Adventures in Music w/ Bunneh3000

Bunneh3000's Best of 2011 -Music edition

2012-01-27T11:43:00.000-05:00

I have had a very strange relationship with music as of late. This past year has seen me go through a lot of changes and I typically find my escape, inspiration, and insight from music. Most times it is from obscure artists that are either on the brink of stardom or always under the radar. In my pursuits of great music I always frequent the following websites:

2dopeboyz.com
thisisrealmusic.com
theforeignexchangemusic.com
okayplayer.com
soultracks.com

Of course, I'm also tied to my fav artists via Facebook as well. Interestingly enough, I think musicians were more prone to use Myspace than Facebook. At least the artists that I follow anyways.

However I chose to follow music in 2011, the following ones were the ones I found myself listening to the most:

Deadmau5 - That's right, I became a Mau5ketter last year! I think it was after I heard "I Remember" ft. Kaskade someplace, I simply fell in love with his sound and purchase like 3 different albums. Eventually I bought DJ Hero 2 and rocked out to a nice remix. I found that I like his mellow tracks a bit more than his dubstep efforts. "Move For Me" is another big fav.

Eric Roberson - This man quickly became one of my fav singers with his Grammy nominated song "Still". The pace and lyrics of this song are just heartfelt and unique. Then as the song builds in the end, it blossoms into a percussion filled effort of energy that still manages to hold its sadness without coming off as depressing. It was this song that forced me to purchase Music Fan First and I've been loving that album ever since. From top to bottom, it has something in its production that fits Eric so much better than his '07 album left. Now I know it took me a few years to even catch on to this album but it is easily one of my favorites in years.

Not only that, I also picked up his recently released Mr. Nice Guy. This album seems to have a bit more features on it and regular collaborator Phontes return to compliment Eric's smooth style. I love the sexy smooth "Picture Perfect", the radio friendly "Summertime Anthem" with Chubb Rock.

Lalah Hathaway - Where It All Begins - This is the first of Lalah's albums that I actually love. From top to bottom, this is one of those albums you put on repeat and don't skip a song. The production she has on this album is the perfect match for her voice which finally manages to tetter between a Cassandra Wilson, her father, and someone else tha I can't seem to put my finger on quite yet. This is a beautiful album.

Phonte - Charity Starts At Home - I'm working on a review of Phonte's solo debut for Heed Magazine so stay tuned for that. To say the least, I love this album. It is a hip hop/soul hybrid of an album but nowadays for Phonte fans, this isn't much of a surprise.

I tell you what though, I'm glad he and 9th made up. They sound way too good together for them not to work together.

Click the pic above for a free mixtape that features some of his best past work. It is a great into to him if you are unfamiliar. Truely, he is one of the most underrated emcees in the game.

J. Cole - The Sideline Story - J Cole is an extremely talented emcee and producer and his solo debut is a stunning proof positive of this. His radio singles are doing well in terms of rotation and his sales have been pretty decent. I'm not certain if he has hit platinum status as of yet but it is certainly an exceptional start. Some hardcore hip hop heads consider this an underwhelming effort considering the strength of his mixtapes in the past but I think that is the case with most artists nowadays whose fame began off of great mixtapes.

I have to admit, when I first heard this album I wasn't too impressed and I did essentially pull the singles he released as my favorite tracks (minus Mr Nice Watch.... can't stand that one). But as I continued to listen (as you must do with great lyricists) I eventually fell for Rise and Shine and God's Gift. Listening further and hearing that it was the track that Jay-Z used as fuel to sign him, Lights Please also became a good regular listen for me. In total that would mean that out of the 16 tracks on the album, I really like about 7-8 tracks. Given that most mediocre albums only have about 2-3 tracks I like, this puts it in the really good category for me.

I still wish he had included Blow Up on this album since he included In The Morning ft. Drake from his previous mixtape Friday Night Lights. Maybe he should release a deluxe version of the album and include some of my other favs from the mixtape as remixes or extended versions of the songs.

Either way, this album still showcases two big things that will take J. Cole far:
- Great lyricism that features catchy hooks (though he doesn't need them)
- A diverse production style that isn't generic

He manages to have a variety of tracks that don't all sound alike which is difficult for most modern producers. Most people probably aren't even going to notice that he produced his first album.

Frank Ocean

This brotha came out of nowhere for me. I heard Novacane and was instantly hooked by his amazing vocal arrangements at the end of the song. Most pop artists would be happy to end that song before the harmonized ending that he flows into at the end of this song. It is a brilliant and most welcome part of the song and it really defines his style. His lyricism on this song also manages to be a bit catchy and not forced as well. Telling a story as he goes, nothing said has a clique bone with it.

As I dug into his mixtapes, I noticed he has a lot of material out there but most of it is fairly generic. The gems that are out there are excellent though. I've taken a MAJOR liking to songs like Swim Good, American Wedding, Lovecrimes, we all try, and Denim.

He's contributed a bit to Jay-Z and Kanye's Watch The Throne album but that first song No Church In The Wild is really the only effort worth noting. It'll be interesting to see what his album is like later on this year.

I'll try to see if I can get into the artists that impressed me the most as well as which ones I'm looking forward to in this upcoming year.

It's a new day, it's a new song!

2012-01-27T11:11:00.001-05:00

It's been a long time... since I've ... um.... well, you get the picture! I'm back and boy is there a lot of music to talk about. So, now that I've kind of distanced myself from Emusic (which is an excellent independant music service by the way), I've had a hard time discovering and buying new music. As a result, I've managed to dip my toes back into the mainstream I guess. I've spent quite a bit of time with the following:

Drake - Take Care (iTunes Edition)

Ok, so when I was listening to Hot 97 one morning, I heard someone say "Thanks Drake for the new Sade album". What was hilarious was he was actually serious. After listening, I wouldn't necessarily put it on the same level as Sade's greatness but it was pretty good. Just as Common has been complaining about, he does sing a whole lot. I'm actually getting a bit tired of him writing these songs to women he's dealt with and apologizing for succumbing to fame.

I did manage to enjoy tracks like "We'll Be Fine" and "Underground Kings" where he manages to put down the song bird and just flow. Also, "The Motto" hits hard but is only featured on the I-Tunes deluxe version I think.

Rihanna - Talk That Talk

So, I've slowly come around to liking Rihanna after falling in love with "Disturbia" and "Please Don't Stop The Music". Now that she released this album, I'm wondering if she should just team up with Kaskade or Deadmau5 and call it a night. It is almost like she is going strickly dance and techno from now on. I guess that is what it is called (I think it is dubstep or electro something or other). Needless to say, I'm not too fond of her single "We Found Love".

Despite that, I did fall in love with "Where Have You Been" and "Drunk On Love". For a little while I liked "Cockiness" but it winds up being one of those songs where you like a portion of it but hate the rest of it. For me, I hate the chorus.

Common - The Dreamer / The Believer

THIS ALBUM IS GREAT!! Common and No I.D. fit together like Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, The Game and Dr Dre, Guru and Primo, Shaq and Kobe!!! From top to bottom, Common kills it. He even get ampped for his Drake diss "Sweet".

What I did notice about this album was the gratuitous use of James Fauntleroy II though. This brotha has a great sound and it melds well with No I.D.'s tracks (which, by the way, all sound like gritter versions of Kanye West's old production style).

Oh, and just so you know, Rihanna is not on "Blue Sky" (which is probably my favorite song on the album). It is a new Roc Nation artist named Makeba Riddick. Now that I think about it, between her and James, this is like a Roc Nation 'Introducing' album starring Common and No I.D.

The Roots - undun

Um....I think I listened to this album once. Haven't gone back to it since. It isn't bad... but I guess it just wasn't what I expected. It is supposed to be like a story based album where the progression of the songs actually tell a story. Simply put, I didn't get it.

Eric Roberson - Mister Nice Guy

Eric is quickly becoming one of my most favorite artists. From top to bottom I love this album. I kind lean towards the sexy slow "Picture Perfect" featuring Phonte as a favorite. This is an excellent follow up to "Music Fan First".

Anthony Hamilton - Back To Love

Ok so, this could easily be my most favorite of Anthony's albums. He has such a unique and soulful voice that is custom made for a blues style song. This is one of those albums that you HAVE to get the Deluxe version of. There are four extra songs on the Deluxe version and they are ALL great. It is kind of funny because when I think about it, this album is basically ok to me without the extra songs. But when you add in Broken Man and the Raphael Saadiq-esque Fair In Love, you have some timeless classics for me that I could put on repeat.

I heard recently that he may even be doing a country album this year. At first I couldn't fathom the idea but the more I listen to his music on this album, the more I can hear it. He can inject that southern drawl in a quick fast in a way that doesn't take away from his voice.

Lalah Hathaway - Where It All Begins

Lalah finally hit the mark for me on this album. I never felt that she had found 'her style' on previous albums and she was never really on my radar as someone I had to buy. This project completely changes that for me. This album from top to bottom reminds me of listening to a Jill Scott project. She has this range of styles that she can twist her voice to that allows her to tap various genres. I think she kind of evokes Cassandra Wilson and her father a lot more in this effort in a way that eventually makes it her own finally.

Wrong Way and Small of My Back are personal favorites of mine but I could really tag each song as good enough for one of my soul music playlists.

I have plenty more that I'm digging into but these are just a few. Be back later to drop a few on those.

Skylar Grey Free Download!

2011-06-07T16:17:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I followed this artist named Holly Brook for a long time ever since I encountered her via Fort Minor (Mike Shinoda's hip hop project minus the rest of Linkin Park). She had more of an acoustic sound back then and had a lot of beautiful music. Now that she has hit it big with her songwriting by doing parts of Eminem's "Love The Way You Lie" ft. Rihanna, she has a brand new record deal with Interscope and a new stage name..... Skylar Grey!

So, here is a free song from her first project!

The Foreign Exchange Live at B.B. King's - Daykeeper

2010-11-05T09:37:00.000-04:00

I'm hard at work on an extensive review of the Foreign Exchange "Authenticity" release concert at BB Kings in Oct., but I couldn't help but share a bit of the footage. Nothing like being there but here's the next best thing!

Music Review: Foreign Exchange "Authenticity"

2010-10-19T15:41:00.000-04:00

Article first published as Music Review: Foreign Exchange - Authenticity on Blogcritics

Continuing their R&B experiment, Phonte and Nicolay take their Grammy nominated project The Foreign Exchange to another level with their third release entitled Authenticity. Settling on an amazing sound they crafted on their sophomore album, FE is comfortable continuing their soul journey together.

With Phonte, an accomplished emcee formerly of the group Little Brother and Nicolay, a producer comfortable in the soul or hip hop production circle, FE (Foreign Exchange) has the potential to take a number of directions when they get together. Their debut album Connected exists as a genre smashing blend of hip hop and R&B which to date has kept their fans on their toes in anticipation of what direction new music will take. Filled with features as well as danceable numbers, it remains as a timeless classic that has a fresh take on the blend of hip hop and R&B with Nicolay’s signature sound.

On their second album, Leave It All Behind, FE chose to shock their fans with an all soul offering that featured a heavy dose of features including a Grammy nominated feature with fellow soul innovator Muhsinah. There, Nicolay and Phonte crafted yet another classic that exists as a sound a bit distant from their first offering.

In steps Authenticity with a less shocking sound than their previous directions. This album has more of a theme or mood shift than a genre change. Where Connected and Leave It All Behind were celebrations of life and love, Authenticity attacks your heart with the vulnerable side of love.

Each song will cause a bit less of the wonder and a bit more of the step back to think moments. Attempting to assist smoothing those difficult trips in love through song, FE stresses how rare love is and how once it is found the rest should be seen for what it is…distraction. Even though the lyrical content approaches the theme in that way, Nicolay still manages to not allow the mood to dampen your spirit. Nic’s signature modern day synth sound still soothes.

Jumping into the album, “The Last Fall” began as if it was Nicolay’s recreation of Kanye’s “Love Lockdown” for a time before Phonte launches the track in a bit more of an energetic direction.

The album’s title track is the flagship for this mood as Phonte again takes the soul reigns and belts out a heart felt offering of one sided love. Speaking towards the theme of the album, here Phonte shows how selfish some of us can be when we get what we want from our partner yet choose to not give them the same. Set to an ominous beat, they weave their best featureless offering that picks up where Leave It All Behind left off.

With a heavy offering of just Phonte and Nicolay for a majority of the album, the two are trying a bit more to not rely on features as much as the previous album. Still, they bring FE Music regulars D. Brock and Yahzarah into the mix for a couple of songs. While Yahzarah’s delivery in “This City Ain’t The Same Without You” is sweet and soft, D. Brock’s entry “Don’t Wait” is a danceable warning to seize the day when love is returned.

On another standout track, Phonte and Nic bring in soul standout Jesse Boykins III and Justus League emcee Median to weave a coolout dance track that only Foreign Exchange could execute.

When this 40 minute offering is done you can’t help but wish FE’s authentic soul could have lasted a bit longer. With their third album and second full soul offering continues to show Phonte’s harmonic prowess and Nicolay’s versatility.

-B.J. Brown

Reviewers Comments:
I have been in love with this group's sound from day one. Connected will forever be a classic in my mind. Even though their single "Maybe She'll Dream Of Me" didn't get me as hyped about this release as "Daykeeper" did for Leave It All Behind, it was still a continuation of a soothing, harmony filled delivery that was prevalent throughout their second album. From the first listen, "Make Me A Fool" and "Don't Wait" are on steady repeat.

Music Review: Bilal's "Airtight's Revenge"

2010-10-19T15:26:00.000-04:00

Article first published as Music Review: Bilal - Airtight's Revenge on Blogcritics.

Bilal is one of those artists that soul afficianados either love or hate. His second ‘released’ studio album entitled Airtight’s Revenge is a continued exploration of his unique production style and vocal gyrations.

A jazz vocalist before his studio album days, Bilal is a continuation of the collective known as the Soulquarians that dominated the neo-soul scene back in the late 90s and early 2000s including D’Angelo, James Poyser, Questlove of The Roots, and the late J Dilla. Working with the likes of Common, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, and more, Bilal managed to put out a soul classic of an album back in 2001 entitled 1st Born Second. Launched into mainstream success behind the single “Soul Sista” featured on the Love and Basketball soundtrack, Bilal established a dedicated fanbase.

Upon working on his second effort entitled Love For Sale, Bilal ran into label trouble and bootlegging leading to it not being officially released. The underground success of the album managed to satisfy his die hard fans and create the buzz needed for him to continue though. This fueled a whirlwind of collaborations spanning almost 9 years with the likes of Erykah Badu, Tweet, Beyonce, Talib Kweli, Jay-Z, Little Brother, and Solange.

Taking 3 years to craft, Airtight’s Revenge is his rebirth of soul. Bilal’s jazz vocal influence is definitely what tattoo’s this effort more than anything. His voice has such range and the capacity to sound so different from song to song that he is able to emote virtually anything given the topic of the song. Of course, being a brilliant songwriter helps this as well.

The track “Little One” is a clear example of his signature style. An emotional dedication to his autistic child, this track (produced by Conley “Tone” Whitfield) is highlighted by a haunting piano riff and his unmistakable falsetto to carry a beautiful composition that is ever so touching.

Dark and filled with fully fleshed out short stories, Bilal’s tales are street and hard yet soulful. Whether it is the funky and quirky “The Dollar” or the prostitute themed “Flying”, each song will take you on a separate journey that will certainly take more than one listen to fully appreciate. Always accompanied by a complex musical sound, each song will keep you off balance with touches of either off balance percussion or hints of string arrangements and electric guitars.

The oddity that is his sound is evidenced by "Levels" which is played out as more of a futuristic jazz tune with bassy thumps and a confident piano. As the song progresses, Bilal sings over a creshendo of sound at times that either hypnotizes or confuses. This is an example of how Bilal's vision is either a cult hit or a disappointing failure.

Will a clear direction, a commanding grasp of his desired style, amazing lyricism and quirky vocals, Bilal has delivered a soul album that is sure to remain fresh sounding through the test of time. Compared at times to Prince or Gil Scott Heron, Bilal's sound blends funk, jazz, blues, rock, and soul in a way that never sounds the same. Probably to be categorized as one of those albums that will take most a number of listens to warm up to the brilliance, Bilal’s Airtight’s Revenge is one of this year’s unmistakable standouts that should not be missed.

- B.J. Brown

New Prince song - Rich Friends - 103.5 KTU - THE BEAT OF NEW YORK

2010-10-19T14:23:00.001-04:00

103.5 KTU - THE BEAT OF NEW YORK

Click the hotlink above to take a listen to Prince's new song "Rich Friends".

I took a listen to this and at first I was excited. Now P has always been socially as well as spiritually aware when it comes to world or national affairs but as of late he's been on a tear. His European release "20ten" found him on his soapbox about a number of different issues. "Planet Earth" was a mixture of the same as well.

Well, here P decides to take on economics in a pseudo-funk beat. As I listened to the simplistic beat that has a bit of P's signature sound, I was a tad disappointed. He mixed in a bit of guitar here and there which makes the song passable, but on the whole... I gave it a sighing "Boooo".

Take a listen for youself and leave a few comments! Here's to hoping he has a SLEW of new material to drop on us to smooth this one over!

Prototype 2010 - Jesse Boykins III - FREE DOWNLOAD

2010-09-28T10:10:00.000-04:00

<a href="http://jb3music.bandcamp.com/track/prototype-2010">Prototype 2010 by Jesse Boykins III</a>

Jesse Boykins III is one of those artists that I've seen here and there featured on other songs. I never really had much interest in hearing his solo work until THIS SONG! This amazing remake of Andre 3000's "Prototype" is undoubtedly better than the original. He laces in a simple little piano progression that seems to mellow out this song even moreso than it already is. Then Jesse manages to stretch the song out a bit longer to just let the entire mood relax you. This is a gorgeous remake that you must listen to.

Marsha's new single - Hope She Cheats On You (remix)

2010-09-23T10:49:00.000-04:00

Marsha definitely looks great! Still sounds great too! Can't wait until her debut drops Oct. 26th! Until then check out the track!

The Foreign Exchange - Maybe She'll Dream Of Me FREE DOWNLOAD

2010-09-02T15:50:00.002-04:00

Phonte and Nicolay are BACK a with another album set to release in Oct. Here is the first single from the album Authenticity entitled "Maybe She'll Dream Of Me".
Click the cover art above to reach the link to download the single for FREE! Enjoy!!!

Tomorrow, Yesterday - To.., From - Free album download!!

2010-08-25T11:28:00.001-04:00

Straight outta the Westside comes a new hip hop crew named Tomorrow, Yesterday. Composed of T.I.E and Yep, they conjure that smooth jazzy sound that made Tribe and Little Brother the beloved crews that they are. Click on the album art above to reach the link needed to download free LP from them and decide for yourself!

Eternia Mixtape download

2010-08-19T15:08:00.002-04:00

Eternia is a Canadian emcee that I recently previewed while scrolling through Okayplayer posts. When you hear her voice you will re-certify your hip hop license for sure! When you are done with this, go and find her new album with Canadian producer Moss!!

Zo! - Sunstorm - My review on Soultracks.com

2010-08-13T15:16:00.006-04:00

This is such an amazing album from Zo! and the rest of the Foreign Exchange Music collective. I love everything that has come out of this new troop headed by Phonte and Nicolay and see that they are going to continue to put out amazing music. Featuring artists like Phonte, Darien Brockington, Eric Roberson, Carlitta Durand, Yahzarah, Lady Alma, Monica Blaire, and more! Click on the cover above to read my latest review on this album featured at Soultracks.com!

There is definitely going to be more on the way as Foreign Exchange preps to drop their new album in Oct. I'll definitely be on top of that release as well so stay tuned!

More free music fo' y'all - June 2010 edition

2010-06-02T14:02:00.000-04:00

Kanye West - Power

Royce da 5'9 - Bar Exam 3 | Download New Hip Hop Mixtapes & Rap Mixtapes

2010-06-01T15:20:00.001-04:00

Royce da 5'9 - Bar Exam 3 Download New Hip Hop Mixtapes & Rap Mixtapes

Royce is at it again! Exams 1 & 2 were amazing so I bet this one won't disappoint!

Goapele - Catch 22 (9th Wonder remix) free download

2010-05-10T13:50:00.001-04:00

Another free download from Goapele in anticipation of her upcoming album "Milk & Honey". This remix is of an old goody from Goapele. Enjoy!!!

Free Goapele goodness "Different" ft. Mos Def

2010-05-10T13:47:00.002-04:00

<a href="http://goapele.bandcamp.com/track/different-featuring-mos-def-unreleased">Different Featuring Mos Def (unreleased) by Goapele</a>

Dedication: Little Brother

2010-05-03T09:42:00.013-04:00

As of Leftback, Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh (and 9th Wonder from time to time) have closed the doors on the phenom hip hop group known as Little Brother. Leaving an amazing legacy in hip hop lore, Little Brother to date has left us with four excellent LPs and a number of mixtapes to prove that rap minus the lies equals hip hop.

(image from prophecycommunications.com)

I stumbled across the crew along with the rest of the amazing collective known as the Justus League back in 2003 via a friend of mine from NC. Being from NC I naturally fell in line as a hopeful. I looked into them and shortly sample tracks from The Listening... via Okayplayer.com. As a featured artist to compliment the Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, The Roots, and the rest of the Soulquarian collective, Little Brother fell inline with a sound that I was already a champion for at the time. Little did I know I was in for an amazing treat.

A Tribe Called Quest was my first true love in the world of hip hop. That love eventually expanded to include the rest of the Native Tongues movement including De La Soul. Their wordplay was unique, personal, and quite the departure from the violence and misogeny that seemed to dominate hip hop in their day.

Little Brother stepped into the hip hop scene the same way. Instead of the typical bravado of Crystal poppin' and hoe flippin', Phonte and Big Pooh spoke of how their road to make music has taken them through driving in a Nissan to a show, being broke, breaking up with their girl, not spending time with their kids, and so much heartache in the midst of doing what they love. They showed how even their family didn't believe in them and implored them to give up this rappin' thing and get a real job. They even spoke on how at times they almost did. They were the common man's voice in the world of hip hop and they spoke about their personal defects as well as their failed relationships as their material rather than a fictionalized mobster life (which at times seems to be all the music industry wants to market new hip hop to be).

This approach to lyricism spoke to me at the time. It was easy to relate to these emcees and 9th's Pete-Rock-esque approach made the delivery even sweeter to swallow. Though the entire album was a 5-mic classic (according to The Source at the time of its release), The Listening... was still a silent success. Underground southern rap without the drawl or the pimpin'. LB had more of a NYC approach to their delivery and that allowed for a much broader underground appeal.

I listened to this debut album amazed that I had never heard of Phonte and his exploits while I was in school up to spring of '99. Of course, I had never really been a part of the Cat's Cradle crowd either. I particularly had an affinity for "Home", "Nighttime Maneuvers", and "So Fabulous". While the first two tracks were smooth beyond smooth, the last was a Digable-Planets-Just-Have-Fun throwback.

The track that instantly made them a personal favorite for life was "Away From Me". Hearing Phonte speak of how depressing it was to be away from his son as he grew up due to having to pursue his hip hop dream was so sad. It eventually would become a personal theme song once I got divorced and my ex moved away as well. Phonte would hit a similar chord with The Minstrel Show's "All For You".

As time went on, I would see them collaborate with so many other artists (both individually and as a group) I liked such as Brand New Heavies, Pete Rock, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Royce Da 5'9", Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne. Soon enough, their own local collective of collaborators would grow thanks to the ambition of Phonte. He would bring in eventual favorites Yahzarah, Carlitta Durand, Darien Brockington, Zo!, and Nicolay. This would become the nucleus for his experimentation in R&B and hip entitled Foreign Exchange.

(Click above for my review of Getback on Honeysoul.com)

Still, even with that experimentation, Pooh and Phonte would go on to drop both Getback and Leftback. Each of those releases would find their ways into my daily playlists. Sadly, both LPs would be virutally devoid of 9th Wonder due to their split. That was sad for so many fans because everyone knew that with that fact there was absolutely NO chance that the magic that delivered The Listening... would repeat itself. The group would evolve and inevitably some fans would be left behind. For my sake, the evolution was favorable.

Another track that remains in my heart to this day was from the Mick Boogie mixtape entitled And Justus For All. There we were blessed with an amazing track called "Grown Man" featuring Talib Kweli. This quickly became a theme song for me explaining that things that most do are abit immature for someone at the level (p.c. for 'age') that I'd reached.

What I've also forgotten to mention is that Little Brother was an introduction to the underground scene for me. I quickly latched onto other underground acts such as Kev Brown, Illmind, Kay, J-Live, Oddisee, Invincible, Finale, Jedi Mind Tricks, 88 Keys, Aesop Rock, RJD2, Supastition, Kero One, Lil Vic, Kenn Star, and so many others. I would find myself visiting Hiphopsite.com daily just to see of Little Brother or any of the other Justus League affiliates had released something. The explosion of good hip hop that I found was endless.

So with that said, I'm saddened that Leftback is to be their final album together. I'm certain that throughout the hip hop faithful you'll notice a number of sites that will offer up thoughts on the breakup of the group from HiphopDX.com to Okayplayer.com.

Still, be assured that all three will continue to deliver quality music... in their own special way.

prince live in columbia, sc, 1981

2010-02-26T14:54:00.000-05:00

Ok... you all know how much I love Prince and here is a blog post from a NON-Prince fan. Here he shares a concert from his Purpleness back in 1981!!!

prince live in columbia, sc, 1981

Free Music from Floetry's Marsha Ambrosius

2010-02-22T16:07:00.003-05:00

Ok... I'm not certain what number EP or mixtape this is since Marsha announced that she was dropping a new album, but.... well. Here it is.

Yours Sincerely EP

Enjoy the latest new music!

FREE MUSIC ALERT: 4 Volumes of great female emcees

2010-02-19T14:22:00.005-05:00

Found this blog post looking to see if Rah Digga had released anything recently. This blog features 4 different volumes of blazin' tracks from female emcees. Everyone from Jean Grae, Invincible, Lauryn Hill, Mystic, Rah Digga, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, and so many more! Great compilations here

Hip hop....

New Janelle Monae!!! FREE DOWNLOADS!

2010-02-16T10:54:00.005-05:00

Here are a couple of exclusives from our friends at Okayplayer!!

Excellently funky and rockin from one of my fav artists! Go get the free music and look out for her new album coming soon!

FREE DOWNLOAD: I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind II by Killer Mike

2010-01-13T13:25:00.004-05:00

That's right! Go to HipHopDX and get the free download of the 2008 HipHopDX Album of the Year selection!

FOR FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wale x 9th Wonder mixtape for FREE!!!

2010-01-08T11:23:00.004-05:00

Ok ok... so I know that I'm a bit behind on this one but I saw it and had to forward it along to you guys. Thanks to USOUL Mag for the great links and so forth. This is a Wale mixtape with a bunch of 9th Wonder production.

Enjoy!

J. Period x Nneka free mixtape!!

2010-01-06T11:16:00.003-05:00

J. Period x Nneka - The Madness (Onye-Ala)

Okayplayer has been on Nneka for a minute and they are predicting she is the next big thing in American soul music. This Nigerian songstress (by way of Germany) has an undeniable sound mixed with hip hop, soul, reggae, and other genres that has a strength and social awareness. As if a voice born of revolution she exists to awaken others. The mixtape features M-1 of Dead Prez and Talib Kweli as well as others so it has some potential.

I just downloaded her 3 disc album To And Fro.

As you can imagine I'm still going through all of the music cause there is a lot. Hopefully I can get a better feel for her music and drop a review. In the meantime, snag the free music and make your mind up for yourself!

(Thanks to Okayplayer fam)

Music Review: YahZarah - The Prelude EP - Music - Blogcritics

2009-11-16T09:09:00.001-05:00

On the heels of that amazing Foreign Exchange concert, I went to Emusic and pulled down every D-Brock, Carlitta Durand, and Yahzarah CD that I could find that I didn't already have! Unfortunately, I had everything D-Brock had on Emusic but I did get more Carlitta and this blazing EP from Yahzarah! Click on the album art above to get to my review on Blogcritics!

Foreign Exchange @ BB Kings in NYC.... a review

2009-11-06T17:39:00.009-05:00

Ok so, the night of the concert was absolutely horrendous for weather and, like an idiot, I decided to stand in line with my girl for the concert without an umbrella. As we awaited Bobby Brown to finish his set, the rest of the Foreign Exchange fans were wet, cold, and tired waiting to get inside which really didn't happen until almost 12:30am.

Even though people were tired and probably upset it took so long to get in, the buzz was still there. People were chatting with each other and crowding the stage long before the FE crew was ready. As my girl and I waited, we spoke to people from Minnesota, Paris, and Brooklyn all oozed over FE's catalogue. The common question was, "So how did you get put on to Foreign Exchange?" Even the Brooklyn faithful were pleasantly surprised with how soulful and honest Nic and Phonte's music had been from Connected to Leave It All Behind. As we waited, a few eager fans even unfurled a sign that said that FE deserved a Grammy. The crowd was mixed with people from all over the world as a collage of soul music and hip hop fans.

Finally, Nicolay, Zo! and the band (a bassist and a drummer) stolled out onstage and took their places. Then Carlitta Durand, Darien Brockington, and Yahzarah took their places. Carlitta had a nice little tight black outfit that pushed her chesticles all out (LOL). D-Brock was fresh and clean as always in his suit. Yahzarah was BLAZIN in a tight open backed short length dress (that i think she made) and plenty of glitter and flash to assist her amazing voice. Then, Nic started playing his beautiful single "Lose Your Way" from his City Lights Vol. 2 album that features Carlitta, and the crowd cheered in appreciation for the choice. Carlitta closed her eyes and aligned beautifuly with the tune. Just as the chorus came, Phonte jumped on stage to fill out the roster and sing backup for Carlitta with the others as the FE Music Group eased the crowd into easily the most entertaining concert I've EVER been too.

Now as they went into the set, Phonte confirmed that for this crowd, it was the first time seeing the Foreign Exchange and they were in for a treat. From start to finish, Phonte Coleman commanded event. Whether introducing the band, explaining the upcoming song, or simply actin silly and singing old 80's or 90's songs, Phonte had the crowd in stitches! Laughter abound, Phonte even did a quick imitation of Bobby Brown saying that he was honored to be playing after Bobby Brown.

As they played through the set for the new album, Phonte explained that the music that he and Nicolay were aiming to deliver was music that made you feel good. On top of that, they wanted to provide a soul service to explain the hardships of relationships through song with this album which in part explained the departure from the predominantly hip hop debut Connected. Going on, Phonte explained each song with a comical interlude and with an extended version of "Wanna Know". He placed his personality on overdrive and delivered one of the most hilarious explanations of how to stay together in a relationship ever! Speaking to both sides, he delivered his philosophy of what both women and men want in relationships and what can be done to sustain it through the hard times. It was simple. For the brothas he advised for us to simply let the ladies spend that little bit of change for them to look great since they can spend less to look great (unlike us... we have to spend money to look good). For the women, he simply said that EVERY brotha just wants to come home and be at peace. Great advice. At the end of it all, he showed that one word can do so much for a relationship. "OK" So powerful and yet so simple! So, that's not the answer to all problems but his explanation of it in the midst of the song which has "OK" in the chorus was a beautiful way to make the concert more than just a programmed effort to do the set list and leave. FE lives and breathes the music they all create so the feeling was there from each and every performer on stage.

On went the concert and eventually the crew jumped into some classics from the first album such as "Come Over", "Sincere", "Nic's Groove", and "Raw Life". For each, the expected guests came onstage. Rapper Big Pooh and Joe Scudda both came on, thrilled the crowd, and did their thing with conviction. Though the crowd new Pooh as soon as he came up, it seemed only a choice few knew Scudda. Still, it didn't phase him as he did his thing.

Of course the highlight of the show was just watching Phonte have fun with the band and the crowd. From redoin the Aly-Us house jam "Follow Me" to taking "IG-nant" radio hip hop songs and presenting them as neo-soul, he kept the laughs coming. He even did his best imitation of Mad Cobra and sang "Flex" for a minute. Somewhere in there he ends up singing his own made up reggae song (similar to Cedric the Entertainer's bit off of Kings Of Comedy) by singing dishes off a Jamaican menu saying that it doesn't matter what you're saying cause it just sound cool! Phonte even got Zo! to do their recent remake of Prince's "Take Me With You" to keep the 80's/90's throwback feel going. Still, i'm sure the crowd was hoping for a bit more from the Zo! and Tigallo "Love the 80's" album.

After doing a few more songs, they gave the stage to Zo! and the band to allow them to play a few remakes of familiar tunes before bringing everyone back onstage to wrap things up. As the very last song, they eased everyone out to the first single off the new album, "Daykeeper". Beautifully done, they thanked the crowd and left us all completely satisfied with the setlist and the extras abound!

As Phonte and Nicolay collaborate together with their new label mates, it is clear that there is some more great music on the way. Nic, Tay, Carlitta, Zo!, Yahzarah, and D-Brock just have a blazing chemistry that hopefully will keep them all together for many years to come because concerts like this should not be missed!

Meshell Ndegeocello Releases “Devil’s Halo” in October

2009-08-20T15:51:00.000-04:00

(thanks to Honeysoul.com for the info)

Meshell Ndegeocello Releases “Devil’s Halo” in October. Tour Dates and Video

Me'shell is back and on a new label Mercer Street to release her newest effort entitled "Devil's Halo". Once again, a promise to be a wide range of sounds and influences, the video above is proof the Me'Shell is still at the peak of her creative career.

And just as a reminder, here is the review of her previous album that yours truly did for Honeysoul!!

Stay tuned for more info!

Check out Choklate To Whom It May Concern Listen Now!!

2009-04-22T13:57:00.002-04:00

Sup Fam!!
I want you all to take a good listen to : Choklate To Whom It May Concern Listen Now!!
Her debut album was a huge hit with the 'underground soul' scene and even won a few awards a year or so ago. Now she's back and ready to shock the world again with her second effort due out on May 19th.
4dasoul.com got their hands on a few preview tracks and it sounds oh so lovely to me! Go check them out and then go rush to the store or online someplace and GET THIS ALBUM!!!

Much luv til then!

The Foreign Exchange feat. Darien Brockington "Take Off The Blues" video

2009-04-22T11:18:00.004-04:00

The Foreign Exchange feat. Darien Brockington - "Take Off The Blues" from The Foreign Exchange on Vimeo.

This is one of my favorite songs off of the "Leave It Behind" album. Featuring Darien Brockington as well!!

ENJOY!!!

Kanye West Live on VH1 Storytellers....Hmmmmmm

2009-03-04T13:18:00.003-05:00

Live on Vh1 Storytellers | Download New Hip Hop Mixtapes & Rap Mixtapes > HipHopDX.com

Ok ok... so a lot of people and artists have sounded off on Kanye's 808's & Heartbreaks and most that I've heard have been quite...well, disapproving of his 'new' direction. Mind you, this is what typically happens when an artist takes on a radical new direction for their sound. With that said, Kanye went from being an emcee to being an 'altered' vocalist. Then his production throughout this album carried a similar theme of relying heavily on percussion (not a drum machine sound mind you) and synth sounds.

Even with that, the mood of the album is probably what throws people off. As shown brilliantly by this show on VH1's Storytellers, Kanye explains that this album and some of it's songs are a re-evaluation of himself by himself. The mood is decidedly sombre and at times almost depressing. "Say You Will" comes across powerfully and emotionally in this live performance in a way that shed a new light on the song and album as a whole for me. And just after the song is over (as with most of the songs he performs on the show) Kanye gives as much insight into the song and himself as possible. Though he doesn't quite explain the inspiration of the song, he kind of opens up in an almost preachy fashion where he professes a dedication to 'destroying conventional thought'. He is making an effort to challenge you and all you've come to know in this existence.

If you didn't get a chance to see the performance on VH1 Soul, Kanye also puts an artistic emphasis on making the experience just as visually pleasing as it is sonically. On a square lighted stage by himself, the stage morphed between colors and visuals as he performed. Hanging above him was a tilted stage of the same size that mostly mirrored the visuals of the stage beneath him. Behind him was an almost Cylon-like (Battlestar Galactica reference) long strip that also had multiple visuals and colors that danced as the songs progressed. The band, which featured a mini-orchestra including a great percussion section, guitarists, keyboardists, and a few background singers were all staged about him on a lower less visible level. With all the lights focusing on Kanye, they stayed in the shadows through most of the performance. To enhance how he wanted attention on him, each bandmate and signer had on helmets with shields that seemed like riot control helmets hiding their faces.

As he performed, you could tell that Kanye wanted to show a change in his person from the boastful person that tended to dominate the media scene. Still confident, he took the time to apologize for brash or spoiled actions at the European Awards show that he upstaged when he lost and then ranted on during the winner's acceptance speech. You could see his growth, his sadness, his new direction, and his desire to share and challenge his fans.

Love him or hate him, this 2 hour performance was one of the best I've seen on a televised concert ever.

(Thanks to Hip Hop DX for the post and the media)

MUHSINAH DOWNLOAD: "From Here"!!! NEW AND FREE!!!!

2009-03-04T13:04:00.003-05:00

THAT's right fam! Probably my favorite new soul artist this side of Janelle Monae, Muhsinah is back in the lab fresh off of an awesome collaboration with The Foreign Exchange and plenty of other artists! Check it out!!!

(Thanks to Soul Commune for the hookup!!)

New Daru project with AB merges funk and hip hop

2009-02-27T14:41:00.002-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I've been fortunate enough to come across this talented drummer/producer by way of Honeysoul.com and he continues to amaze with his new project with an amazing unsigned vocalist called AB (Aaron Abernathy). After working together with the likes of Slum Village and Black Milk, the two have collaborated together to put together an upcoming album entitled A Work In Progress. Here are a few tidbits to wet your appetite. Trust me, it's a mesh of funk, soul, and hip hop that should NOT be missed!

Ab and Daru - Soul Dirty ft. T3 of Slum Village

Also, here is a video of the other single from the same album.

Thanks to Freshselects.net and Daru for the hookup!!

J-Period Mixtape: The Best Of Q-Tip FREE!!!!

2009-02-11T09:07:00.002-05:00

More free music! Thanks to Okayplayer for this hookup! The Best of Q-tip! Click on the cover art to go get it!

iTunes Single of the Week: "Take Off The Blues" by The Foreign Exchange

2009-02-11T08:07:00.005-05:00

That's right, fam! The second single off of Phonte and Nicolay's amazing second collaboration is "Take Off The Blues". And for those of you a bit slow to partake, well, iTunes has made it the single of the week! So go and download the single for FREE!!!

Tell em, Bunneh sent ya!!!

QUITE NYCE & RAYDAR ELLIS: CHAMPS VS. THE LEAGUE - MARCH 24th (Brick Records)

2009-02-06T14:44:00.002-05:00

I just got hold of a new underground hip hop project that has a great sound to it. Raydar Ellis & Quite Nyce are not new to the game but have come together to produce and bring life to a project they call "The Champs vs. The League".

Here's a sample and I may have a review coming soon.

"Love Is" ft. Project Move here:
http://wdl7.streamhoster.com/elemental/champs/Love-Is-Ft-Project-Move.mp3

www.myspace.com/brickrecords

It is kind of jazzy and has a feel to it that is a bit similar to Blackilicious and Little Brother.

Prince's 3121 album review

2009-01-29T14:53:00.005-05:00

(taken from my epinions review and slightly edited and updated)

Prince's marriage to a one-time fan around 2005-2006 seemed to have a big effect on his desire to return to the American public eye. Before his Musicology album, he was strongly against doing major arena tour dates and avoided traditional major label deals to release his albums. After Musicology's successful release and tour, he seems to have had a change of heart. His follow-up album entitled 3121 was right on the heels of Musicology and with a huge opening week made the album his first #1 US chart release in ages!

He began the buzz with a wicked single called “Black Sweat” with sensuality and traces of his funky classic “Kiss” tattooed all over the track. This funktastic single hit the airwaves and managed to pull old time fans back in the fray with hopes that he’s returned to what he does best…funk and rock. And with this album, he does NOT disappoint. The entire effort provides funk, sensual soul, rock, and blues in a form that only Prince could. Pulling the talents of his usual NPG musicians (Candy Dulfer, Maceo Parker, Sheila E.), he also recruited a new voice that he is supporting named Tamar. Though she’ll probably fade into obscurity as most of Prince’s protégé’s, she does have a marketable look and vocal talents. We’ll see what her album provides after the mediocre duet with the Purple One called “Beautiful, Loved and Blessed”.

Another released single of his was proof of his eternal mission to seduce. “Te Amo Corazon” was a smooth ballad of latin flava that's probably a hit or miss song for most fans. But where this song begins, the others finish beautifully. To complement this track, Prince unleased the sexy-bluesy track called “Satisfied”.

He didn’t end the sex-sationalism there. Again using the talents of his protégé Tamar, Prince crafted a sexy soothing soul song entitled "Incense and Candles" that is still danceable and not quite slow. “The jam has got a beat like its makin love”, they both sang as Prince laced the song with a heavy bass filled percussion to set the song’s tone early.

Another interesting addition to the album was a track that he remade off of his online album release The Chocolate Invasion entitled “The Dance”. This song was interesting in that the previous version of the song had a mellow and airy feel to the track that didn’t really compliment the lyrics. The lyrics themselves had a somewhat tragic and solemn feel to it and the early version of the song didn’t really capture that. Speaking of a past love that he wished to avoid so as not to fall for her again, the lyrics had a futile sense of defiance that eventually gave into by the song’s end. So, on 3121’s version, Prince flipped it and made the track more grandiose and dark. Extending the song just a tad, he even added an empassioned verse at the climax of the song that is a perfect example of Prince’s mastery of melding his musical skill to aid the mood of his lyricism. Though somewhat solemn, the song had a haunting energy within that made it one of my all time favorites.

Probably the most dynamic track on the album was one that he performed once on Saturday Nite Live where he managed to remind EVERYONE that he can kill the axe at will. “Fury” is an adrenaline filled rock/blues song that was captivating from beginning to end. With riffs galore, Prince basically duets with his guitar in a fashion that only he can.

With these standout songs and the absolutely funky-jazzy finale featuring Maceo called “Get On The Boat”, Prince crafted a pallete of love songs and danceable jams that make it an above average Purple release.

Prince's The Gold Experience Album review

2009-01-29T13:50:00.005-05:00

The mid nineties were really a whirl for Prince. He was in the midst of his ‘troubles’ and disagreements with Warner Brothers was highlighted by the appearance of his Come album where he announced the ‘retirement’ of the moniker Prince. Then he changed his name to the unpronounceable symbol. On came the heckling from Warner Brothers, critics, comedians, and even fans as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince attempted to shed his past and begin anew. Actually, my thought was that he made the name change to escape from his contract under Warner Brothers and record music that he would have ownership of under this symbol-name.

Hence, you have this album, The Gold Experience. I vividly remember the release of this album since it came out during my first year in college. The radio station in Greensboro, NC at the time had a midnight listening party just before the album dropped and played the entire album on the air. People would call in and voice their opinions after each track. After hearing previous albums where Prince was obviously trying to get into rap or the New Jack sound of Teddy Riley at the time, Prince fans were ready to write him off as officially insane. When people heard THIS album, they were in for a welcome change. The rock tones of Prince’s past had returned and in a big way!

For some reason, I think there were 3 singles released off of this album (but I could be mistaken). They were "Shhh", "I Hate U", and the one single that shot him back onto pop and R&B charts all over the world entitled, "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World". All three were great love songs and the first two lean more towards rock ballads while the last is a timeless soul classic.

On "Shhh", the track starts off with a spectacular drum solo and explosive vybes to accent every cymbal that played for about the first 30 seconds of the song. Then The Artist says, “Break it down…” and the song melds into a smoothed out slow jam complete with a softly played bass line and a soulful guitar wavering just behind it. This track is quite smooth and yet energetic at points with repeated drum solos like the beginning of the song. For seven minutes this groove plays with The Artist finally chiming in with his skillful heavy rock guitar play that he was known for in his Purple Rain and The Revolution days. With the sexual undertones in the lyrics, this song oddly enough is one of those perfect love making jams that smoothes out those calm moments and ramps up for the…ummm…energetic moments!!

The song "I Hate U" in NC when this album dropped. It was one of those confusing songs where he proclaims a love and hate relationship over a track that many times reminds me of "Shhh". The funny part of the song is when he breaks the song down and begins talking…”Court is now in session, will the defendant please rise? You’ve been charged with one too many counts of heart-breaking in the first degree…” Then, as he goes on he threatens to “use the rod” if she doesn’t tell the truth. “Now close your eyes, I’m gonna cover your @$$ with this sheet, and I want you to pump your hips like you use to, and you better stay on the beat!” HAHHAH! Sentencing your ex to make love one last time, just so they can fall back in love so you can leave THEM!!! Now THAT’s punishment!! The song has a great sense of grandeur and has a lot of feeling and energy in the performance. Hmmmm, makes you wonder who he was thinking about when he wrote this one! I hate you because I love you. But I can’t love yah, cause I hate you!!

I also remember the talk about the video The Artist did for "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" song. If I do remember correctly, he made an anonymous add in a paper somewhere in Europe (France I think) asking for the most beautiful girl in the world to reply or something like that. He sifted through the entries and chose the women featured in the video. Nice touch, ehh?!

To say the least, The Artist made a conscious effort to make sure he satisfied his rock fans. "Endorphinmachine" is a party rock-fest filled the brim with vibrations from his wailing electric guitar. "P Control" is a quirky little funk song that The Artist raps through telling stories of the power of a woman named Pussy who had control over every aspect of her life. "319" isn’t too far from the throws of 80’s rock as he spins a tale of a photographer shooting pics of a sexy female who makes love to the camera all too well.

Somewhere in the middle of this album lays a semi-politcal tune that continues The Artist’s mission of self awareness of African-Americans in this nation about the unfortunate undying nature of racism in this country called "We March". It was quite odd that he released this song on this album because not to long after this album was released did Nation of Islam Minister Louis Faarakahn (please forgive the spelling) organize his Million Man March on the capital. I truly think that the theme of this song and that march went hand in hand. For me, this song was a constant reminder of what my mother and father lived through during the trying days of the civil rights movement. The song is strong and has a powerful warning and message within.

Unfortunately, with all of this rock and energy came a couple of spacey tunes that continue to make me wonder about The Artist’s sanity. "Dolphin" is a truly strange happy go lucky sounding tune that threw me for a loop coming right after "We March". For me, the same can be said of the song at the end of the album called "Gold". I honestly think that this was The Artist’s next attempt to make a Purple Rain style rock song filled with grandeur and dramatic rock flair. I think he failed miserably with this song, but it is one you’d have to listen and decide for yourself. Again, this is one that has never made my playlist despite giving it many chances to win me over.

One of my favorites on this album is "Shy". Rather than rockin to the break of dawn, The Artist rounds out the sound of this song with a blues style acoustic guitar. The pace is still sexy and sensuous though. As the song begins, you hear a beat formed by the sound of a woman in high heels and a thick electronic synth bass. As the guitar chimes in, your ears and imagination are trapped as he weaves his tale. The mood and style of the song kind of remind me of his timeless classic "Pop Life".

Then comes a truly peculiar tune called "Billie Jack B*tch". Throughout are small clips of Chris Rock (supposedly). I could never place the reasoning for this song until it’s meaning was revealed to me through a Minneapolis music critic. The critic explained that this song was written about a particular critic that The Artist did not like or respect. This high energy song has some powerful NPG hornplay and synth keys that keep pace with the ‘rock’ nature of the album as a whole.

In the end this album did what it was supposed to. It was his return to rock, rebirth of his electric guitar-fare that many felt he might never return to. Thankfully, the trip was worth it. It might not be a 5 star effort but it is definitely a Prince al…oops, sorry…The Artist Formerly Known As Prince album worth buying for the collection. If you are a fan, check it out. Just be ready to play your air guitar though!! Now, if you like Prince but don't like rock, you still might enjoy this album. As I said, many of the songs have him wailing on the guitar but don't necessarily have that rock feeling to it like "Shy", "We March", "Shh", and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Check it out, and Live4Love!

Prince's Love Symbol Album review

2009-01-29T10:18:00.007-05:00

NOTE: Throughout this review I might call him Prince or The Artist. The reason is I can’t remember exactly when he changed his name but the credits on the liner notes still have him named Prince.

The Gold Symbol album is one of the oddest and yet most diverse and pleasing contributions to his library of music (aside from the Black and Chaos and Disorderalbums). Just so you know his chronology, Prince was on a roll and had been releasing one album a year around this time of 1992. Just before this album he had success with Diamonds And Pearls, Batman, and Come. Here, The Artist finds himself in the throws of the New Jack sound and rumored dance wars between himself, Michael Jackson, and MC Hammer. Still, this album was vintage Prince at the time and contains some of his most forgotten and slept on timeless classics.

On this album he experiments with rap and continues to push the boundaries of his band called the New Power Generation. This album also marked the appearance of his ex-wife, Mayte (seen all throughout the video compilation…ummm, short movie called Chains of Gold that showcases the songs of this album). After enjoying the videos and music for “7” and for “My Name Is Prince”, I bought this album used maybe a year or so after it was released. To my surprise, it was an extremely energetic, soulful, and powerful album that contains a number of my personal Prince favorites.

My first encounter with this album was an extremely strange single called “My Name Is Prince”. Oddly enough his name was not at that time since he had already officially changed it. Throughout the whole video, The Artist wears a hat with solid gold tassels or braids hanging on it to cover his face. On top of that, he carries around a gun handle that has a microphone as the barrel…… Hmmmmmm, is there some kind of symbolism involved? The song had The Artist rapping and yelling about being, “funky fresh for the nineties!”……Oh…K! Well, I can’t jest too much because I thought the song was great at the time it came out! So young, so foolish! The Artist basically had hit the pinnacle of his egotistical career and was making it known that he was at the top of the game in the music biz and the rest had to catch up. Debatable but even though this wasn't one of his popular releases on this album the many of the other tracks from the album are shining examples of why he was right. Still, this was the beginnings of Prince experimenting with rap. Fortunately, these experiments are few.

The very next song is his funk-rap fusion classic Sexy M.F. Surprisingly enough, Prince pulls off the whole rap thing by using his deep voice to ‘rap’ about a sexy woman. The result is a James Brown and the JB Horns sounding song that I’m sure strippers all over use often. “Sexy mutha F shakin dat A... shakin dat A..., shakin dat A...!” This one is undeniably funky.

Love 2 the 9’s is a track that flexed the prowess of the NPG Hornz as he liked to called them featuring regular Eric Leeds. Like many of the other tracks on this album, hornz are laced all throughout the track. Prince even throws in another rap verse within. During a time when music was filled with loops and samples, Prince continued to add hornz, rhythm guitar, keys, bass guitar, and a drum beat that could only be live percussion. The result is an upbeat love song that at that time was soothing and tender.

Morning Papers is probably one of my most dearly loved Prince tracks. This mellowed out melody has Prince calmly rockin' his guitar, harmonizing with smoothed out horns, and lyrically confusing the heck out of me! Still, this song has always held a high rank in my personal Prince playlist. His transition from mellow to soulful energy and passion is awe-inspiring. This song again is another drumming exhibition by the NPG drummer (the big-boneded guy in all of his videos at the time) who truly shines throughout this album.

The Max is just plain strange to me. I think Prince made it purely so he could dance to. It is an upbeat nineties dance track that has his in-house rapper Tony M. throwing in his hip hop quotes throughout. Quite annoying if you ask me. The breakdown is nice though.I usually skip this one.

Blue Light is a reggae laced love tune that Prince pulls off pretty well. With a sexy saxophone keeping pace with with Prince’s whimsical bluesy guitar play, he harmonizes beautifully and crafts a perfect addition to this album.

Melt With U marks the beginning of an odd stretch of filler songs in my opinion. This song has a disturbingly weird off key sound and has the man rappin' again. This time it is purely about sex.

Sweet Baby is actually a truly beautiful mellow song that is a great slow song to throw on a love jam tape. The vybe is just plain soft and relaxing. Maybe not quite a timeless classic though. After hearing it a few times I skipped over it.

The Continental is a strange half rap half strange song that has sexual under and overtones (whatever that means…). Carmen Electra is even featured as the guest rap artist on this song. Scary ain’t it. Part of this song is actually redone as a song on the Crystal Ball album. Well, I usually skip this one too but how can you resist Carmen Electra’s reply to, “Tell me how ya wanna be done!”

Damn U is a smoothed out blues/soul song that quickly diffuses the explosiveness of the previous song. It is nice the first couple of times you hear it but nothing special.

Arrogant is a mixed compilation of sheer fast chaos. Prince throws in off key everything into a short track that just threw me for a loop. It seems more of an interlude for the next track called The Flow which is a perfect example of Prince’s failed attempts to rap. I can’t take either one of these tracks so I skip these as well. Luckily together they are less than 4 minutes long.

The album’s climax is his timeless classic 7. Now, I am not a numerologist or a Prince-ologist but this song has a lot of spiritual and personal meaning for the man. The spiritual part is on a love level as seen by him singing to Mayte throughout the video for the song. On the personal side, the video version shows Prince, or The Artist rather, shooting and killing other versions of Prince in costumes featured in past albums or videos. Kind of a rebirth of sorts I guess. Still, if you don’t remember this song, it has Prince harmonizing splendidly to the tune of acoustic guitars, drums, and that exotic sounding Indian instrument thingy. I don’t know what it is called but it added a perfect touch to this song. Here Prince vocalizes a timeless and powerful love that overcomes all. Touching, ain’t it?

Surprisingly, Prince continues on this vybe with a mellow-smooth jazzy tune called God Created Woman. I kind of look at it as the prelude to The Most Beautiful Girl In The World. Here, Prince arranges a truly haunting chord for the NPG hornz where they simply breathe an electricity into this song. To say the least, this song is beautiful. Unfortunately, it is a short 3:18 minute song. Like many of Prince’s other albums, this song is one of those gems that wouldn’t ever hear the light of day on a radio but is truly one that should be heard by all who love the soul side of Prince.

3 Chains O’ Gold is like a storybook-type strange song that kind of reminded me of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen in some ways. Prince switches back and forth between a flute laced slow jam and an electric guitar fused jam with tones of a opera atmosphere throughout. With 6 minutes of this going on I had to skip it. I’d give it a try though because it is kind of Prince’s version of Queen oddly enough.

The Sacrifice Of Victor is basically Prince going back to what he loves…funk. This happy and upbeat again throws a New Jack drum beat in with the many talents of the NPG to result on a pleasing track whose chorus actually brings reminders of Prince’s Wendy & Lisa days with The Revolution. This is a nice way of ending an album of musical exploration for Prince.

As I said before, this album has its truly strange moments and thankfully has the parental advisory label on it because Prince definitely becomes his nasty self (not quite to the levels of Head or Erotic City but pretty durn close!!). Despite the bad parts, Prince delivers almost 75 minutes of sexy-funky-joy like only he can do.

3 New Prince albums coming in 2009!!!!

2009-01-05T08:54:00.000-05:00

Check the LA Time article for the news and then run over to Prince's new official site where updates on the albums and news and such will be coming!!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2008/12/visiting-with-p.html

www.lotusflow3r.com

2008-12-29T09:27:00.001-05:00

(Click on the cover art to go to my review!!)

Before you jump into another adventure in great music with the review that I did of BSTC's album entitled Music For A Saturday Evening, check out the music itself!

Soultracks.com, Honeysoul.com, and now Blogcritic.org!!!!

2008-12-24T11:20:00.000-05:00

That's right! I'm branching out in hopes of getting more exposure to my writing as well as these three sites that have been gracious enough to publish my reviews and writing!

The newest of the three, of course, as you can see here is Blogcritics.org!! This site features some great writers and editors and I hope I can provide them with a plethora of soul and hip hop reviews, news, and more that it seems they have a void of!

So stay tuned and as I publish there and elsewhere I will let you all know!

Floetry's Marsha Ambrosius mixtape!

2008-12-22T13:42:00.000-05:00

Songstress of Floetry fame is sooooooooo close to dropping her debut album from Dr. Dre's label Aftermath. Here is a mixtape recently released of all new material from her.

ENJOY!!

http://www.okayplayer.com/news/Marsha-Ambrosius-Yours-Truly-Mixtape-.html

Wendy and Lisa's new album

2008-12-22T10:59:00.001-05:00

Called White Flags Of Winter Chimneys, the ex-Revolution bandmates have dropped another effort. It is only available on their website www.wendyandlisa.com

This is a rare gift in the world of great music from dedicated artists that haven't dropped an effort in quite some time! Check it out!

New Prince album on the way!!

2008-12-22T10:42:00.000-05:00

Check the post from Rolling Stone. Apparently this album is supposedly rock heavy to the delight of old school Prince fanatics. After the read, jump over to Prince.org for other fans' take on the new material!

"four-minute instrumental"
cover of "Tommy James & the Shondells' 'Crimson & Clover'" (with altered lyrics of course)
"Colonized Mind" (new song) (mellow vibe)
"Wall Of Berlin" (new song)
"4ever" (new song) (ballad)

Once again the album is done and Prince is looking for a quick label deal that he likes to release this effort.

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/12/18/prince-premieres-four-new-songs-on-las-indie-103-new-album-on-the-way/

Purple music on the way!!!
Much love!

Questlove vs. Jay Dee: The “Little Brother” Beat Story

2008-12-09T14:05:00.001-05:00

Questlove vs. Jay Dee: The “Little Brother” Beat Story

This is an amazing story posted on Okayplayer by Questlove of The Roots. It is a great example of how expert hip hop producers have an amazing 'ear for music'. Questlove shares an experience he had with Jay Dee (aka J Dilla) and how he developed tracks. He even shares the audio of how the track progressed until Dilla was done with it. The progression is amazing to actually hear and then experience once finalized.

DJ's should take notice and learn from a legend!

Posted using ShareThis

D'Angelo signs a record deal to release new album in '09

2008-12-08T09:27:00.000-05:00

Ah yes,
One of the most anticipated soul artists to ever go 8 years or so without an album is finally taking time off from his ... um... recreational 'usage' to actually apply himself to his craft! D'Angelo is reportedly ready to finalize his 3rd effort and has collaborated with Raphael Saadiq, Q Tip and Roy Hargrove already. He is supposedly going to also record with Prince (who admires his ability and work by the way) as well as Cee-Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley and Goodie M.O.B. fame.

I really feel for this brotha. He really set the stage for an amazing career with Voodoo back in the day. Then the reports of him getting arrested for drug use or possession or something like that really set him back. He's been featured on albums since then though. Most of the artists that he's collaborated with already released their latest efforts with his talents included. We'll see how ground-breaking or ambitious this effort will be.

Apparently a single called "I Found My Smile Again" has been released on Itunes as well to drum up some buzz over his return. It's a good track that I've heard off of a mixtape earlier this year and seems to go back to his early Brown Sugar days. It has a good light-hearted feel to it.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/dangelo/rcamusicgroup/prweb1717364.htm

Let's all pray that he delivers and returns to form. We're all pulling for him...

J*Davey and Foreign Exchange REVIEWS!!!!

2008-11-24T10:43:00.000-05:00

Click above to check out my blazin review of Nicolay and Phonte's latest BEAUTIFUL effort featuring the AMAZING Musinah, Yahzarah, Zo!, and Darien Brockington!!!

Click above to check out my blazin' review of J*Davey's solo debut!!!!

An accessible Prince playlist of obscure and forgotten gems

2008-11-21T09:03:00.000-05:00

OK, so I was chatting with my cousin about trying to show people about the diversity in Prince's music and give a good overview of some good songs that not many people have heard outside of the Purple Reign era. So, I made him a little playlist of some personal favs that would expose them to some good/forgotten albums as well as just plain good Prince music!!

Here goes the Playlist:

1. "17 Days" - The Hits (Disc 3)- This is a song that Prince did in the 80's with The Revolution that just has a timeless rock sound to it. The guitar and bass guitar riffs are layered on top of each other in a funky way yet the song itself holds a semi-new wave rock feel as Lisa adds synth keys all about the track. Here Prince sings normally without the high falsetto (did I say that right) that so many people do not like. The lyrics are a bluesy and melancholy which make this one of my all time favs.

2. "Purple Music" - (BOOTLEG SONG...hard to find but I have it) This is one of Prince's early early songs that shows his exploration in funk. On this song he plays a funky guitar and keys as well as the percussion all himself for a ten minute funk session that I simply love. Lyrics are simplistic but he simply says that he doesn't do drugs because music gets him high enough.

3. "The Question Of U" - Graffiti Bridge - This song has one of the most memorable blues guitar solos that Prince has ever done. He plays this song often in concerts because the song itself is melancholy and fairly deep. It has a soft sex appeal to it but is no where near vulgar. It is Prince doing storytelling in the most classic of ways and the song is addictive to me. Definitely a fav.

4. "The Ride" - Crystal Ball - This is a live recording of a blues song that shows his guitar ability so very well. Sexy, confident, and loud... this song shows a bit of his diversity.

5. "She Spoke To Me[Extended Version]"- Old Friends For Sale This is an extended jazzy version of a sound that was featured on the Girl 6 Soundtrack. I did a review of this album on my blogsite so check it out because that album as a LOT of great Prince songs that flex his jazzy blues side. This song constantly has my friends asking me "Who is that playing" because the jazzy portion of the song is really good.

6. "North", "East", "West"- N.E.W.S. - Any of these tracks are REALLY great ways to show off Prince's jazzy/funky side. On this album it is purely instrumental. "North" is more on the relaxed jazzy side while "East" and "West" are both funk/jazz/rock fused songs that are as much an experiment as they are songs. THankfully they aren't so far out there that they sound bad. He got a Grammy Nomination for this album. Can't remember if he won.

7. "The One" - NEW POWER SOUL (also under the artist name NEW POWER GENERATION) - This song is further proof that Prince can write some outstanding love ballads. It is in the same tradition as "Insatiable" and "Scandalous". In most concerts he blends this song with "The Question of U" and it sounds EXCELLENT!!!

8. "Shhh" - Gold Experience - This is a rock love ballad that sends Prince back into his rock days. The drum and guitar solos in this song are great. This was when Prince played with an EXTREMELY talented crew called NPG or New Power Generation in the 90's.

9. "1+1+1 is 3" - The Rainbow Children Despite this album being an odd experiment in Prince preaching about the Jehova's Witness faith, it is a very funky album. This song was meant to be a party song and is very funky (throwback Parliament style).

10. "Electric Chair", "The Future", "Lemon Crush", or "Batdance" - Batman I'll admit it was strange to see a superhero movie set to the sounds of Prince but oddly enough it worked. These songs are all Prince at his finest. Some of them aren't necessary favs of other Prince fans but I love each of these songs. The first three have a bit of a rock edge to them but they all have a flavor that are distinctly Prince. Especially "The Future". The futuristic percussion and Prince wailin away on the bass guitar as the song goes off in a weird key shows how he can write in keys that most artists don't.

11. "Crystal Ball" - Crystal Ball - Ok... when you listen to this song, it is one of those experimental styled-"IS HE HIGH??" kind of things. The song is very long but it changes tempo, style, and everything very often. Give it a listen. It is definitely "Bjork" kind of odd.

12. "Don't Play Me" - Crystal Ball - Prince on acoustic guitar... nuff said. I just love this song.

13. "Willing And Able" - Diamonds And Pearls - Prince was in a creative storm around the time of this album because of the New Power Generation's ability to transition from rock to gospel to soul effortlessly. This song has a bit of a gospel-soul jazzy upbeat feel to it.

14. "Joy In Repetition" - Graffiti Bridge - This is just one of those haunting kind of songs that reminds me of "Theives in the Temple" in terms of how it has a signature Prince sound and yet the song has a timeless sound. It sounds fresh even today.

15. "The Dance" - 3121 Now this song is another example of how Prince LOVES to do alternate takes on songs to change things up. He released this song first as a track on the digital album (it's hard to find now since he only released it on his online music club) The Chocolate Invasion. On that album, the sound of the song was kind of light hearted and care free. The lyrics, however, are quite sad and are filled with frustration. So, on 3121, he added a samba feel to it and made the sound of the track match the lyrics. At the end of the song he adds a passionate adlib the shows the frustration in the song that the original take did not have. I love both versions of this song.

16. "Sexy Dancer" - Prince This is a long funky track from one of his early albums that flexes all of his musical instrument talents. It is a good display of what he's able to do.

17. "Anotherloverholenyohead" - Parade - Most people will only recognize "Kiss" from this album but it has a number of really good tracks. "Mountains" and "Under A Cherry Moon" are definitely Prince at his finest with a sound no one else can or ever will have. Still, this song shines for me. Wendy and Lisa join him on this one and for some reason the feel of this song sticks with me.

18. "The Morning Papers" - Love Symbol Album - I love so many songs on this album and it is one of my favs. This song was just a great love song that has a few good guitar solos (since his guitar work is what he's known for). "7" and "Love 2 the 9's" are good ones too.

19. "I Love U In Me" - The Hits 3 - Though explicit in a way, this is a smooth, chill love song that few but Prince could do. Great on a slow jam tape.

20. "Head" - Ok... who can deny how funky and odd this song is! Even though it is a popular song, it is an early MUST HAVE for Prince fans. Too funky!

21. "Letitgo" - Come - Still funky, this is a long forgotten album that had song good songs on it.

22. "Pretty Man" - Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic - This is Prince with Maceo Parker just doing an ode to James Brown which he frequently does (also see "Housequake" from Sign O' The Times). This album also has a LOT of duets (which people didn't think he could do) with Eve, Gwen Stefani, Chuck D, Sheryl Crow, and a few others I think. Great album.

The Foreign Exchange - "Daykeeper" feat. Muhsinah

2008-09-19T20:47:00.000-04:00

Phonte and Nicolay are finally ready to trailblaze again. Their first amazing blend of hip hop, soul, new wave, and electronica was a shocker to the underground hip hop scene and went places that most emcees can't and wouldn't dare to go. But Phonte and Nicolay set the stage for one of the greatest collaborations ever heard from an underground act.

Now, they're back with Leave It All Behind set to drop on Oct. 7th, 2008. Go to the link

above to download the first single off the album with the amazing Muhsinah!

Nicolay has blessed us all with another minimalist track that paints a solemn sonic scene of a gorgeous beach touched by the slight chill of the arrival of the fall. In comes Phonte with his love affair with amazing vocal harmony that lays softly upon the track with a love story so subtle and yet so affectionate. It carries the solemn chill throughout despite the affirmation of the love that laces the song.

Then as Muhsinah answers Phonte's call from the other edge of the mic, her calls blend perfectly as Phonte repeats, "She loves me" as if in a state of constant surprise, amazement, and a bit of humility. As she continues her perspective in this romance, she unleashes her trademark electric harmony that breathes a new dimension of comfort into the song that takes the entire effort that much further than any other Foreign Exchange effort to date.

This song is a blessed cool out/love song that is a must have! AND IT'S FREE!!!!

And if you don't know of her, check out my review of her first solo album called Daybreak 2.0.

Muhsinah

Kanye West "Love Lockdown"

2008-09-15T19:59:00.000-04:00

KANYE WEST - Love Lockdown (studio version)

I just saw this on the MTV Video Music awards and the song blew me away so I figured I'd share!

THE CRYSTAL BALL: Bootlegs, demos, and Truth....A Review

2008-08-29T15:02:00.000-04:00

Prince has been reported to have enough music recorded in his vaults to release a new album every month for a whole year and still have a number of albums left over. The Crystal Ball, his first attempt to release a collection of older music, is a reflective look at tracks that almost made Prince’s cut from back in his days with The Revolution up to his days when he was known as a symbol. Considered bootlegs and unreleased alternative tracks, this effort seemed to be Prince's effort to win back some fans by actually releasing some of the material that so many fanatics probably had acquired by hard to find bootleg CDs anyways.

It also marked Prince’s first attempt at an album with online interaction. When Love4oneanother.com was an actual website of his (it has since been replaced with his npgmusicclub.com website), The Crystal Ball's song credits and lyrics were all fleshed out into seperate interactive websites where there were sound effects, beautiful graphic artistry, and animations. Maybe it was a bit of overdramatic overkill but it was quite impressive regardless. In the end this was the beginnings of the amazing interactive fan club site that would come to be known as NPG Music Club.

The Crystal Ball contains 3 cds of bootlegs and an acoustic album of new material by ‘The Artist’ which was eagerly anticipated by fans once realized it was acoustic. Yet despite the raw energy of most acoustic performances, this cd was quite mediocre. Each Crystal Ball CD is fairly short and has around 10 to 12 tracks. A few of the tracks are remakes or remixes. One track (The Ride) is a live unreleased track and the rest is a hodge-podge of runner-up studio tracks. So let me break it down for you disc by disc.

Disc 1

Crystal Ball
This funky and truly vintage Prince tune is a testament to the originality and genius of Prince. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a great song, but rather a brave song. It is a track that starts out with strange spacey sounds, clicks, whirs, and features Prince with a slightly-hydrogen altered voice that he sometimes uses in some of his songs. For the first 5 minutes of the song, Prince really shows why this song was written “in a deepbluefunk depression” (as the notes in the liner notes explains) before he attempts to jump into a more funky and solo instrumental song. Still, to this day I have never been ever to really completely understand the lyrics to the song. Maybe one of my days of depression will shed some light on this odd track! Still, the ten and a half minute adventure has some tight bass and guitar solos later in the song after some of the space age noisy-ness is done. And just when you thought the solos redeemed the song, the Purple one ends the song off quite the way it began…weird. Remember when you heard that first single off of Left Eye's unreleased album back in the day??? Yeah... that's the face you'll have when you hear this one!

Dream Factory
With a high spirited and loud intro, get ready to jump into another funk classic with Prince still using that hydrogen-altered voice that he enjoys using. Blended in a bipolar kind of style this jam is Purple essence at its finest! Each verse wants to tell a story and slows the vybe down just enough to get the words out before screaming and flailing into the chorus where Prince takes his funky bass and rhythm guitar into another gear. This is definitely one of those efforts that displays his creativity and love for the lost art of funk.

Acknowledge Me
In the liner notes it was said that this song was created for the Gold Experience. It was later replaced on the album by the track called P. Control. This song has a bit of a new jack swing vibe to it (similar to We March and 319 on the Gold Experience). Once again, he attempts to display some misguided sense of emcee skillz by attempting flow in the midst of some seriously lackluster shouts of "HO!" in the midst. Complete with strong synth keys and the NPG hornz accompanying, it has a sample from a track called “The Line”. In a way, this is more of a time machine type of a song that fits well in the midst of songs from its day and age but it is far from timeless like some of Prince's classics.

Ripopgodazippa
A truly sexy song with reggae undertones, this jon't was “inspired by an episode on a weight lifting bench”. The track is said to be Chante Moore’s Precious with the NPG Hornz providing a bit more flava. Visions of Parade definitely come to mind here. Jazzy guitar rifs and a twinge of horns play about Prince's light-hearted lyricism stuck upon the shape of some unnamed beauty. The imagery is still pretty vivid despite the comical lyrics at times.

Lovesign (Shock G Remix)
This song was originally released on Prince’s compilation album 1-800-New-funk with Nona Gaye. I always thought this song was funny because it is said to be Nona Gaye featuring Prince. Still, you hear mostly Prince’s voice while Nona’s soft voice accompanies his throughout the song. This remix isn’t much different from the original only it has a “you don’t stop” cut into various points in the song with a few other track changes.

Hide the Bone
A song by Prince’s late 90’s group NewPowerGeneration, it is one of the few songs that Prince did which he didn’t actually write. It is an energetic song featuring Prince hollerin and screamin throughout. It also has Prince doing an interesting jazz scat in the middle of the song. Nothing really to get excited about though. Still the flava is decidedly classic rock and has a sound that you could probably see Lenny Kravitz remaking.

2morrow
One of my favorites, this smooth and mellow track has a really nice cool out vybe. The liner notes say that it was inspired by a girl from “the Love4oneanother experience” and hence a small clip of the Most Beautiful Girl In The World. It’s basically a song confessing jealousy if the girl is desired by the rest of the “band”. Despite the stalker tendencies of the lyrics of this jam, the jazzy guitar mixed in with the mellow groove and muted trumpets throws a "shades in a jazz club" vybe to sugarcoat the depression!

So Dark
A completely redone smoothed-out track for the original off of the Come album which actually had the song called Dark. The version on Come had more of a soulful blues feel to it with organ play with a guitar solo. It was kind of playful and though it had a blues feel it had a bit more energy and was even slightly cheerful. Here, Prince goes for a more melancholy feel to it a track that seems to lightly weep as he watches his love leave him.

Movie Star
This is a hilarious song that reminds fans of the days when Prince still rolled with Morris Day and The Time (whom it was actually written for). It has Prince kind of re-enacting the “Under A Cherry Moon” playa character. The song itself is kind of funky with the synth drums and funky guitar and key play. It is said by the liner notes to be D’Angelo’s favorite bootleg.

Tell Me How U Wanna Be Done
This song is a slightly repetitive remix that has spoken verses by Prince and Carmen Electra. Not really a spectacular song but its stylings and simplicity make it an interesting strip club jon't though.

DISC 2

Interactive
This song was another song that was supposed to be on the Gold Experience. It features Prince with some raw gritty bass play that carries the track throughout. Though the intent of the track is to be a party rock song, the electric guitar's role in this song was drowned out by the way that the bass carries the song. A bit funkier than it is rock, it is still a very energetic song. With his wife Mayte singing background this lively jam was replaced by Endorphinmachine and actually sounds kind of similar to it.

Da Bang
This is a strange song that starts of sounding like a semi-blues song and then accelerates into a chaotic rock track midstream. Then, in a quirky kind of way, it recesses back to the semi-blues cool out vybe over and over. Composed when he was still called “The Artist”, this one could have easily made it on his Chaos and Disorder album. Whether or not that is a compliment or a diss depends on your affinity for that album! For those itchin for his guitar play…give this track a shot.

Calhoun Square
This funk-rock mellow groove comes off almost like a live track thanks to the rockin drum work. With a slightly less bipolar nature, this rockin track bops along for a while until the chorus almost calmly surges into a guitar riffed chorus that needed no lyrics. Explained into the liner notes to be written about his NPG Store, this is some kinda lovely Purple magic with just the right amount of Prince doing what he does best... breathe life into each and every guitar riff!

What’s My Name
A wicked song with Prince playing a funky bass solo throughout. Lyrics are too low to really care about. The bass play has to be heard to be believed!

Crucial
Ok, just imagine a song that kind of reminds you of that classic Adore from the Sign O’ The Times album. Well, this track should because that is where it was to be placed. Prince does all instruments on this classic and is beautiful song in its own right. A must listen for sure.

An Honest Man
A nice little purely vocal track by Prince inspired by Under the Cherry Moon. Short and Sweet.

Sexual Suicide
Hornz, a Sheila E. conceived drum beat, funky bass, and a Girls & Boys flavor. A decent filler track

Cloreen Bacon Skin
This is one of the oddest and most enjoyably exhausting tracks that I’ve heard. I honestly think that it was D’Angelo’s inspiration for his Chicken Grease song on his Voodoo album. This is purely Prince and Morris Day in the studio vybin together on a funky spur of the moment track. It is a fifteen minute long drum and bass track with mostly Prince doing a James Brown styled band direction. It is an interesting bootleg but maybe not one you’d listen to everyday. You’d have to be in that mood. Definitely funky though.

Good Love
A synthesized song that was reminiscent of his Black Album days.

Strays Of The World
This song full of grandeur was intended for Prince’s plans to do a Broadway musical. It kind of reminds me of some of his work done on Emancipation. I saw it as another filler track.

DISC 3

Days Of Wild
This song is one of the NPG’s favorite jams that could easily been done at late-night Paisley Park jam session. Imagine those weak rappers that used to be a part of NPG back in “Diamonds and Pearl” days and you’ll catch the vybe of this song. emcee Prince on the chrome is not too appealing. It kind of has a half rock half new jack vybe to it and is a bit to odd to really warrant much of a second listen.

Last Heart
This is a fantastic track that Prince intended to be a demo (whatever that really means). Prince cries out leaving the falsetto behind on this bluesy track that kind of has an uptempo yet mellow vybe if that is possible. Then to round out the track in true Prince fashion, he blends in the talents of Eric Leeds on saxophone to compliment the song’s flavor. Defiant, strong, and still aching, this song is another classic addition to his archives of timeless pieces.

PoomPoom
Not made for any album and made when he was still “The Artist”, this track really did nothing for me with it’s odd chorus and could have easily been stuck on Chaos And Disorder. It is that off-base….

She Gave Her Angels
This piano driven song is a story about his ex-wife Mayte. It kind of reminded me of “Holy River” and some of the other love songs on the end of Disc 2 of Emancipation.

18 & Over
This song actually has a nice funky track that reminds me of Come which it actually pulls from. Unfortunately, Prince raps all through it which always finds me forwarding to the next track “just like a Kemosabe-bone-Ranger should”…..whatever.

The Ride
Ahh….an excellent live track with Prince providing an excellent blues bootleg. This track was supposedly played a number of times at live concerts and the Sacrifice of Victor version is said to be the best. This is the first of two versions that I’ve heard and this one is pretty tight. It will definitely find its way onto your playlist if you like songs where Prince rips it on his guitar. Here Prince simply woos the crowd with sexuality and blues styled lyricism. In the midst of it all Prince adlibs through out the chorus, once again, making the guitar solo the actual chorus for the song.

Get LooseAND P. Control
These two instrumental synth-style booty/strip club joints were used for his Erotic City dancers to get down on. Probably good music for exercising…since I don’t do aerobic or erotic dancing, I skip.

Make Your Mama Happy
This is a funky song that is said to be a result of listening to Sly and the Family Stone’s “Fresh”. This is the purest essence of funk by Prince. JB’s like hornz with funk guitars and bass. Love it!! Now this one I’d dance to!!

Goodbye
This lovely tune was replaced by Holy River on Emancipation. It has a grand epic feel to it yet still sounds quite similar to Holy River. Drum beat reminds me of So Dark though..

THE TRUTH

Finally, the most attractive part of the whole Crystal Ball package was the new acoustic album The Truth. This was really appealing because many felt he should have done one years ago just to flex his musical muscles and show that he could throw down instrumentally. Instead, Prince managed to set aside the amplifiers and blend his acoustic guitar play with his trademark “Revolution”-styled grooves. Some of the songs are simply him and the guitar and other offer a full blended track with keys, sound effects, looped vocal harmonies, and such. All in all though, the album didn’t live up to my expectations throughout AT FIRST. It ended up being one of those albums that as a whole had to grow on me. It is a unique and pleasurable Prince experience. Here is the rundown.

The Truth
This track finds “The Artist” sitting on a stool playing an acoustic guitar preaching “How will U know the Truth”. This bluesy track is fairly short and just another reason for fans to love the man. It adds flavor to any Prince playlist and sounds good when coupled with the next track and “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore”.

Don’t Play Me
“I’m over 30 and I don’t smoke weed”.

This is probably his testament to the rest of the artists AND critics shooting for him in the industry. Again it is just Prince jammin on an acoustic guitar.

“I’m the wrong color and I play guitar
my only competition is
well, me in the past…
You couldn’t play enough for me now
To make me feel like a star
Don’t play me
I already do in my car
Don’t play me…”

A simple riff and heart felt lyrics from the Purple one. But don’t worry, he doesn’t fall into the Lauryn Hill Experience and meld the same riffs (AS IF!!!!). This one was just too short though. Not even 3 minutes.

Circle Of Amour
I still can’t put my finger on the lyrics…4 girls who were cheerleaders and great friends and the story line kind of comes off as if they are witches from the movie THE CRAFT or something. It is a truly mellow track with acoustic and jazzy guitar riffs accompanied by light synth keys in the background.

3rd Eye
This track reminds me of Me’Shell NdegeOcello jammin on Wild Night. It has Rhonda Smith jammin on the bass. It is a fast paced jam with only acoustic guitar, Prince, and Rhonda. Too tight!!

Dionne
A strange sounding song on the acoustic guitar where it sounded like Prince was trying to experiment with creating sounds on a acoustic guitar to accompany the spacey synth sounds that are featured on the chorus. Another high pitched vocal effort by Prince. Might appeal to others but it is just filler space for me.

Man In A Uniform
A slightly funky song co-written by Rhonda Smith with bongos, guitar, and bass. Strangely pleasing and short song.

Animal Kingdom
After taking a little while to get into the meat of the song, this Rhonda Smith-bass assisted jam has Prince preaching. With odd sounds of dolphins in the background and electric guitar assistance for the song, it is a little bit better than a filler track. He throws some soulful vocals in there to funk it up a bit but all in all it has more of a soft rock feel to it.

The Other Side Of The Pillow
I could never put my finger on this one either. It has a blues feel to it while his high pitched vocals carry throughout. Never really caught my ear. SKIP!!

Fascination
Kind of a fast acoustic track with a cool exotic sound to it. The harmony on the chorus is electric. This song is probably one of the tightest on the track and features Rhonda Smith on bass and some percussion. The guitar solo is by someone named Mike Scott. This will spice up any Prince playlist a bit. Not really a danceable track but it is appealing.

One of Your Tears
Killer bass by Rhonda Smith on this slow jam. Virtually no percussion and rightly so. Allows more concentration on the deep and wavy bass play and the occasional acoustic guitar play.

Comeback
Prince has some nice vocals on this acoustic guitar assisted track. Some may like it as a mellow cool out track.

Welcome 2 The Dawn
Probably a deep song if I had taken the time to listen to the words. Y’all try it out because I didn’t have the patience to get into the song.

All in all, it is a nice album. Still just as with any Prince album, it all depends on which one of his ‘sounds’ of his that you like whether you’ll like all, some, or none of the album. Still, the shortness of every cd, (50 minutes or less) kind of takes away from the vybe because it is all over before you know it. I recommend buying, picking favs, and making a big 80 minute mix of Crystal Ball/The Truth favs. In the end I felt it was worth the forty bucks I paid for it. It definitely has vintage AND new Prince written all over it….literally!!

Much luv til next time
Live4Love

Prince and his CHOCOLATE INVASION: A review

2008-08-20T19:51:00.000-04:00

So back in the year 2000 or so, Prince started a very impressive online fan club effort that was to be his primary method of music distribution called the NPG Music Club. He charged members a hefty fee (like $50 a year or something...can't remember) for a one year membership. Club benefits included monthly music downloads and radio shows as well as tour VIP benefits. During this first year, he released a number of tracks that he is now compiling into one 'digital' album called The Chocolate Invasion. Truthfully, I REALLY enjoyed a number of these tracks and wished he had released them sooner. Actually, I think these tracks were outcasts that didn't quite make the album back in the day. So, he grouped these demos sold them for a buck each on his site or at $10 for non-members and about $8 for members. This digital album will probably never see the radios or receive video treatments from the Purple one but they are DEFINITE MUST HAVES for Prince fans new and old.

The first track (When Eye Lay My Hands On You) is a rocked out blues ballad that seems like it came from the Sign O' The Times era. I say this because it sounds as if it has the vocal talents of that girl called Cat or Kat...whatever her name was. At times the song comes off smooth and then he amps it up with classic fret fondling that he is famous for. This is a great song that may not sound right next to Adore but has an edgy sexiness to it regardless.

In his attempt to mock pop artists who can't read music or see the evils of the industry, Prince composed this next track called Judas Smile. Here he throws darts at a 'nameless' artist/record company. This electro-rock-funk track takes you along his tirade as he talks trash and spits fire through the whole track. Then the song blazes into a high volume, high energy bridge that leads into a futuristic reggae beat. "The Chocolate Invasion is here" repeats over and over as he continues to drop the funk with keys and bass guitarizms!!! Truly funky and absolutely essential to my Prince collection!

Now, Supercute is an odd song to me. It is a mellow bluesy song about a dime piece that every guy wants as a wifey. This was a song that really escaped my radar at first because I couldn't stand the chorus, but near the end of the song is a short but absolutely edible guitar solo. This song quickly became one of my favorites. "Baby got game, she'll take yo loot, keys to the crib with no dispute, when you see her dancin in her birthday....Supercute!!"

The next track is a classic ballad of epic proportions. This seems as if he maybe made it around the same time frame as Adore and Pink Cashmere. Super sexy and slow, Underneath The Cream has his patented sexy voice crooning out his intentions to get 'between dem thighs'. Absolutely essential Prince slow jam.

Ok, Sexme?sexmenot is one of the tracks that I never really got into because it seemed as if it was during the time he was trying to be hip and do clubbin' music. Kinda in the same vein as My Name Is Prince. It tries to be funky but falls short to me. At least he doesn't try to rap in this one. Still, the drum machine drains all the funk out of this track for me. I just never got into it...

Now those waiting on another rockin' track where he just wails on the guitar are in luck because Vavoom is pure unadulterated rock n roll! This is old school rockin' good times vibe will have you practicing your air guitar in no time. Simply put, this one is a gem.

On the next track, High, he funks out a bit. The track seems like a great concert opener.

"Got the music get you high again, got the beat make ya act like a hooligan, got the rhyme make you tell a friend, Prince...gon'...get...choo...high!!"

The song is lively and upbeat and has a real nice jazzy/funk fusion to it that dominates the whole song. Another great song that seems to have a timeless nature to it.

Changing the mood again, The Dance (an alternative version was done on his 3121 album) is another awesome ballad that I feel in love with the first time I heard it. It is hard to compare how this song sounds but I think it is in the same vein as Blue Light from The Love Symbol album only without the reggae beat. The track is soothing and yet a bit spacy though not too futuristic as to not make it sexy. The vybe really holds its own against other favorite slow jams he's made yet the tone of the song doesn't quite seem to fit the melancholy mood of the topic. This probably explains the 3121 treatment of the song which takes a more dramatic and slightly sad tone to the song's sound.

Now, Gamillah is an instrumental track that sounds like it might have either been made for one of his movies or for that Kamasutra orchestral cd. It is purely jazz guitar, sax, piano, and light percussion. It is soothing, smooth, and a great way to end off a slow jam tape.

Finally, to end off this album is yet another slow jam. It was a single that Prince released just before Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic that featured Angie Stone called U Make My Sunshine. This is just a beautiful gospel sounding track due to the excellent choir background vocals. It amps up the soul and emotion of the song that brings a wholesome passion and love to the breathless lyrics. It is an excellent wedding song I think. The end of the song is high charged and very powerful as the choir really delivers on the soul here. I really love this extended version over the quick ending that the radio version initially had where the light adlibs from Angie and Prince really round out the song rather than leaving it so abrupt.

Ah, yes people...there it is. Prince drops 10 absolutely essential tracks in this effort that are mostly slow jams but have so pretty good funk efforts within as well. Trust me, if Musicology or Sign O' The Times was your bag, you'll love to have this one. The slow jams here are essential for casual and die hard fans alike...TRUST ME. This is one to add to the Prince collection my friends! Download it and make that next version of that 'Get Da Drawls' tape!!

Prince's Parade

2008-08-15T11:32:00.000-04:00

Ah yes, the Purple mania continues and oddly enough Okayplayer has aready dropped areview of Prince's Parade album!! Now THAT's love people!

Parade was actually a soundtrack to a quirky little movie that Prince and Jerome Benton had back in '86 I think where they both played American hustlers/giggalos in France around the '50s-'60s timeframe. It was a bit of a romantic comedy if you will and feature quite a bit of Prince's odd theories on love. Though the movie had it's moments, it was most assuredly not groundbreaking. Still, it was enjoyable to me enough to keep it in my movie collection (call me biased! :-) ).

With that aside, the album itself had some of my most favorite Prince tracks ever. Kiss is one of his biggest hits of course. Memories of the video and watching Wendy play guitar and Prince pranced around chasing after a veiled dancer always inspires giggles of some sort! Still, the guitar solo in this song is one of the funkest in recent memory and it begs to have an extended version someplace! (I'm sure there's one somewhere in his bootleg library)

Another classic song of his on this album is Mountains. Featured as the ending credits song in the movie, this song has an inspirational, grand-scale, anthem-like feel to it. With a sweeping chorus and playful horns, it is definitely one of my favs of all time by Prince. The extended version of this song is beautiful as well.

I also think that Anotherholeinyourhead is an underappreciated jam as well. With a wicked bassline and a kinda melancholy lyricism, this song is also one of those sleeper hits as well.

What gets me though is there is a guitar instrumental that plays in the movie that is some kinda grand that I wish was included or made into a song of some sort. Of course, that moment happens quite often in movies...

Anyways, this is definitely a must have album for any old or new Prince fan that chronicles an important time in his career with The Revolution.

Prince's THE VAULT: OLD FRIENDS 4 SALE

2008-08-14T22:24:00.000-04:00

The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale is a jazzy collage of the Purple One’s material where the liner notes say, ‘was written during the period beginning 1/23/85 and ending 6/18/94 and was originally intended 4 private use only’. This ‘original intention’ is definitely expressed by Prince in the cover art featuring him lounging backwards in a chair, elbow resting on the back of the chair, chin in hand, and eyes closed. To say the least, he doesn’t look the least interested or happy. In the midst of Prince changing his name to a symbol in an effort to be able to create music that he’d still own (until his Warner Brother contract was done), Prince was quite active musically and was delving into figuring out NEW ways to get the music that HE chose to the masses WITHOUT A MAJOR LABEL DEAL. And until then, he had to continue to disperse choice selections like The Vault until he could do so.

Coming out just before or around the same time as Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic, The Vault hit the shelves with no promotion at all. Warner Brothers would do the same in 2001 when Prince began his Hit N’ Run tour just before his Rainbow Children release by dropping another greatest hits CD. It really contained virtually the same songs as The Hits and B-sides CDs released back in the nineties only minus the B-sides. The liner notes in this EP sized release have no song info aside from who performed and assisted in the creation of the songs. Get it done and get it released had to be the mantra for this collection.

Despite the length disappointment (barely 50 minutes), the quality of the songs is quite astounding in my eyes. It seems as if a majority of these songs show off Prince’s attempts and experimentations with jazz and blues during the period of time listed. The result is 10 additions to any Prince collection that shouldn’t be overlooked.

The Rest Of My Life is a less than 2 minute little song that jumps off with some lively piano play and kicks off into some jazzy hornplay and a couple of decent solos that really set the tone for the first couple of songs on the album. It is still too short though.

It’s About That Walk is a playful jazzy tune that has the same flava as Courtin’ Time (from Emancipation) and Pretty Man (bonus track on Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic featuring Maceo Parker). It features a swing styled beat and has some lively and truly invigorating hornplay from the NPG Hornz. It is a playful and happy tune that is danceable. The song’s energy is playful and a great testament to Prince’s humorous side and infectious joy in creating great music.

The next song is a jazzy extended version of She Spoke 2 Me which was featured originally on the Girl 6 Soundtrack. Here Prince goes through the song just as in the original and at the end, he jumps into a jazzy jam session with the band. It includes a jazz guitar solo, keys solo, a bass guitar solo, and a drum/saxophone duet that are worth the eight and a half minutes of the song. It is a great addition to any Prince compilation. It's a smooth and mellow track that is beautifully extended in a way that doesn’t lose the vybe of the original song. For me, this made the album worth dishing out some dough for.

5 Women is a perfect blues song where Prince has a great blues guitar solo that reminded me of B.B. King and Lucille. This song is five minutes of blues bliss.

When The Lights Go Down is a beautifully made seven minute tune with some jazzy and blues undertones within. With a sexy little groove and the title as a theme, you do the math!! Definitely a mid tempo romantic tune, Prince kicks the song off with a hoppin piano solo accompanied by softly playing bongos and a jazzy rhythm guitar holding a simple tune. This one is certified quiet storm material.

My Little Pill is one of those spacey weird one minute songs that sounds like it was intended for his Chaos and Disorder or obscure Black Album. Truly an experiment in sound, Prince seems to touch and linger upon notes that most artists would never dare marry within a harmony or song. Still, I guess it wouldn’t be Prince without an effort like this somewhere on the album.

There Is Lonely is another blues effort that really lays the depression on thick for about two minutes. It has a short little guitar solo that reminded me of the vybe he had in The Question Of U only the guitar licks are decidedly more jazzy than rock laced.

Old Friends 4 Sale seems like a slow Duke Ellington style big band sound. Making this the album title track explains the jazzy theme for the entire effort. Again, this is another brilliant display of how versatile the Purple One is in composing many different genres of music.

Sarah is an upbeat lively tune that reminded me of his days collaborating with The Time. It has some funky guitars and hornz throughout and has Prince jive talkin to a girl by the name of the track title. Again this is another short track that doesn’t quite reach three minutes.

Extraordinary is a slow crescendo love song that is short as well (2 and a half minutes long). With Prince crooning tune a background jazz jam with jazzy guitar and drums led by a piano and a bit of orchestra style strings, this song keeps the flava of the rest of the songs on the album and was a fitting ending to the album.

If this had been an actual effort for Prince to make a jazz and blues album, it could easily be one of my favorites but there just isn't enough meat in this set up. Though it is hard to compare this album to his Grammy nominated jazz fusion album N.E.W.S. back in ’03, it is a solid selection of songs that probably led up to it’s creation. In the end, if you can find this CD for ten dollars or less, it is a worthy addition to a music collection if you like hearing Prince in a mode other than rock.

Prince's EMANCIPATION: A review

2008-08-11T11:36:00.000-04:00

Prince (or at the time of this album’s release "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" or TAFKAP) has established himself as probably one of the most talented, timeless, enduring, and successful solo artists of his time and EMANCIPATION was definitely the second peak of his career (from the standpoint of Prince marking a new beginning...one free of the evils of the industry allowing musical and lyrical freedom). Within are three CDs of confusion that will perplex Prince fans. He tackles R&B, swing, jazz, salsa, techno, and (of course) rock in his first album after his release from his Warner Bros record deal (hence the album title).

Now be warned, after speaking with various Prince fans that prefer his 80’s style music, many fans were unimpressed by the 3 hours of so called “mediocrity”. In a sense, it can be understood because you won’t find the unforgettable guitar solos or drum machine heavy synthesizer licks on every track. Instead, you receive polished, well produced tracks of astounding variety. Not only was this a creative explosion by Prince in sheer amount of new material but it is probably one of his more ambitious projects where he continues to display his musical versatility and courage. Now, with that said, those not particularly interested in him attempting swing, jazz, techno, or hip hop will definitely not be missing much if they choose not to experience this album. Still, from a soulful Prince perspective, there are a few gems here that could round out a Purple playlist.

The first CD is a mix of feelings and vibes that begins with The Jam of the Year. Here Prince conjures an old Sign O’ The Times/Graffiti Bridge vybe where he laces funk with a simple party theme and a Rosie Gaines belting away. One of the few singles released from the album, Somebody’s Somebody draws a lonely, melancholy, and yet relaxing melody. Later, Courtin' Time swings lively NPG horns into your ear and I Can't Make You Love Me caresses your heart with beautiful saxophone play. Prince continues to flex his musical talent by crafting a Santana-like song called Damned If I Do. It starts out sounding like an electric guitar flooded track and mid-way it slides into a lighthearted groove filled with latino style horns, piano, and Prince’s own guitar stylings. It is an outstanding display of how well he has mastered and melded so many different styles of music.

The second CD is sultry, sexy, and soulful. It almost seemed as if the whole album was dedicated to his wife of the time, Mayte (now divorced). One of the songs even features his lost child’s heartbeat. It was a masterful program of songs that flow into each other and set quite the romantic mood. Emale was a catchy song as well that parts the love song mood with a smooth medium paced beat. Kind of thrown in the midst of the flurry of love songs is the synthesized funk track Joint 2 Joint. This song definitely seemed quite out of place and further pushed the word ‘odd’ to new levels with a tap dancing solo in the midst of the exhaustingly long song. Saviour was fresh and powerful wave of passion that hit a high note with a multitude of crescendos and even some memorable guitar play. It may seem abit dramatic and sappy for some but given the right moment, this song can find it’s way into someone’s playlist. To mellow things out, Prince added a soul soothing and relaxing instrumental called The Plan from the fully instrumental album ‘Kamasutra’ by the NPG Orchestra. It’s a beautiful and haunting short track that is an excellent mood setting addition to the disc.

Unfortunately, little can be said of the 3rd disk. The first few titles are techno/dance efforts that are easily forgotten in the discography of the Purple One. New World seemed to go hand in hand with his whole New Power Generation theme hence his coined phrase ‘Love 4 One Another’. Sleep Around was a great hidden gem of a song that displayed the skill of the NPG Horns group. The rest of the CD seems to dwindle down through poor attempts at rap, a lackluster remake of The Delfonics’ La, La, La, I Love You, to the title track finale of Emancipation.

All in all, it is another timeless and absolute must have for any Prince fan. Whether it is liked in pieces or loved as a whole, a true fan would NEVER pass up on 3 hours of music from The Artist (who is now called Prince again). Still, this venture is definitely not for those Prince fans in need of his blazin guitar skills and forays into the realm of rock. None of that will be found here. Little to no funk (worth mentioning) is present either. Instead, this album is more of of a prelude to the many albums that come after it such as N.E.W.S. (the Grammy winning jazz album), Xpectation (another jazz album), Chocolate Invasion, The Rainbow Children (a funky Jehova’s Witness version of Lovesexy), and The Slaughterhouse.

So stay tuned and I’ll dig into those efforts as well!

Love 4 one another :)

Take heed and LISTEN

2008-08-06T19:29:00.000-04:00

Sup Fam,
Once again I'm doing my best to shed some light on some new and noteworthy artists and last night I stumbled across a few that are SURE to find a FEW places on your favorite playlist!

Take a look at that vision above and you'll bear witness to Missy's latest protege named Jasmine Sullivan! It's like I told a friend of mine, she has a voice that is a powerful cross between Jennifer Hudson and Lauryn Hill. Yes... the girl is that blazin'! She sounds good too ;-) Anyways, they don't call Missy a genius for nothing! Google her now and take it all in!

Also, next week marks the album release of my newest fav artist, Janelle Monae!! Lord have mercy this woman has a unique yet precise and soulful voice! Now if you already are a fan of Janelle's and you already have her Metropolis Suite CD, I warn you that this release is simple a 'special edition' version with the exact same tracks as the first suite plus two more ("Smile" which is a GORGEOUS slow song, and "Mr. President"). For me, this is a must have just because I want to support Janelle in any way possible. Just wanted to let you know though before you get hyper thinking that this is a full album release of all new material. Otherwise, GO AND GET THIS EP! You won't be sorry. And if you've forgotten, here is my review of Metropolis Suite I.

And for some reason, I've been hankering for some Wendy & Lisa so I went on an Amazon.com trip and snagged a couple of their old cds. I gotta review these just so I can say that I did and prove to everyone that Wendy & Lisa are geniuses that definitely deserve a lifetime achievement award.

So, I'm going back into check out a few new cds and hopefully I'll turn up some more inspiration to write!

Much love til then,

BJ

What's on deck:
Adele
Anthony David
Sergio Mendes
Noel Gourdin
(and whoever else falls in my lap!!)

Zo and Tigallo review on Honeysoul.com

2008-08-04T13:32:00.000-04:00

check out a hilarious but respectful remake project delivered by producer Zo! and multi-talented Little Brother emcee Phonte Coleman!

Dwele's "Sketches Of A Man"

2008-08-02T18:54:00.001-04:00

-a review by B.J. Brown

Consistently silky, Dwele G has fleshed out the third dimension of his musical prowess for us all in an effort entitled Sketches Of A Man. In the landscape of soul, some of those who experienced Some Kinda… found it to be a mostly quiet storm effort. Minus a few early funked out tracks and a Slum Village collabo, they were right. Still, it seems as if regardless of what type or tempo track that Dwele rocks (speaking of his album efforts at least), he always manages to work a polishing cloth over the beat and make it smooth to your ear lobes.

Well, this third album is crafted a tad bit different than his past two efforts. He blends musical interludes skillfully in between mid-tempo and slow grooves throughout the effort. Half the time you don’t even recognize the interludes are such until the beat fades out leaving you wondering if he maybe planned to revisit the track later on or if he was just experimenting in the studio and liked the groove enough to include.

5 Dolla Mic is a groovy example of this. Clocking in at just under a couple of minutes, Dwele G basically freestyles a studio moment where he forgot his songs and hit the studio with borrowed equipment! The result is still classic Dwele.

Of course, the meat of this album is beautifully blessed mixture of what he brought to the table in both of the first albums. Not straying too far away from his sometimes choppy yet sonically rising and falling verses, Dwele manages to confuse and sooth difficult tracks like in Love Ultra. A challenge for the rhythmically challenged, songs like this are Dwele’s claim to fame that few artists outside of maybe Muhsinah could pull off. Kind of like that sweet spot where a DJ slows a hot beat down and begins fading in another beat in and the beats mesh but kind of conflict at the same time.

So if that confused you then let me break it down to you. Simple and plain, Dwele is a one man modern day Earth Wind & Fire. Elements of The ELEMENTs are heard on tracks like Feels So Good where he blends his horn play with bass heavy grooves to keep you movin to a danceable old soul beat.

He even manages an admirable Usher-imitation track in Body Rock that doesn’t stray too far away from what he’s been known to put out. On his typical collabo with Slum Village, he seems to blend an old Jay Dee beat from Fantastic, Vol. 2’s track named Go Ladies. Here he seems to freestyle a bit again with his jazzy style as SV works their 16 bars in to flesh out the effort. The result is still smooth despite the edge that SV brings.

Fans of this extremely talented man are most assuredly going to find some new favorites that blend perfectly with the rest of his catalogue here. If you’re looking for drastic change in his sound then you might be disappointed. Still, his dedication to his unique style is not lost, watered down, or wasted on ANY of the efforts on this album. So, enjoy these rough sketches of the third extension of a man named Dwele G.

Jennie Laws Review + Muhsinah, Alex Lattimore, Darnell Levine

2008-08-02T18:40:00.000-04:00

Sup Fam

Ok, so recently a music site named Soultracks.com decided that they loved my writing so much that they wanted to make me a Staff Writer! Essentially all that means is that I'll get paid for the reviews I submit to them!WOO HOO!! Anyways, I'm still on the Honeysoul roster so don't you all get yo drawls in bind LOL

So... my first adventure into Soultracks took me into Canada to cover the buzz around an AMAZING multi-instrumentalist that is managed by Prince's manager. Check out the review for more!!

And in the spirit of doing what I do, check out a few more of my more recent reviews on a couple of blazin new artists!

Alex Lattimore

Muhsinah

Darnel Levine

Hopefully I can make some time in my busy schedule of working on my second poetry book and life in general to do a few more reviews soon. Right now, these artists are the next in my sights!

Santogold
Anthony David
Dwele (the review is done... i just have to post it!!!)

Thanks for tunin' in!