Saidah Baba Talibah's Toronto Sound Off

When I turned this in to soultrain.com, I knew what I was getting myself into. Saidah Baba Talibah and I conversed as if kids are unable to use the Internets. From talking about blues singer Lucille Bogans to screaming and(/or) creaming, Soul Train's Sound Check was never the same. Here's an excerpt of what actually ran:

SBT: Expression is borderless – I express myself one way, and another artist could express themselves another way. At the same time, when it comes to being a woman expressing these types of feelings and being – not aggressive – assertive, knowing what you want, strong and unafraid of vulnerability is not really out there. So I guess that could be raunchy, like just in explaining how I want to please a man or how I want him to please me. We feel like we have to hide that idea behind what it means to be a lady. There are ways to do all of that and still be classy. 

ST: I get it, and there’s even each one’s own interpretation of “classy” and what is a lady. 

SBT: This is why I love old blues artists like Betty Davis. She was raunchy, but she was real in stating her facts of life. Also, there was Lucille Bogan, a blues singer from 1935.  She was even raunchier than Betty Davis, raunchier than anyone I ever heard to this day and age! 

ST: So let me ask: how important is it for you to implement sensuality into your music, and music in general? 

SBT: I think sensuality – not necessarily sex – is very important in everything that I do. In the true form of sensuality – calling on touch, sight, sounds and all those things and bring all the senses together – that’s where I’m coming from. 

ST: How did you develop your music within calling on those senses from The Phone Demos to (S)Cream and so on? 

SBT: Continuing to remind myself to stay as free as possible and to be as real as possible. That’s always the emphasis of where I’m coming from. At least I try to because that can be a little scary. I’m still human. It’s not easy being an artist because everyone has their opinion and capability to judge. 

ST:Toronto music –Canada in general – is nothing to sneeze at. How much of the T-Dot inspires your music? 

SBT: There’s a lot of ridiculous talent, great musicians, great singers on the scene. There’s By Divine Right, Jully Black, Ayah, and a lot of them have branched out and moved but this city is a beast.Toronto can take over the world.

Now that she mentioned it, all those T-Dot artists are dope (including her, I mean, have you heard her music?!). Off the top, By Divine Right is like Toronto's own Radiohead (if only the US had there's - sigh) with their indie kick and their music being vet-like boss status. Jully Black is sassy as shit. No seriously, she has a bold R&B sound that's different than what's typical among other R&B divas, like an over-the-top image isn't necessary to accompany her music. Naturally, fashion is her forte. Ayah, a DJ Jazzy Jeff protege, is Philly soul stuck in Toronto mixed with house, hiphop and whatever else her mind is truly capable of - in fact, a song just dropped she did in collaboration with Slakah The Beatchild called "Keep Up." More heat is sure to follow, I mean, the summer is near!



I'm so glad Saidah hipped me to all these artists. My headphones been on repeat with these folks ever since!

After filling your ears with all that Van Glorious, check out the rest of the interview with Saidah here.

A Proper Doodle of The Late Etta James

This sketch was made by Katie Frasier, a friend of mine from college and the mind behind the new clothing line Feebee.

In my current freelancing days, I cover just about everything that has to do with the arts - from dance to paintings to music to film to theatre - but I usually keep this blog exclusive to music. However, when I spot something that connects to great ear candy - like this great eye candy - I feel it's my duty to post.

I looked at this and saw far more than a neatly drawn picture of the late, great Etta James. I saw just about everything that embodied that singer, from her extremely youthful personality to her from-the-ground-up vocals.

While this could be an ode to "At Last" (or a rant on how every other blog or media outlet dedicates her dedication to other artists who have been inspired by Etta James), she was so much more than that, musically. In certain aspects, mainly speaking when I listen to "Something's Got A Hold On Me" or "Hoochie Coochie Gal" or "I Just Wanna Make Love to You" her classy voice would clash with her raw and youthful personality. Here it is this singer you know from something as dramatic as "At Last" getting down with the rebellious-to-gospel swing sound, or blues rock, or sensual satisfaction (respectively speaking). It was like she rebelled against conserving her swag to big band tunes and dramatic songwriting. She didn't need big red curtains to do her thing. Etta James was that vibrant and bold how she spoke to me loudly like she was that homegirl from around the way.

Not that this picture is "hood" in any sense, but in most artwork that included Ms. James there was a glossy, spotlight-ish, 50s glow surrounding her - even when any true follower of her knew that's not really her. The thing about this photo is it speaks to her vibrant nature, from her booming voice to her various outrage in her portrayal by current R&B artists. The colors used, the fill-in's patterns, the background, her hair, they're all telling a tale that features the entire spectrum of Etta James.

Everyone will miss that. Trust!

Rest in Power Etta James.

2011's Recap You Might Forget By Its End

The Quickest-Lived Social Music Network: Turntable.fm - Talk about cray (or is it Kray? Who cares!), the excitement behind Turntable.fm came and went quicker than Affion Crockett's show on FOX! Turntable.fm had tremendous potential to be one of the best and longest-lasting social music sites because it put users in a position of popularity through playing themed tunes everyone agreed on. It integrated commonality with competition, which ultimately became its downfall. Thanks a lot, you snarky ass click-happy music lovers. Not to mention the many "Whistle While You Indie" rooms killed the originality behind room creation. It was the summer fling before going off to college - that which is Spotify. Nothing like being social without saying a word or worrying about someone being queued up next to out-popularize your music taste!

The Year of The Indie Award: St. Vincent - This was tough. Plenty of indie artists came out with wonderful music this year, thanks to the GRAMMY's focus beyond album sales. The Weeknd, tUnE-yArDs, Washed Out, Toro Y Moi and The Roots (as usual, though) all had records that had everyone thinking outside the box, mainly to think they are indie music aficionados, but what really matters is how much the artist can shake these jokers up. St. Vincent has been doing that for years, and seems to only get better when looking at her album Strange Mercy. It was the best at showing what indie musicians are all about - being able to create some mainstream pop ish but excelling just as well in their own lane.




The Best 2011 Hiphop Beat: Lil' B "Motivation" (produced by Clams Casino) - This year had a colossal of dope beats, from 9th Wonder's entire Jamla crew to the Watch The Throne production. One producer that stuck out the most was Clams Casino, and it all started with this Lil' B jawn. The mixture of noise with the classic hiphop break and the extra tribal percussion snuffed a new punch to the hiphop scene, one that is highly untechnical and carefree, especially steering clear from in-your-face boom-bap rap.

Clams Casino - 01 Motivation [FLAC] by ClamsCasino

Nostalgia Done Right in 2011: Com Truise - Pick a record, any record, from this guy and you'll hear both originality and a Miami Vice soundtrack. Com Truise has the 80's new wave synthpop sound down to a nostalgic pat where the music sets people in a world stocked with postmodern industrial, futuristic-looking furniture and neon stop lights for the Jetsons flying saucer. Cyanide Sisters and Galactic Melt respectively embodied Com Truise's ability to own his own retro sound that matches what seemed to be dude's interpretation of what he grew up with.

Flightwave by JONEZ

The Sappiest Artist of 2011: Wiz Khalifa - Honestly, this award could've been given to him a long time ago. Don't let Kush and OJ and all his other slightly more machismo, smoker-crazed mixtapes fool you, Wiz is one sappy cat. Recalling "Say Yeah," let alone his extremely thin body, that dude is nowhere near capable of holding down a hardcore mantra. And that's ok - it's just when he wonders off into a "I Roll Up" stupor that pulls his chump card. Does Amber Rose really bring that out of guys?!

Best Flow of 2011: Dream Hampton "Denouement" - Although I speak a lot on music-type music, it doesn't hurt to highlight highlight-worthy spoken word. On one of the best albums of 2011, TiRon and Ayomari A Sucker For Pumps, journalist (and poet too, I guess) Dream drops the deepest piece any woman with a heart will understand. She opens up with:

Romantic love is always inconveniently self-announcing
Despite its unwilling participants. Wounded healers,
Unavailable men in need of constant companionship.
Women whose haunted havens are unsafe.
Love shit.

And throughout the poem, pieces of structured stream-of-consciousnesses that each illustrate a revelation of some love-and-relationship-sort, she places this toosie "though counter intuitive, when you hit a curve in love you should accelerate, not brake," reminding everyone that love is rough but fight through that shit.

The Best Tribute to an Icon in 2011: Bob Dylan at The GRAMMYs - Although all the award shows have become complete snoozefests, this performance/tribute set to "Maggie's Farm" was unforgettable. The two acts, Mumford & Sons and Avett Brothers, pave a folk-like river toward the sea that is Bob Dylan. They come together and perform in this magical fashion, especially hearing all those instruments (specifically Bob Dylan's raspy water-deprived vocals) play under the warm, intimate light - the way folk should always be enjoyed!

The Quickest and Tastiest Flavor of 2011: KING - How can you have the shortest EP that draws the biggest buzz only to never follow up? Though folks can stare at Jay Electronica for his once-a-year single releases, this L.A. trio falls guilty to that same strategy. KING released one of the best EPs this year titled The Story, and in three songs charmed their way into the R&B elite. Folks still talk about The Story, but shift the focus on what's next for KING. No one knows the answer though!

KING-The Story EP by weareKINGworldwide

Covering One Music Festival 2011

It brings about a whole unique feeling when you can sit through a daylong concert with three generations sliding through the lineup, especially when the genres are as diverse as displayed within One Music Festival.

I had the privilege of covering One MusicFest with Carolyn Grady for BlackVibes, assisting her with the writing as she let her Nikon express her vocabulary. 'twas a beautiful site, all these people together under one cause - loving music - and seeing everyone let the music please them. What an orgasmic experience as a concert goer, let alone the vibes from the artists, up close and personal, in the press room via the interviews.

Though I was limited on word count for the website I wrote for, I posted as much as I had on the site via Twitter and Tumblr, including an interview with Phife Dawg of ATCQ on Tumblr. Here's a twitpic of me interviewing The Cool Kids from @willedmond:

You can check out the twitpics I sent to Twitter right here!

I have some video I'll post soon of the concert footage on my YouTube page. Seeing Kyron Leslie, Anoop Desai, Tortured Soul, Anthony David, The Foreign Exchange, The Cool Kids, Pharcyde and Chrisette Michelle all hit the stage was the most refreshing moment I had in music in a long time! You can check out the photos and my official recap of One MusicFest on BlackVibes.com!

Interviews on the spot: Richelle Brown for Examiner

One thing I've began to enjoy is catching an artist fresh off the stage. They're guard is slightly up because they know all eyes (and investigative ears) are on them, they have prepared answers for the press - before their self-proclaimed wicked performance and they're still on cloud 9 after said-wicked performance.

This got the same result.

After her performance for one of SMKA's Through The Rabbit Hole concert series, I interviewed Richelle Brown AKA Cornbread for my Get To Know Q&A series for Examiner.com. We talked about how she got her name, her influences and her upcoming projects. Here is an excerpt from our discussion where we talked about her nickname, which became her pen name - Cornbread.

... I call my music electro-funk because it’s electronically done and we summon up the funk gods. It’s funky, it’s gonna make you stank, it’s gonna make you dance, it’s gonna make you sing, it’s gonna make you wanna love somebody, and ain’t nothing better than love! And funk. Love and funk!

Let me ask you this, if it’s along those lines. You’re nickname is Cornbread. Where did that come from?

Oh gosh, that name. When I was in high school, there was this new guy that came to school and he was so cute. All the girls liked him because he was super thugged-out. As I was walking down the hallway, and all the girls were looking at him, he looked up at me and was like “What’s up Cornbread?” I was like “First of all, my name is Richelle, it is not Cornbread, and don’t you ever call me that again.” I had to let him know but then every time he sees me in the hallway, he’d yell “Cornbread!” and I yell back “That’s not my name!” I started asking people why does he keep calling me that, and come to find out he was calling me Cornbread because I was thick and was not a skinny girl. They said that people who eat a lot of bread get thick or whatever. Fast-forward to college, I was in my first class and the teacher was asking an icebreaker question like “What’s the weirdest pick-up line you ever had?” I was 17, and I couldn’t think of any weird pick-up lines except for that because I wasn’t able to date. I told the story, and when I told them that they started calling me Cornbread because they liked that name. When I got my first job, or any time somebody from my school would see me somewhere, they call me Cornbread. Then other people hear it, and they wanna call me that too because it’s easy for people to remember. With my brand, Space Age Hippie, it fit.

That’s really cool how it stuck with you and grew on you...

 Read more by clicking here!

A Photo Recap of Atlanta Indie Festival

I had the privilege of covering Greedmont Park's annual Atlanta Indie Festival for Frank151, and I took hella photos. I am so proud of the results - like the ones when I covered the Soul Train Awards - that I want to share all of them!

Check out the full recap of the event on Frank151 Atlanta Backwoods League.




Featured in this slideshow is:

J*Davey

Project Pat
Rahbi
CyHi da PrynceGrip Plyaz
Karima Harrison from Noot d' Noot
Tuki and Go Dreamer from Hollyweerd

Thurzday from U-N-I

and much, much more!

Sidenote, plus a bonus photo, I went to the Arts Beats & Lyrics show the night before as the purveyor of awesome that I am, and got recruited to take a photo in front of a person's work because of my KeepItClassic.com "I Grew Up On Hiphop" shirt. Lo and behold, it was for a friend of mine! Check out all of her Rhythmic Images pictures by clicking on her picture of me!

Check out my feature with Soul Train featuring Heston

With an album coming later this month, Heston and I discuss his live sound and how he feels timeless music does not go hand-in-hand with "what's hot." Here is a clip of our Sound Check interview:

On loving the live elements of his sound - I think the perfect imperfections, like delays in timing or feelings, are things you can’t really manufacture, or program on the one or on the two. Those perfect imperfections is what makes music real.

On his new album Warm Human, Cold World - When you are in a relationship, especially a successful relationship, you find that it’s easier to navigate, it’s easier to lean on someone when you’re having a bad day and have someone to come home to. It’s about relationships and having someone’s shoulder to lay on.

On creating timeless music - (...) I do not want to go with the sound of the month, or the type of thing where there’s a certain sound in the industry right now for R&B music and has certain synthesizers, I’m not interested. For me, it’s making music that I can be happy with forever.

Soul Train: What about how much R&B has changed over time? Do you feel that with R&B changing that you’ll be able to still create the music that you want to? 

Heston: Absolutely. If you look at people like Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton, Maxwell, India.Arie and even Alicia Keys, there are such stories as people creating timeless music where those songs will last forever. There’s a certain quality and sustainability to the music that defies the flavor or producer of the month in it. Like, an Alicia Keys song could’ve been dropped in 1970 and still be as relevant as it is now. Sade’s been doing the same quality of music with the same type of production for many years. It’s just a matter of stepping outside of recording, like the marketing, performing, and being available. While I’m interested in all that, I’m not concerned with altering my sound for what’s going on today.

 Be sure to check out the full interview on Soul Train's website by clicking here!

Anthony David's "What God Said" is Skeptic. LOVE IT!

Before reading any further, please watch the video to gain an understanding of the background of this blog piece.



Anthony David's new video and single off As Above, So Below "God Said" possesses the perfect way to be a skeptic musician, but for the greater good. He's not forcing the audience to not believe in a religion, but teaching them how to think about (and possibly be skeptic towards) extreme religious beliefs and practices, the way (I feel) ALL music should operate.

He illustrates the media's - if not nearly all of society's - exaggerations when it comes to religion and spirituality, spotlighting various out-there practices that have direct effects on current events. Within every image he's not in, there's some form of extreme religious practice going down. He even takes it back to the KKK climatic stages, because let's not forget that they used religion to lure in more whites on the basis of order according to, well, what God said. *in Anthony David's voice*

And it's not just Christianity and Islam, but David also touches on atheism. It may be because of his own skepticism laced within the song, but ultimately he doesn't display his religious beliefs anyway. One thing that is certain for this song when it came to analyzing atheism, there's an element of danger in believing in nothing supernatural.

Further analyzing this video and song, one must listen to the lyrics and what is said throughout the video. The opening says a lot before David says anything - 700 Club's Pat Robertson makes a statement eluding to Haiti's earthquake an act of God because they made a pact with the devil in order to free themselves from formidable French rule. David follows that image with some powerful lyricism, saying, "shake hands with my imaginary friend, / see, the trouble he gets me in / cannot get back to me," almost to fire back at all types of "curses" thrown at people, communities and races.

Although the point he is making is that it is illogical to think that just because you worship a god (or gods), that you have the power to physically thwart knowledge and reason to the side (which includes colonialism, neocolonialism, business, monopoly, policy, and so on), he is not trying to say don't believe in any religion at all. I believe he's trying to say it's ok to challenge your spirituality and/or religion with science and logic. Fundamentalism (religious, political, social, racial, etc), in my opinion (and perhaps David's), is what's most dangerous to the world, point, blank, period. Anybody who cannot live with a face of any kind other than their's will never get to see the face of God.

Now, prey/pray on that.

Album Review: Adele - 21

Grammy award-winning artist Adele made a good decision taking some time to create her next album. Folks needed to fully digest 19, let alone her powerful hit "Chasing Pavements," before hearing something from her again. Yes, that album was that good! But people are all to familiar with the sophomore curse (where the artist either has the album shelved or it blows). Does Adele fall victim to that curse with 21?

Adele fires off 21 with "Rolling In The Deep," which highlights her throwback, Motown sound. While it's evident early that she's proving she's back like she never left, this is a sound that is beginning to go through the "let's play this out" phase. Fortunately, she later displays new perspectives in her songwriting, singing abilities and trying new sounds. The bad news is each and every songs is plagued by her out-the-booth affairs.

Can't knock her retro vibe though! The most surprising tracks on this album are "Rumour Has It" and "If It Hadn't Been For Love" because Adele steps out of the box folks have put her in while sticking to her retro roots.

Throughout 21 Adele's sound extends from just sounding retro, thanks to different variations in her singing, the production and her attitude. "Take It All" is a great example of this, as there are hints of almost every ballad-driven/uplifting genre (Gospel, Country, even Classical) plus her overall attitude towards her heartbreak. Instead of chasing her guy, she's telling him she doesn't want anything to do with him. "I'll Be Waiting" successfully shows her overall growth, as she gives listeners a new side to her vocal style. It's a refreshing song - it has that happy AT&T commercial feel to it.

21 has the most unique production clan with this year's music, which in turn makes Adele a more diverse artist than her previous work. Whereas 19 seemed one-dimensional in production, sound, lyrics, etc, this album is on some hi-def, 3D-type stuff. With the help of Rick Rubin and countless others, Adele improves dramatically as far as her sound goes.

In all of this "you can't tear me down" type of songwriting, the bad news (if you wanna call it that) is that each and every song is plagued by her out-the-booth affair with her former boyfriend. It's safe to say that the entire second half of 21's tracks reeks of heartbreak, revenge and empowerment (in that order). Luckily, these three raging emotions, as delivered by Adele, terrificly complement one another. Not to mention the artistry laced in every song.

Overall, there is no bad track on 21. One would think after winning a Grammy and having the greatest ballads of this generation that Adele would fall back. Instead she uses it get stronger, even through her breakup. Hopefully, this trend of making heartbreak songs will end soon with her because the world already has Jazmine Sullivan. Sorry, but it's true!

Star's Grade: A-

Album Review: Diddy-Dirty Money - Last Train to Paris

Diddy. Who doesn't know this guy? Founder of Bad Boy, discoverer of The Notorious B.I.G (the late great Biggie Smalls in my world), pusher of Ciroc (a fine beverage in my world), and the list goes on and on. Oh, and there's Dirty Money, the broads behind him, but are something that he is not - an artist. After years of "hard" work, Diddy-Dirty Money drops an album that anybody unfamiliar to Diddy and his conniving ways of music, Last Train To Paris.

Last Train To Paris is a product of "Last Night," which would've worked - if it came out after the hit single... in 2006/7. If this would've succeeded Press Play as scheduled, there would be reviews of this record being A+! Hell, if this came out in 2008 (or at least when his MTV "band" show was over), things would've made sense. Could Diddy's PR and label hiccups ruin everyone's trip on the Last Train To Paris?

The intro was pretty good, especially considering Diddy's aim for a new sound. He is right in the sense that this is something new, as the production for Last Train seemed to pour a righteous effort in making a futuristic, techno, electronic, hip-hop and R&B record.

Fortunately, the moniker Diddy-Dirty Money saves Diddy's behind from this being a total disaster. These women can blow! The main "backup (???)" singer that makes up Dirty Money, and member of Danity Kane, Dawn displays a powerful vocal, outdoing Diddy and "that other girl" Kaleena. Honestly, if these women went solo, the R&B community would not mind one bit*

*as long as they have the creativity to match their powerful vocalism.

Diddy, Diddy, Diddy. Folks were sick of/laughed at his ad-libs and whack raps, now they have something else to poke fun at: his singing. Like, excuse my French, but HOW DO YOU FUCK UP AUTO-TUNE??? Moving on...

The biggest conceptual fail of Last Train To Paris is that it sounds dated (i.e. when it was supposed to be out). For example, look at "Loving You No More." Well, in the words of Diddy - "I just, I can't...", so nevermind. Seriously, the single is a direct production-type inspiration of Ne-Yo's "So Sick" and "Because of You." Also, "Hate You Now" and "Strobe Lights" are among the many records that had a 07-08 vibe to it, considering the massive amount of artists who weren't as big as Diddy but had that sound he tried to master in Last Train To Paris.

"Shades" falls guilty, though the production and concept is bananas, but because the lyrics just screwed it up. It sounds like a throw away from Jamie Foxx's Intuition album. "Last Night Part 2" just because there is a part 2 to that record, which seals the deal for me as I could've been ok without that sort of Last ride to Paris.

The good news about this album is that Diddy-Dirty Money stuck to what worked for them when they released "Love Come Down" (which I was hurt was not on the album) and "Hello Good Morning," as their ticket to the Last Train was creative club records. Additionally, their club record orientation isn't just Black-folk-booty-shaking-music, it's pop-ish, electro-ish, and fun.

Overall, Diddy-Dirty Money got away on their Last Train To Paris because it was catchy, nice for just about any clubs, and the girls did all the dirty work. Unfortunately, the monstrous "Last Night" gem has been stretched thin and ultimately destroyed thanks to Diddy's aim to banking off of it, as well as all of the good music to come out of 2006-08.

Star's Grade: C+

Album Review: Miguel - All I Want Is You

Miguel is the type of singer/songwriter that you hate to love (if you are like me, wanting more from music than a quickie). He has been drawing me in since 2007 with his EP Mischief because he had some of the most creative concepts that year as an R&B artist. He fused together different aspects of living with different aspects of loving (i.e. making direct comparisons like computer use to submission, supernatural to infidelity, fruit and pimping, etc). When his single "All I Want Is You" hit airwaves, I was one happy camper. It was different from the material Miguel has, but it managed to appeal to everyone - young, old, immature, mature, etc. So it seems that his newest album of the same name would be that way...

He puts listeners in a tough position - if labeling things are an issue, don't bother with this cat. He's uncategorical. In All I Want Is You, he's a little reminiscent of The Dream because of the songwriting and the content used. It's straight-forward, slightly reckless, and very sexual (not to get confused with sensual, which is far from what Miguel does). Unlike the said comparison, Miguel is a crooner at-heart that can successfully dive into the perverted side of love and everyone is fine with that. Fun, mature, nasty, sexy, eclectic - that's Miguel.

He continues to fly high as one of the best breakthrough vocalists of the year, with various tracks that compliment his soft, electric voice. His extra touch is his background vocals he places in songs like "Girl With The Tattoo Enter.lewd," "Girls Like You" and "Teach Me." He saves the best for last, as far as creative writing is concerned, with "My Piece." It's hypnotizing, and has the IDGAF-attitude that Miguel thrives in having. Not to mention the direct (and thorough) comparison between a man's gun and girlfriend is mighty powerful!

He does miss the mark on a couple tunes with this album. The "club banger" single of this album sounds like something out of the 90s, minus the hook which is all of 2009. Luckily, "Pay Me" gets away with that because it's catchy and totally danceable despite its outdated sound. He makes a bad attempt to fuse his grown and sexy vocalism with an electropop in "Girls Like You," which is a mark barely missed by Miguel. A total fail was the recycled beat from "All I Want Is You" with a half-assed heartbreak song called "Hard Way." Other than that, he continues to make a sound that is both grown, futuristic and freaky.

Overall, Miguel makes it cool to be corny, smooth, nasty (a borderline perv even), mature, fun, eclectic, and talented all in one swoosh, and expect nothing short of praise from even the most serious. In All I Want Is You he shows the world he's not afraid to show his inhibitions, as well as bring them out of his listeners. It is definitely an album that is and sounds a bit overdue, it's apparent with the lowpoints in here, but Miguel is still flaunting high-quality talent. Although artists need to stray away from styles like that, especially considering the world we're living in today, Miguel gets a pass because he appears born to be that kind of guy.... with his silly self!

Star's Grade - B+

Bilal is the Biggest Beast of Our Generation, And Here's Why!

I have been meaning to post this Q&A session I had with Bilal for a long time (since we did it back in August), and being that I saw this marvelous video of him spazzing out on the B3 hammond to his rendition of "Tainted Love," it only felt right. The highlights from this interview can be seen at Xposure magazine, so feel free to check out that site because the print edition should be coming out really soon! So enjoy the video, then scroll down to see the entire interview unfold before your eyes!

The Sounds of VTech / Bilal: Tainted Love

I’m gonna give you the floor and let you explain your sound and craft to me. Well, I do genre-bending music. I’ve approached jazz, which is what I have come out of, and soul is in me because I started singing in the church at about 3 years old. But it’s just whatever I feel like doing – a mash-up of a lot of things, a mash-up of different sounds and a lot of different genres of music.

You’ve worked with almost every artist, underground and mainstream, from Common and Erykah Badu to Robert Glasper and even Zap Mama. What other artists do you want to collaborate with before you’re done? I want to do some stuff with Thom Yorke from Radiohead actually though. I like their stuff. They’re dope! Their style seems really organic. A lot of the collaborations I’ve done are with people that just kind of happen that way. Cats would just hit me up, and we would work something out. I’m really in a space right now where I’m developing my own type of sound and creation.

Is that what happened with your last label that made you wanna work with Plug Research? Well, what made you want to leave the label you were with and go work with Plug? Plug is an independent label and it really just kind of happened. I wouldn’t know if I could really be able to do an album on a large scale until I know I can recreate this whole business aspect in a different way. I think the best way to do things now, if you want to be original, not to be too general, but you get a lot more leverage these days when you’re independent first. That’s the meal ticket, not to mention that I like Plug Research. The people that they choose to bring out like Flying Lotus, Exile, and they give people the freedom to create however it is that they want to create.

So how did you meet them? I had met them not too long ago. The way I had met them was they were doing a record with Shafiq Husayn, the dude who’s a part of Sa-Ra. I was doing a thing on his album, and then one of the guys from Plug Research came to the studio and heard what I was doing. Me and Shifiq was trading off, like if I did a song for him then he’d do a song for me. The guy from Plug got to hear the song that I was doing for Shafiq, and he was like “oh my God, what the hell are you doing this for?” And I’m like “I’m doing this because I love it. I’m doing music man!” He just kept calling me up afterwards wanting to do an album with them like “come on, you gotta do an album! You wanna do an album right?” And I really didn’t know what I was going to do because I been in a lot of contractual things and hang-ups. After I had got everything right and together, I don’t know, things just started to go in the way that they should do. Being divine and organic, just flowing correctly.

So, your new album Airtight’s Revenge, for starters, why that title? Revenge is a way of turning that word on your side of what I have encountered in this business. I haven’t officially put an album out in 9 years. I had an album 6 years ago that I was doing, but that got bootlegged… It really had me down, and I almost, I really wasn’t thinking about music at that point, but then in being bootlegged a lot of cats started loving my sound even more. Then I started doing gigs, and getting calls from Jay-Z wanting to do music, and going on tour like I had an album out. What all that did was make me want to do it even more from the soul and from the heart, and not let myself be dumbed-down, and just do music! And that’s what Airtight’s Revenge is. Airtight is my own frame of mind, and Revenge is the fact that I have more love and more drive and more energy and more inspiration now more than ever to do music.

The cover of the album, similar to Malcolm X holding the piece and KRS-One and BDP’s album cover as well, so can you explain the significance of the album cover and their similarities? Malcolm X was willing to do things by any means necessary, and that photo really represented that. In that photo he was doing his thing, and he was willing to break down and fight what it is in his calling. With BDP, they took it and did the same thing because they came in with that reckless sound that was all their own. Both KRS-One and Malcolm X were throwing it down, they were on the frontlines, and the photos really represent that. So when I’m doing Airtight’s Revenge I took the rifle out and put in the mic because that’s my sound. I’m representing my sound and I’m in a place right now where I’m doing it regardless. I’m doing it for the love, and in all my way and my style. That’s what I’m about – being new, fresh and different, by any means necessary, of course!

What is the story within this album? What content should the audience expect to hear? There’s a lot of short stories on the album. Got some blues songs. Some were made to really spark conversation afterwards. It’s not all A and B type of songs about love or crooning about it. A lot of it is just things that I deal with in my mind and questions that I talk to myself. A lot of these songs really help me understand a lot of these things going on. That goes along with my children, who I talk about. I talk about the economy. I talk about religion and spirituality. I talk about a lot of different things. I look at what I do as a standpoint to really do those type of things, like how Bob Marley did or Curtis Mayfield.

I wanna ask this out of shear curiosity because I’ve seen a shift from you as an artist in what you want to sing. What is your ultimate goal as a musician, beyond just developing your own sound? Or do you just see that being enough? My ultimate goal, well, that’s a good place to start. But definitely to doing it to where the whole world understands and knows about it, and loves it. I want to make music that’s gonna last like all the greats have done. >>>> I want to get to the point where my son can put this on for his children and be like “this is Granddad,” and they’ll be like “oh my God! Granddad was good, he was on some shit Dad!” Then he’ll be like “yeah, I know. And now you know why you play like that son.” <<<< MY FAVORITE QUOTE!!!

Would you care to share some advice to the young folks trying to get their feet wet in the music business at all? Yeah man, come up with a sound yourself, and really, really, really work that thing and work it out. Don’t be afraid to do things people don’t normally do and have your own sound first. Do it that way, and you know, come from the heart for the art. Don’t do it for the money, do something that’s new.

Album Review: The Foreign Exchange - Authenticity

Most people, including me, are growing tired of singer/rapper-producer combo groups. It's like either have a band or don't. Expanding the idea of calling duos like Atmosphere, J*Davey, and even this group The Foreign Exchange a band is highly hesitant for me to do because there's no one playing an instrument (except for a keyboard or a beat machine). Plus, being that most of these duos lack the use of actual instruments make me even more reluctant to read any articles that call these groups a band. However, one thing that is undeniable about the aforementioned groups, especially The Foreign Exchange, is that their chemistry and the development of crafting their own art is phenomenal.


This group, consisting of rapper/singer Phonte (who some know from the awesome hiphop group Little Brother) and the Dutch producer Nicolay, are an unstoppable force in the R&B and hiphop community. Without even being signed, The Foreign Exchange has made greater accomplishments than folks with multi-million dollar deals, including a Grammy nomination. Their two previous albums, Connected and Leave It All Behind, have made the most noise out of the soul realm than the usual big-name musicians. Honestly, they're incomparable, and anyone with ears could hear the longevity in their musical talents.


From the opening chime I felt bad that I had to finally let go of Leave It All Behind, their sophomore effort that got them a Grammy nomination. It was so magical! There were so many emotions driven by that record that it became necessary to play in moments of downtime. Songs about abuse, suicide, neglect, all in the name of love, The Foreign Exchange knows a little something about love.


Flows much better than the last one, and that's not a shot at the last album, but it's like Authenticity is one giant, hour-long song. However, the line-up of these songs give the listener no time to really breathe or recuperate from the previous song before diving right into the next, making any emotion drawn out of the listener hard to sift through.


Phonte is finally given a vocal challenge on this album. The changes in the tempo, the various styles of singing, and the length of some of the records forced Phonte to step outside of being the type of singer that makes great hooks. The sound of this album is well beyond R&B and other Black music genres, and for a hiphop artist (rapper and singer) to mold his sound into that, while still having a standout reputation as an emcee, gives the guy an upstanding ranking in the music world. Phonte is no longer the guy from Little Brother that can sing. He's no longer a soul singer that can write good hooks to experimental records. Phonte's now a full-fledge musician.


The lyrical content on Authenticity mimics much of the last album, Phonte's aim at diving deep into relationship psyche continues to be on-point. The only difference between then and now is his explicit cynicism. In the best record on this album "Fight for Love" he says "I don't wanna be a soldier anymore / because the war never ends and no one ever wins / I don't understand why we should fight for love / either it ain't or it is..." And as opposed to being totally dark like before, he has flashes of positivity on a couple tracks, including "Maybe She'll Dream of Me" and "Don't Wait." Overall, this album tells feelings of neglecting it all in order to be loved.


The other half of The Foreign Exchange, Nicolay, carries on the distinct sound from Leave It All Behind into Authenticity. In fact, he brings in the little light of electrosoul from his City Lights set into this album, although Nicolay's solo records are arguably far from The Foreign Exchange's soul mantra. In this album is a more acoustic sound, which works well with the always-improving frontman Phonte. This album may not sound much different than the last, but the wish to have more hiphop like Connected is still just a wish.


Overall, to not buy this album is doing a disservice to the entire R&B community and industry. Groups and musicians like The Foreign Exchange need the support of true music lovers so that the R&B industry can shape up, because right now that industry is slowly becoming irrelevant to music in general. When Drake, who is a rapper, has better R&B songs on the radio than Dwele, the soul music genre is taking major steps back. Usually the blame is pointed at radio, but in reality the listeners and the artists need to put forth a greater effort.


Either that or get ready to hear melodies from every rapper n the music business.


I hope that The Foreign Exchange gets the recognition they deserve, from the eclectic soul groups to the mainstream audience, as this album (as well as their last works) has something that everyone, absolutely EVERYONE, could enjoy and learn from. In short, it's edutainment at its finest!


Star's Grade: A

Performance Footage from A3C

Well, after spending all night editing these videos (and these aren't even all of them), not to mention all day looking for my cord, here are all of the performances I caught on my camera from A3C. I made it a playlist on my YouTube channel so I can save some space on this page.

Featured on this playlist include Jean Grae, Camp Lo, Thee Tom Hardy, and many more!