Holiday Season Artist Spotlight: Limes

My most vivid memory associated with Limes was driving down the highway back from a friends house during a very bad snowstorm. Cars were off the road every couple miles, visibility was low, and it took all my concentration to keep from sliding around. I even had a couple close calls with cars spinning out in front of me. Overall it was a very stressful and harrowing experience. But my choice of soundtrack for my snowstorm debacle sticks in my brain to this day. The adrenaline and dread associated with dangerous winter driving was juxtaposed against the calming production of Limes.

Limes is an instrumental hip-hop producer from Canada. He’s collaborated with other instrumental hip-hop producers such as Aimless, HERB, and Mujo. Aside from a short stint of virality as a result of the YouTube algorithm, he hasn’t had much exposure. I think he deserves better. His beats are catchy, clean, and full of life. He has music on Spotify, Soundcloud, and Bandcamp. There’s not much else to say in the way of who Lime’s himself is, his music kind of speaks for itself..

My association between Limes and the holiday season goes well beyond that one night in the snowstorm. From the time I first started listening to him, I have felt that his music evokes feelings of nights by the fireplace, snow quietly falling, and sweater weather in general. His frequent use of jazzy beats with wire drum sticks, looping pianos, and upbeat nature make Limes an ideal artist to listen to while baking Christmas cookies, studying, or driving in a snowstorm. His music kind of sounds like a hip-hop version of the soundtrack from “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. His beats aren’t overtly winter or holiday themed, but if you didn’t know any better you’d think they were. I’m a believer that his last EP’s drop on December 5th was not a coincidence. Overall it’s very agreeable music and is the perfect background to any activity this holiday season.

To fans of instrumental hip-hop, beats to study to, and the holiday season as a whole, go listen to Limes. Although his soundcloud has many great songs, I recommend his albums “Freshly Squeezed” or “Slices”. Both are short but high quality beat tapes that are practically made to be the perfect background music. Though if you like Limes as much as I do, it may just come to the forefront of your wintertime listening.

Originally published in the Fulcrum, November 11, 2019.