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India.Arie: Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship
Log onto an India.Arie lyrics page and you won’t come away expecting an easy-breezy listen–here’s an artist, remember, who made a name for herself by declaring her disdain for silicone and Cristal on her 2001 debut. What’s consistently a revelation for new recruits to the Arie camp, then, is how good the music makes you [...]
Continue reading...Donnie: The Colored Section
5. October 2007
What a marvelously audacious introduction The Colored Section is. Emerging from the same Jazz Café-centered alternative Atlanta soul scene that nourished and nurtured fellow hippie-soul singer/songwriters like Joi and India.Arie all the way into the public consciousness, Donnie’s first LP is a topical, unapologetically conscientious, and even righteously stinging declaration that, yes, can only be [...]
Continue reading...tU pHAce: Changing the Game
3. October 2007
Rapper. Singer. Producer. Songwriter. Dancer. Entertainer. However you describe him, one thing is undeniable: tU pHAce will bring the house down. tU pHAce’s music incorporates unique blends of emo, electronica, hip-hop, and soul. Whether in front of rock fans at the Vans Warped Tour, hip-hop heads at Cypress Hill shows, or mixed crowds at MTVu’s [...]
Continue reading...Chavous: Life Without Limit
1. October 2007
With a poignant and conscience style all her own, Chavous has burst onto the underground scene in Philly blending a unique cross-section of soulful tones and esoteric rhythms along with the elements of gospel, jazz, R&B, and classical music into a distinctive style that challenges the listener to take a moment for self-reflection and acknowledgment [...]
Continue reading...School of Beats: Lesson 2: Validation
1. October 2007
What happens when three individuals with a passion for Hip Hop and Soul music meet on the Hilltop (Howard University)? A blend of sound derived from works of professors of melody & sound. Those lessons learned by pupils, L Shaze, J Sinclair, and Walk On, form School of Beats. Based in the Nation’s Capital, School [...]
Continue reading...Pharoahe Monch: Desire
29. September 2007
After a long hiatus, Pharoahe Monch returns to deliver his highly anticipated second solo album Desire. This LP is very ambitious in that Pharoahe attempts to break the mold of what a so-called conscious emcee is supposed to sound like. For the most part, he succeeds. Too often this “conscious sound” translates into [...]
Continue reading...Anthony David: 3 Chords & the Truth
29. September 2007
One blues man and a voodoo band have become an increasingly popular tangent for R&B as of late, combining the mellow vocal soul of the ’70s with folksy guitar strum and clip-clop percussion reminiscent of Tom Waits at his most rhythmic. Atlanta singer/songwriter Anthony David might overstate his case for being a Delta blues man, [...]
Continue reading...Talib Kweli: Eardrum
29. September 2007
“They say you can’t please everybody.” Those are the words spoken by Talib Kweli to open his latest album Eardrum. Eardrum personifies a newfound level of maturity and growth for Kweli in that he now realizes he cannot be the “Everything Man” as the opening track of the album insinuates. He is [...]
Continue reading...K’Naan: The Dusty Foot Philosopher
28. September 2007
Leaving Somalia at the age of thirteen on what turned out to be the very last commercial flight to ever do so, amidst a crumbling society and the end to this day of any form of central government, K’NAAN carried with him a very strong sense of purpose. It is this sense of purpose [...]
Continue reading...Blu & Exile: Below the Heavens
22. May 2007
Hip-Hop’s culture has been in a state of disillusionment for quite some time now, with the mainstream serving up with stale material, and most of the underground not caring enough to provide interesting alternatives. When it seems all hope is lost, every few years there comes a refreshing act reminding one of what it was [...]
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5. October 2007
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