Category Archives: Underrated Artist Spotlights

Six International Women Singers You Should Know

08 Friday Mar 2013

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In honor of International Women’s Day , here is a short list of women artists from across the globe whose music stays on repeat.  By NO means is this list all-inclusive. Just a small sampling of artists that I enjoy that you should consider letting take up a bit of space on your hard drive.

Alice Russell

I have loved Alice Russell long time and I have the receipts videos to prove it. The way she sang and shook her shimmy on stage in pink tights made me a fan for life.  This British powerhouse is criminally underrated, as her lane is a bit crowded. I’m hoping that her upcoming release, To Dust [read review] will finally put her on the map. It’s already one of my favorite albums of 2013. Take a look at a performance of “Hard and Strong,” one of my favorite tracks from the album.

Bonus video: cover of Crazy by Gnarls Barkley

Coco of Quadron

It was love at first listen when I heard the sweet vocals of the female half of the Danish duo Quadron, the lovely Coco. When they performed in the DC area a year and a half ago, I was front and center grooving to tunes from their self-titled album released three LONG years ago. While we wait impatiently for the release of some new joints, enjoy Coco performing with Tyler The Creator on Jimmy Fallon and sannnnging on this banging new track, “Hey Love.”

The video above is a performance at The Google a couple of years ago. I chose it because she starts to acts all the way up at the 2:30 mark and it is everything I will ever need in this life and the next.

Hollie Smith

If I wasn’t so lazy busy, I would dig through my Twitter archive and find the multiple tweets I sent out raving about the Band of Brothers Vol I  album featuring the sweet sounds of  New Zealand songstress, Hollie Smith. It was my first introduction to the ‘Kiwi soul sister’ and I accepted my late pass because she was hardly new to the game as you will see in the video above. I cannot get enough of her voice and you won’t be able to either.

Joy Denalane

Last time I blogged about the beautiful German singer-songwriter was when she joined Bilal, Tweet, and Dwele on the Dresden Soul Symphony album/DVD compilation. I have been a fan since I heard her first English language album, Born and Raised, back in 2006. Since then, she has released her third studio album, Maureen, which is entirely in her native tongue. Although I can’t understand a word of what she is singing, the album gets frequent play. After all, the language of music is universal. In the video above, she performs the title track in English.

Kimbra

I just can’t get enough of that Kiwi soul. My soul brother from across the pond, Soul UK, introduced me to the sweet sounds of GRAMMY winner Kimbra, who recently won Record of the Year for her collaboration with Goyte on “Somebody That I Used To Know.” I can’t imagine it gets much better than receiving your award from Prince and him saying he digs the record. I mean, it just don’t seem like he digs much so it’s really an even bigger deal than the Grammy. Last year, Kimbra released her debut album, Vows, and it topped many best of lists.  Enjoy this dope live performance of one of my favorites from the album, “Settle Down.” Kimbra, if you’re listening, DC awaits!

Tawiah

I have probably been a fan of British singer Tawiah the longest of all the artists I’ve mentioned in this post. I introduced you back in 2008. You’ve had five years to catch up! I hoped we would have gotten a full length effort since the EP, In Jodi’s Bedroom.  But still we wait. A ray of hope came just today in the form of a video for a single from her upcoming mixtape. Let’s hope this is a signal of good things to come. Enjoy the new video and the hauntingly beautiful acoustic performance above.

Please support woman artists near and far during women’s history month and beyond.

Put me on to some of your favorite international artists in the comments.

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Free Download: Men Love Mary: A Tribute to My Life

02 Wednesday Dec 2009

Posted by in Feeding The Music Jones, Music Legends, Music News, Underrated Artist Spotlights

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Very few artists can bring me off of this extended period of extreme laziness blog hiatus. Mary is one of them.

On November 29, 1995, she dropped what I consider to be her best work to date – and my favorite album of all time – My Life.

It’s hard for me to put into words (especially these days) how I feel about this album. I just know that the music helped heal me while I was dealing with the pain of my first unrequited love at the tender age of 18. No long talks on the phone with my girlfriends and no comforting words from Mommy made me feel what Mary did. As much as I love Share My World and Mary, I didn’t feel those albums deep inside like I did My Life. It’s an album I will still be playing fifteen years from now. It’s that timeless.

SoulBounce has been celebrating the Month of Mary,  paying tribute to the icon for creating an album that even fifteen years later, still impacts and inspires. For the piece de resistance, they have gathered eleven male artists to re-imagine the songs on My Life and it’s available to you here as a FREE download. The icing on the cake is that it’s hosted by one of the original key producers on the album, Chucky Thompson.

So hurry on over to SoulBounce and check out how much love artists such as Eric Roberson (“My Life”), Darien (“Be Happy”), Jesse Boykins III (“No One Else”), and Slakah the Beatchild (“Don’t Go) show the undisputed Queen of Hip Hop Soul.

While you’re there getting your download on, be sure to leave a comment letting the good folks over there know how much you appreciate this labor of love.

I forsee a return to the blogosphere in the future in a form that I’m not yet certain of.  Meanwhile, you should be getting your music news at sites like SoulBounce, SoulUK, SoulAfrodisiac, Bama Love Soul, Friday Favecast, Soul Reservoir, Novaslim, and Soulified. These cats are rocking the same flava in their ears that I am. They just have the desire to write about it right now.

Inside the Artists Studio with Erik Rico

06 Wednesday May 2009

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DJ Stylus and Lil So and So Productions recently took us inside the artists studio with Erik Rico, a writer, producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist whose albums Higher Frequency and Journey Back to Me have been in frequent rotation since I discovered him over at Industry Soul last year. I won’t attempt to pigeon-hole this man’s sound but when I want to be on my electronic soulful shit, I press play on his albums.

As he has with the other Inside the Artists Studio events, Stylus asked probative questions that allowed Erik to drop some serious knowledge on various topics like industry rule 4080 and the state of music (How the fuck DID we go from Coltrane, Gillespie, Quincy, Miles to Lil John and Lil Wayne?). We also got some very intriguing answers to the kind of record  he would make with artists like Al Green, Ray Charles, Aaliyah, Herbie Hancock, and Joni Mitchell.

This is an interview definitely worth watching and re-posting.

Before the interview, Erik performed several songs. You can check them out on my You Tube channel.

As you heard, Erik has a pretty aggressive release schedule. New music is a-coming. Sign up for updates at his website. I did and got this gem in response.

Get into this. Support real music.

Underrated Soul Singer Spotlight: Debórah Bond

21 Tuesday Apr 2009

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I vividly remember the first time I saw DC-based songstress Debórah Bond perform live. It was back around 2004 and I was just starting to sporadically attend live shows. I was at a spot called Takoma Station and she performed several songs from her debut album, Day After. I was so enraptured by her performance that I immediately copped her album after the show, something I rarely did back then, and got her to sign it. As we chatted and I shared how much I enjoyed the show, I noticed her warm and genuine energy as she wrote a simple note thanking me for supporting the music.

Now, some five years later,  in anticipation of the release of her second album (of original material), I truly have a platform where I can tell the hundreds of people that stop through here daily to support the music of this underrated female soul singer.

The Connecticut native  cites her early musical influences as The Eurythmics, Janet and Michael Jackson (no Tito?), and Loose Ends. She studied the vocal stylings of Anita Baker, Sade and and Chaka Khan and their spirits are very much present in her live performances. 

With her band, Third Logic, she released DayAfter in 2003.  AfterDay followed three years later, which was an album mixed by DJ Stylus and featuring a cast of uber talented producers. From what I can hear, this is a must own. I should have copped it when I saw it at Moods Music.

Deborah has shared the stage with acclaimed artists such as Julie Dexter, Dwele, Mint Condition, Rahsaan Patterson, Ledisi and Omar. In other words, artists that wouldn’t allow no mess on their stage so you know she is the truth!

Still don’t believe me? Check out some video of some live performances.

Recently, here in DC, she warmed up the crowd before Omar took the stage (review coming this week). Check out her cover of Soul II Soul’s“Keep On Movin.'”

Here are two songs from her album DayAfter.

“Love’s Been Waiting”

Recently released official video for her hit song, “See You in My Dreams.” You may have seen this one on BETJ.

 Find out more about Debórah and her upcoming project at her official website. Meanwhile, support her past projects and those of other underrated artists that appear on this site and those right over there —-> on the blogroll.

photo credit: Debórah on Facebook.

Underrated Male Singer Spotlight: Chris Rob

17 Tuesday Mar 2009

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The name Chris Rob should be familiar to you. I promised you’d hear his name again in this space after I saw him backing Laura Izibor on vocals and keys and then getting my hands on his EP, The Official Bootleg of Chris Rob Vol 2. It has been in constant rotation every since. The singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist is definitely one to watch.

His musical resume includes collaborative efforts with some of the greats in the industry. He has written, produced and performed with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Prince, Jill Scott, The Roots, Alice Keys, Common, Leon Ware, John Legend, Kanye West, Deborah Cox, DJ Spinna, and DJ Ian Friday. As you know, he is currently touring with Laura Izibor and from what I saw, there is no question that his first love is live performance.

The New Yorker by way of Chicago released his first EP, The Official Bootleg of Chris Rob Vol 1 back in 2003. Meshell Ndegeocello says it was all she listened to for a month. I need to get my hands on that!

On Vol 2, you’ll find a mix of soulful house, uptempo tracks, funk,  and jazzy soul. Chris is a genre-defying artist and it never sounds like he’s trying on different sounds to see what fits.

Check out a few of my favorite tracks from Vol 2.

Ghetto People was written and produced with DJ Ian Friday. You should already know this joint has been on repeat.

Take Time

Creepin (Into My Mind)

Codeword

His most recent projects include working with Leon Ware on his album 2008 release, Moon Ride. You need this album in your life. Chris produced the track “Smoovin.”

His full album, Mental Note, is scheduled to be released in 2009.

To learn more about Chris Rob, visit his official website or his Myspace.