Category: R&B

Throwback: Happy 72nd Birthday, Marvin Isley!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 72nd anniversary of Marvin Isley’s birth.

New Video: bat zoo Returns with Aching “Lemon”

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. And in the lead-up to the EP’s release in just a few weeks, I’ve written about “Frozen Milk,” and “Diamond Lane.

The EP’s third and latest single “Lemon” is a classic soul-tinged ballad that seemingly channels contemporaries like Monophonics and Bobby Oroza while featuring warped guitar, a supple bass line, bursts of twinkling synths as a lush bed for bat zoo’s achingly tender falsetto, which expresses urgent, desperate yearning defiant pride within the turn of a phrase. But throughout the sense of yearning and pride simmer with an unresolved, uneasy tension that churns and shifts without resolution.

The accompanying video for “Lemon” sees the American-born, Berlin-based artist reflecting back on the bittersweet moments of a presumably recent breakup, seemingly focusing on the moments in which he should have done better, said more, worked for the relationship and so on — with the ache of regret and shame.

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.”