JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 87th anniversary of the birth of Bill Withers.
Category: R&B
Throwback: Happy Belated 54th Birthday, Missy Elliott!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Missy Elliott’s 54th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 65th Birthday, Evelyn “Champagne” King!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Evelyn “Champagne” King’s 65th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 89th Birthday, Syl Johnson!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 89th anniversary of the birth of Syl Johnson.
Throwback: R.I.P. Walter Scott
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the life and music of The Whispers co-founder Walter Scott.
Throwback: Happy 62nd Birthday, George Michael!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 62nd anniversary of the birth of George Michael.
New Audio: N3WYRKLA Returns with Swaggering and Defiant “Bad Luck”
Philadelphia-born N3WYRKLA (pronounced New York L.A.) is a rising pop artist: “Outside All Night,” her collaboration with Brent Faiyaz and A$AP Rocky earned RIAA Gold Certification and has led to over one million monthly listeners on DSPs.
Earlier this year, the Philadelphia-based phenom opened for FERG on the North American leg of his The Darold Tour. And back in May, she released the lead single from her highly-anticipated full-length debut, “Plastic Cup.” “Plastic Cup” is burning up the charts right now: the track jumped to #15 on the Urban Radio Charts.
Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the Philadelphia-born artist shared her latest single, the Hitmaka-produced “BAD LUCK,” which features her honey-soaked vocal paired with a contemporary retro/old-school soul-inspired production that brings the likes of Monophonics, Bobby Oroza, Daptone Records, Colemine Records and others to mind.
Ironically, the song isn’t a lament on the narrator’s bad luck, whether personally or romantically or on superstitions; but rather, a self-assured side-eye to fuckbois, players, flops, deadbeats that open says that trusting these dudes out there is just going to get you a case of bad luck — and perhaps worse. At its core, it’s a feminist anthem that says “you don’t have to deal with bullshit, ever.”
Throwback: Happy 67th Birthday, Prince!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Prince’s 67th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 57th Birthday, Al B. Sure!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Al B. Sure!’s 57th birthday.
Throwback: Happy Belated 69th Birthday, Larry Blackmon!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Cameo frontman Larry Blackmon’s 69th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 54th Birthday, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 54th anniversary of the birth of Lisa Lopes.
Throwback: Happy 81st Birthday, Patti LaBelle!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Patti LaBelle 81st birthday.
Throwback: Happy 84th Birthday, Ronald Isley!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the legendary Ronald Isley’s 84th birthday.
New Video: bat zoo Shares Shimmering “Diamond Lane”
bat zoo is a rising American-born, Berlin-based singer/songwriter and producer, who has developed a reputation for boundless creativity — and for genre-agnostic work.
As a child, the rising artist and producer was immersed in a melting pot of musical influences, as a result of his father’s eclectic record collection. He grew up listening to soul, R&B, hip-hop and much more — and it opened his young years to kaleidoscope of sounds and styles, which helped informed his genre-blurring sound and approach.
He also brings his artistic vision to life by seamlessly blending his work with dynamic visuals. Embracing authentic and innovation, the American-born, Berlin-based artist continues to push boundaries as a jack-of-all-trades creative director of his solo recording project, a culmination of many years of trial and error. He’s extremely busy: while developing his own sound as a solo artist, he’s also a part of the acclaimed Berlin-based vocal ensemble A Song For You and one-half of R&B duo GOLDA.
bat zoo’s forthcoming EP, The Upward Bird is slated for a July 22, 2025 release through Lekker Collective. Last month, I wrote about the hauntingly minimalist, Nick Hakim-like “Frozen Milk,” which featured the rising Berlin-based accompanying himself on strummed acoustic guitar paired with swirling electronics and his achingly tender falsetto sining lyrics that thematically touched upon chaos and the brief and desperate search for balance amidst moments of self-destruction and connection.
bat zoo’s latest single, the sleek and slickly produced, The Weeknd-like “Diamond Lane” is anchored around swirling and glistening synths, skittering beats serving as a lush and dreamy soundscape for his yearning and heartbroken vocal turn. But just under the slick, dance floor friendly surface, the song is a bittersweet and melancholic reflection on a love affair that has slowly unraveled, fueled with the recognition that the narrator may be powerless to do anything to slow it down — or to stop it.
Lyrically abstract yet deeply intimate, the song simultaneously feels like a stream of consciousness pulled from the depths of the narrator’s memory and a conversation — or more likely a monologue — bitterly directed toward that someone, who once meant everything and now is leaving.
The accompanying video is a hazy, dream-like visual that feels like a regret-tinged tinged fever dream.
Throwback: Happy 59th Birthday, Janet Jackson!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Janet Jackson’s 59th birthday.
