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Album Review: Fantasia’s “Back To Me” Is A Soulful Yet Glossy Musical Experience

Written by The IPS in New Music & Reviews on Aug 27, 10
Fantasia – Back To Me
3 out of 5 stars

Fantasia has returned! Her latest album Back to Me is a soul-filled mish-mash of uptempo productions, synth-soul jams, and uplifting songs in one nice crossover-aimed package. Well, as much as an artist like Fantasia can be pointed in the direction of “crossover” success.

The album is an enjoyable listen, if you have always been a fan of Fantasia. If you are not, this album will not be the moment-of-conversion flashpoint that you’ve been looking for. Fantasia fans are rabid about her vocal talents while those who aren’t fans are always left in the corner scratching their heads why. Her singing is DEEPLY rooted in the Black church experience, which also makes her a good fit for the BET religious special/programming circuit. Opposite of that, if you have no idea what that subculture is like, you are only left to get caught up in the raw emotion that Fantasia spins into songs of heartache, woe, overcoming, and living life.

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Tags:album reviews, fantasia
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Album Review: Janelle Monáe’s “The ArchAndroid” Is A Futuristic-Rock-Soul-Funk-Opera-Musical

Written by FirstGentleman in New Music & Reviews on May 24, 10
Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid
4 stars out of 5

Reviewers’s Note: Before I start I must preface this by saying I am the BIGGEST JANELLE MONAE FAN IN THE WORLD! Now with that said this review may or may not contain a few biased opinions.

R&B can be summed up in a few themes; “Party Anthems,” “Sappy Ballads,” “Sex-Me-Down-Slow,”, and “She/He Done Me Wrong” songs. The common complaint among must music aficionados is that everything is too generic or that everyone sounds like they are trying to copy Michael Jackson. In reality, that seems to be true, but every now and again the planets align and the poles shift and something big happens on the musical scene. This go round it is The ArchAndroid.

The ArchAndroid must be looked at in the proper context to be fully understood. It is not an “album.” It isn’t a “record” or a “CD” either — it is a futuristic-rock-soul-funk-opera-musical. It is epic. It is a trilogy that must be digested in three parts (please listen to The Chase Suite Vol. I before listening to Vol. II & III).

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Tags:album reviews, janelle monae
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All Drinks Are On Jaheim For “Another Round” On Latest Album

Written by The IPS in New Music & Reviews on Feb 11, 10
Jaheim – Another Round
2 stars out of 5

With the “music” (and I use the term loosely) that is on the radio today, many of us like to take a nostalgic look back for better music. An easy place to look is the 90’s. Times were simpler then and music just seemed to be vibrant. However, there is a difference between creating an album that pays homage to the 90’s era and an album that sounds dated — Another Round is the latter of the two. Jaheim has always had an adult contemporary R&B sound that at times boarder on Philly “Quiet Storm.” This album doesn’t tread any new ground, and for the life of me it sounds like a 2010 remake of a 90’s Christopher Williams album (and not in a good way), although Christopher Williams’ 2001 release Real Men Do was pretty solid…and yes I’m the only one in the world who bought it.

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Tags:album reviews, jaheim
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Let Nneka Help You Escape Your “Concrete Jungle”

Written by FessaJ in New Music & Reviews on Feb 9, 10
Nneka – Concrete Jungle
3 stars out of 5

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Nneka – “Heartbeat” [Download] [Myspace]

Nneka, a Nigerian-German born singer whose first US project hit the states last week, proves that she is very comfortable with “the uncomfortable truth.” Dogmatic, pragmatic, didactic, but never offensive, Nneka infuses every groove and lyric with biblical metaphors, tales of unsolved social issues and moral consciousness. And she does it well, taking you on a journey through different styles from Rap to rock to Afrobeat; visiting Reggae; and then taking a break for an acoustic set. At times I thought I was listening to post-miseducated Lauryn Hill, Floetry, or even the quiet-as-a-mouse Corinne Bailey Rae. In other words, there’s going to be something on this album that you like.

Stand out tracks include the Bob Marley-esque “Africans”; poetic track “Focus”; and the live version of “Suffri”, where the band slows up the tempo and gets funky on the hook.

Apparently she’s been hooking up with a lot of hip-hop/soul artist here in the states, so hopefully we’ll be hearing a lot more from her. Check out her performance of the above song “Heartbeat” on Dave Letterman after the jump, and you can hear more of her music at Myspace if you are on the fence…

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Tags:album reviews, international
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Sade Matures & Yet Retains Their Signature Sound On Their Latest Project

Written by The IPS in New Music & Reviews on Feb 9, 10
Sade – Soldier of Love
4.5 stars out of 5

Sade, which is short for they-who-take-their-sweet-time, has finally blessed us with a new album, Soldier of Love. The band, which is fronted by the picturesque vocalist Sade Adu, releases their 6^th album a full 10 years after their last international smash Lover’s Rock. Sade takes a more uptempo, rhythmic and fast paced (for them) approach to the views of love and the constant struggle and pull that are the emotions and feelings in any relationship, laying bare thoughts and observations over an occiasional uptempo and midtempo musical backdrop. True fans will not be disappointed, and new fans will like what they hear.

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Tags:album reviews, sade
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B.o.B. Drops May 25th, His Latest & Greatest Mixtape For The Masses

Written by The IPS in New Music & Reviews on Feb 1, 10
B.o.B. – May 25th Mixtape [Download Here]

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B.o.B. has dropped another mixtape and since dude always goes off, I’m of course downloading it on GP right now! I’ve put my favorite joint “Don’t Feel So Good” above so check it out!

May 25th is when his full album is dropping, and so he’s dedicating his new mixtape to that date to get the word out about it. He worked with DJ Drama and DJ Sense for this multi-genre mixtape. There’s not a lot that Bobby Ray isn’t seemingly able to do.

The Adventures of Bobby Ray is sure to be a great album in my opinion, cause B.o.B. is truly creative as an artist.

Check out tracks “Out of Time” and “B is for B.o.B.”, which remind me of Pharrell & N.E.R.D. joints. “Nothing on You” featuring Bruno Mars is his current radio single which I posted previously and that is really really good as a crossover song.

B.o.B. is at times classic braggadocio with his hip-hop material, then introspective with his crossover ballads and also goofy and entertaining. It’s a nice balance, and the instrumentals fit his “moods” exactly usually, so it’s a pretty enjoyable listen through and through. Check it out. Tracklist below!

“I feel like this is 2000 and Win” – Bobby Ray
Tags:album reviews, mixtapes, new music
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Aaron Sledge’s Self-Titled Gospel Debut Fails To Impress

Written by FirstGentleman in New Music & Reviews on Jan 18, 10
Aaron Sledge – Aaron Sledge
3 stars out of 5 stars

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Aaron Sledge – “2Nite”

Growing up in the church, there was always a fine line between sacred and secular music. Anything that sounds “too secular” is called “the devil’s music” but give it a few years and it becomes a gospel “standard”. “Precious Lord” by Thomas Dorsey and “You Brought the Sunshine” by The Clark Sisters were both deemed too secular for the House of God and now have become staples in the gospel music repertoire. The new millennium is bringing up a new crop of holy hip-hopers hoping to lead the club crowd to Christ. Aaron Sledge is one such singer.

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Tags:album reviews, gospel
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Free Music Friday; The FreEP Edition — Tha Boogie, Young Nate & Lloyd

Written by FirstGentleman in New Music & Reviews on Jan 15, 10
Tha Boogie – Love Tha Boogie (Steal This Sh*t) EP [iTunes] [Myspace]
4 stars out of 5 stars

If Andre 3000, John Legend, and Solange all got together, got high and were let loose in a studio full of synthesizers, you’d have this EP. Tha Boogie is Raphael Saadiq’s new R&B Alternative group. On first glance, they seem like Lucy Pearl, Part 2 when in fact, they are light years away from that.

“I’m Peter Parker” is a hybrid lounge-rock song that has an easy swing augmented by the vocal distortion which makes the song instantly likeable. The Love Below-esque “The Best Around” sounds like an Andre demo from the chorus to the rap. Sometimes the music needs you to totally focus on it, like the song “Bamboozled”, or tune it out, like the busy elements on “Teach U 2 Fly” for you to enjoy it. But when they get it right, the magic of Tha Boogie is undeniable and “Running Running” is one such song. I think it is safe to say Tha Boogie will have you dancing to their “California Muzik”.

My Pick: “I’m Peter Parker” [Video Here]

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Tags:album reviews, international, lloyd, new music
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Res Proves That Black.Girls.Rock On New [Free!] Album

Written by FirstGentleman in New Music & Reviews on Jan 12, 10
Res – Black.Girls.Rock [Download Here Free]
4 stars out of 5

Since her eponymous release in 2001, Res had a special place in my heart. She seemed to be a kindred musical soul — Gospel choir trained, soul music fed and rock music inspired. Her debut album featured a little known songwriter then known as Santi White who would be known to the world as Santigold. How I Do was released during the height of the capitalization period of Neo-Soul and sadly it didn’t find a home (although she did have a #1 dance hit with “They Say Vision”). This phenomena isn’t new; too “Rock” for black radio and a Black woman on “rock” radio isn’t going to happen (ask Nona Hendryx from LaBelle).

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Tags:album reviews
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Omarion’s Living In His Illusions With New Album Ollusion

Written by FirstGentleman in New Music & Reviews on Jan 11, 10
Omarion – Ollusion
3.5 stars out of 5

Illusion; noun; 1) Something with deceptive appearance. 2) False idea. 3) Mistaken sensory perception.

So by Omarion naming his album Ollusion, one must conclude that he has a deceptive appearance, has false ideas and is gravely mistaken in his sensory (sight, sound, hear, etc) perceptions. I would be hard-pressed to disagree with that definition.

This album was a long time coming; in 6 months, Omarion changed labels like Lil’ Wanye changes baby mamas. He was released from Sony, then signed to Young Money but Wanye dropped him like he was hot (there were all kind rumors behind that, like his ex-partner “album collaborator” Bow Wow signed with them and had O booted), he was reported to be signed with EMI with the album being released via his StarrWorld Entertainment label.

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Tags:album reviews, omarion
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