This week RnB / soul fans have been blessed with this sensational collaboration of soulful Talent! For those who are unfamiliar – Lil John Roberts is one of the most respected RnB drummers in the industry, he has performed on tracks with Snarky Puppy, Musiq Soulchild, Robert Glasper and Jill Scott to name a few, as well as touring with the likes of Stevie Wonder!

Lil John is currently working on his debut album entitled, ‘Heartbeat‘ which will feature tracks with Mint Condition, The Robert Glasper Experiment, Eric Roberson and a number of new RnB artists. ‘Space’ is the first single from this album and features vocals from Eric Roberson, Stokely (of Mint Condition), Anthony David and Musiq Soulchild whose voices blend beautifully together!

The track is uplifting with a jazzy edge, the collobration is genius – showcasing true RnB finesse and artistry. The standard has been set high for the release of ‘Heartbreak‘ in July and it is nice to see that with the likes of Lil John and Robert Glasper musicians are finally getting the spotlight that they deserve!

Carly – ann (@CarlyMond)


Lil John Roberts feat Eric Roberson, Stokely, Anthony David & Musiq Soulchild

 

 

 

 

Who can forget when Mase stormed on the music scene in 1997 with his debut album Harlem World, featuring RnB classics such as ‘Tell Me What You Want‘ and ‘Feels Good’? But despite the success of this album and his second ‘Double Up‘, Mase made a shock announcement live on radio in 1999 that he was retiring from music to answer a ‘call from God’ and become a Pastor.

Subsequent years have seen attempted comebacks with some success and this week Mase dropped a new track featuring Eric Bellinger entitled, ‘Nothing‘ from his forthcoming album ‘Now We Even‘. Mase has teamed up with Chris Brown’sLoyal‘ producer Nic Nac, so what the track lacks in lyrics it makes up in beats, but the question remains – is Mase still relevant?

Decide for yourselves and check out the new track below:

Carly – ann (@CarlyMond)


Mase Feat Eric Bellinger: Nothing
http://youtu.be/bbv5bFX5m34
 

 

 

 

Over the past two weeks not one but TWO incredible EP’s have dropped in the world of RnB! Raleigh Ritchie who has been blowing up the UK RnB seen over the past year, has collaborated with American Neo-Soul group The Internet on a new EP entitled, ‘Black and Blue Point 2‘. The EP features hot remixes of tracks from Ritchie’s previous EP as well as a new song, ‘Chased‘ showing his lyrics and vocals are as on point as ever. This is a great collaboration and another fantastic EP for Raleigh Ritchie fans to add to their collection – lets hope to hear more from this team in the future! You can buy ‘Black and Blue Point 2’ now on Itunes.

The second EP comes from unsigned American artist Gallant entitled ‘Zebra’. Gallant has teamed up with producers Felix Snow and Maths Time Joy to release this incredibly unique EP, at first listen I became an instant fan – the style lies somewhere between RnB, Neo-Soul and this new electronica soul coming from artists like Sampha and SZA. Gallant’s vocals are stunningly distinctive and at times haunting (in a good way!). His lyrics are rich and emotive and scream wisdom years beyond his young age of 21, if the music industry has any sense this guy won’t stay unsigned for long! If you are a fan of Maxwell and Frank Ocean or just want to hear something enticingly unique you can buy ‘Zebra‘ from Itunes.

With this level of talent being brought at the start of their careers I can’t wait to hear what Raleigh Ritchie and Gallant will be bringing in the future – these two are definitely ones to watch!!

Carly – ann (@CarlyMond)

Gallant – Jupiter Grayscale
http://youtu.be/iE5VqTY9t3c

 

 

 

 

In honour of National Record Store Day, I look back at one of the most innovative Soul Records…

Artist Terence Trent D’Arby released his debut album ‘Introducing the Hardline’ In July 1987; a power force which stormed through the UK charts spending nine weeks at the number one album chart spot. The album produced four top 20 singles and earned Terence Trent D’Arby a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and a Brit Award.

The success of The Hardline was hugely influential to the UK RnB scene, as the album was released whilst D’Arby lived in the UK we adopted him as out own! UK RnB whilst thriving in the 1960s and enjoying some success in the 1970’s was struggling in the 1980’s to gain pace above the underground scene with the exception of Sade. Terence Trent D’Arby was the full package, he had a strong iconic image with long dreadlocks, an undefinable golden skin tone, a sultry pout and of course huge shouderpads! He had almost complete artistic control over the album, writing seven out of the eleven tracks and producing the project; a rare amount of artistic licensing for a debut album. Terence Trent D’Arby was making a statement – he was not just a singer, he was an artist.

The album oozed influences from every area of urban music from reggae, blues, the funk of ‘Dance Little Sister’ to the stripped back soul of ‘Sign Your Name’ to the Motown nod in his rendition of ‘Who’s Loving You’. The production of the album is flawless, mature and at times boldly experimental; boasting layered and complex instrumentals on every track and the vocal range that D’Arby demonstrates is second to none.

The Hardline paved the way for many UK soul artists as it grabbed international attention, the couple of years that followed in the UK soul scene saw the arrival of Omar, Soul II Soul and many of the ‘acid jazz’ groups. Influences of this album also became apparent in the 1990’s during the arrival of the ‘Neo – Soul’ movement in the US, when artists such as D’Angelo, Maxwell and Erykah Badu appeared sporting similar sounds, experimental production and even styles as Terence Trent D’Arby.

Most importantly , Introducing the Hardline has retained its credibility and relevance. Dust off your old copy,or listen for the first time, it still sounds innovative and fresh and is in my opinion, a milestone soul album.

Carly – ann (@CarlyMond)


Terence Trent D’Arby – Sign Your Name


 

 

 

 

I have just returned from Cape Town bringing good news for all Erykah Badu fans; Erykah headlined the prestigious 2 day Jazz Festival on the main stage and I can confirm that she looks and sounds better than ever!

The atmosphere at the venue was intense with anticipation for Erykah’s arrival and she came on to stage to possibly the best crowd reception I’ve ever heard! Her style was understated; wearing over sized workman’s trousers, a simple black shirt and a mountain hat with her hair wrapped in a scarf underneath, she looked stunning regardless – no gimmicks or extravagance required, which mirrored the tone for the performance.

Here is an artist who does not need any extras, she gets by on talent and conviction of her lyrics alone. The Neo-Soul Queen was the ultimate eclectic ‘one man band‘; she sang, she rapped, she even had a multi platform electric pad on which she created synth melodies and added sound effects to her tracks. With a clear awareness of her fans she sang all of her hits; ‘Love of My Life‘, ‘Next Lifetime‘, ‘I Want You‘ and ‘Tyrone‘ during a set which lasted over an hour, before returning to perform an explosive encore of ‘Honey‘, ‘Window Seat‘ and ‘Bag Lady‘ finishing up with a crowd surf sending the audience into an excitement frenzy that left everyone on a high.

The show saw some tender and emotional moments too during some of Erykah’s more stripped back tracks and particularly during a birthday tribute that she gave to her backing singer sister , ‘Nayrok‘ who shared the stage with Erykah and who she thanked in a tearful speech for her continued support. Clearly humbled by the response from the Cape Town crowd Erykah expressed sincere gratitude several times and said she felt like she was ‘Home‘.

The show was mesmerizing, energetic and humble and what was so evident was that Erykah Badu has maintained a huge global passionate fan base. The demand from fans and crave for new material is there, the talent is clearly still there, possibly stronger then ever, the love of music from Erykah is still there, so hopefully we won’t have to wait to long for this exceptional artist to be back on the scene with new material.

Until then we relive the classics….and there are so many….enjoy!

Carly – ann (@CarlyMond)


Erykah Badu – Love of My Life

 

 

 

 

Soul and RnB fans if by this point you haven’t discovered Brandon Williams – get familiar. Brandon is a multi-talented Grammy award winning producer, musician and and composer who has collaborated with the likes of Amp Fiddler, Janet Jackson, Talib Kweli and Musiq Soulchild to name a few.

This week Brandon dropped a new track ‘Now I Know‘ feat Jesse Boykins III and Robert Glasper and the high expectations I had of a track with such powerful soulful artists have been met and exceeded. The track is neo soul / Jazz at it’s best, Glasper and Williams bringing instrumental and production finesse with Jesse Boykins III smooth and hypnotic vocals blending it all together. You can download the track for free on Brandon Williams site www.bwilliamsmusic.com/music or donate ‘your price’ for a download – although frankly I cant afford how much I think the track is worth!!

These 3 artists are big names in the soulful game and definitely ones to watch. Robert Glasper delivered arguably the album of the year last year with ‘Black Radio 2‘, Brandon Williams is putting the final touches to his forthcoming album ‘XII‘ set to drop this Summer and Jesse Boykins III just released his new single ‘Plain‘ from his forthcoming album ‘Love Apparatus‘ due for release April 22nd.

2014 looks set to be seriously soulful!!

Carly – ann (@CarlyMond)

I just had to write about everything that’s been going on in music this week! For RnB fans, especially those of us that love the 90’s vibe this week has been colossal in the world of music. So if you’ve slept all week or been working too hard to take note, here’s what you’ve missed:

The week began with the return of Babyface and Toni Braxton on their collaboration album, ‘Love, Marriage & Divorce’. No doubt people will have misconceptions that an album by these 2 artists will be full of ballads but don’t be mislead the album is Fresh! Babyface and Toni’s voices have never sounded stronger and the vibe of the album is slick, sophisticated soul; ‘Sweat’ and ‘Heart Attack’ in particular are great up tempo tracks.

Then came the Timbaland leak during an online fan chat that he is in talks with Devante about working on the new Jodeci album!!! It’s been 18 years since the RnB sensation released a new single and the music world is so hyped about the return it even made a feature in the Guardian newspaper! Maxwell teased and excited fans with the news that he has finished recording the second installment of his ‘Blacksummer’s Night’ trilogy tweeting, ‘#Summers #recording #finish‘. Jermaine Dupri has also been tweeting from the studio this week, he’s been reunited with Mariah Carey, P. Diddy and Trey Songz and promised us all he’s working on ‘#somuchnewmusic’

As if that wasn’t enough Eric Roberson dropped his new album, ‘B-Sides, Features and Heartache’s’, Miguel released an incredible new track, ‘Simple Things’ and in hip hop Nas announced that he will be releasing a 20th Anniversary 2-disc special edition of ‘Illmatic’, entitled ‘Illmatix XX‘ expected to drop on the 15th of April.

The hottest track of the week for me has been ‘Take It’ by Amp Fiddler feat Rapheal Saadiq from his latest EP ‘Basementality 2’ and if you’re a Raphael Saadiq fan you can catch him live with Tony Toni Tone, Blackstreet, En Vogue, Mint Condtion, Total, Silk and Kut Klose at Wembley Arena on the 15th of February for the ‘RnB Superstars Valentines Special.

How will the world of RnB top this? Looking forward to next week………….

Carly – ann (@CarlyMond)

Amp Fiddler feat Raphael Saadiq – Take it
http://youtu.be/SQTFrl50FZg
 

 

 

 

Erro gives us the perfect start to 2014 by releasing his new single ‘Anymore’, a soulful infectious track about the breakdown of a relationship, it has an old school vibe with Erro’s contemporary twist. The single is the first release from his upcoming album ‘B-Sides, Features & Heartaches’, a collection of previously unreleased singles and songs by other artists which Erro features on, set for release on February 4th. He then promises to release his 9th studio album featuring all new material later in the year.

Enjoy the new track and for those of you in and around London, you can catch Erro performing live at Clapham Grand on Friday 7th February. He is one of the best performers I’ve seen, outstanding vocals, amazing band, he’s humble, really interactive with the crowd and he’s got jokes too – a 2014 must for Soul and RnB fans!

Carly – ann (@CarlyMond)

Eric Roberson – Anymore

http://youtu.be/Hqa67m_kfTU
 

 

 

 

One of the highlights for me on Drake’s Nothing Was the Same
album is ‘From Time’, because aside from the fact it’s a great track it features an
artist called ‘Jhene Aiko’ who I had never heard of before. I was amazed at how
distinctive, almost haunting her voice was on the track and couldn’t wait to
hear her solo material.

Sail Out’, the first EP from Jhene Aiko recently dropped
and it did not disappoint. It contains 7 tracks, all of which Jhene wrote,
every one individual in style and lyrical content. What struck me the most upon
my first listen is how unlike anything I’d heard before ‘Sail Out’ is, it’s
soulful but with a hip hop edge to it and I cannot liken the sound to any other
artist or even put it in a genre. Jhene uses lyrical content that typically you
would hear from male artists, singing, ‘Can I hit it again’, ‘Gotta get this
paper’ and ‘We Should Just get Naked’, which adds to her individuality as she
brings an undeniable assertiveness on her tracks.

Production on the EP is flawless, all tracks except one owing credits to the still relatively unheard of duo, ‘Fisticuffs’
who have so far worked almost exclusively with Miguel and Jhene I cant wait to
hear more tracks from these guys!

When I listened to the EP the most overriding impression I
was left with is that I was listening to an artist; this woman clearly knows
exactly the type of music she wants to make and is making it refusing  to adhere to genres or stereotypes. ‘Stay
Ready’ is my favourite track on ‘Sail Out’ and it takes a superior level of
confidence  to record a track as a new
artist with the hottest name in hip hop; Kendrick Lamar. The track is stunning;
lyrically and musically complex, changing tempo and sound half way through and
at 6 minutes long Jhene risks some DJs not giving it radio air time which again
just reinforces the confidence she has in her creativity.

This alluring EP is a must listen for any soul / neo-soul /
RnB or hip hop fans. Jhene’s style is so unique that I think it will divide
listeners; you’ll either love it or not really get it, but if you don’t get it
I would challenge you to not acknowledge her talent and artistry. I cant wait
for her album to drop next year, bringing this level of talent to the table on
a first EP is an exceptional achievement and something tells me this is just a
small sample of what Jhene Aiko is capable of!

Carly – ann (@CarlyMond)

Jhene Aiko – The Worst