Tag: Musiq Soulchild

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Funky Sounds and Gritty Visuals of Up-and-Coming, Singer/Songwriter, Bassist, and Producer Alissia

Alissia is an up-and-coming bassist, singer/songwriter, producer and beatmaker, who has   already collaborated with an impressive and legendary array of artists including Anderson .Paak, Khalid, Mobb Deep’s Havoc and Q-Tip as well production, arrangement and bass playing on the legendary Bootsy Collins’ forthcoming album World Wide Funk, which will feature guest spots from Kali Fuchs, the late and great Bernie Worrell, Big Daddy Kane, Doug E. Fresh, Musiq Soulchild and others.  Interestingly, Alissia’s latest single “Get Away” finds the up-and-coming talent boldly stepping out into the forefront as a artist with a effortlessly slick and seductive sound that bridges 70s and 80s funk, boom bap era hip-hop and contemporary electro pop, giving a familiar and beloved sound a fresh, modern take that manages to nod at JOVM mainstay Thundercat and his frequent collaborator Flying Lotus.

Directed by Bo Mirosseni, the recently released video features the up-and-coming talent confidently strolling through some of NYC’s grittiest neighborhoods, composing beats wherever the inspiration hits her, and hanging out at what I presume is her NYC area studio The Spaceship.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the course of the last year or so, you’ve likely come across a reference to Maurice “Mobetta” Brown, a highly acclaimed, Chicago, IL-born, Brooklyn-based classically trained trumpeter, who has been mentored by Wynton Marsalis and Ramsey Lewis, and has collaborated with an incredibly diverse array of renowned artists including Santigold, Ski Beatz, John Legend, Talib Kweli, Cee-Lo Green, Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, Musiq Soulchild, Tedeschi Trucks Band (with whom he won a Grammy in 2012 for Best Blues Album), Wyclef Jean, Santana and a growing list of other equally impressive artists. And although he may be classically trained, as a solo artist and bandleader, Brown’s work draws from contemporary hip-hop, funk, neo-soul while nodding at jazz’s classical tradition — namely the work of Louis Armstong, as Brown will freely rhyme and sing during his compositions, essentially pushing the sound of contemporary jazz towards new directions without forgetting its origins.

The Mood is Brown’s latest album of original compositions and the album’s second and latest single, album title track “The Mood” is a swaggering composition that manages to draw from contemporary soul, smooth jazz, Miles Davis’ famous modal compositions — in particular, Kind of Blue, Davis’ jazz fusion period and hip-hop in a seamless and funky composition that allows enough room for each musician to strut, show their stuff and expand upon the composition’s smooth flowing melody. And if the one that that’s certain, Brown will cement himself as arguably one of contemporary jazz’s most exciting and ambitious composers and artists with an imitable sound and approach.

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms
With the release of her Jimmy Logic-produced, debut single “Then” and her debut EP The Coffee Shop, the London-based pop artist Kemi Ade received national and international attention from the likes of Complex,  Artistic Manifesto, Fame Magazine, Reprezent Radio, First Ear and others for a song that meshed elements of alternative neo-soul, jazz, hip-hop and folk seemingly drawing from the likes of Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Erykah Badu and others, and paired with Ade’s introspective and fearlessly honest songwriting.

The Coffee Shop‘s highly-anticipated follow up O.W. Nesty EP is slated for release later this year, and the EP’s latest single “Third” will further cement Ade’s burgeoning reputation for introspective and fearless songwriting and for a maturity and self-assuredness that belie her youth; but it also manages to reveal a subtle refinement of the sound that first caught attention as the song consists of a production featuring woozy and wobbling looped synths, stuttering beats, swirling electronics, shimmering keys and some subtle industrial clang and clatter. And yet, the production manages to be roomy enough for Ade’s effortlessly soulful and jazz-leaning delivery in a coquettish come hither song, in which the song’s narrator express vulnerability, need and longing simultaneously — with a bit of wish fulfillment.