It was fitting that the last post on this blog before I went on hiatus was an announcement of the official date that Bilal Oliver’s first “official” album in eight years would see the light of day. It was quite a celebration, bitches!
Airtights Revenge was released in 2010 to stellar reviews. Now, just over two years later, your boy is back with A Love Surreal, coming to an ITunes near you on February 12. Yes, I am plotting on how to get to his album release concert in Philly at my favorite venue, although he is coming this way a couple days later. I’m just that kinda stan!
To get us geared up for the release of the first single for the album, Bilal recently released a mixtape(on his Facebook page!), appropriately titled Retrospection. Curated by fellow Philly artist, Vikter Duplaix, Retrospection —much like 2009’s TheReturn of Mr. Wonderful— takes you on a journey through some of his greatest hits and unreleased recordings that should have seen the light of day like his rendition of Stevie’s “Too High.”
I was excited to see Vikter Duplaix involved in this project, having just been blessed to be at one of his body-rocking Kiss N Grind parties when the Fall tour rolled through DC recently. We danced, we shouted, and shook out bodies down to the ground as Vikter spun the hottest soul, house, classic r&b, funk and Afrobeat. Want to get an idea of what you missed? Feast your ears on this.
So while he had all our attention, Bilal released his first single, “Back To Love,” on Essence.com. The theme for A Love Surreal is that Bilal is a love doctor teaching people how to find their way back to each other.
Are you as excited about this project as I am, fellow B_Ollowers? Let me know what you think of the first single.
” What a life to be able to go to tons of shows and be around people that are making music from the heart. Blessed.”
Indeed.
This past weekend, I had to take time and get away and made my way down to Atlanta for the weekend in part to see Julie Dexter and Heston in concert at Sugar Hill inside the Underground. Yet another venue that puts DC’s options to shame. Get. it. together. I’ll be reviewing the show once I get the videos up. Check back for that later this week. It was a hell of a show and I can’t wait to share it with you.
A highlight of my trip was a visit to Moods Music in Little Five Points. As we drove up, I immediately fell in love with this eclectic, artsy fartsy section of the A. Lots of creative energy there. I could totally see myself spending many a day there chatting folks up that look different than me…because you know in the South they speak. And digging deep in the crates which is what I did at Moods.
I almost had a musical orgasm when I walked in and saw shelves filled with joints from the likes of Eric Roberson, Coultrain, Alice Russell, Amp Fiddler, Bugz in the Attic, Carol Riddick, Marie Tweek, Deborah Bond, J*Davey, Yazarah, Davina, Stephanie McKay, Vikter Duplaix, Eric Lau, Sa-Ra, Sam Sparro, Omar, DJ Spinna, Russell Taylor, and Martin Luther to name a few.
I could have spent all day browsing through entire sections devoted to rare finds in classic soul, reggae, world music, afrobeat, and real hip hop. I couldn’t even get through the stacks and stacks of compilations and “mixtapes” of all the music I mention here and link to on other sites.
Nothing could make the experience any sweeter than Foreign Exchange’s “Take Off the Blues” and “All or Nothing” over the speakers.
I enjoyed great conversation with music aficionados, particularly the owner, Darryl “D-Nice” Harris. I majorly co-signed when he was introducing virgin ears to Eric Roberson. Later I asked whether he follows The Life of An Independent Artist, Erro’s blog. Of course he does and saw my video that was featured there. Thrilled was my middle name.
I left there with much lighter pockets but with a much bigger smile than when I came in. I pledged a long while ago not to buy any more physical CDs until I had a place to store them all. I couldn’t help it if I wanted to.
I was most excited abut adding Ledisi’s second rare and hard to find release album to my collection. Ironically, this was my least expensive purchase. After listening to this collection of standards and original tracks, I would have paid twice that.
I’ve been trying to get my hands on this release every since I first discovered Natalie a couple of years ago. I’ve listened to a few songs so far and it’s definitely a must-have. I’ll feature her here soon with a couple of tracks from the album. I also need to get my hands on her debut, Yours Truly.
This was a great find. I only have Vikter’s latest album so I’m excited to get my hands on his earlier works.
This one was at Moods but I knew I’d be able to get it at the show. Before his set was over, I was hunting down the CD man. I was pressed. Soultracks got it right on this one.
Do you have any spots like Moods where you are? What were your last CD purchases?
When people think about the Philly soul scene, the usual suspects that immediately come to mind are Jill Scott and Musiq Soulchild. Think a little harder and you may come up with Kindred or Vivian Green. Absolutely nothing wrong with that because as you should already know I stan for Jill (preparing to buy tickets to see her for the second time this year and I CANNOT wait) and I’ll always love Musiq. They essentially put the Philly neosoul scene on the map. I just want to shine the spotlight on some other artists that deserve some recognition as well.
As I did in the last post, I have to start this off by talking about the man that has written for, produced, and performed with a lot of these artists I’m spotlighting.
I’ll be attending a jam session in Philly this weekend with The Randy Watson Experience featuring Bilal. Here’s their interpretation of “Can’t Hide Love” and Radiohead’s “Morning Soul.”
Hailing from the South Side of Philly, Carol started out backing artists like Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Anthony Hamilton, Jill Scott, and Kindred. Once you listen to her sound, you’ll see why she couldn’t possibly stay in the background. I saw her live at Zanzibar Blue (RIP) a couple of years ago and she blew me away – a young Anita Baker in the making. Her album, Moments Like This, was released in 2006. She worked with James Poyser on some of the tracks.
Vikter is a singer, songwriter, producer, and plays multiple instruments. He’s released several albums and appeared on tracks by artists like Erykah Badu, Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Incognito, Esthero, and Eric Benet.
I love Jaguar’s style. Straight, no chaser. Highly underrated. I own both of her albums and would love to see her perform live. She has worked with artists like The Roots, Bilal, and Jay-Z.
Ashley is a Philly-born singer and songwriter. Her band formed in 2003 and they mostly perform locally. l had the pleasure of catching her acoustic set here in DC last year. Her stage presence is soothing, yet captivating. She reminds me of Dionne Ferris or Me’Shell Ndegeocello – especially with the way she handles that guitar. You can tell when she performs that it’s truly for the love of the music. I hope to see an album from her sometime in the near future.
With a fro like that, you know he got soulllll! He calls his music a mixture of soul, pop, R&B, and funk. He’s a self-taught artist who has been singing since childhood. His mother was embarrassed to take him out because he would often randomly break into song. His song of choice? “Me So Horny!” His musical selection has evolved a bit since then. He released his first self-titled album last year and has collaborated with the likes of Wyclef Jean and Lupe Fiasco.
I been hearing rumblings about the next coming of Lauryn Hill for a while now but never really investigated further. It wasn’t until I heard “Need You Bad” on Soul Bounce that I sat up and took notice. Evidently, I am late. Ain’t nothing neo about this soul singer. She sang on Showtime at the Apollo at the tender age of 11 and performed with Stevie Wonder at 13. She appeared on a couple of tracks on Fantasia’s album, Free, and wrote a couple of songs on Christina Milian’s album. This 20-year-old singer and songwriter is indeed one to watch. Look out for the album on J records sometime this year.
“I Am” with Kindred
Cover of “What’s Going On”
A true stan would never end this post without mentioning her favorite Philadelphia soul singer. None other than my man Bilal. He should be no stranger to my faithful readers. But for those that happen in here that may have never heard of him, I’ll let the music speak for itself.
Here are a couple of videos from the last show I attended. I’m thrilled to say I’ll be seeing him perform later today in Baltimore and then again on Friday at a jam session with The Randy Watson Experience. With President Obama finally delivering that knockout blow to Billary, can this historic week get any better?
“White Turns To Grey” from the never released “Love for Sale”
A NICE version of “Soul Sista”
Did I miss any underrated Philly soul singers that you think deserve some shine? Shout them out in the comments.
SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE 
