An exciting time in music

I can't believe this current season in music, I am literally in heaven. The number of artists that are coming out with either fresh new sounds, or a sincere reflection of an old school aesthetic (or an interesting mixture of both!) is astounding to me. It's as if God was hearing my cry for artists today to remember what it is like to make REAL music, with real instruments and players, and true creativity and inspiration. So here it comes, my initial list of exciting new albums to embrace this fall.

Jazmine Sullivan
Admittedly I just heard this woman's name over the weekend from a friend of mine when we were gushing over the fact that Maxwell will be coming to Los Angeles this November. (Take just a small moment for the beauty that is that man. . Thank you.) Jazmine Sullivan will be opening for him on November 8th and that is when I first heard her name. So today I wandered over to ITunes to check out the new releases and passed by her name. It always takes a few impressions (marketers, take note), and I remembered the mention of her name over the weekend so I clicked on her face. You know the feeling when you immediately take to something? I have not had a chance to buy the album yet but I'm gonna. The orchestration in "Bust Your Windows" is full of drama, and to be honest, not what I was expecting from the initial visual of her album cover. She is 21 but her voice has all the makings of the old soul, full of the pain and misery we love to devour in any soul record. The buzz is that this is our answer to the wonder that was "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" back in 1998. So far I'm convinced. More to come on this lady once I cop the whole thing. In the mean time, check out the link for yourself.

Solange
I treasured "I Decided" from the first moment I heard those delicious tambourines (i think that's part of the sound, correct me if I'm wrong!) that start off the vintage sounding track. "Are they playing the Supremes on the radio?" I thought. NOPE, this was my peer! Sweet! I played that song what must've been a million times on my IPod before I got the full album. I really admire Solange for her boldness in taking a new direction with her music. It's funny because to me, she and Beyonce do sound alike as far as pure vocal quality go, as if they were sisters or something. ;) But Solange most definitely has a style all her own, one that I appreciate to the fullest. The repeat song for me now is "6 O'Clock Blues." It is my goal to have that bass line locked in my fingers in a few weeks. The cosmic illustrations she places in songs like "God Given Name" and "Cosmic Journey" are a little lost on me admittedly, a little too out of this world for a funk-soul child like myself, but overall one of my favorite albums of the year.

Raphael Saadiq
I know I tend to talk about women musicians a lot but I always give credit where credit is due, male and female alike. I just bought "The Way I See It" last Friday and talk about a stroll down memory lane! Gee whiz, he had told me (yes, I met him a few months ago!) that the album would be a throwback but I didn't think it would be an actual time machine! When I play the record in my car I first go back about 20 years to my parent's house where those sounds were all I heard on a Sunday morning while my dad was cooking breakfast in the kitchen only to be interrupted by my mother to do the Brooklyn hustle real quick. (I started dancing to the tunes at the free concert he gave last Friday at Hollywood and Highland and my cousin told me I looked exactly my mom for a few minutes. Scary. Oh, in case you didn't know, the Brooklyn hustle is a dance, ask your padres.) But then I listen to it for a little while longer and I'm transported back another 20 years where I'm actually on the college campus with my parents, perhaps at a basement party with the red light on (play "Calling," track 7, and you will totally get what I mean). His album is so retro I was afraid I'd be the only one to really "get it," but I forget that many of my peers have the same love I do for that old Motown sound. (Props to my boy Anthony for feeling it the way I do, I was about to disown you if you didn't!) And if they don't, they will gain an appreciation. Real instrumentation in the studio (most of which played by Mr. Saadiq himself), beautiful heartfelt lyrics, real songs, real music. Get the album and take the trip.

Check out his interview in the studio with Fader.



and last but certainly NOT least....
Janelle Monae
I witnessed the Janelle Monae phenomenon back in June when I attended her showcase hosted by BET, with a dear friend of mine from Bad Boy Records. I was completely floored. I guess these days I'm surprised when people come out with stuff that is truly unique. I guess I was even more surprised that it was coming out of Bad Boy, but that's a post for another day. ; ) Janelle was an absolute treat. It reminded me of the feeling I got when I first heard Outkast's "Hey Ya" record. I remember standing in the club and thinking "what the...should I keep dancing? I don't get it." But then all of a sudden you just start to flow with music. You get that you can dance and groove to it because it's just that freakin' catchy. You get that you don't need to stay in your little "I'm black so it must be strict R&B or Hip-Hop" box. Janelle is a true artist, majestic in scope and vision, you cannot help but be enraptured by her performance and the story she tells of the futuristic city she inhabits, Metropolis. She makes you want to go there with her when her little frame starts gyrating across the entire stage in what seems like a pure state of ecstasy for her when she performs. The hype is absolutely true, she's amazing.

Here she is performing "Sincerely, Jane"

Janelle Monáe "Sincerely, Jane" from Okayplayer on Vimeo.


Phew. Those should keep you busy for awhile. ; ) Support artists y'all, the world needs the inspiration!