{"id":784,"date":"2026-02-27T17:15:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T17:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/02\/gena-liv-e-karriem-riggins-drop-debut-album-the-pleasure-is-yours-new-video-douwannabwithastar\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T17:15:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T17:15:36","slug":"gena-liv-e-karriem-riggins-drop-debut-album-the-pleasure-is-yours-new-video-douwannabwithastar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/02\/gena-liv-e-karriem-riggins-drop-debut-album-the-pleasure-is-yours-new-video-douwannabwithastar\/","title":{"rendered":"GENA (Liv.e &amp; Karriem Riggins) Drop debut album \u2018The Pleasure Is Yours\u2019+ New Video \u201cDouwannabwithastar!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/gena-liv-e-karriem-riggins-drop-1-1024x576-1.jpg\" class=\"webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"display: block; margin-bottom: 5px; clear:both;max-width: 100%;\" link_thumbnail=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/gena-liv-e-karriem-riggins-drop-1-1024x576-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/gena-liv-e-karriem-riggins-drop-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/gena-liv-e-karriem-riggins-drop-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/gena-liv-e-karriem-riggins-drop-1-267x150.jpg 267w, https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/gena-liv-e-karriem-riggins-drop-1-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/gena-liv-e-karriem-riggins-drop-1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">GENA, the duo of Liv.e and Karriem Riggins, release their debut album The Pleasure Is Yours, via Lex Records. A kinetic amalgamation of two very distinct and spirited musical identities, Liv.e &#038; Karriem\u2019s debut as GENA represents the duo finding and developing a musical language together, including the previously-released singles \u201cCirclesz\u201d, <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/liv-e-karriem-riggins-form-new-duo-gena-share-debut-video-circlesz\/\"><strong>\u201cHOWWEFLOW\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, and <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/gena-lead-it-up\/\"><strong>\u201cLead it Up\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/span>. Alongside the album\u2019s release, the duo are also sharing a new music video for album cut \u201cDouwannabwithastar!\u201d, directed by Mackai Sharp.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"fv_ytplayer_985fb630ec5738659c412f66e12dabc1\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"900\" height=\"435\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5Yr2-THkvmk?origin=https%3A%2F%2Frapindustry.com%2Fgena-liv-e-karriem-riggins-drop-debut-album-the-pleasure-is-yours-new-video-douwannabwithastar%2F\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Last month, the duo made their sold-out live debut in London at ICA to rave reviews, continuing a rare run of live shows in 2025 that saw them play together at Karriem\u2019s residency at Nublu in New York City and at the Detroit Jazz Festival. Tonight, GENA are hosting a special release day show in LA tonight at DiDi.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1116564455\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\" seamless=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/genagenagena.bandcamp.com\/album\/the-pleasure-is-yours\">The Pleasure is Yours by GENA<\/a><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Pleasure Is Yours is an expertly crafted and mischievous exploration of the contours of contemporary soul, R&#038;B and hip-hop, guided by a series of virtual sessions that pieced the album together. Karriem\u2019s masterful percussive framework gave Liv.e the opportunity to be herself, serving as a conduit for her to find rhythms organically and imaginatively fill the spaces that Karriem built for her experimentation. The album also includes contributions from musicians like Isaiah Sharkey, James Francies and Telemakus, each complementing the duo\u2019s budding style with their own.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cLiv.e inspires me to be boundaryless and genreless,\u201d Riggins says of their connection. \u201cI learn as I go, and I want people to witness all of that energy in the music. It\u2019s also our pleasure. Making this record, I feel we\u2019re hitting on so many different things, and this is what the world needs.\u201d The Pleasure Is Yours is a record that lives in motion, unburdened by the outside world and harnessing musical instinct and flow as two musicians exercise their ability to carve out a new sound together that represents their collective strengths.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-62863\" src=\"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GENA_B_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GENA_B_.jpg 900w, https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GENA_B_-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GENA_B_-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GENA_B_-225x150.jpg 225w, https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GENA_B_-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">More about Liv.e:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Liv.e\u2019s musical journey embodies the freedom of experimentation that she first showed with critically acclaimed debut album Couldn\u2019t Wait to Tell You\u2026. Her subsequent followup, the widely celebrated Girl in The Half Pearl marked a breakout year for Liv.e in 2023 making surprise appearances at last year\u2019s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival to join both <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/tag\/earl-sweatshirt\/\"><strong>Earl Sweatshirt<\/strong><\/a><\/span> and <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/tag\/andre-3000\/\"><strong>Andre 3000<\/strong><\/a><\/span> on stage for their respective sets. Liv.e has continued to tinker with her place in music and has allowed her creative moniker to exist as a conduit for her ideas, most recently venturing into synthwave with her PAST FUTURE.e project released in 2024. Liv.e is currently on Earl Sweatshirt\u2019s Live. Laugh. Love. world tour, joined by ZelooperZ and Cletus Strap, where she has been slowly teasing out GENA songs to fans\u2019 overwhelming praise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">More about Karriem Riggins:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Detroit native Karriem Riggins has solidified himself as one of the most respected drummers and beatmakers in music today. Over the course of his career he has played with and produced for the likes of Common, Erykah Badu, <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/tag\/kaytranada\/\"><strong>KAYTRANADA<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, Steve Lacy, The Roots, <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/tag\/madlib\/\"><strong>Madlib<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, Paul McCartney, Norah Jones and notably formed a close kinship with the late Detroit legend J Dilla. In 2017, Riggins won an Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and lyrics for his work with Common and Robert Glasper on \u201cLetter to the Free\u201d from Ava Duvernay\u2019s film 13th. Most recently, Riggins reunited with Common and collaborated with James Poyser to create \u201cVictory\u201d, the NBA on Prime theme music for the 2025\/2026 basketball season and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/gena-liv-e-karriem-riggins-drop-debut-album-the-pleasure-is-yours-new-video-douwannabwithastar\/\">GENA (Liv.e &#038; Karriem Riggins) Drop debut album \u2018The Pleasure Is Yours\u2019+ New Video \u201cDouwannabwithastar!\u201d<\/a> first appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/rapindustry.com\/\">Rap Industry: New Hip Hop, Rap Videos, Music, News, &#038; more.<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GENA, the duo of Liv.e and Karriem Riggins, release their debut album The Pleasure Is Yours, via Lex Records. A&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14044,"featured_media":945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[10,9],"class_list":["post-784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-rss","tag-culture","tag-hip-hop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}