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R&B

Solange is My New Homegirl

Solange - I Decided (Tittsworth Remix)*

*This remix is insane. It’s definitely on some crazy house music vibes!

Sometimes I wake up in the morning and have a song stuck in my head. At the beginning of the week it was Ike’s Rap II by Issac Hayes (for obvious reasons), but ever since Wednesday, it’s been “I Decided” from Solange.

Solange is my new hotness right now. She reminds me this girl I knew in high school. Her sister was the popular chick, with the designer clothes and whatnot, while she would be the equally hot bookworm who dudes couldn’t relate with and would date to get closer to her sister. She already won me over with her quest to get Black people to say douchebag (already there), her sarcastic sense of humor, her shouts to Dilla, and her blatant f u to the industry. So yeah, y’all can take Beyonce and hang out at bottle service at some expensive wack ass club (Park at Fourteenth **cough**, me and Solange can chill at the coffee shop. I can dream, can’t I?

Yeah, I know the Solange “weird sister” thing is a marketing ploy. Her A&R probably dreamed up this whole shtick to get ahead of the “knockoff Beyonce” accusations that would probably erupt in the Blogosphere. But dammit, I’m sopping it all up while I can.

I Decided Video

Tags: Solange

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Hip-Hop, R&B

Nappy Roots + Slick And Rose - Kalifornia Dreamin’

Nappy Roots feat Slick And Rose - Kalifornia Dreamin’

I just got an email from Rose of the ATL duo Slick and Rose, whom we profiled way back in 2005 about their newest collaboration. Even after they dropped the excellent Objects in the Mirror, they have still be fighting for recognition in the industry. Fortunately, they just hooked up with Nappy Roots, the once “Whatever Happened To..” group from Kentucky for a new track titled “Kalifornia Dreamin’,” from their recently released album The Humdinger. I need to find new adjectives to describe songs like this, but for now, laid bad, organic, and smooth will have to do. Let me know what y’all think.

myspace.com/slickandrose
myspace.com/nappyrootsmusic

Tags: Nappy Roots, Slick and Rose

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Hip-Hop, R&B

Big Boi - Something’s Gotta Give (featuring Mary J. Blige)

A very dope and overtly political song from Big Boi from his solo album, entitled Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty which drops this year. The track is slightly cliched’ but its good to see Mary J back in form.

Tags: Big Boi, Mary J Blige, Outkast

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R&B

Mixtape: Ayah - The Problem Woman

Ayah - The Problem Woman Mixtape (Free Download)

Most of y’all know that I generally don’t like R&B music, and let’s face it: the genre has been stagnant for years now after the death of neo soul and the introduction of pro Tools assisted divas with an absence of talent and class.

However, maybe once a year a voice comes along that makes me do a double take and reintroduces me to the genre that I’ve spurned. In 2008, that voice is Ayah. The Toronto native has been making a name for herself up North. At the age of only 22, she’s already aligned herself with DJ Jazzy Jeff and and a bevy of producers for her debut album which drops sometime this year.

But female voices are a dime a dozen, but its her attitude that carries her through. Her mixtape, based on Marvin Gaye’s 1972 soundtrack to the blackspoltation flick Trouble Man has an ear to the past, but dosen’t harp on it and lets her true sound shine through. With a attitude that Butta from Soul Bounce calls “sweet but street,” Ayah might just reinvent the R&B genre as we know it.

myspace.com/ayahmusic

Tags: Ayah

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Hip-Hop, Negroclash!, R&B

Just Added: Gnarls Barkley at 9:30 Club, Other Shows

DC is getting some fly shows lately! They’re not free like our friends in New York , but I still can’t complain.

Gnarls Barkley at 9:30 Club - August 5th

Show just added today. Gnarls is rocking 9:30 with (er, transvestite fronted) Hercules Love Affair on August 5th. I saw Gnarls at the MCI Center when they opened for Red Hot Chili Peppers, but to see them at a club as small as 9:30 will be a treat. Tickets go on sale today at 10 AM.

Other shows to check out next month:

July 7th - Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, 9:30 Club
July 8th - Rza As Bobby Digital Feat. Stone Mecca, 9:30 Club
July 11th - Platinum Pied Pipers, Black Cat
July 16th - DJ Shadow, 9:30 Club
July 18th - Clipse, Club Five
July 19th - George Clinton And Parliament Funkadelic, 9:30 Club
July 25th - Anthony David, Black Cat
July 28th - MGMT, 9:30 Club

Also, in September:
Sept 21st - Mos Def Big Band, Kennedy Center

Tags: 9:30 Club, Anthony David, Black Cat, clipse, DJ Shadow, George Clinton And Parliament Funkadelic, Gnarls Barkley, MGMT, Platinum Pied Pipers, Rza, Seun Kuti

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Negroclash!, R&B, Rock/Alternative

Gnarls Barkley’s The Odd Couple Out Now

Gnarls Barkley decided that rather than releasing their album April 8th, let’s release it…..um. Today! Well, more like yesterday, when the duo rushed their albums to digital and retail markets. I’ve listened to the leak, and this is a fairly solid album. And yes, this is about to be the next trend: The band The Raconteurs, fronted by Jack Black, announced yesterday that their album would drop in less than a week. Its a two fold move–first, to combat piracy, and second to not peg an album’s success on first weeks numbers and slowly build album sales over the course of a few weeks. The old way of waiting months between an albums completion date and its release looks like its out the door.

Tags: Gnarls Barkley, Jack Black, The Odd Couple

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Hip-Hop, Jazz/Blues/Gospel, Negroclash!, R&B

Review: Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)

Erykah Badu
New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War

When I first heard the track “The Healer” on Erykah Badu’s 4th full length album, I thought that homegirl had lost it. Even though the track was set to a dope Madlib beat, and is probably the best head nodders in a long time, it sounded like a long winded rant by a crazy homeless woman. So after my initial excitement I asked myself….”has Erykah lost it? Is she pulling a Lauryn Hill on us?”

Ms. Badu hasn’t lost it. Although New Amerykah doesn’t measure up to her first CD and won’t come close to her greatest effort (Mama’s Gun), the Dallas, Texas songstress has managed to create some downright amazing R&B in a time when the genre has lost focus–with neo-soul all but dead, and young singers like Keysha Cole taking over radio. Badu has managed to find her niche in the world, and she shines on songs like, “Soldier,” “Honey (Bonus Track),” the sultry “Telephone,” and the introspective, “Me.”

You can tell that Badu has come of age on New Amerykah and has found her niche. On “Me,” one of the more personal tracks from this reclusive singer, she puts it all out in the open. With lyrics like “this year I turned 36/damn it seems it came so quick/my ass and legs have gotten thick yea/its all me” you can tell off the bat that she’s not trying to chase the current trends in R&B.

For over 10 years, Erykah Badu has been ahead of the curve for contemporary R&B, and on this album, she raises the bar even higher.

Tags: Erykah Badu, neo-soul, New Amerykah

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Jazz/Blues/Gospel, New Music, R&B

New Music: Erykah Badu - The Healer

Erykah Badu - The Healer (zShare)

I heard this last week on Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide radio show but never got a chance to rip it. Fortunately someone got around to it because this is a killer track. I gotta admit, even though I loved Oh Word’s Baduizm parody, I’ve been a Badu fan since day one. I got my backpack strapped on tight and ready to go! This song, The Healer, produced by Madlib, is from Badu’s upcoming album Nu AmErykah which drops next month. It is a definite head-nodder and one of the best songs to drop this year so far.

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Hip-Hop, R&B

Snoop Dogg - Sexual Seduction

Wow. I was not expecting this from your boy Snoop. Crazy song and dope video!

This is supposedly off of his new album Ego Trippin’ which is supposed to drop next year.

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Hip-Hop, New Music, R&B

Pics: Muhsinah @ Bohemian Caverns

Much thanks to everyone who came down to Bohemian Caverns last Saturday for Muhsinah’s album release party. Lady Glock was gracious enough to take pics with her SLR (because we all know if I took them they would turn out something like this) . Anyway, as I said before, Muhsinah just dropped an album titled Daybreak on iTunes and its getting rave reviews on the site as well as Okayplayer. And for those who frown on artists because they lack so-called “authenticity”, just remember that she’s worked with Little Brother and Hezekiah. Happy now?

Buy Daybreak on iTunes

Check for more photos at our Flickr Photostream.

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