Recently in Soul/R&B Category

Mary J. Blige, My Life

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Album of the Day "How can I love somebody else/If I can't love myself?" sings Mary J. Blige on "Be Happy," the penultimate track on My Life. The legend is that she recorded this seminal album while struggling with substance abuse and a tumultuous romance with Jodeci's K-Ci Hailey. She sang of pain as well as pleasure, and the incredible six-minute slow jam "I Never Wanna Live Without You" inspired plenty of baby-making. Executive produced by Sean "Puffy" Combs, this is a portrait of a young woman trying to find faith in God and the promise of eternal love, and it is one of the best albums of the '90s. [Mosi Reeves]

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Christmas Soul Muzak

20111122-HOLIDAY-SG-xmas-soul-music-560x225.jpg Each Christmas brings with it another glut of holiday soul albums. This year's crop includes A Ginuwine Christmas and a holiday single from Mindless Behavior, "Christmas with My Girl." In years past, everyone from Destiny's Child (8 Days of Christmas) to Whitney Houston (One Wish: The Holiday Album) to Ashanti (Ashanti's Christmas) has gotten into the spirit, always mixing reliable standards (see Donny Hathaway's deathless "This Christmas") and original compositions that occasionally result in new classics (see Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You").

These are the kind of records you'll hear all month long at your family's house, especially since NBA basketball is on hiatus; it seems as if I've been hearing The Temptations' "Silent Night" on soul-oldies stations forever. The predictability of this stuff is part of the reason it works so well: B2K may get a little randy on 2002's Santa Hooked Me Up with "Sexy Boy Christmas," but eventually they get around to "Jingle Bells" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose … the voices may change, but the standards stay with us.

Click here to listen to my playlist: Christmas Soul Soundtrack

Bill Withers, Still Bill

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Album of the Day This isn't simply Bill Withers' best album -- it's also one of the finest platters of the 1970s. Out of print for decades, Still Bill contains such essential hits as "Lean On Me," "Kissing My Love," and "Use Me." Withers' heartfelt vision shines through on every single cut. Still Bill is still awesome. [Nick Dedina]

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Arthur Russell, World of Echo

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Album of the Day Many of these compositions -- "Wax the Van," "Treehouse" and "Let's Go Swimming," to name a few -- lived alternate lives as cutting-edge plates for the dance floor. But for World of Echo, which is a singer-songwriter affair more than anything else, Russell re-imagined them using voice, cello, hand percussion and echo. The end result is an intensely prescient batch of dubby, minimalist electro-pop that sounds like the bridge between One World-era John Martyn and the rise of 1990s electronica and post-rock. Be careful -- this sublime record has a way of turning listeners into fanatics. [Justin Farrar]

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Dusty Springfield, Dusty in Memphis

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Album of the Day In 1969, Dusty Springfield went to America and put herself in the hands of the Atlantic Records masterminds. They had her ease up and go for lyrical nuance -- to stunning effect. "Son of a Preacher Man" is the lasting hit, though every tune here is a marvel, and "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore" (written by Randy Newman) and "No Easy Way Down" (Carole King) are two of the saddest songs ever committed to tape. Dusty in Memphis didn't sell a lick, but it is now considered to be her crowning achievement. This edition is loaded with over a dozen bonus cuts from the same sessions. [Nick Dedina]

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Lalah Hathaway, Self Portrait

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Album of the Day The daughter of the legendary Donny Hathaway, Lalah quietly released a number of fine albums and collaborations before earning a surprise No. 1 hit with the Luther Vandross tribute “For Ever, For Always, For Love.” A pioneer in the laid-back neo-soul movement, she remains one of the genre’s finest practitioners. Now on the reactivated Stax label, Hathaway triumphs with the single “Let Go” and digs even deeper with trippier cuts like “Naked Truth.” Helping out is Rahsaan Patterson, another superior neo-soulster who hasn’t received the mainstream attention he deserves. [Nick Dedina]

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Aloe Blacc, Good Things

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Album of the Day On his first album in four years, L.A.'s Aloe Blacc travels further from his hip-hop roots. Years ago, he was a rapper in the indie group Emanon and a sometime vocalist; on Good Things, he's working over arrangements from retro-soul combo Truth & Soul with heartfelt emotion. Unlike most rappers-turned-singers, Aloe Blacc has a great voice, which he uses to striking effect on "Take Me Back" and "Mama Hold My Hand." The excellent Good Things teems with highlights, particularly the viral hit "I Need a Dollar," where he impersonates a homeless drunk to offer commentary on the great recession. [Mosi Reeves]

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Prince, Purple Rain

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Album of the Day The album that launched Prince into the mainstream on a catapult wire. He stripped down some of his trademark funk's heavier overtones, and dressed it back up with infectious pop hooks and heavy metal guitar licks. At once organic and ornate, this revolutionary album proved more successful than the film of the same name. [Nick Dedina]

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Album of the Day In 2002, Cody Chesnutt beguiled listeners with The Headphone Masterpiece, a 36-song debut of first-take demos and a few gems like "Looking Good in Leather," "Boylife in America" and "Seed," the last of which he re-recorded with The Roots for the neo-soul hit "The Seed 2.0." The L.A. rocker depends too much on sexist riffs like "Serve This Royalty," but reflective numbers such as "My Women, My Guitars" seem to justify the hype. Unfortunately, Chesnutt's promising start went unfulfilled: After this, he didn't issue another recording for eight years. [Mosi Reeves]

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Usher, Versus

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Album of the Day Usher has apparently been sitting on a goldmine of great songs. This addendum to the already jam-packed Raymond v Raymond is also almost entirely filler-free fabulousness, albeit of a slightly different variety. Where Raymond was all graceful, emotionally complicated pop symphonies, Versus focuses more on good times and great beats ("Hot Tottie" takes the prize in that department). Highlights include the creepy/sexy "Get in My Car," "Somebody to Love" (with Justin Bieber's newly changed voice!) and Pitbull-featuring dance cut "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love." [Rachel Devitt]

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Katy B, On a Mission

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Album of the Day What is Katy B's mission? To be queen of dubstep's pop crossover? To conquer a U.S. crowd skeptical of British R&B? Possibly both. Produced by scene veterans including Geeneus, Zinc and Magnetic Man, the record ranges widely, from rolling U.K. funky to skeletal breakbeat soul, and from peak-time club hits to idiosyncratic house a la Basement Jaxx. But the standouts "Perfect Stranger" and "Katy on a Mission" prove her effortless command of dubstep at its most epic. [Philip Sherburne]

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Chuck Brown, Bustin' Loose

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Album of the Day Toward the end of 1978, these D.C. journeymen got lucky and hit the discos with the title track, which was very funk-soul for that disco moment. The album that resulted is almost like a field recording -- a completely unpretentious document of what sort of originals a modestly gifted funk-soul dance band might be doing in 1978. There's even a salsa. Very likable. (Grade: B+) [Robert Christgau]

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senior_year-banner-560x60.jpg 20110906-juneteenth-560x225.jpg It's a bit late to celebrate Juneteenth. After all, the annual holiday commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States doesn't take place in the middle of September, but at the beginning of summer, on June 19. Perhaps it's the onset of fall, though, that makes our thoughts turn to warmer months and memories of park jams, barbecue and family reunions.

If you've ever been to a Juneteenth festival, then you know it's the kind of neighborhood gathering where hundreds of kids run wild in a park, half-crazed on sugar and sensory overload, while parents gossip, dance to the music, and hopefully get some much-needed alone time. Onstage there's usually an earnest activist or two, a few city councilpersons reaching out to the constituents, and a lineup of local singers and bands using the day as a stepping stone to wider fame. Back in 1979, that means you would have gotten a lot of funk and disco with your chicken and ribs. While we can only guess what the actual soundtrack would be, we know it would undoubtedly include the latest hits from Chic, P-Funk and The O'Jays — perhaps not in the flesh, but definitely via a party-rocking DJ's selections.

So why focus on 1979? Why not? The end of the '70s was a fantastic time for black music, and although the omnipresent disco beat could get a little annoying (see the Village People and Amii Stewart's "Knock on Wood"), it also led to incredible singles like Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" and McFadden & Whitehead's "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now." It's easy to imagine how these songs evoked feelings of pride and accomplishment because, decades later, they remain a part of any community celebration. Rest in peace, Minnie Riperton, whose "Memory Lane" is included in this playlist; she died shortly after the song's release on July 12, 1979.

Click here to listen to my playlist: Senior Year, 1979: Juneteenth Festival.

Q&A: Charles Bradley



Live from San Francisco's Outside Lands festival, here's our interview with soul belter Charles Bradley, holding forth on the majesty of James Brown and how Charles is coping with the tragic loss of his brother.
Enjoy.

cheat_sheet_top_header_560x62.jpg 20110823-latin-jazz-soul-560x225.jpg We admit that the title of this Cheat Sheet we've compiled ("we" being Latin editor Rachel Devitt and Jazz editor Nate Cavalieri) is a bit unwieldy, a bit amorphous, a bit hard to pin down. But so is the movement we're talking about. And that's what it was: a movement. The Latin music scene that set New York (and, eventually, the world) on fire in the mid-20th century grew out of several styles: jazz, soul, and what would come to be known as salsa, of course — but also earlier Latin dance sounds like mambo, cha-cha-cha, and boogaloo. Leading the charge were musicians who immigrated to New York from Puerto Rico and Cuba, and began innovatively interweaving traditional Caribbean music with mainland pop, interlacing jazz improvisation and composition with Latin dance structures and infusing American soul with Afro-Latin rhythms.

Finally, it's also about the movement of bodies: this is music made for dancing! Here, we'll trace the rise of what's often called the New York sound, from its roots in 1950s jazz and mambo through its coalescing in N.Y.C. clubs and on the Fania label in the '60s, all the way to its culmination in the unstoppable wave of '70s salsa.

Various Artists
Fania Records 1964-1980: The Original Latin Sound of New York
If a zeitgeist could be boiled down to one album, this is what it would sound like: boogaloo, jazz, mambo, salsa and soul, all of it laced through with the hip-twitching traditional rhythms of Cuba and Puerto Rico. This is the definitive introduction to the heady brew that intoxicated New York and the world in the mid-20th century, from the label that defined the movement, thanks to its glittering, star-studded roster: Willie Colón saunters on "The Hustler," Hector Lavoe crowns himself "El Cantante," the Fania All-Stars tear up the Cheetah, and Celia Cruz, the Queen of Salsa, is positively regal on "Quimbara." — Rachel Devitt




On the Record is a video series where rock stars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Click above to watch Charles Bradley give it up for James Brown's many albums.

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Charles Bradley
No Time For Dreaming

James Brown
20 All-Time
Greatest Hits

Outside Lands 2011: Photos

Gone Phishing at Outside Lands. Pics by Stephanie Benson.

Rhapsody trekked out to the fourth annual Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco's picturesque Golden Gate Park to catch acts including Phish, OK Go, The Roots, Foster the People, Beirut, The Black Keys, John Fogerty and more. Check out photo highlights from the three-day extravaganza.

Fado: Portuguese Soul Music

20110809-fado-560x225.jpg Fado is often referred to as the Portuguese blues -- and with good reason. A folk tradition of somewhat murky and legendary origins (think sailors lost at sea rather than deals with the devil), this music was the voice of Portugal's poor for centuries. With nothing more than an acoustic guitar and (especially) a rich, throaty voice capable of expressing heart-wrenching pathos and sorrow, a fadista (fado singer) could speak to the struggles and strife of life in the country's urban ghettos, particularly as Portugal declined as a world power in the 19th and 20th centuries. With the advent of recording technology, fado rose in popularity, producing stars like Amalia Rodrigues and Maria da Fe before the genre started to fall out of fashion in the later 20th century. In the 1990s, however, a true revival began, with young artists like Ana Moura, Mariza, Madredeus, and Dulce Pontes reshaping and redefining the centuries-old tradition for a new generation, at once paying tribute to the style’s roots and modernizing it, not to mention attracting a fan base that stretched beyond Portugal to encompass global-music fans in Europe and beyond.

It's this modern era (as well as a few earlier inspirations) that gives this playlist its focus, and the inspiration for its name. Like American blues and its successor, soul, the style has evolved into an institution beloved for its ability to encompass a range of raw emotion, gritty political commentary and pure pleasurable musical skill. Musically speaking, the rolling acoustic guitars and dancing, trilled melodies may sound a lot like Italian café pop or Spanish flamenco to American ears. But it's those aching, mournful, gut-punching vocals that will speak to your soul, whether or not you understand a lick of Portuguese. Dig in to our Fado Playlist, featuring tracks from award-winning fadista Mariza's brand-new album, Fado Tradicional.

Click here to listen to the entire playlist: Fado: Portuguese Soul Music


senior_year-banner-560x60.jpg 20110809-soul-train-560x225.jpg Dance variety shows that targeted younger fans had long been a staple of pop music by the time Chicago DJ and concert promoter Don Cornelius premiered Soul Train in 1970. But with the first howl of "Soooooul Train!" the beloved result irrevocably transformed the heavily whitewashed model of such earlier programs as American Bandstand. The focus on African-American artists and, well, soul music -- Motown, funk, classic R&B, Philly soul, and, later, disco and hip-hop -- made the show a cultural hub for African-American audiences, and brought that culture to the white mainstream, introducing viewers across the United States to new fashions, dances and music.

By the 1974-5 season, the now nationally syndicated Soul Train was a well-established cultural beacon, with kids and young adults alike gathering in living rooms across America to hear new music, watch those dancers seriously shake it, and practice a few moves of their own. The show's guest artists offer a retrospective glimpse into the state of pop culture, music and even politics at the time: as the initial theme song, Gamble and Huff's "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" (as recorded by MFSB) pointed to the prominence of Philly soul, a path that eventually led to disco's preeminence. Boundaries blurred as '60s R&B and earlier, lighter Motown gave way to funk, grittier '70s Motown, and constantly evolving dance music, all heard in the wide range of artists Cornelius showcased.

And while Soul Train could be slightly musically conservative and was certainly trying to cater to a pop audience, that guest-star curation also spoke to African-American politics of the day, from the soft-hued frustration of Philly soul to Curtis Mayfield's angrier attacks on post-Civil Rights-era reality, as well as the dance-your-cares-away, lose-yourself-in-the-beat dystopianism that came to dominate pop music in the 1970s. So strap on your dancing shoes and your thinking cap, and get ready to bust a move like it was a party in front of the TV at your best friend's house with our Senior Year playlist of 1974-1975 Soul Train guest-stars.

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Album of the Day The landscape is littered with best-of collections from Brother Ray, but this is the first in ages to finally reinstate such essential classics as "Georgia on My Mind," "One Mint Julep" and "You Don't Know Me" into the mix. The early hits like "Hit the Road Jack" are here, but "What'd I Say" and "I Got a Woman" come in killer live versions. Other highlights include "Let's Go Get Stoned" and a searing version of "America the Beautiful," which should become our national anthem. Who are we kidding—every cut here is a highlight. —Nick Dedina

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The Wonderful World of CeeLo

20110628-CEE-LO-main-560x225.jpg CeeLo Green is a renaissance man for our young, bewildering century. He's got hit songs in multiple guises (Goodie Mob, Gnarls Barkley and most recently as a solo artist); a plum spot on much-praised new singing-competition reality show The Voice; and now his very own Fuse program, Talking to Strangers, wherein he's free to, say, challenge Lupe Fiasco to a staring contest. To celebrate his increasing good fortune, we proudly present a quick, celebratory peek into the hip-hop soul man's universe: a playlist of his greatest hits, a celebration of songs titled "Fuck You" or the immediate equivalent, an exclusive Talking to Strangers clip, and a special playlist provided by the man himself (Train!). Tune in and go crazy.


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CeeLo builds us a personal playlist, starring Keri Hilson, Lupe Fiasco, Train (!) and more
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Some feisty clips from CeeLo's new Fuse show, Talking to Strangers
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The Best of CeeLo: From Goodie Mob to Gnarls Barkley, a tour through his greatest hits
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The "Fuck You" playlist: CeeLo isn't the first artist to title his song with the ultimate kiss-off
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Isaac Hayes, Black Moses

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Album of the Day Black Moses marked the end of Isaac Hayes' classic early '70s run. His fifth and final Top 10 album depicted the soul icon's arms outstretched, bringing luscious soul to the people. Though the music was appropriately epic, with swelling orchestral strings adorning all 14 songs, Hayes was in a contemplative mood, having reportedly made this while his marriage was dissolving. His introspection led to breathtaking sounds, from the swirling arrangements of "Going in Circles" to the cinematic guitar licks of "Part-Time Love." Black Moses is a masterwork. —Mosi Reeves

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Prince, Prince

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Album of the Day One look at the cover and you can see how cool Prince was in 1979. If the original version of his first masterpiece, "I Feel For You," doesn't make your special someone want to, uh, get a back rub, then the bizarre, perverted "When We're Dancing Close and Slow" will do the trick. The rest is nothing less than Grade-A funk, highlighted by "I Wanna Be Your Lover." — Mike McGuirk

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Sly & the Family Stone, Fresh

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Album of the Day Coming two years after the uncompromising brilliance of There's a Riot Goin' On and during a time when Sly was blowing everybody off to do drugs, Fresh may seem a little light, since the messages of the coming American apocalypse are absent. A closer listen reveals a deeply personal statement about his somewhat doomed attempts to rise above inner strife. — Mike McGuirk

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20110531-gil-scot-560x225.jpg Gil Scott-Heron never had a Top 40 hit, and certainly never had a platinum album. Yet when his death at age 62 was announced on the late afternoon of Friday, May 27, it immediately became a trending topic (and a "trending topic") across the Internet. His impact resonated beyond sales metrics and radio spins.

Ultimately, he'll be remembered as a pioneer of hip-hop music and the coiner of the phrase "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." The latter, which he first recorded as a spoken-word piece for his 1971 debut Small Talk at 125th and Lenox and then as a jazz-funk piece on 1972's Pieces of a Man, weaves around early-'70s iconography like old-school Civil Rights activist Roy Wilkins wearing red-black-and-green jumpsuits and the TV soap Search for Tomorrow. While the pop banalities he rails against have faded from memory, the poem endures as a timeless parable, and a reminder that the real world moves faster than any communication medium, corporation or government can anticipate.

Lauryn Hill, MTV Unplugged No. 2.0

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Alluringly unplugged: a guitar and Hill in song and conversation. Starts with a throaty laugh and builds to tears as she breaks open her soul in jams like "Mr. Intentional." Revel in rich acoustic guitar, poetry-slam lyrics, and intimate melodies that she admits are not fully developed (she even gets lost once). Play it through, let your soul wander, repeat as necessary. — Amy Bartlett

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Coachella Report: Day Two

coachella_custom_header_560x60.pngcoach_ac_560x225.jpg When it comes to adventures in music, you can do a lot worse than Coachella - a kaleidoscope of bands and fans spanning all manner of genres and scenes. Rhapsody sent its rock editor, Justin Farrar, out to the desert to get his take on the whole big mess. Dig his wrap-ups in this space over the next three days.

Saturday at Coachella: before digging into the jams, we need to address two of the festival's most potent demons: heat and traffic. The former is worse today, a blistering 98 degrees. Yowsa. The latter is, however, less intense. Yesterday, cars were backed-up to Jefferson Street, which isn't anywhere near the festival grounds, in all honesty. If I were a Coachella veteran, then I'd tell every newbie seeking my highly prized wisdom to utilize one of the many shuttle services. Or even better: rent a bicycle. Then again, there is one upside to driving, and that's getting to park in the outer lots. From there, the path to the grounds leads attendees through the all too colorful car-camping grounds.

For the anthropologist in all of us, these campsites -- the totality of which can rightly be called a modern day Bartertown for 24-hour party people -- contain a motley assortment of sub-cultural tribes that offer quality observation along the way: beefcakes with leathery pecs boozing and whooping at the scantily clad pop tarts passing by, indie kids dressed as neon Native Americans knocking back Jell-O shots, classic Deadheads just chillin', punks standing around looking bored and Burning Man types flying pirate flags while maintaining snazzy encampments laced in all manner of disco lighting. The car-camping grounds are also home to its own bundle of food stands and oddball activities, including a makeshift roller-derby rink, what looks like a space designed for bicycle jousting and a tiny stage for impromptu jam sessions.

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Jones and Co. expand the range of their crate-digging sound on their latest, moving beyond dirty/tight funk and soul to also encompass early '60s R&B, girl group and doo-wop and bits of Motown. The result is perhaps even more stylized than their earlier efforts. Each tiny detail meticulously attended to: perfectly slippery horns, pretty little backup choruses, plinking keys in just the right spots. It's quite a piece of craftmanship, though they did unfortunately forego the big, bombastic tracks that find Jones completely cutting loose and really sassing the listener ("Money" comes close). — Rachel Devitt

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senior_year-banner-560x60.jpg 20110401-SY-1965-gogo-560x225.jpg Here at Rhapsody, none of us were high school age back in 1965, so we can only imagine what a genuine go-go was like. Our thoughts turn to the scene in Malcolm X when his assassins tour the Audubon Ballroom during a youth dance the night before he was killed, casing the joint while kids shuffle and stomp to Junior Walker's "Shotgun." Or here's a happier example: all the incredible Motown sounds heard during the 1976 teen flick Cooley High, an evocative depiction of black urban life in 1960s Philadelphia. The iconic Detroit label was at the height of its glory, issuing classics like The Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie)," Martha and the Vandellas' "Nowhere to Run," and Stevie Wonder's "Uptight." It released so many great singles that we had to leave out a few, or else we wouldn't have space for the great Otis Redding, James Brown, The Impressions, and Fontella Bass of "Rescue Me" fame. Even if we weren't doing the twist on American Bandstand or doing the alligator when these golden oldies blasted out of AM radio, we'd be fools to not see that 1965 was an incredible year for soul.

Click here to listen to the complete playlist: Senior Year, 1965: Going to a Go-Go


Senior Year, 1995: Lowriders Club

senior_year-banner-560x60.jpg 20110329-SY-1995-low-rider-club-560x225.jpg Talk about "Hands on a Hard Body": for a certain species of auto-shop student, back in 1995, tricked-out rides were raised to the level of an art form. And while all kinds of hip-hop fueled their subwoofers, surely the most potent strain was G-funk, with its slinky leads and suggestive bounce, rolling and purring like an El Dorado.

Coming largely out of Los Angeles' Death Row camp, G-funk turned away from sampled breakbeats in favor of live and synthesized funk vamping, with laid-back drum-machine thump dragging tempos back while portamento synth leads slid mercurially over the top. It was perfectly calibrated to prove that gangstas could be lovers too — even if their rides were the true objects of their affections.

The sound first broke with Dr. Dre's 1992 album The Chronic and had some of its greatest moments with Warren G and Nate Dogg's 1994 song "Regulate" and Tha Dogg Pound's 1995 album Tha Doggfather. We've created our Senior Year Playlist around that year, but by all means, don't forget 1998's G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1 & 2 by Nate Dogg, who passed away on March 15 at just 41 years old.



Barry White, Can't Get Enough

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cant-get-enough.jpg Barry White took a page out of Issac Hayes' book and made the transition from being an ace arranger and studio musician into a deep-throated solo star. This was White's first No.1 pop smash and featured such chart-topping singles as "You're The First, The Last, The Everything," and "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe." White's marriage of sweeping faux cinematic strings, dance-floor (and bedroom) grooves and his should-be-cheesy but is just incredibly cool vocal style all come together for an effort that is supremely joy inducing. — Nick Dedina

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Adele, 21

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Adele's shtick seems to be album titles that completely belie the old soul inside. 21 sounds like no 21-year-old. Adele spends most of her sophomore album dominating styles she has no business knowing how to sing so intuitively, from the rafters-shaking, revival-ready "Rolling in the Deep" to the big, brassy '70s rock of "I'll Be Waiting." Elsewhere, she croons weathered ballads that sound more lovelorn than someone so young should (see "Turning Tables," a "Chasing Pavements" redux down to the syllabic structure). It won't help a wider audience to find her, but those who do will be rewarded. — Rachel Devitt

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War, Why Can't We Be Friends

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War were one of those rare bands who were as popular with black and Latino audiences as they were with white rock fans. The upbeat title track was a big hit and showed why War worked -- this is music that brings people and cultures together (and it can still easily be sung by drunk guys at barbecues and tailgate parties). While the L.A. band had a long line of big singles, "Low Rider" is their defining moment. It was a smash in Southern California and ended up defining Latino car culture for the duration of the '70s. — Nick Dedina

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Isaac Hayes, Hot Buttered Soul

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Only one song clocks in under ten minutes on this four-song release. A seminal album, Hot Buttered Soul cemented Isaac Hayes' image and his influence on the music industry. The music is stunning both instrumentally and vocally, and its relentless low-key grooves should strike fear in the hearts of poseurs everywhere. Includes the phenomenal "Walk On By." — Jon Pruett

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Soulful White Girls

20110222-soulful-white-girls-560x225.jpg Much of soul history has been dominated by powerhouse African American singers — rightly so. Soul is often couched in the pain and joy, trials and tribulations of African American experiences. Every so often, however, along comes a white girl who has the blues — or manages to sing like she does, belting her way through one soul style or another with a big voice and bigger heart. Adele's recently dropped sophomore album is a perfect example: with richly nuanced vocals and a stylistic maturity that belies her youth, 21 is soul, through and through. Take a listen to the sweetly crooned pleasures and pathos of Adele and other soulful white girls like Nikka Costa, Dusty Springfield, Teena Marie, Amy Winehouse and more.

play-button.jpgListen to the full playlist here: Soulful White Girls

Celebrating Black History Month


February is Black History Month, and Rhapsody would like to recognize and honor the immensely rich cultural contributions of African Americans musicians. From Louis Armstrong to Kanye West, African Americans have helped define popular music in this country. Click below for an overview of those accomplishments, great playlists and in-depth discussions on the political roots of Dance Pop in black music; the role of the "outsider" in African American music culture; and the influence of African Americans on Country music. We also have playlists highlighting the music of New Orleans as well as a selection of civil rights anthems.






From Sly to Outkast, listen to all the classics.
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Get your cheat sheet for the top black
music innovators
.
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Discover the influence of African Americans on Country music.
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The Roots of
dance pop
: Where Gaga got her style from.
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Discover the role of the black "outsider" in popular music.
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Black Dialogue: History through Blues and Modern Soul music.
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Black Outsiders

20110222-black-outsiders-560x225.jpg Before we get started, it bears remembering that the black community is not monolithic. There are various segments within it just like any other. Just as there is a pop mainstream, there is a black equivalent, too. Historically speaking, black radio programmers can be more conservative than their white counterparts. Stars have long complained of being unable to crack black radio playlists, from Bob Marley to Public Enemy, who recorded "Bring the Noise" in response to black stations' boycott of hardcore rap music.

What makes an outsider, anyway? Some innovators, like Betty Davis, drew a negative response from audiences in general. Others — like Shuggie Otis, Fishbone, N.E.R.D. and Blackalicious — have a following that is mostly white. Conversely, even radio-approved black stars can attract the ire of black fans, such as Whitney Houston, who was famously booed at the 1990 Soul Train Awards for allegedly being a pop sellout. In other words, take this list with a grain of salt.


cheat_sheet_top_header_560x62.jpg 20110222-black-innovators-560x225.jpg It's impossible to summarize the contributions of black musicians to our cultural history with a few random albums. Some of the innovators we could not fit into this short list include Prince, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Max Roach, Jimi Hendrix, Chic, Sam Cooke, The O'Jays, Lauryn Hill, the Supremes, Big Mama Thornton, Salt-n-Pepa and Ella Fitzgerald.

Just because it is relatively easy to pay tribute during Black History Month does not mean it's unnecessary. Whether you support or oppose President Obama, consider yourself part of the progressive wing or the conservative movement, it would be hard to deny that racial and class conflicts have steadily increased during the past few years. The recent controversy over a dearth of rap and R&B winners in major categories at the 2011 Grammy Awards, mostly waged at the expense of Arcade Fire's surprising and commendable win for Album of the Year, is just one relatively superficial example of how balkanized and oppositional our country has become.

20110125-b4stars-560x225.jpg Before your favorite rock, rap, pop and country stars were famous, they were just … people. Which, chances are, also means they were struggling and striving musicians or singers who probably spent time in bands that never hit big, and that you may have never even heard of. Some of those bands recorded actual albums, or at least singles — many of which just happen to be available on Rhapsody. Here's a pile to check out.

Moving Sidewalks
These sun-fried late '60s blues banditos were best known for the love-in-the-elevator nugget "99th Floor" — a radio chart-topper for over a month in Houston, not so much anywhere else. Guitarist Billy Gibbons later made his name with ZZ Top.

The Vagrants
The Vagrants were soul-garagers who attended the same Forest Hills, Queens, high school as sundry future Ramones; the group featured hefty guitarist Leslie West before he moved on to form '70s hard-rocking boogie bunch Mountain.

The Mynah Birds
This Toronto R&B outfit recorded sundry tracks under different lineups in the mid-'60s — notably "It's My Time" and "Go On and Cry," which Motown didn't release at the time, though they showed up on a box set four decades later, after ex-Mynahs Rick James and Neil Young had become household names.

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After decades of digital neglect, one of history's most gloriously pure voices finally gets remastered on this stellar overview of Cooke's artistry. Includes R&B, gospel, standards and such timeless hits as "You Send Me," "Chain Gang," "Another Saturday Night" and "(What A) Wonderful World." It gets no better than this. — Nick Dedina

Hear It Now!

Ray Charles, The Spirit of Christmas

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Brother Ray released the finest Christmas album of the 1980s by a country mile. He did this by ignoring every single Reagan Era sonic signpost and opting instead for his classic soulful, blues-drenched jazz sound. The hippest of Xmas sets, this one also has plenty of room for Charles' open-hearted, humanistic approach (listen to "That Spirit of Christmas" and "All I Want for Christmas"). Ray's version of "Winter Wonderland" is still heard every year in When Harry Met Sally, and "Baby It's Cold Outside" is a bonus cut culled from Charles' classic duets record with Betty Carter. — Nick Dedina

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Shelby Lynne, Merry Christmas

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Shelby Lynne is one of modern music's most neglected talents. Here, she gets to the heart of nine holiday favorites and offers up two fine new additions to the Christmas canon. Lynne's approach is natural and laid-back yet she goes directly into the emotional core of each track. "Rudolph" is all innocent fun, while her original "Xmas" plays out like a neo-realist movie full of darker memories ("Holiday cocktails make me forget the gifts that daddy never opened"). The backings mix in country, blues, jazz and soul, making this one to pull out every December. — Nick Dedina

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Various Artists, A Motown Christmas

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a-motown-christmas.jpg By cherry-picking the best tunes from six of their artists' individual Christmas albums, Motown created a solid, 2-disc set that feels like a holiday party. You've got the Jackson 5 as the giddy kids running around the house shouting about Santa Claus coming to town, the Miracles and the Temptations tending a warm fire while cooing season's tidings, Stevie Wonder playing the piano, and Diana Ross as the regal hostess who deigns to sing some carols after a couple of drinks. — Tim Quirk

Hear It Now!

The Best Albums of 2010

20101206-best-albums-2010-560x225.jpg It was as if nobody wanted to admit it was 2010. MGMT released a paean to '60s psyche, Ariel Pink looked back at the '70s and '80s through rose-colored, lo-fi glasses and Broken Bells and Cee-Lo dipped their buckets in the ever-deepening well of '70s soul. LCD Soundsystem plundered '80s avant disco, while Robyn revisited the halcyon days of Swedish pop. On the other end, Janelle Monae peered into the future and saw messianic robots, while Flying Lotus crafted an album that mined the sublime amidst fractured electro future shock. The albums that strained for the zeitgeist -- Kanye West's angry, self-obsessed Fantasy and Arcade Fire's meditation on the mundane crunch of suburban life -- were the most emotionally desperate and revealing. There was more great music, as always, and we've compiled our top 50 albums right here.

Also, be sure to check out our list of the top tracks of the year here.


50.
School of Seven Bells
Disconnect from Desire
Disconnect From Desire sounds like it was recorded in either a church filled with synths or a goth club haunted by the ghost of Siouxsie and the Banshees. The band's sophomore album is not a great departure from its first, though the tracks here are slightly more polished. "Heart Is Strange" has the flirty fun of a Goldfrapp song, while tracks like "I L U" and "Camarilla" have all the elements of a Cocteau Twin dream. The hypnotic coos of identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza are nothing but transfixing, as cool to the touch as Benjamin Curtis' dark, jittery guitar and synths. — Stephanie Benson

Al Green, Greatest Hits

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A bona fide hits collection, there is very little filler on this compilation of Green's greatest hits to 1975. There aren't any surprises here, but that's okay: Green's gorgeous voice and intimate arrangements are a revelation to this day. — Nick Dedina

Hear It Now!
20101102-indie-soul-560x225.jpg Earlier this year, The Foreign Exchange earned a Grammy nomination for "Daykeeper," a dreamy ballad filled with soft percussion and cooed phrasings of "she loves me." Cited for Best Urban/Alternative Performance, "Daykeeper," the lead single from 2008's Leave It All Behind, confirmed that the email correspondence between Durham, N.C., vocalist Phonte Coleman and Dutch producer Matthijs "Nicolay" Rook has blossomed into a fruitful creative partnership. While it ascends, Phonte's Little Brother, one of the more influential indie-rap groups of the past decade, lies in tatters. Having never truly recovered from the departure of producer 9th Wonder — although their third and final studio album, 2007's GetBack, was a valiant effort — remaining members Phonte and Big Pooh quietly wound down operations, then officially marked the group's end with this year's collection of outtakes, LeftBack.

The "rapper-ternt-sanga" phenomenon is well chronicled, as is the belief that singing offers a wider range of musical possibilities than rapping. (Whether it's true is fodder for another column.) However, just because Phonte wasn't the first rapper — and definitely won't be the last — to become a soul singer doesn't mean that he hasn't brought new ideas to the genre. Far from homogenous, he and other indie-rap artists like Aloe Blacc and Mayer Hawthorne have distinct identities. Each sounds different from the other, and their artistic quirks are transforming our perceptions of hip-hop music.

cheat_sheet_top_header_560x62.jpg 20101026-political-albums-560x225.jpg There's something in the air these days. Could it be the changing leaves of fall? The excitement of October baseball? No wait, we've got it -- widespread global freakout! With the election around the corner and international markets in the dumps, change is coming whether we're ready or not. Music has always had something to say about times like these, so we figured we'd round up 20 classic political albums in the hopes of stimulating debate. Because it's not like you've got anything else to worry about, right?


Play!While reading the list below you should listen to Rhapsody's classic political albums playlist.


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Fire

Emboldened by the crossover success of 1974's "Jive Turkey," The Ohio Players followed through with their most commercially successful and artistically sophisticated release. The title track and "Running from the Devil" are classic slabs of loose and easy 70s funk, while the spring-heeled soul of "Together" shows that the group can work within tighter pop paradigms. — Sam Chennault


Barry White
Can't Get Enough

Barry White took a page out of Issac Hayes' book and made the transition from being an ace arranger and studio musician into a deep-throated solo star. This was White's first No.1 pop smash and featured such chart-topping singles as "You're The First, The Last, The Everything," and "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe." White's marriage of sweeping faux cinematic strings, dance-floor (and bedroom) grooves and his should-be-cheesy but is just incredibly cool vocal style all come together for an effort that is supremely joy inducing. — Nick Dedina

Happy Halloween

halloween_575x225.jpg If ever there were a rock 'n' roll holiday, it's Halloween. Ghosts, ghouls, goblins, blood sports, sexy costumes and hard candy all take center stage. And while that sounds frightening to some, it's also all the ingredients for a great party. Get your own holiday started with our selection of music's greatest Halloween songs as well as a collection of some of the scariest songs ever made. If you dare, read the tales of debauchery and occultism in our "Rock's Scariest Stories" feature. Dig in, and don't forget to turn off the lights.


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From "Monster Mash" to "Thriller," party down with these classic Halloween jams.
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Blood orgies, mass murderers, ghosts and more of rock's scariest stories.
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Get in the mood with this ghoulish collection of music's scariest songs.
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True blood: From My Chemical Romance to Evanescence, the music that fuels the undead.
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Check out our exclusive Halloween Radio.
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The kids aren't alright — listen to this playlist of witch house and beyond.
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Learn about the history of modern Shock Rock.
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An extended playlist full of pre-shock rock classics.
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20100921-go-go-music-560x225.jpg Throughout the '70s, while as-yet-unrecorded hip-hop was evolving up in the South Bronx, a comparably funky new dance music was emerging in the black neighborhoods of Washington, D.C (or, as the title of Parliament's 1975 album put it, Chocolate City.) Instead of DJs and rappers, go-go's rhythm came from big bands — especially drummers. Lots of drummers. Chuck Brown, who'd come up playing jazz guitar and turned 40 in 1976, led a funk band called the Soul Searchers. But the mid-'60s stint he'd spent in the Latin cover combo Los Latinos inspired him to fortify the drum kit with Afro-Caribbean timbales, congas and other percussion; he also took brass charts from jazz and call-and-response — plus go-go's signature underlying drum syncopation — from the Pentecostal gospel church. And he thought like a DJ and cheer-led like an emcee, so he'd keep the party rolling for hours with improvisatory nonstop-segued medleys of original tunes and fragmented remakes, many dating back to the swing or jump blues eras: Duke Ellington, Louis Jordan, "Harlem Nocturne." Other local bands were experimenting with extended rhythm jams around the same time, and by the late '70s go-go was a distinctive genre.

John Legend, Once Again

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John Legend could make a pet rock swoon, and his brand of martini soul provides a nice respite from the crunk-baked R&B that dominated the charts in 2006. It isn't that Legend's agenda differs from that of his contemporaries; it's that he approaches the bedroom with a whisper rather than a bark. "Save Room" and "Heaven" have beautiful harmonies to top off Legend's seasoned Lothario lyrics, while "Stereo" plays out over a neo-classic hip-hop beat and "Slow Dance" harkens back to the Stylistics and Delfonics. More consistent than his debut, Once Again is a satisfying seduction. — Sam Chennault

Hear It Now!

The Jackson 5, ABC

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jackson_five-abc.jpg Released in 1970, the Jackson 5's sophomore album was an enormous success, making them household names and setting a blueprint for legions of pop/R&B boy bands. Young Michael's voice steals the show, but the whole group is tight, with infectious instrumentation and top-flight production. — Brolin Winning

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Bill Withers, Still Bill

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This isn't simply Bill Withers' best album -- it's also one of the finest platters of the 1970s. Out of print for decades, Still Bill contains such essential hits as "Lean On Me," "Kissing My Love," and "Use Me" ("Lonely Town, Lonely Street" and "Let Me In Your Life" belong on constant radio rotation too). Withers' heartfelt vision shines through on every single cut. Still Bill is still awesome. — Nick Dedina

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20100831-muscle-shoals-560x225.jpg The legendary "Muscle Shoals sound" is deceptively difficult to define. Its most definitive recordings — "When a Man Loves a Woman," "Chain of Fools," "Land of 1,000 Dances," etc. — weren't produced at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, but at Rick Hall's FAME Studios in Florence, Ala. It's there, between the years 1963 and '69, that Hall helped make pop-music history by teaming up soul icons like Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett and Arthur Alexander with The Swampers (aka the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section). They were a motley assortment of local musicians, including Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, Spooner Oldham and Pete Carr.

By the end of 1969, The Swampers had split from Hall and started their own operation: Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, at 3614 Jackson Highway. Boasting a wall of gold records, they were now a world-renowned sonic brand, one that artists would come from all around to lease out whenever they wanted to create something "soulful," "earthy" and "Southern-fried." Though The Swampers continued to work with soul singers like Franklin and gospel quartet The Staple Singers, over the next decade their high-profile clientele consisted primarily of sensitive singer-songwriters (Paul Simon), jet-setting rockers (The Rolling Stones), platinum-clad pop stars (Cher) and country crooners (Willie Nelson).

This is the period we're concerned with. Below you'll find 10 albums that sum up what the Muscle Shoals sound was all about in the 1970s.

A Southern Soul Summer

20100601-southern_soul-575x225.jpg Listen to all your favorite soul artists whenever and however you want with your Rhapsody subscription. If you don't have one, click here to sign up for a free trial and see what we’re all about.

Summer festivals are wonderful, sure, but they're also too big and frequently expensive, and if you're not still a kid the crowd'll make you look old. Even more importantly, you won't find much old-school R&B for grown folks at them: maybe Sharon Jones, but that's about it. Thing is, especially if Sharon Jones' brand of throwback is your idea of a party, there are lots of awesome alternatives out there. For black audiences over 40 and under the Mason-Dixon Line, the Southern Soul Blues and Chitlin' Circuit still rules the road like it has for a half-century or more; in fact, some singers have been at it for just that long, and they'll probably be doing it 'til the day they die. Between now and midsummer, you can catch them if you know in which hamlets to look — and if you're lucky, there might be a crawfish boil involved. Here's a week-by-week rundown, through Independence Day.

Q&A: Raphael Saadiq



Rhapsody sat down recently with Raphael Saadiq to talk about playing shows with Smokey Robinson, songwriting and various collaborators including D'Angelo.
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Joe Cuba, Tito Puente and every other artist mentioned in this article are yours to rock out to whenever and however you want with your Rhapsody subscription. Click here to sign up for a free trial and see what we’re all about.

African American and Latin American musical influences had been commingling at least since Dizzy Gillespie hired Havana conga drummer Chano Pozo in the late '40s, and have continued to do so ever since — through fairly recent genres like reggaeton and urban bachata, for instance. But no other such hybrid has ever sounded as unhinged as the Latin boogaloo music that exploded out of New York City's outer boroughs and Spanish Harlem through the mid- to late '60s — in fact, in a decade of crazed garage rock and cold-sweating funk (both of which boogaloo absorbed), this may well have been America's wildest dance music of all. An excellent new Joe Cuba compilation on Fania, El Alcalde Del Barrio, is only the latest evidence.
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Nneka and every other artist mentioned in this article are yours to rock out to whenever and however you want with your Rhapsody subscription. Click here to sign up for a free trial and see what we’re all about.

Nigeria's a pretty fascinating country. It has a massive poverty rate (somewhere in the range of 70%), nearly nonexistent rural infrastructure, and an oil-rich delta that multinational corporations have been busily plundering for decades, at no discernible benefit (and often at considerable detriment) to the Nigerian people. On the other hand, Nigerians are not among the happiest people on earth ... they are the happiest people on earth. By a long shot. And the country boasts a massive film industry, a huge proportion of the continent's recording studios and the lion's share of its artists. The music scene in Nigeria is so vast and ever-changing that it's essentially impossible to keep up -- from a distance -- with what's going on there.

But in recent years that flood of music has begun to escape Nigeria's borders. Last year the Paris-raised Nigerian singer-songwriter Asa generated some buzz with her catchy tune "Jailer." And this year a pint-sized, model-gorgeous German-Nigerian singer named Nneka (pronounced "Nay-ka") is finally making waves on this side of the pond, after setting European hearts aflame for the past few years. Her accomplishments, to date: an appearance on David Letterman, a show review by Times music critic Jon Pareles, and blog interest that's nearing high tide.

Why Nneka? Why now?

Maybe the better question is, why not? Americans love hearing foreigners do our music better than we do (otherwise the Rolling Stones wouldn't have made it past album one), and hip-hop and R&B claim African parentage, anyhow. Nigeria has been powerfully influenced by American music for decades: in the 1970s, Fela Kuti's love of American jazz and funk helped birth Afrobeat. Young Nigerian musicians these days listen to everything, from Kuti to the Fugees and back again. Hip-hop and R&B have become the lingua franca for an entire generation.

What makes Nneka of particular interest is, quite simply, her talent. She didn't write songs until she moved to Germany for university and found herself stunned by the cultural differences she encountered. (She grew up in Warri, a small town in Delta State.) That experience fed into a wider examination of the striking imbalances between the so-called first and third worlds, and, somewhere in that period of awakening, her songwriting was born. And what songwriting. A torrent of words seems to pour forth from her, sharp and dazzling and slotting effortlessly into that other pillar of her growing success, DJ Farhot's production. She has studied assiduously at the feet of Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill, then one-upped them, managing to sound like the gorgeous-girl-next-door (a la Hill) while slinging razor-sharp social criticism (a la Badu). And she does it well, ultimately sounding like nobody but herself.

She's not alone. While Nneka's currently the most polished and talented of a crop of Nigerian hip-hop and R&B artists (call it Naija pop; "Naija" is slang for Nigerian), she's truly just one in a crowded field of domestic and expat Nigerian musicians. We've put together a playlist of some of the best Naija pop available in Rhapsody -- check it out here, or go spin Nneka's excellent U.S. debut, Concrete Jungle, immediately. If you find yourself intrigued by the nation that could spawn such globe-dominating talent, dig deeper -- we've compiled a list of albums for your listening pleasure below.

Further Listening
Fela Kuti: The Best of the Black President
Various Artists: Nigeria 70 -- Lagos Jump
Various Artists: Nigeria Rock Special: Psychedelic Afro-Rock & Fuzz Funk in 1970s Nigeria
Various Artists: Nigeria Disco Funk Special: The Sound of the Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-79
King Sunny Ade: E Dide (Get Up)
Lagbaja: Africano ...The Mother of Groove
IK Dairo: I Remember
Ebenezer Obey: Juju Jubilation

Afro-Pop Radio
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Corinne Bailey Rae's new single, "I'd Do It All Again," has been up on Rhapsody for a few weeks now, and it's a real keeper.

The song starts out quiet and acoustic but slowly builds in intensity, with flashes of swirling psychedelic soul.  The lyrics seem to address her confusion and mixed emotions surrounding her late husband's very avoidable demise.

Rae's 2006 debut was a critical and commercial success, and shifted a couple million units in America (which is rare for an artist who sings with a noticeable English accent). Such elders as Al Green -- whose laid-back, slowly building style is an obvious influence -- and Herbie Hancock were impressed and immediately recorded with her.

Her new CD, The Sea, is more sonically varied than her debut was, but it still shines with her patented mix of neo-soul and traditional singer-songwriter pop (which can position her closer to acoustic-guitar-toting males like Bill Withers, Amos Lee and Ben Harper than to flashier talents such as Alicia Keys or Leona Lewis). It was Led Zep that originally inspired CBR to pick up the guitar, and she's covered them, John Lennon, Joni Mitchell and Marvin Gaye.

Before digging into The Sea, take this Rhapsody tour of Rae's earlier recordings. She's done a number of interesting collaborations, cover versions and guest appearances in a very short period of time.
 
Bobby Charles2.jpgVery sad news: Bobby Charles died on Thursday, January 14, in the morning, apparently. Though an exact cause of death has yet to be determined, the New Orleans composer and singer had been battling health problems for several years.

I love Charles’ music, yet I know very little about the guy. Then again, very few music writers do, outside of my pal Brian J. Barr, who wrote a fantastic profile on him for Oxford American’s 10th Annual Music Issue. Charles, according to the Seattle-based scribe, “kept a death-grip on his privacy and spent his last years in a two-bedroom trailer ‘with a wide deck on it outside Abbeville [Louisiana]. He told me there was a seafood restaurant he frequented near his home where the waitress would already be mixing his Grey Goose martini before he’d even finished parking his car. He ate alone and he lived alone.”

Bobby Charles, an ethnic Cajun, was more or less a major-league talent who didn’t like the spotlight, who didn’t crave fame and fortune -- just a martini and some killer seafood. This means a lot of music fans out there don’t understand his impact, which is considerable. First off, he’s a legend in New Orleans music. If you’re a legend in the city that gave birth to the very idea of an “American sound,” then you’re a pretty big deal just about everywhere else, from New York to Des Moines to ... Seattle. Much like fellow Big Easy great Allen Toussaint, Charles devoted a good chunk of his career to writing songs for others and in the process had a hand in creating several genres including swamp pop, Southern R&B and hell, even rock 'n' roll its bad self. In the 1950s and ’60s, he penned a string of pop standards, namely “But I Do,” which Clarence "Frogman" Henry had a major hit with; "Walking to New Orleans,” the Fats Domino classic, and the Bill Haley No. 1 “See You Later, Alligator,” a song whose title threaded itself into the very fabric of the American lexicon.

Other chestnuts include “The Jealous Kind,” “Why Are People Like That” and the ballad “Tennessee Blues” (a sublime version of which J.D. Crowe & the New South, with a young Keith Whitley on lead vocals, recorded for their 1978 album My Home Ain't In the Hall of Fame).

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Sade is yours to rock out to whenever and however you want with your Rhapsody subscription. Take a free trial and see what we're all about.

Sade is one of the biggest recording stars in the world (more than 50 million CDs sold) and has the rare distinction of being beloved equally across every  continent on the planet (she's like a tabloid-free Michael Jackson or a mysterious and blessedly mum Madonna).

Sade's music appeals to Park Avenue divorcees, inner city parents trying to do right by their kids and millions in the developing world who are dealing with daily survival. The woman herself was born Helen Folasade Adu; Sade is actually the name of her band. But, darn if Sade hasn't become a popular name in black America.

Sade has somehow maintained her spot at the top of the pop charts even though she puts out new product only a little more frequently than J.D. Salinger. Her last studio album came out in 2000 -- a decade ago. She pops up once every 10 years or so and puts a very good album out and then goes on an extended world tour ... then fades away again.

Dean Wareham turned me on to the concept of "the fox and the hedgehog." Basically, artists who do one thing but do it very well (whether Degas or the Ramones) are hedgehogs. Artists (like Picasso and McCartney) who can do many different things very well are foxes.

Sade is one elegant, strikingly beautiful hedgehog. She has real talent, including the insight to understand her limitations and work within them. Her albums change (slightly) with the times,  but they never sound like anything but pure Sade. They don't need to sound like anything else.

Her fine new single, "Solder of Love" (listen to it now, if you haven't already), encapsulates the Sade style perfectly. Her music is often spare and minimalistic, with minor key shifts or tempo changes causing major emotional impact. People notice the sound and the style, but she is also an ace songwriter and lyricist who know how to put together a simple but cutting, highly memorable line. The opening lyric to "Soldier" is "I've lost the use of my heart." Ouch. Thematically, Sade albums dip into quick moments of happiness, but "Soldier" follows the trajectory of most of her tunes -- it paints an emotional portrait of someone who has been beaten down by the world but will somehow find the strength to survive.
 
Keep reading to take a look back at Sade's catalog. 

R.I.P. Teddy Pendergrass

teddy_pendergrass.575x225jpg.jpgTeddy Pendergrass, one of the finest soul singers of his generation, has passed away.

Pendergrass was a Philly drummer with Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes when the star-making Gamble & Huff songwriting/production team noticed his backing vocals. They quickly made him leader singer of the group, much to the chagrin of a certain Mr. Melvin.

Pendergrass' ultra masculine, smokey vocals turned such Philly soul wonders as "If You Don't Know Me By Now," "The Love I Lost" and "Bad Luck" into classics that are still widely heard today. An old Blue Notes hit, "Wake Up Everybody" was even reborn as a protest song during the 2000s. Like Pendergrass' best work, the song hadn't aged a day.

Teddy's star shone even brighter when he went solo. His single finest outing may just be "Love TKO," a blistering torch song with a relentless groove and a peerless Pendergrass vocal. The song is so sublime that millions were rumored to have ended relationships just so they could have the tune work its healing magic on them.

Pendergrass was enjoying a long string of platinum albums, hit singles and sold-out "ladies only" concerts when a 1982 car accident left him paralyzed. Pendergrass soon made a successful recording comeback and his typically sensual "You're My Choice Tonight" should have won the Oscar for best song for the Alan Rudolph cult movie Choose Me.

Teddy Pendergrass also worked tirelessly on behalf of others with spinal chord injuries and charitable work became his primary focus when he retired from music in 2006. He passed away from complications due to colon cancer surgery on January 13th, 2010.

Go here to listen to a stellar collection of Teddy Pendergrass hits on Rhapsody. Also, check out this swank TV appearance and see Pendergrass work his magic in front of a disco dancing audience. 
 
Coup250.jpg One of the many joys of Rhapsody is being able to quickly get into an artist's entire catalog. Take the music of the mighty Bill Withers, for instance.

Growing up, I cut my toughskins on Bill Withers hits like "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean On Me." These hits played on the Ford Falcon's A.M. car radio every time the family was headed to a swap meet, bake sale or scout jamboree.

Later, around the time that Bo Derek was dipping into hot tubs with Anthony Hopkins, Withers helped Grover Washington, Jr., land a Jacuzzi-sized hit with "Just the Two of Us."

Later, when I was in high school, Withers' final batch of tunes (as of yet, at least) were playing late night on the local R&B and smooth jazz stations. Fast-forward to college, and my friend Tim was really into tending to lichens, brewing beer and ... you guessed it, playing Bill Withers on 8-track tape.

There is a lot more to Withers' oeuvre than that tragic timeline would suggest, starting with the fact that the unpretentious, down-to-earth singer-songwriter probably wouldn't use the word "oeuvre." Withers grew up in a small West Virginia mining town, had a long stint in the Navy (aka the service that takes you out of mining towns), went on to work in a factory, and was just trying to sell some of his tunes to other singers when he found himself signing a recording contract of his own. All of that life experience went into his songs, and Withers became the rare hit-making soul artist who was also a singer-songwriter in the early 1970s acoustic-guitar-toting tradition. He excels at everything: upbeat love songs, gritty narrative portraits, downbeat soul ballads and funky R&B jams.

Rhapsody members: feel free to listen to this fine Bill Withers playlist while I go over key parts of his catalog.


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Given the roller coaster of his career so far, it's hard to believe that Chris Brown has been in the pop spotlight for just four years. But it was only late November 2005 when "Run It!" began its five-week streak atop the pop chart -- a peak that, among male solo artists, only Montell Jordan a decade before had managed with a debut single. Three albums, numerous solo R&B and pop Top 10s, several equally popular collaborations and guest spots, a few TV and film roles, countless mind-boggling dance moves, and one potentially career-destroying guilty felony assault plea later, Chris Brown is now at a major juncture.
So to mark the release of Graffiti, we've put together a few playlists taking stock of where Brown's career now stands and putting it inside a larger picture -- which is to say, not just Chris Brown's own hits and those of his peers and influences, but in the context of the assault against Rihanna that will inevitably define him in many minds for the forseeable future. (To listen to, collect and share the awesome tracks we've compiled, all you need to do is sign up today for a free trial Rhapsody membership.)

smiling whitney.jpg After years of erratic, career-destroying behavior (including Bobby Brown-marrying and alleged crack-smoking), Whitney Houston seems finally poised for a much-needed comeback with the release of her new album I Look to You, which drops next Tuesday. But resurrecting one's career from the ashes of one's craziness can be a tricky business. So while we wait with our fingers crossed for Whitney, we thought we'd see how she measured up to some of pop music's other great comebacks.

Check out our picks, and be sure to click through to the "further listening" tab, where we link to high-quality audio of all the great artist mentioned here. And be sure to sign up for your free Rhapsody trial membership so that you can listen to all these artists as much as you want (no restrictions, and it's all perfectly legal) as well as collect and share playlist, listen to non-stop radio and get recommendations based on your listening history.
Coup250.jpgWe’re all used to record companies using sex to sell music. Hey, we’re used to companies using sex to sell everything from soap to lawn mowers to retirement homes these days.

But I can’t think of another group that used sex as thoroughly — and it must be said, strangely — to help sell their records as the Ohio Players.

The coolest band to ever come out of Dayton, Ohio (we aren’t even fact checking this one but please do not send me hate mail, Guided By Voices and Breeders fans — you know that the Ohio Players are cooler), the Ohio Players showed that jazz was alive in funk and soul throughout the 1970s.

Greatest Hip-Hop/R&B Duets

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Over the past decade, hip-hop and R&B have become the musical equivalent of peanut butter and jelly. When R&B was looking for direction in the '90s, it turned to hip-hop's thundering bombast, and when hip-hop began falling from grace this decade, it adopted R&B’s sexy swoon. And though genre purists from both sides have cried foul, this cross-pollination has resulted in some great music. In honor of this week’s release of the T.I./Mary J. Blige single "Remember Me," Rhapsody has picked the 10 greatest R&B/hip-hop duets of the past decade.
Tina Turner.jpgXtina, Celine, Mariah and Elton are cool and all, but there's no beating them old school divas. Goddesses like Billie Holiday, Dusty Springfield and Gloria Gaynor utterly and totally epitomized concepts like grace and class. Plus, they all made some timeless music, from smoky, jazzy ballads to dancefloor anthems. For the perfect overview of history's greatest divas, dig into this killer playlist. May your beloved Rhapsody inspire you to party all night in a vintage sequined evening gown!
oldschool.jpgThe world is still waiting for a definitive answer to the eternal question, "How old is old school?" But for the purposes of this playlist, let's say mid-'60s to mid-'80s, and let's include everything from gorgeous falsetto ballads to down-home Southern chitlin' circuit blues to wave-hands-in-the-air big-city disco to deadly deep-dish funk to even a couple movin'-on-up upper-middle-class strivers getting their grown-up suburbia on. At just 69 cents per song, how can you go wrong?
Believe it or not, the year hits the six-months-gone mark this week. And while there's no point in claiming these are the absolute best singles of the first half of 2009 (left "Boom Boom Pow" and "Poker Face" off, for instance, figuring you already know what they sound like), they're still 25 really good ones. Lots of rap, lots of country, lots of soul. Not a ton of "rock", though -- maybe because most of the non-rock rocks just fine.
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Did you know that Motown Records turns 50 this year? To mark the occasion, we're letting you take an extraordinary peek into the recollections of one of Motown's greats, Otis Williams of the Temptations. Here, the sole surviving founding member of the group shares some of his favorite songs - and a few memories - from the golden era of Motown. Ready for the ride?

Angela Bruno: So, here it is, Chris. It's time for the big dance. The senior prom of all blog posts! Except that I've blocked out almost all the details of all proms I've attended. Especially that year when I was everyone's back up date … . But these songs, no, I'll never forget em. Especially with the way you played these breakfast, lunch and afternoon-snacktime at the office. Ah, the memories …

Ne –Yo, "Closer"
AB: Not gonna lie. I pretty much despised Ne-Yo before this song. Then he started wearing really nice suits. And when this song came out – March? – it sounded like dancing-under-palm-trees. Which is just so me.

CR

Kanye West, "Love Lockdown"
AB: Favorite memory: rubbernecking to watch this LIVE on the Paramount lot at the VMAs. Only topped by watching Ellen's reaction to its video premiere on her show. Only matched by my reaction to it premiering on Ellen .

The Academy Is …, "About a Girl"
AB: That dude must be on the Rachel Zoe workout plan. Not only does he look like a chick with an eating disorder – but he is clearly embattled by inflated male ego/insecurity. That's right, bah humbug, I feel sooo bad for you.

John Legend, "Green Light"
AB: I thought I was so over Legend's lothario-hidden-under-the-guise-of-classy-cabaret-esque-piano-man shtick. 'Cause, when you break it down, this song is really only about the urgency of his … boner. Sorry, can I say boner here? But, like I said, nice suits. And Andre's on it. Best line: "I heard you when you told your girl when, oooh he can get it/admit it/ you did it."

Webbie, "Independent"
AB: According to this song, if I work hard, I'm a "bad broad." And according to this squad of romeo-geniuses, a "bad broad" -- by definition (if you don't know, now you know) -- "She cook, she clean, neva smell like onion rings." (Phew, got all three! Thought I'd never make the cut.) This is where you spell everything out …

Mariah, "Touch My Body"
AB:
Oh Mariah, back on the crazy train. How you infuriated me this year. That "wedding" to Nick Cannon. That other wedding to Nick Cannon. The rumors about you two procreating. Please god no.The ill-explained allusion to physics. Oh yeah, and put some CLOTHES on. As me and my girlfriends have hypothesized, she probably got married in a mohair thong bikini. And you, Chris, force-feeding me gossip about her all year long. You fueled the flames!

T.I., "Live Your Life"
AB:
Just the absolute JAM. Played on cue by you on all those ice-coffee-and-chair-dancing-fueled summer afternoons. Hold up, I'm getting misty eyed.

Katy Perry, "Hold N Cold"
AB:
Katy Perry, I salute you. And I'll even forget "Kissed a Girl" while I'm at it too. Serious karaoke potential. But you wouldn't know anything about that …

Paramore, "That's What You Get"
AB:
I love Paramore/Hayley. Loved 'em/her from the get. Don't know why, just do. Plus, you know it's a good song when all the women shoppers at H&M are singing along to it. That is a bond you can't break.

Young Jeezy, "Put On"
AB:
Wasn't that into "Put On" … until I watched an a cappella troupe sing it. Total Street Cred Points Earned : -763!!! And while apparently it's not okay to smell like onion rings, it's apparently okay "her weave look like curly fries." Copy paste other lyrics about – fish sticks, tartar sauce, pockets full of celery, asparagus, they know he got that broccoli ….

Jim Jones, "Pop Champagne"
AB:
Champagne gives me an immediate hangover. And Jim Jones makes me immediately projectile vomit. But for all his misogyny, megalomania, arrogance and douchebaggery, this song serves its party-purpose. Darn it.

Jesse McCartney, "Leavin'"
 AB: I credit the success of this song to ... you playing it incessantly, grown men singing along to it (aka all of my coworkers), my (literally) escapist tendencies, the paltry success rate of my romantic endeavors, his boyish good looks .... total summer jam.

Danity Kane, "Damaged"
 AB: I credit the success of this song to ... my playing it incessantly, grown women (aka all of my friends) singing along to it, my (literally) escapist tendencies, the paltry success rate of my romantic endeavors, their boyish good looks .... that breakdown at the end is simply delicious.

Usher, "Love in this Club"
AB: Maybe Jeezy is just hungry: "it's going down on aisle 3, I bag you like some grocercies." Plus, listening to any other songs on Usher's album is like moving mountains [cue the laugh track]. Real talk: I was beyond obsessed with this song – and could not for the months of march-may start my day without listening to this at least twice every morning.
CR: Jeezy also delved into produce metaphors on "Put On" (asparagus, broccoli, etc.)

Leona Lewis, "Bleeding Love"
AB: How could you not get swept away in the Leona Lewis zeitgeist that was the first half of '08? How could you not expect it to fizzle out soon thereafter?

Lil Wayne, "A Milli"
AB:
So much has been said that there's not much left to say. I've had conversations I never thought I would have about Weezy with people I'd never thought I'd have them with. Total Street Cred Points Earned: 375! The only thing I regret about my year with Weezy is not getting wise to him post-Hot Boys, pre-T3. Total Street Cred Points Earned: -19.

Yung La, "Ain't I"
AB: I'm forfeiting this round. I can't pretend like I've actually heard this song before. Total Street Cred Points Earned: -27.

T-Pain, "I Can't Believe It"
 AB: I can't believe how nonplussed I am. Total Street Cred Points Earned: 444!

Jonas Brothers, "Burning Up"
 AB: Camilla who?
CR: U mad.
AB: Holler at me Joe Jonas, I'll make the pain go away – that was too much eyebrow for one relationship anyway. Plus, I went to Catholic school grades K-12. [Wink.]
CR: Christ on crutches, the boy wears promise rings.
AB: Oh, sorry, I got distracted. This song totally caught me by surprise – in a good way.

Taylor Swift, "Love Story"
AB: I give her props for calling out Joe Jonas [loyalty is not my best quality]. But the thing I love most about this is your completely unironic love for Taylor Swift. ALL you.

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Chris Ryan: I am ... underwhelmed. Usually doubles are so conceptually robust that they demand the extra acreage; or they come at a time in an artist's career where the fever pitch of creativity demands a big canvas. This joint is about as long as Thriller and despite all the talking-points memos going around about B's beguiling "split personality," the two poles of Beyonc� seem to be "slow jams" and "club bangers."

Angela Bruno: I am ... going to ignore 85 percent of this album. Or, I'm gonna wind up saying something I'll regret. Like, oh, her artistic bipolarity only reminds me of that commercial for a product-which-shall-remain-nameless where a woman sees her totally-slummed-out-on-the-inside reflection in the mirror due to a lack of "freshness." Which, actually, is quite applicable here. (Forgive me Sasha, for I know not what I say!) I feel like I'm betraying a good friend, like LC and Audrina or vice versa (depending on whose side you're on). What happened to that brickhouse-ness that only B'Day can invoke?!?! Sigh. I may have to disagree with you on the acreage, though. B covers a whole lotta ground: Buzz Lightyear ("Single Ladies": "Here's a man that makes me then takes me/and delivers me to a destiny/ to infinity and beyond"), Dave Matthews ("Smash Into You," ummm "Crash Into Me"), Ren�e Zelweger (in Jerry McGuire, "Hello"), Pavarotti ("Ave Maria," WTF?), career criminal ("Diva": "this is a stick up, stick up"), you know. Shall we dissect (further)?

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Rolling Stone recently ranked its 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. The list is packed with legendary artists, plus features a handful of celebrity columnists gushing over their fave crooners (Billy Joel on Ray Charles: “He was the minister and I was the congregation”). As with any all-time-greatest list, it’s also riddled with questionable choices and glaring omissions – at least that’s how I see it. With help from Rhapsody Pop Editor Rachel Devitt, I’ve compiled 10 artists who could and should be included in any serious conversation about great singers. Some are obvious, many obscure and a few will have you muttering, “What the … ?”

Have a read as we stoke further controversy!

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Welcome to the November 2008 version of Dig This! Every month, Rhapsody’s editorial staff will introduce you to a few artists you may not know, give you a chance to check out their music, and present them in their own words -- watch this space for upcoming features on the individual artists. Oh, and we’ll throw you some free downloads from them, too.

This month in Dig This!:
Curumin, a Brazilian of Spanish-Japanese descent who fell in love with American hip-hop and Jorge Ben at the same time.

San Quinn, an underground rap legend in the Bay Area, prolific and celebrated locally, but only now starting to break out on the national stage.

School of Seven Bells, a Brooklyn trio that combines gorgeous harmonies, a world of rhythms and some ecstatic studio sense to create beautiful psychedelic pop jams.

[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this post.]

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Michelle Williams' new album, Unexpected, actually came as a surprise to Williams herself. After two gospel albums, the Destiny's Child alum returned to the studio to work on her third solo effort, this time with a breakup on the brain. The resulting album was, "Alright," says Williams. After calling for backup – her mother – she scrapped it and went back to the studio. "My mom was like, 'You sound so bitter! Make music that people can dance to.' And that really helped me – like even if you are upset, still dance!" And dance, you will. Unexpected is, in a way, Williams' coming out party. With producers like Stargate and Rico Love manning the boards, she successfully sheds some of her good-girl image with a sound that's covered in sequins and sass, delivering a hybrid confection that's deceptively sweet ("Thank U") and naughtily nice ("Private Party"), a blend of R&B ("Hungover") and Euro-pop shimmy ("Lucky Girl"). Here, Williams speaks on her new attitude and more. 

[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this post.]

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Jazmine Sullivan – protégé of Missy Elliott, endorsed by Stevie Wonder – is quite the storyteller. Her debut album, Fearless, embodies the kind of emotional schizophrenia that good, juicy R&B albums are made of, taking on different personae and sounds throughout: vamp, victim, victor, retro, nouveau and pop. Philly born and bred, Sullivan comes from a place where soul comes naturally. In her earlier days, the up-and-comer performed at the venue – Philly's Black Lily – where artists like Jill Scott and Musiq Soulchild were, at the time, still making a name for themselves. She's worked behind the scenes, singing backup vocals and penning songs. And she's even bounced back from label drama. Her Missy-assisted breakthrough single "Need U Bad" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. At only 21, Sullivan has proved once and again that she's got the chops. Earlier this month, Rhapsody had the chance to catch up with Sullivan at Radio City Music Hall, prepping for her second night on tour with Maxwell. Here, she speaks on Missy-as-inspiration, the craftsmanship behind Fearless, and "Bust Your Windows"-style methods of revenge.

[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this post.]

R.I.P. Levi Stubbs (1936-2007)

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Fans of any '60s icon share a similar gripe: the legacy of too many great artists is inextricably tied to too few of their songs in heavy rotation on oldies stations. These select tracks get played and played out, and eventually even the lifelong Beatles fan reaches for the dial during the third daily course of "Yellow Submarine." Today, I cued up the Four Tops after reading about the passing of the band's leader, Levi Stubbs, who died in his sleep in his Detroit home at the age of 72, and was reminded about how this predicament is particularly hard on the stable of artists from '60s Motown: The Jackson 5 is relegated to "I'll Be There"; Stevie Wonder, a Motown artist with as deep and wide-ranging catalog of any, is on three times an afternoon with "For Once in My Life." For the Four Tops, the heavy-rotation hits come between 1964's "Baby, I Need Your Loving" and their final Top 10 in 1973, "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)." Of the handful of stuff between these bookends, some, like The Big Chill-approved "It's the Same Old Song," represent Motown's streamlined mainstream operation. Others, like "Reach Out, I'll Be There," speak to the group's power in the studio. But it's the outlying, oddly successful hit "Bernadette," a tune that is among their most popular and their most enduring, that best demonstrates Stubbs' power as a performer. It's the rare example of a heavy-rotation hit that lives up to its responsibilities. 

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Last week, my friend Frank Kogan, whose pop-music tastes I have often seen eye-to-eye with, posted a list of his 42 favorite 2008 singles so far on his livejournal blog. He included many songs I was entirely oblivious to -- several of them apparently actual hits. So, I decided to do some investigating. Here are a few results, with more likely to come:

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Even in the grits-and-gravy world of chitlin circuit Southern soul, the Legendary Moody Scott may not genuinely qualify as a bona fide legend. And likewise, I don’t doubt that there are more glamorous singers out there somewhere than the Glamorous Bertha Payne. But that they bill themselves thus only makes their homemade records more endearing.

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The genre known as "Young Folks Trying to Imitate Old Soul Music" (or "neo soul" or "retro nuevo" or "old school" or what have you) has by now been around almost as long as old-soul music was around in the first place. And as with alt-country pretending to be Merle Haggard, I can probably count on one hand the times its shtick has actually worked -- less than that if R. Kelly's "When a Woman's Fed Up" doesn't qualify. If D'Angelo is Marvin Gaye, Uncle Kracker is Dobie Gray, feel me? And don't even get me started on Amy Winehouse. But in the interest of fairness, I decided to spend some time with the new Kenny Lattimore and Raphael Saadiq albums anyway. My conclusion: they're pretty darn corny, but far from awful. Middle-aged white guy that I am, I'll take them over most of the melismatic mush and self-parodying sex schlock that fills the R&B chart these days (though not because they have "real songs played on real instruments," honest). And Ryan Shaw's album last year was even better.

by Chuck Eddy

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Soul and blues always come in and out of country music fashion (just ask Jimmie Rodgers and Charlie Rich or Barbara Mandrell or K.T. Oslin), and over the past few years - from Brooks & Dunn to LeAnn Rimes, Jon Nicholson to Chely Wright, Kentucky Headhunters to Rissi Palmer -- they’ve been back on the upswing. “American Radio,” the not especially soulful current hit by Nashville softies Carolina Rain, even cites “Purple Rain” and Barry White as possible inspirations. But new releases by onetime teen-country hopeful Rebecca Lynn Howard and new sister trio Carter’s Chord sound like they mean it.

by Chuck Eddy

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Earlier this year here, I included David Banner on my definitive list of 50 musical artists who’d gotten worse with every subsequent album they made, for their entire careers. The post clearly had some oversights on it - how I neglected to include the Replacements is beyond me, and it’s a total crime that the Flaming Lips were left off the “25 bands who peaked with their debut EP” roster. And now I have to eat my words about Banner, too, seeing how I'm pretty sure his new The Greatest Story Ever Told is a whole lot better than 2005’s Certified.

by Chuck Eddy

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Isaac Hayes never could say goodbye. And if few of us anticipated that the Black Moses would finally cross over to the other side -- on Sunday, as has been widely reported, his wife discovered his body next to a still-running treadmill in their suburban Memphis home, and he was pronounced dead an hour later -- maybe it's because he always gave the impression that he could last forever. In fact, that was the main point of some of his best music.

by Sam Chennault

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John Legend and Estelle thread pop’s past with its future. Over the past five years, Legend has emerged as one of pop’s most talented and popular young stars. His refined take on neo-soul borrows as much from the classic pop of Burt Bacharach as it does the '70s soul boogie of Stevie Wonder, and hits “Save Room” and “Ordinary People” are sweet lovers' lullabies that will haunt Valentines Day for years to come. Given the elegance and versatility of his music, it’s little surprise that the first signee to his fledgling HomeSchool label is the talented and eclectic U.K. emcee/chanteuse Estelle. Originally hailed as the Brit's answer to Lauryn Hill, Estelle stepped out of that shadow this year with her critically acclaimed stateside debut, Shine. With contributions from Wyclef, Cee-Lo, Kanye and John Legend, the album is smart, polished and fun. After linking up for a chat with her and Legend, it’s obvious that Estelle’s music mirrors her personality.

by Chuck Eddy

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Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III sold well over a milli in its first week, and it’s been out nearly a month. And in the current stupid climate, that makes it almost ancient history by now. If you’re inclined to ever have an opinion about the thing, chances are you already have one and yours is worth as much as mine—maybe more. What took me so long is that, sometime in the past two years, having a Lil Wayne opinion changed from something fun into just another music-critic obligation; all those biz-bucking unofficial releases - which I realize have some great songs, but which I have neither the time nor money nor energy to keep up with - didn’t help. And now Tha Carter III seems destined to wind up Weezy’s most overrated album for the same reason 2002’s 500 Degreez is his most underrated album - because of how much they sold, or didn’t.

by Chuck Eddy

Black_heat_4 Below you'll find six acts you may not be familiar with whose names start with "Black," and only one act whose name starts with "Blue." Weird! Plus two acts with offensively pornographic lyrics. And none of the above played on Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult's legendary Black & Blue Tour. (Or with the Backstreet Boys' either, for that matter.)

by Chuck Eddy

Hercandloveb_3

Dance music is whatever makes people dance -- and good stuff can come from anywhere -- but am I the only one suspicious that the act now seemingly being proclaimed as disco's savior, Hercules and Love Affair, are clearly an indie-rock band? Or at least that what their back story suggests: vocals from the previously unbearable (to me anyway) cabaret hype Antony; more vocals from a woman named Nomi who rode in on the coattails of New York Times-approved novelty sham CocoRosie; production help from DFA's Tim Goldsworthy. H&LA's other principals, especially mastermind Andrew Butler, boast less tarnished resumés, but I'm just saying. Bloggerwise, I have more use for these people than George Smith does, but I for sure don't have as much use for them as Nick Sylvester does. Their album has some nifty sounds on it. Though then again, so does the new Donna Summer album.


by Angela Bruno

Adele

U.K. soul-pop siren Adele's ascent to critical acclaim was fueled by her descent into the dark shadows of heartache, a few well-timed songs on MySpace and a musical hodgepodge of influences � from Etta James and Billie Holiday to Bj�rk, Jeff Buckley and Jill Scott. Discovered on MySpace in the wake of the Amy Winehouse/Lily Allen frenzy and promptly signed to XL Records, Adele, now 20, conceived her debut album 19 (her age at the time of its creation), in the midst of a breakup. The result is a rollercoaster of an album full of stunning vocals, masterfully crafted song-poetry, pride and a complete surrendering to the urgency of emotion. Here, Adele speaks on how she got here start, her generation of neo-soul divas, working with Mark Ronson, and songstress and emcee Estelle's beefy dis.

by Chris Ryan

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Rollingstone.com has a fascinating interview with R&B legend Al Green that's well worth a read. Green talks about working with The Roots' Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson (whom he calls a "visionary") on his new, very retro/Hi-Records-sounding LP Lay It Down, as well as his dream to collaborate with Marvin Gaye that regrettably never came true.

Further Reading:
Al Green Interview on Rollingstone.com

by Chuck Eddy

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Bo Diddley, who died Monday at 79, inherited a beat that's been traced back through the '30s fieldworker blues chant "Chevrolet" to the millenium-old West African rhythm Kpanlogo, and he helped invent rock 'n' roll, funk, hard rock, disco, heavy metal, '80s pop, new country and rap music with it. (Via talk-rhymed first-person braggadocio in the latter case -- and "Say Man" has to count as one of the original dis records.)

by Angela Bruno

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British emcee/R&B songstress and coquettish rudegyal Estelle didn't just stumble into the spotlight. She walked very deliberately into it thanks to a tried and true method: having some serious ... chutzpah. In an interview with our friends over at RealMusic U.K., she dishes on her then-yet-undiscovered self sauntering over to Kanye in L.A. a few years back. "I just went up to him because I recognized him -- I hadn’t had an album yet, so he had no idea who I was," she says. "But I just went up to him, told him I was a big fan of his and of John Legend - I’d heard John’s voice and just thought that he was the truth. So he was like ‘You know John?’ So I told him I didn’t, but I’d heard him and just had to work with him. So we arranged for me to come to the studio and meet him.”

Video: When Al Green Went to Chicago

by Piotr Orlov

Warning -- mild historical revisionism follows: for soul music aficionados in the 21st century, the Rev. Al Green and Chicago do not belong in the same sentence (much less YouTube clip). And after all those Peter Cetera ballads in the '80s, they may have a point. But there was a time, when the Chicago Transit Authority (as they were once known) was a powerful funk-jazz-rock locomotive (check out the engine on "25 or 6 to 4"), good enough to make War and Rare Earth stop playing with their hair picks and listen to the chug. They certainly must have made an impression on the good Reverend Green, or else he would not have participated in this staged-to-within-an-inch-of-a-bellbottom pairing for an early '70s Chicago TV special. Hear "Tired of Being Alone" in a whole new way on what my friend Sean dubbed "the night Chicago earned its ghetto pass."

by Chuck Eddy

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Word is that Akon - already an unclassifiable man of many genres and vices and wives -- says he’s about to make a country move. He claims it will make him the first black person ever to score on the country charts. This is a gross misconception, as others have already pointed out, but it does give me an excellent excuse to recommend some notable country music by African Americans, starting with the late, great Big Al Downing.

by Nate Cavalieri

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(Or: Big Mac Attack: Michael McDonald @ NYC's Blue Note)

The day after the release of Michael McDonald's Soul Speak, the silver-haired Doobie brought selections of his latest album of covers to a two-night stand at New York City's Blue Note, performing a set that left your correspondents in a state of flustered, disoriented awe. Here, we recap the evening, note by sweet, soul-stirring note.

7:40: Squeeze into packed Blue Note. Electricity, scent of Elizabeth Taylor's "White Diamonds" in the air. Audience members find their seats, occasionally vocalizing their excitement in McDonaldesque falsetto "OOOOOHs."  At our shared table, a woman orders chardonnay and expresses disappointment in Rudy Giuliani's failed presidential bid.

by Chris Ryan

Erykah Badu is riding high off the release of her new album, New Amerykah (which we broke down in this post here). Check out her bawdy tune, "Annie," part of a beguiling live performance from VH1's Soulstage on VH1.com.

Q&A: Danja

By Toshitaka Kondo

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If 2006 was the year that Nate “Danja” Hills became the hottest co-producer in the game, 2007 was the year he established himself as a force to be reckoned with on his own. The 27-year-old Virginia native made his name sharing board duties with Timbaland on Nelly Furtado’s Loose and Justin Timberlake’s Futuresex/Lovesounds, racking up platinum stats, number one hits and Grammy Awards. However, when you break in with one of the most influential producers in pop history, people tend to be skeptical of your contributions. Thankfully, the music industry is not short on opportunities to prove oneself: Danja did so by producing Britney Spears’ comeback single (“Gimme More”), DJ Khaled’s heavyweight anthem (the futuristic, electronic “We Takin’ Over”) and a handful of songs by Canadian emo-popsters Simple Plan (on their new self-titled album). While he continues to work closely with Timbaland on upcoming Missy Elliott and Madonna projects, it’s clear that Danja is far from a sidekick.

By Angela Bruno

Once upon a time in 2004, Estelle (formerly Est’elle), heralded as the queen of U.K. hip-hop and the second  coming of Lauryn Hill, put out “1980,” from her first album The 18th Day. A coming-of-age tale about humble origins, hard knocks and hitting it big – very much in the vein of the former Fugee’s “Every Ghetto, Every City” – “1980” finds the songstress/emcee rocking a Missy-"Supa Dupa Fly"-era 'do and rhyming a little grittier than would her new glossy self. But these days, she’s rolling with her label boss John Legend and Kanye -- who gives Estelle a taste of the good life on “American Boy,” her latest single. And, she’s even been touring with Wyclef. Hmmm ...

by Chris Ryan

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LCD Soundsystem's sophomore effort, Sound of Silver, has won the second annual Idolator.com Critics Poll, besting M.I.A.'s Kala in the albums race. And in a turn of events about as surprising as the sun coming up this moring, Rihanna's "Umbrella" was named single of the year.

Music Gets Juiced

by Chris Ryan

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The shockwaves of the performance-enhancing drugs earthquake are now being felt in the of entertainment. According to Sunday's Albany Times Union, the Albany District Attorney's office investigating the illegal trafficking of steroids and human growth hormone, has found evidence that artists including Mary J. Blige, Timbaland, Wyclef and 50 Cent had allegedly received performance enhancing drugs from pharmaceutical companies of dubious origin.

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