Back on the ground, in the shadow of the floodlights illuminating the grass, Balbuena windmill-strummed an air guitar as a gaggle of onlookers filmed her with their phones.

Before the albums release in June 2018, she had no idea which parts had made the cut.

Another one, another one!! Balbuena told them, recognizing her voice as the next song cued up.

Balbuena, an up-and-coming artist known as 070 Shake, is ready for the spotlight once again. Shes seen her career blast off from the streets of North Bergen to the musical firmament like some kind of Jersey-powered spaceship.

After signing to Wests G.O.O.D. Music in 2016, the former North Bergen High girls basketball player became known for her contributions to some of the biggest West-produced albums of the summer of 2018 his own Ye, Pusha-Ts Daytona and Nas Nasir.

Now her debut album, Modus Vivendi Latin for way of life has arrived following several delays. The long-awaited project, released Friday by Def Jam and G.O.O.D. Music, is an effusive, futuristic work that evokes celestial bodies and outer space almost as much as relationships, longing and heartbreak.

Its different, Malick Ba a rapper and 070 Shake collaborator known as 070 Malick says of the release. He tells NJ Advance Media the new music marks an evolution from Shakes previous work. This is real artistry right there," he says.

The android-inspired cover for "Modus Vivendi," the debut album from North Bergen's 070 Shake.G.O.O.D. Music / Def Jam Recordings

Balbuena, 22, is about to set off on a tour of Europe and the United States that starts in Ireland on Jan. 19 and comes to New York and Philadelphia on March 5 and 6.

As she embraces her rise, she is taking a piece of home along with her: the 070 crew, a collective of artists and producers from in and around North Bergen hence the 070 (oh seven oh) in their names, for the North Bergen zip code, 07047.

In anticipation of Modus Vivendi, several members of the extended group spoke with NJ Advance Media about the evolution of 070 Shakes sound and success.

Balbuenas road from SoundCloud to a major deal started with one song.

Were the kids that never made em proud, she sang in one of her first recordings. Were the ones that break the rules, we live to stand out.

The declaration, from the song Proud, got the attention of social media personality and promoter Julieanna YesJulz Goddard in 2016. She wanted to know who the boy was on the track.

Part of the appeal of 070 Shakes voice can be found in its androgyny and strength. Goddard, who became Shakes manager, brought her music to Wests camp. From there, Pusha-T signed the Jersey artist to G.O.O.D. Music.

Shake, who was unavailable for an interview, participated in Wests recording sessions in Wyoming. When his album Ye came out in 2018, critics hailed her part in the outro of Ghost Town. Kid Cudi, who along with West was one of Shakes all-time favorite artists growing up, was also featured on the track. (Shake also could be heard on Violent Crimes.)

070 Shake drew critical acclaim for her features on Kanye West's album "Ye." Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Balbuena used to be a shooting guard for the North Bergen basketball team. The Shake part of her name is taken from the shake weave, one of her favorite moves on the basketball court.

Shortly after the release of Ye, Shake and the 070 crew hosted a concert for local fans in North Bergen. The crowd sang every word of Shakes part, which has become a kind of anthem.

And nothing hurts anymore, I feel kinda free. Were still the kids we used to be," Shake sings in the West song, her enchanting, youthful voice flying high and giving the lyrics authority. "I put my hand on a stove to see if I still bleed. And nothing hurts anymore, I feel kinda free.

Balbuena wrote poetry as a way to cope with depression as a teen.

Later, she turned her words into song. Her confessional lyrics cover universal themes like mental health, identity, self-expression, drug addiction and desire.

We do what we do cause we dont understand the consequence of every step we take is wrong, she says on I Laugh When Im With Friends But Sad When Im Alone," a track from her Glitter" EP, released in 2018. How could we ever see the mess? And its not just you and me, the whole youth is depressed."

She continues: Sniffing sh*t at 14, it becomes a little hard when youre living in a scene where the healthy sh*t is far, but the drugs are no further than your room or your car."

In the song, Shake implores her listeners to seize their own stories and become their own saviors.

Itll get brighter, itll get better," she sings. Its 'cause we are fighters and tougher than leather. The strong you is inside, but you just havent met her. Only we control our storm because we are the weather.

Before they formed the 070 collective, Shake and Ba both attended Robert Fulton Elementary School in North Bergen, where they later worked summer jobs as camp counselors.

I want to do music, Ba, 22, remembers her telling him. Can you help me? I dont know where to start.

We didnt want to do the regular 9-to-5 thing, he says.

Recording at Star Cloud Studios in Union City, Shake, Ba and two friends Ralphy River and Hack started 070, a roster of artists that would expand as more locals joined the fold.

In 2016, the group released The 070 Project: Chapter 1."

Now, Ba and other 070 artists are set to follow Shake on the Modus Vivendi tour.

I was there during the process of recording, and its just crazy, he says. Mike Dean mixed it, mastered it. The production is ridiculous. I really enjoyed the album. I hope everyone else does.

Dean is a veteran hip-hop producer who has worked on albums for West, Jay-Z, Pusha-T and 2 Chainz.

Album-stealing features have become Shakes calling card. For the haunting chorus of Santeria on Pusha-Ts Daytona album, Shake whose mother emigrated from the Dominican Republic sings in Spanish. She also contributed doleful vocals to Scar, a track on Beyoncs Grammy-nominated The Lion King: The Gift album released in July.

But there are no features on Modus Vivendi." Just 13 tracks of pure Shake and a brief interlude with Its Forever by The Ebonys, a 70s R&B group from Camden.

Still, there are some other notable influences at play.

The production on the catchy, propulsive track Morrow," released as a single in April, is reminiscent of some of Deans earlier work with West. Another song, The Pines, is an updated take on a folksong known as In the Pines or Where Did You Sleep Last Night? It was recorded by the blues singer Lead Belly and bluegrass singer Bill Monroe in the 1940s and performed by Nirvana in 1993 on MTV Unplugged.

Where did you sleep last night? Shake sings in the delightfully sinister track. The pines, the pines, the pines. Where the sun dont ever shine, shine, shine.

The fourth and latest single from Modus Vivendi, Guilty Conscience, was released Jan. 10. The song, centered on an act of infidelity, deploys an 80s sound that channels educational VHS tapes. Its music video features a group of men fighting with Shake in the mix. At the end, she spits blood at the camera. The video is prefaced by a note from Shake, who also goes by Dani Moon.

Although Im not a boy, I wanted to display a boy being broken," she writes. How he manages his sadness when he is not allowed to cry. From young, a boy must create a shell that protects him from his own emotions. But when that shell cracks, it creates an intense amount of vulnerability where the boy must replace the shell with actions that make him seem as if the shell never broke. He replaces this shell with ego, desire and pride.

Shake has resisted labels like gay and straight, but was featured in a 2017 Vogue spread for The Rising Stars Queering Rap" with her girlfriend, model Sophia Diana Lodato.

The cover of Modus Vivendi" depicts Shakes face framed in a metal suit. It is an android-inspired image evocative of the robot from Fritz Langs 1927 film Metropolis, and with its wriggling head attachments, the tentacles that kept Neo plugged into the Matrix. Visible at Shakes temple: her signature 070 tattoo.

Does the image represent transhumanism or that your music will evolve and live forever? a fan asked on Twitter.

Yeah man pretty close, Shake replied. It represents the evolution of humankind, in 50 years we will look back and itll represent a time where humans were being invaded by artificial intelligence. Not a bad thing. Just what it is. The era of cyborgs.

J Sebastian, an 070 producer, worked on Dont Break the Silence," the albums introductory track.

Shes always thinking about the future: electronic sounds, synthy sounds, she likes that," Sebastian says. I like it, too. I feel like our sounds complement each other.

Sebastian, 27, who hails from Paterson, North Bergen and the Dominican Republic, is part of The Kompetition, a production trio that worked on Shakes Glitter" EP. Sebastian, along with his collaborators Ether and Razsy Beats, started making music with Shake at Star Cloud Studios in Union City.

As she began to draw attention beyond North Bergen and SoundCloud, some of the spotlight found other 070 artists.

After Kanye kind of co-signed her, I feel like more doors definitely opened up they were like, What can I do for you?" Sebastian says. "Now, she has more control, which is really fire.

On Thursday, Shake shared a message with fans on Instagram, hours before the albums release, encouraging them to listen in isolation and visualize a narrative.

Create your own story, direct your own movie to it," she said. ... Instead of going to everyone elses world, I am creating my own world ... I hope that more than anything you are able to understand and receive the love I stored inside of it.

Modus Vivendi was Shakes second attempt at a debut album. The first was Yellow Girl, which was scrapped in favor of new material. Along the way, Shake parted ways with YesJulz and moved to new management.

Those songs werent her, really, Sebastian says. It was more trappish, and that wasnt really her.

She hit them with the Yandhi trick," muses Josh Lopez, aka rapper 070 BeHeard, referring to Kanye Wests anticipated Yandhi album. The project never arrived and was replaced by Jesus is King," released in October.

Lopez, 25, a Jersey City native, now lives in Union City, where he first met Shake in the studio.

She always stayed true to herself and fought for creative control of everything," he says. Lopez has a feeling Modus will give her the major moment she deserves.

Were just pushing her as far as we can as a team, and shes pushing herself also. Im extremely excited for her, I feel like its going to be something big. She has a good fan base, but I feel like it should be bigger."

070 Shake will play Webster Hall in New York on March 5 and the Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia on March 6; 070shake.net.

Have a tip? Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.

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How 070 Shake, the North Bergen music sensation, made em proud with Modus Vivendi,' her debut album - NJ.com