One of my favourite voices in R&B has returned to the scene with some new music. Faith Evans will release her sixth studio album called, There’s Something About Faith October 5th. The album features production by Chucky Thompson, Mike City and Salaam Remi as well as appearances by Keyshia Cole, Redman and Snoop Dogg.
The first single was released last month, called Gone Already. With production from Karma Productions, the song features light, airy vocals from Faith and a nice melody. I actually like this song.
Another track that just leaked from the is the Raekwon-assisted, EveryDay Struggle. The song uses the same sample as the Notorious B.I.G used for his song of the same name (off his Ready to Die CD), which is from Dave Grusin’s song, Either Way. This is a nice track, more suitable for Biggie/hip hop fans who will recognize the sample. I hope this brings more shine to Faith’s new album than her recent arrest for a DUI has. Below you’ll hear the new track and see the official tracklist for the album.
Depending on how old you were in 2001, you may remember how Jagged Edge had the clubs, BBQs and house parties poppin off with their party jam, Where Da Party At? Released just as the Summer began, Where Da Party At? had all the components of a hit Summer record; a catchy chorus, echoed chants, alcohol references, Superstar Rapper (at the time) Nelly and a co-sign from So So Def honcho, Jermain Durpi. Adding fuel to the flame was the perfect video companion to the song, directed by Dave Meyers, who always has a knack for capturing the essence of an Urban record. Peep 1:20 to see my babydaddy boy Kyle get his sexy on – he was my favourite from the group
Naturally, this song is JE’s most popular song to date, reaching #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and topping the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart. Later a remix video was released that featured Da Brat, Bow Wow, R.O.C and Tigah. JE’s third album, Jagged Little Thrill went on to achieve Platinum album sales. Peep the video below.
Shortly after giving birth to her son with estranged husband Nas, Kelis signed with Interscope via Will.I.Am’s new Label and began work on her new album and sound. With more success and love in the overseas market, Kelis decided to change directions from R&B Pop to a more Worldly EuroPop sound. She has stated that she wanted to have a more dance and pop sound to the album, as well with tribal elements, which is also visible in the visuals, videos and promotional shots for Flesh Tone. The album was released July 5th in the US with the lead single Acapella. source
I was a fan of Kelis’ earlier work and always thought she was a severely underrated Artist but I was not feeling the new direction or her new look for that matter. But a week ago I saw a snippet of a video for a song Kelis recorded with Benny Benassis, Apl.De.Ap (from the BEP) and Jean Baptiste, called Spaceship. This song has a lot of energy and the chorus, sung by Kelis is super catchy. Her vocals remind me of all the featured choruses she used to do for Rappers in the early 00’s. As much as I wasn’t checking for Kelis’ music this time around, she is actually experiencing a lot of success with this album as well as recognition and critical acclaim. Peep the video below.
We just premiered R.Kelly’s new single last week and now he has released a video for When a Woman Loves. No word on who directed the 1960s-inspried black and white clip, but this is the official first single from Kelly’s forthcoming Love Letters due later this year. This song is growing on day by day and I’m really feelin the video treatment! Kelly is acting his age and is lookin Great doing it! By the looks of things, this video/song will set the tone for his new album and that I can get with!
Peep the video below. What do you guys think? Are you buying Kellz’ new image?
Jazmine Sullivan released her new video for her debut single Holdin’ You Down (Goin in Circles) today. The video was directed by Marcus Raboy and features cameos from Missy Elliot, Pepa and Doug E.Fresh. To capitalize on the old-school feel of the song, the video features 80s fashions, dances and styles. Jazmine even sneaks in some good grooves at the final party scene. Naturally, the video follows the theme of the song with Jazzy playin a woman who loves her man but he blatantly flirts with other women in front of her face all while she is still there to ‘hold him down’. I personally don’t think I like the whole blending of R&B with 80s hip hop beats. I’m not sure why, it just doesn’t speak to me. But a lot of people are feelin this song and the video is nicely done so hopefully the Buzz for Jazmine’s new effort intensifies with this project.
Kanye West made good on his promise to drop a new song every Friday until Christmas. He dubbed them ‘Good Fridays’. Yesterday was one hell of a Good Friday. Not only did Kanye announce he and Jay would release a 5-track album called Watch the Throne in the near future, he dropped this track Monster soon after. Listen to the madness below! Charlie Wilson sneaks in some adlibs near the end…
“And if I’m fake, I don’t notice cuz my Money ain’t…” -Nikki Minaj
A little background info…during the Summer of 2001, I was visiting Memphis with two of my siblings on our first trip in the US without our parents. We stayed with my Aunt (who’s absence was noticeable and welcome) as well as her son and another female cousin who shared in my obsession love for R.Kelly at the time. This would be the Summer when I re-discovered Three-Six Mafia in the City that worshiped their hometown heroes. It would also be the Summer I saw R.Kelly in concert (pre-child molestation claims) on his T-P2.com tour that was HUGE back then AND I was able to sneak backstage and touch hug the talented artist. As you can tell, Summer 2001 was a good time. I will be doing some other features on the Music from this particular Summer since I feel it was a great year for Urban music and a lot of things that happened during that Summer helped shape me as a young lady…
Now, She’s All I Got, doesn’t really qualify as an OBG… since it was made after the so-called Golden Age of Modern R&B in the mid-to-late 90s, but I think its a great song that is often overlooked. Cozier, a former backup singer and songwriter for Artists like Mya and Janet Jackson, signed with Clive Davis’ J Records (after being introduced by Wyclef Jean). She’s All I Got was a moderate hit, reaching #4 on the Billboard Hip Hop?R&B Singles chart and #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Label even threw Rapper Fabolous (who was a hot newcomer at the time) on the track to add some much-needed edge to the song. The result was a smooth R&B track with the perfect hip hop contribution from Fab. Jimmy’s voice is so smooth and velvety on this track. I really thought he would have a successful career, but he really did slip beneath the cracks of Success. Cozier toured for most of 2002 and 2003 to support his debut album, but eventually parted ways with J Records. Years later, Cozier released a reggae album on his own label CoziMusic and filmed a video for his single, You.
For some reason, the actual remix video to this song has been removed from the Internet and I can only find the original video. So no Fab collab here. But check out the full song below.
I wanted to update the CF readers on Ne-yo’s upcoming album Libra Scale since I hadn’t posted on it yet. Back in May, Ne-Yo premiered his first two Singles, Champagne Life and Beautiful Monster. Produced by longtime collaborator StarGate, Monster sounds like a Euro-dance trip accompanied by its Wayne Isham-directed video that looks like a scene from the Matrix films. Meanwhile the R&B-influence Champagne Life produced by D. DoRohn Gough, is a lot smoother and celebratory with a lively video to accompany the song. I will say, since May, both songs have now grown on me.
Libra Scale, which will be in stores October 5th, is heavily influenced by Ne-Yo’s fascination with Japanimation, science fiction and comic books, as well as by the works of Michael Jackson, specifically Thriller, Moonwalker and Bad. Ne-Yo commented that he wanted to do something different this time around, aside from the normal album compilation. Ne-Yo initially wrote a script for a short film that was supposed to accompany Libra Scale’s release, but monetary and time constraints prevented the filming. Instead, Ne-Yo will release a DVD of 6 extended videos alongside the album. The concept of Libra Scale revolves around 2 characters, Jerome and Pretti Sinclair and the question of morality the two face between following Love or Fame, Money and Power.
Ne-Yo recently released One in A Million, the third single to be released from the Libra project. The song, produced by Chuck Harmony, is a smooth, mid-tempo song where Ne-Yo laments about that special girl who is the ‘best he ever had’. This song is a bit more low-key than the first two singles, but speaks more to his R&B fans. Listen to it below:
So I guess I’ve been living under a rock for the last month or two because I, a music blogger, had NO idea Usher was planning to release an EP to accompany his hit record, Raymond Vs. Raymond, until a few days ago. *shrugs* I guess I should be gettin at my contact at LaFace records for this huge oversight…
This past Tuesday, Usher released Versus, dubbed the final chapter of Raymond Vs. Raymond, as well as a Deluxe edition of said album. Versus will host 8 new tracks, including the dance hit, DJ Got us Fallin in Love featuring Pitbull (produced by 90s pop producer Max Martin) and the banger Hottie Tottie featuring Jay-z and Ester Dean (produced by Polow Da Don, written by Ester Dean). The fact that Raymond Vs. Raymond is getting a re-release is a good thing! It means the album is selling well and the label is willing to put in more money to push it to that next status. Raymond Vs. Raymond is already certified Platinum in the US, and had gone Gold in Canada and Australia. I loved the album! Usher collaborated well with a team that included Jim Jonsin & Rico Love, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Polow, Will.I.Am and Danja amoung others. With Versus, Usher maintains this chemistry working with the same producers in addition to Max Martin, Drumma Boy, The Stereoptypes and Alexander “Prettyboifresh” Parhm, Jr.
The new tracks definitely sound promising, and I’m loving Hot Tottie which sounds so familiar I am searching to see if another singer had recorded this track before Usher did…(or maybe I’m just crazy?)
Below is the video for Versus‘ first single, DJ Got Me Falling in Love Again. The video was directed by Hiro Murai, who most recently directed B.O.B’s Airplanes. I love the slow motion vs live motion effects in this video! Plus, Usher is dancing AND smiling – he looks like he’s having a great time! I don’t even see any over-sexed images, just crowds of people dancing and having a good time… It is obvious Usher has jumped onto the (what I like to call) David Guetta Dance Music Hype, where everything sort of sounds like one long rave…but I do like this song, sans the Pitbull feature which I could do without. Check out the video!
“See, a woman’s love, it will never die. Even when I’m dead and gone, I’m gonna love her from the sky…”
Following the release of his last album, Untitled, which I actually enjoyed, Kellz is hard at work on his next album initially rumoured to be titled, Zodiac but is now named Love Letters. This song is not new – it has been making its way around the Internet since May. But it does appear that Kellz may have changed directions with this album and he has chosen to go with this as the possible lead single. Maybe Kelly is listening to his thousands of fans who have been begging him to return to his R&B roots. As I mentioned in my critique of his Mixtape released last year, the last thing we need is R.Kelly trying to impersonate Trey Songz as Trey tries to become the next R.Kelly.
Kelly has long toyed with the idea of recording Icon status-worth soul music. He even accomplished it on his album, Happy People/You Saved Me with its gospel-tinged music that actually proved to be a commercial success for Kelly, selling 3 million albums in the US alone.
When a Woman Loves is a very dramatic song but it still has a lot of truths in the lryics. Kelly sings,
When a woman loves, she loves for real
She filled my soul with a very touch her hand,
She really did
She has more, more faith in me, than a beach has sand
Listen to the track below and let me know what you guys think.
