Finding Forever Leads To Graduation

Are you in the mood for Rap or Hip Hop?

If you recall, a while back I posted a little somethin' about being in the mood for Rap or Hip Hop. I even took the time to define the difference between the two. Let's see if you remember.

Rap (a verb) is something you do. Hip-Hop is something you live (the art).

For me, when I am in the mood for hip-hop the artist's I enjoy are lyrically creative and their flow is delivered tightly over creative beats and unique samples. They fully embody the art of hip hop.

If you are in the mood for some real hip-hop nobody does it better than two of Chicago's very own -- Common and Kanye West.

First up we have Common and his latest release – Finding Forever.

Finding Forever features producers, will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) and the late J-Dilla and is predominately produced by Kanye West. But what you get is 12 tracks that embody the soulful and jazz influenced beats that we have come to love to hear Common grace us with his conscious, lyrical style.

The first single, The People, comes with a driving bass line combined with a smooth keyboard arrangement that just pulls you in and gets you nodding your head. When he says that 'We do it for the people' you believe it.


The track Southside shows Chi-town some love as Common and Kanye join lyrical forces for a reminiscent journey about my neck of the woods – the Southside. The smoothness continues along with some clever lyrics on the tracks Break My Heart and So Far To Go, produced by the late J-Dilla featuring D'Angelo. These and the remaining tracks, the collaboration with will.i.am and the tracks featuring artists like Bilal and Lily Allen you will definitely enjoy Finding Forever.


Kanye is back with his third release – Graduation.

With his backpack in tow, Mr. West takes us on another creative lyrical journey that is surrounded in electronic beats that give you an 80's flashback but at the same time comes full circle with a contemporary hip hop sound.

Stronger, the first release showcases this sound. The opening lines are encapsulated in a robotic vocal, the remaining beats come in and the electronic trance begins. So much so, when I first heard this, I was waiting for the 80's classic 'Planet Rock' by Afrika Bambatta to show up as a bonus track on the cd.

The electro feel continues through out the cd but at varying levels to give each song its own distinctive flavor. For example, the track Good Life featuring T-Pain does this. It takes the chorus from the classic 'P.Y.T. ' performed by Michael Jackson and slows it down to almost a crawl. It is then layered with the hooks sung by T-Pain and the additional synthesizers continue to give the song a "spacey" feel.

Hands down the best song is my favorite track Flashing Lights featuring Dwele. The strings, the old school Casio keyboard feel, Dwele's vocals; everything about it just works for me. To really appreciate the nuances of this track you have to hear this joint banging out in the club.

The one thing that I have come to appreciate about Mr. West is his diverse taste in music and his ability to integrate it so that there is always something innovative and fresh with his beats. So from his collaborations with Chris Martin from Coldplay (Homecoming) to Mos Def (Drunk and Hot Girls) Kanye has completed his thesis on why he is the best at what he does. And for that, Graduation moves him to the head of the hip hop class.


Until next time, peace.

“You ain't gonna use me to just be singin hooks what I look like?” – Missy Elliot from Not Tonight Remix

Chrisette Michelle. While the name may not ring a bell right away, you have definitely heard her sing. You heard a sample of her vocal style as she put some flavor on the hook for Jay-Z’s Lost One and then again on Nas’s Can’t Forget About You.

Now with her debut release I Am, what it looks like is that Ms. Chrisette Michelle can do more than sing a hook on a track. She can put it down for an entire song and then some.

I Am is a blend of tracks flavored with Soul, R&B, Hip Hop and a little bit of everything in between.

The opening track-Like A Dream, took me back to the first time I heard Erykah Badu’s On and On. You become instantly aware of the influence that some of jazz’s great voices have had on her. What I liked about Chrisette’s vocal style is that while you can recognize some of the jazz greats that may have influenced her, she definitely developed her own style.

This is very apparent on the tracks Work It Out and If I Have My Way. Work It Out to me has a jazzy-blues kind of feel to me. You get the feeling that she is singing from the bottom of her gut. There is a sense of strength and power in her delivery, yet controlled. The musical arrangement and her vocals work well together. If I Have My Way is actually one of my favorites. Chrisette showcases her vocal range a bit on this one. The delivery is sultry and sassy.

On Best of Me, she sounds like an entirely different person. Again the jazz influence is evident and track flips the entire sound of the album. But trust me you will not be disappointed. Your Joy leaves me speechless. This is absolutely a beautiful ballad about most girls’ first love – Their Dad.

I love the eclectic feel of I Am and the fact that she can vocally handle all of it.

Chrisette Michelle – I Am glad you are on the scene.

Until next time,

Peace.

June Is Black Music Month

You know the month of June is always a month filled with much activity. There are graduations, father’s day, Juneteenth, and even the first day of summer starts in June.

Even with all of this, the month of June has been designated as Black Music Month.

The Black Music Month campaign was spearheaded by Kenny Gamble. Gamble makes up one half of the legendary songwriting and production team Gamble and Huff who are responsible for the hits that make up TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) such as “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”, “Back Stabbers” and “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now”. And after all was said and done, in June of 1979, President Jimmy Carter agreed with Mr. Gamble and designated June as Black Music Month.

This tradition of our American Presidents designating the month of June as Black Music Month has continued ever since.

Can you imagine music today, without the contributions and innovations that have come from African Americans? Can you imagine American music with no Jazz, no Blues, no R&B, Gospel and yes even no Rap? While some may be able to do without Rap music, there is no doubt in my mind that music as whole would be at a loss if it weren’t for these contributions.

Since just about every genre of music has been influenced by the music and traditions of our African forefathers, what can you do in recognition of Black Music Month? Here is what I suggest. Buy, notice I said Buy not Burn one piece of music from a genre that you normally don’t listen to. Are you and R&B fan, but never really listened to or own a jazz album? Buy one of the classic jazz recordings –like the Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis. Or you can buy a compilation recording in jazz, or blues and yes even rap to deepen your music appreciation and also get some really good music in your collection. Don’t limit yourself.

Enjoy the gift that our ancestors have given this thing we call music.

June is Black music month. You betta recognize!

Until next time,

Peace.

KC

Between Friends is the latest release by Tamia.

Now I will say that this cd came out with little fanfare this past November.

I first became aware that Tamia was back on the scene when I caught the video for the first single Can't Get Enough. This song peaked my curiosity to see what her cd would be like.

Then before the end of the year I got a chance to hear her interview with Steve Harvey on the Steve Harvey Morning show. During that interview she did some of her jams live and gave the audience a brief snippet of one of the featured songs on Between Friends - Me or what I call Stranger In My House part II. It was during this performance I heard and felt a little something that I hadn't gotten from her before.

For me Tamia has always been one of those artists that I have for the most part have liked, but I never heard enough tracks with any consistency to get a feeling for her sound and style. Always one hit here and there but I never ran out to buy the latest Tamia joint.

I will say Between Friends does definitely deserve some consideration.

This will be more of a cd for the ladies, but for the male music connoisseur who loves a good female voice I think they will be cool with it also.

The first song The Way I Love You gets the ball rolling with an easy going tempo that will get your head nodding. Actually some of the beats in the arrangement made me think of Bobby Valentino's first single, Slow Down and Brian Mc Knight's current single Used To Be My Girl so I had to check the liner notes to see who produced this track.

The second track, Happy was a pleasantly upbeat song with a little soulful edge to it. Typically we have not heard Tamia in this light but the arrangement works for her. The third track Almost I can actually hear being sung by any of the half rate R&B divas (who shall remain nameless) that are currently being played in radio. This was just an ok song, but I can't say that it did anything out of the ordinary to make me really get excited about it.

Too Grown - just didn't like it. I have tried listening to this one a few times - just not feeling it.

Me which was written by Shep Crawford who also penned Tamia's previous hit Stranger In My House is a creatively written ballad that will become another woman's anthem for when things in a relationship just ain't going right. (sorry fellas)

I thought that Tamia's vocal performance was precise. Could stand a little more emotion in the delivery to give it a little more soul, but definitely a keeper.

The two songs that stand out in my mind from this release are Sittin On The Job and Last First Kiss. With Sittin On The Job I don't believe that I have ever heard a song that captures that feeling you have when a relationship is new and you can't wait for that certain someone to give you that call at work while in the back of your mind you are hoping that this time its the real thing.

Now I am an absolute fan of a good slow jam and I was not disappointed with Last First Kiss. Ladies peep the lyrics that are put down on this one. When I first heard this song, I was instantly hooked. It says so much that I can't even begin to describe how much I am feeling this track.

For me other notable tracks are Become Us and Please Protect My Heart.

Between friends - What more can I say.

Until next time - Peace.

2006 - A Musical Year In Review


It is amazing how quickly a year can go by. Before the year ends, through the news, entertainment programs, and the like we will be reminded of all that has taken place this past year.

We would be remiss if part of that moment of reflection didn’t include taking a look back at the year in music.

There were some great if not interesting achievements in music this year.

For example, for the Oscar’s category of Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original Song), Three 6 Mafia became the first African American rap group to win this award with “Its Hard out Here for a Pimp” for the movie Hustle & Flow.

But the world of music experienced loss as well.

Some of music’s greats that have fallen asleep in death were: James Brown, Gerald Levert, Wilson Pickett, Billy Preston, June Pointer and Lou Rawls. All made significant contributions to the world of music and will truly be missed.

Like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, music is to the ear of the listener. And of course no retrospective is truly complete without providing a list of what was hot and what was not.

I decided to share my list (in no particular order) of CD’s that were released this year that were hot and should definitely be in one’s music collection or at least taken note of. I also was curious to know if some of my choices matched up with some of the industry’s “professional picks.” I was pleasantly surprised that some of my selections did make their lists.

I guess I am on my way to being a real pro.

Here are some of my top picks for the 06.

· Chris Brown – Chris Brown
· Corrine Bailey Rae – Corrine Bailey Rae
· Game Theory – The Roots
· In My Own Words – NeYo
· Kingdom Come – Jay -Z
· Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor – Lupe Fiasco
· Moments Like This – Carol Riddick
· Once Again – John Legend
· Seasons of Life – Janita
· Testimony: Vol. 1 Life & Relationships – India.Arie
· The Breakthrough – Mary J. Blige
· The Evolution of Robin Thicke – Robin Thicke
· The Healing – Strange Fruit Project
· The Red Clay Chronicles – Anthony David

Until next time, peace.

In the Thicke of It

Evolution is defined as:

1. A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form.

2. Robin Thicke.

The Evolution of Robin Thicke, the second release, by Robin Thicke demonstrates that musically an artist and his music can change into a different, more complex and better form.

Although a newcomer to some of us, Robin Thicke has long been honing his craft since he was 12 years old and is showing us that he is a musical man. With a soulful sound and vocal styling reminiscent of Marvin Gaye, you will be transported into another dimension of musical pleasure.

The first track had my attention instantly. A smooth and funky little duet with the lovely Faith Evans, entitled Got 2 Be Down. This track had a retro – Motown feel to it and captivates your interest for what is to come next.

What came next was a jazz influenced love song called Complicated. Here Robin uses his falsetto style that is accompanied by an arrangement that not only punctuates his vocals but allows the warmth of this song to come through. This track is not too complicated to enjoy.

Would That Make You Love Me is the third track. This song is a bit more up tempo. What I like about this song is the acoustic feel that really sets the tone for the entire song. The guitar is the driving force and all of the other musical instruments just add an accent, but then there remains this subtleness. It’s a subtleness that allows you to feel his plea to find out just what it would take to get the object of his affection to love him in return.

The current single, Lost Without You is another charismatic ballad that whisks you off to the islands with its sound and just pulls you in.

The Evolution is not just filled with smooth ballads. Tracks like Shooter and All Night Long featuring Lil Wayne, and Wanna Love U Girl change the pace of the cd and gives it an edge.

The evolutionary journey ends with a beautiful ballad entitled Angel, which I think hands down is the sleeper song of this collection. This one just allows me to close my eyes and drift away.

If you were ever to ask me do I believe in the theory of evolution, I would immediately tell you no.

Do I believe in the Evolution of Robin Thicke – absolutely!

SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT

And I quote: “Look what you made me do, look what I made for you.” -- Encore from the Black Album.

Look what your boy has done! Jay-Z has stepped out of rap retirement to show us exactly what he’s got on his latest release Kingdom Come.

Kingdom Come has 14 tracks that tell a story chronicling everything from his return to the rap game to when he walks away from it again.

The current single Show Me What You Got, produced by Just Blaze gets me going all the time. Granted it may be considered ‘commercial’ by some, but this track is filled with a bunch of raw energy. Laced with some strong percussion and keys that surround the classic sample of Shaft In Africa and Darkest Light; even if you are not a fan of the Jigga Man, there is no way that you don’t catch some feelings when this is playing.

Hands down I think Lost One featuring Island Def Jam’s new artist Chrisette Michele will be a hip hop classic. From the start Lost One takes you back to the classic sound of hip hop. When I first heard the piano arrangement I thought of Biz Markie’s - Just A Friend and I was transported back into time and hooked. Just a simple beat that gets you nodding your head; then Ms. Chrisette Michele’s smooth vocal comes in and drops the chorus and hook and yes you have just Lost One.

My next favorite is 30 Something produced by Dr. Dre. Right away you recognize Dre’s signature west-coast style, but this time the beat is smoothed out. This is a jam that is just right for us 30 something’s who still love hip hop but need a track that lets us act our age.

The Neptunes added some flavor to the Kingdom with Anything featuring Pharrell and Usher. Loving his delivery on this one and the Neptunes always bring the flavor with their beats. Pharrel, Usher, and Jay-Z. This wasn’t anything but a perfect fit.

Ms. Beyonce made sure she helped her man out by appearing on the track Hollywood. I wasn’t feeling this at first, but after listening to the power couple doing their thing a couple of times, it started to grow on me.

There are cameos from John Legend on the Kanye West produced track – Do U Wanna Ride and Ne-Yo on Minority Report as well.

With the release of Kingdom Come, I am sure that the hard core Jay-Z fans will debate as to whether Kingdom Come is as good as or better than the Black Album. Critics will pick apart his delivery, the production, the beats and anything else they can think of.

But I will say this. In my book Kingdom Come definitely has some tracks on it worth remembering and the Jigga Man showed me what he’s got.

Until next time, Peace.