11 posts tagged “r&b”

great music coming out tomorrow. Check it out

Brandy

Brandy: Human
Though HUMAN sports a higher percentage of slow-burning retro-soul ballads than its immediate predecessor, former collaborator Timbaland and longtime producer Rodney Jerkins give HUMAN a carefully considered modern R&B sound that should please Brandy's fan base and relative newcomers alike.

Common

Common: Universal Mind Control

Produced entirely by the Neptunes, the album features a combination of laid-back lyrical stylings like the days when he was known as Common Sense, as well as more up-tempo tracks in which some come off a bit desperate to fit into a commercial category. The album’s attention grabbing lead single “Universal Mind Control”, which samples Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock”, is destined to get major club spins. It’s the only club-ready track on the entire album in which there’s a perfect transition from the typical lyrically infused tracks we’re used to hearing from the Chicago rapper.

 “Punch Drunk Love” follows with fellow G.O.O.D. artist Kanye West on the hook which adds another record to the Neptunes’ catalog of perfectly crafted beats. The merging of hi-hat sounds with electric organ interjections make this easily one of the top three tracks on the album.                                       -All Hip Hop.com

Musiq SoulChile

Musiq Soulchild: OnMyRadio

Musiq Soulchild is the most enduring male solo artist to come out of the Philly soul movement that also gave us Jill Scott and Bilal, and now that he lives in Atlanta, home to some of the hottest names in urban music (T.I., Usher), he's got a new confidence. That's what makes his fifth CD, OnMyRadio, a welcome departure from previous work, which started to all sound the same around 2003's Soulstar. He hasn't abandoned his romantic roots, but he was wise to enrich them with Southern charm.
                                                 -EW.com

Here i stand

I had a chance to listen to Usher's new album and overall I would say that it's a 9/10. His last album, "Confessions", definitely is one of my top 5, I think I loved every song. He has a couple of great songs on "Here I Stand" that stood out for me. Some of my favorites and why were:

"Best Thing" featuring Jay-Z - It automatically gets the thumbs up b/c it has Jay on it but the up tempo beat and vocals by Usher are great. Of course, as a woman the lyrics touched a spot because he admits that he had no business running the streets and as a result the girl left and took the best thing that happened to him. (But ladies, we knew that was going to happen)

"This Ain't Sex" - Great up tempo beat, vocals and the quote of the summer "We ain't having sex, we're making moments that will outlast the world". Well, that just about says it now doesn't it.

"What's Your Name" featuring Will I AM - This will definitely be the next club song. It isn't too original but the beat is cool.

Songs like "Something Special" and "Love You Gently" are classic Usher songs that will put the ladies in their feelings. You knew Usher had to give us those, married or not, he had to take care of the ladies.

But then there are songs like "Appetite" that seemed so real to me. Usher explains how he is happy being married and loves his wife but sometimes gets those urges to be with other women. Then he encourages all men to "fight that appetite for the ladies" and fellas, he also lets you know that you need to put your "BS to rest". Kudos to Usher for admitting this urge that most men use as an excuse. Yes fellas, an excuse. Usher proves that you can keep it in your pants, especially if your girl is special enough to be faithful to.

I could honestly comment on each song, but I encourage you to get it for yourself. Definitely the album of the summer. Album in stores this Tuesday, May 27th.

Art of love tour

I highly enjoyed Chrisette Michelle's performance as part of the "Art of Love Tour" with Solange and Raheem Devaughn. The concert was on Friday at the Anaheim HOB and the crowd was small but dedicated. Mostly women and couples but it seemed like everyone knew every word to every song. Chrisette graciously sang just about every song on her album plus covered a Diana Ross classic. She's not a tiny girl so I was impressed by her style of clothing. She had on tight skinny jeans a white tank and cute jacket. If you have heard her album, seen her videos or seen her perform live, you know that she is unique and a definite breath of fresh air at a time when most Hip Hop and R&B is garbage. Her energy was great and she performed with a great live band that made the experience that much more amazing.

If you don't have her album, do yourself a favor. Treat yourself to her current album in stores now entitled "I Am".Also check out my thoughts on her album below in a previous blog.

Solange opened the show and was suprisingly good. She definitely has grown up and looked very cute in a little pink puffy prom looking dress with background dancers. Her voice sounds good and she seems to be doing a good job of differentiating herself from Beyonce.

We didn't stay for Raheem. Not a big fan, I mostly was interested in seeing Chrisette live and she didn't disappoint. If you have nothing to do tonight, you can catch this concert at the HOB on Sunset

Last night was the Alicia Keys "As I Am" tour at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Let me break it down the way I usually do.....

Venue: The Honda Center is nice, clean and had great audio. The staff seemed really friendly so no complaints there. Plus there was great food options at the concession stand like Ruby's where I could get a real hot fudge sundae. What a great place to allow you to eat a hot fudge sundae and watch a concert. I ignored the fact that it was a contributor to the muffin top.

Crowd/Audience: Not too bad for this concert. It was truly a mixed crowd with different races and ages. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the concert and there wasn't any drama or fear that some guys in white tee's would be fighting afterwards LOL

Jordin Sparks: She was cool. I don't think she really got the crowd into her performance as much as she could and she is getting a little thick. Thicker than a snicker actually. She may want to spend a little more time with the trainer on the tour. Her voice sounded really good though and while her set was simple, she did a pretty good job for being the first real act for the night.

Ne-Yo: Great. I have seen him perform live before and he always does a great job. He had some provocative dancers though, but after a few songs my guess that they were strippers went away and I could see that they had some professional training in them. Ne-Yo played all the great hits and kicked his set off with his new single. Shameless plug... he also announced his album will be out next month. Definitely one that I will buy the Tuesday that it is out.

Alicia: She was great. Very classy, sexy but conservative and allowed her true talent (not dropping it like it's hot or rollin' around on the floor or bringing a guy up on the stage to gyrate on) to come out. She played a lot of songs on her piano which was nice and her voice was amazing. We had great seats so we were able to see everything (thank God the crowd stayed seated for most of the show). She rocked that cute Farrah Fawcett hairstyle that she has going right now and gave a really good, classic show.

To find out where Alicia will be next. Check out Alicia Keys Events

Last night was the much anticipated heart of the city tour at the Hollywood Bowl. The hottest ticket around, the opportunity to see hip hop and R&B in a rare venue. In getting the tix and preparing to go I'm thinking it's going to be a more top notch crowd and the vibe would be mostly upscale right? WRONG!

I thought I was at a Lil' Wayne concert featuring Pit bull. The amount of hood fab dudes in white tees was deplorable. How do these dudes even know where the Hollywood Bowl is? Then of course you have all the radio station winners in the front (nice crowd) and a bunch of older white soccer moms with their pre-teen daughters. What? Not only do these moms and kids not have any knowledge of Jay and Mary's importance to the music game, they were dancing off beat. To top it all off, the whole night was thrown off by the Jay-Z wanna-be's who thought they knew every word and performed the actual show themselves in their seats. So that's my take on the crowd. Overall I would give it a 6.

Mary's performance was amazing. Her energy level, fashion, swagger and voice were top notch and she definitely gave LA her all. Overall score for Mary - 9.5 (there's always room for improvement)

Now, let's get to Jay. He waisted our time by bringing Memphis Bleek out (please Jay, you can't always help the hood). Then he wouldn't event perform key hits. He messed around at the DJ booth and gave snippets of songs the crowd obviously wanted to hear but then moved on without performing them at all. His husbandly swagger was on point but he definitely didn't show up in the ways that I have seen him show up and show out for other concerts. Overall score for Jay - 6

I wish they would have performed more together. The set was nice and the venue did an amazing fire work show for the last song which I'm sure won't be happening for many of their shows. So all in all. It was a good night but I know Jay could have done better.

Check out video from them doing a duet on tour

Alicia Keys
May 4th @ The Honda Center
Click here for more info.

May 5th @ The Staples Center
Click here for more info.

May 7th @ The San Diego Sports Arena
Click here for more info.

May 10th @ The HP Pavillion at San Jose
Click here for more info.
 
Chris Rock
April 23rd-26th @ The Gibson Amphitheatre
Click here for more info.

Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band

Poncho and his men are undisputed kings of a vibrant hybrid that has become one of the most dynamic and enduringly popular styles of the century.

Chrisette.michele

You know when you hear a certain song and you instantly fall in love with the sound, and then you hear more from the artist and all of a sudden it seems like that artist is singing the soundtrack to your life?

This has only happend to me a couple of times with artists like Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige and Alicia's first album but the new soundtrack to my life is now in stores courtesy of Chrisette Michele.

This girl is no joke. I know she's been out for a minute but her first radio single didn't really get me hooked. Her new video, "Be OK" is the new single girls anthem.

I would recommend you make room on your iPOD for other songs on the album like "Best of Me" and "Your Joy" as well.