I did listen to a lot of Erykah Badu, don't get me wrong. But I'm also inspired by Missy Elliott, Tweet, SWV, 702, En Vogue, Anita Baker, Oleta Adams, Billy Ocean, D'Angelo, Bilal, Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Omarion, Ciara, Ashanti, Petey Pablo, Kanye West, Common, Jazmine Sullivan, Chrisette Michele, and Floetry. I listened to all of them, studied all of them.
Ari Lennox in GQ making sure you know she’s listened to more than Badu
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 19 June 2019 16:45 (five years ago) link
https://www.gq.com/story/ari-lennox-interview
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 19 June 2019 16:46 (five years ago) link
Wow, I like this:
Chloe x Halle - thinkin bout me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgXndUfQ4_E
― Consider the coconut (morrisp), Monday, 24 June 2019 18:16 (five years ago) link
The new Daniel Caesar album is good.
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Friday, 28 June 2019 06:25 (five years ago) link
dang, that dropped quietly!
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 28 June 2019 12:34 (five years ago) link
oh shit this brandy track
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 28 June 2019 12:44 (five years ago) link
the new gallant video is wonderful, song toohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OprPmcx0QXQ
― big city slam (Spottie), Friday, 5 July 2019 23:03 (five years ago) link
oh dang how had i not known about that already
he is pretty frequently great
song is beautifully produced
― dyl, Saturday, 6 July 2019 01:42 (five years ago) link
new janet jackson-saluting cassie singlehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1OKG_ZJ6P4also elle varner’s album is finally out!
― maura, Friday, 12 July 2019 14:41 (five years ago) link
feel like there's also a subtle nod to "doin it" in the production, or maybe the grace jones song "doin it" was built around
― dyl, Saturday, 13 July 2019 01:50 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW6J4v2XCXU
this song is gross but i like the (initially) spare beat even if it is a bit behind the times
― dyl, Sunday, 14 July 2019 01:22 (five years ago) link
was wondering what polow was up to; dumb song, interesting musical choices
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Sunday, 14 July 2019 19:59 (five years ago) link
i had basically given up on elle varner ever releasing anything again, so for her new album to not only be out but also...really fantastic is such a pleasant surprise
― monotony, Monday, 15 July 2019 08:01 (five years ago) link
oh i'm glad to hear it's good! i wasn't too excited about it based on some of the singles she had put out in advance. will check it out.
― dyl, Monday, 15 July 2019 16:28 (five years ago) link
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, June 19, 2019 11:45 AM (three weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink
i do hear a mixture of influences here, but i checked out the album today and it's still very distracting just how much she sounds like badu. it's funny that she's on dreamville, cause i feel a similar way about jid and kendrick--they have stylistic differences but the vocal similarity exists in a type of uncanny valley for me, where i can hardly notice anything else. my fav track is 'i been,' which uncoincidentally is a track where she switches up her vocal style.
― mott the hoopleheads (voodoo chili), Monday, 15 July 2019 18:01 (five years ago) link
man that polow song sucks. the back half is a complete mess what is he doing.
― big city slam (Spottie), Monday, 15 July 2019 18:10 (five years ago) link
i dunno; i think you give that to jacquees or lloyd and rewrite the lyrics and you've got something enjoyable. wouldn't argue it's listenable as is.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, 15 July 2019 18:43 (five years ago) link
jacquees doesn't need to do another song like that after already having done "you"
(tbh neither does bando jonez -- his closest thing to a hit so far "sex you" does some of the same things but stays on the right side of the appealingly-sleazy/gross line)
beyond all the mustardwave things the track reminded me of, the song the more chaotic (or messy) back half had me wanting to revisit was zendaya's "replay"
― dyl, Monday, 15 July 2019 19:25 (five years ago) link
which admittedly is much better executed, altho honestly i'm also pretty ambivalent about "replay" as a song
― dyl, Monday, 15 July 2019 19:27 (five years ago) link
it sounds like a "cool" jason derulo song
― J0rdan S., Monday, 15 July 2019 20:17 (five years ago) link
Good call on “Replay”, which I love to bits, without any reservations whatsoever. I also like this!
― breastcrawl, Monday, 15 July 2019 20:30 (five years ago) link
xp
the best zendaya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ULO5j7MdSU
― J0rdan S., Monday, 15 July 2019 22:01 (five years ago) link
cute song but her voice is so nondescript
― big city slam (Spottie), Monday, 15 July 2019 22:14 (five years ago) link
that's my hangup with her too
― dyl, Monday, 15 July 2019 22:42 (five years ago) link
This is good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYcw4CnvmVA
― pomenitul, Friday, 19 July 2019 17:31 (five years ago) link
Catching up on these... OMG, that "Wet" song, no thanxx
― stan by me (morrisp), Friday, 19 July 2019 17:54 (five years ago) link
This track does something cool toward the end:
Willow Smith - PrettyGirlz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYl4McIVvug
― stan by me (morrisp), Friday, 19 July 2019 18:07 (five years ago) link
anyone check out the new BJ?
― lion king 2: the gift and the curse (voodoo chili), Friday, 26 July 2019 23:21 (five years ago) link
liked the first couple of tracks i heard
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Saturday, 27 July 2019 03:40 (five years ago) link
the whole Erika de Casier album is really lovely, my favourite is "Space"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evVucSOLUIE
― ufo, Saturday, 27 July 2019 06:37 (five years ago) link
'What U Wanna Do?' -> 'Rainy' -> 'Space' is a great run.
Anyway, this album is ideal ILM fodder (and I mean that in a good way).
― pomenitul, Saturday, 3 August 2019 13:50 (five years ago) link
maybe make a thread for it? i really love it. it's drawing so heavily on 90s r&b but the production feels much more modern with how much space there is and every individual sound is so good
― ufo, Saturday, 3 August 2019 14:35 (five years ago) link
I considered making a thread for it too!
― boxedjoy, Saturday, 3 August 2019 19:29 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1jOvBabKMA
― maura, Friday, 16 August 2019 15:47 (five years ago) link
also, zo! put out a new album last week and it's lovely. (it's called fourfront, which is easier to search than his name.) i want to try and catch him at city winery on monday - he's doing a "piano & a microphone" tour with carmen rodgers, whose vocal makes this track extra bubbly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa7iS0261yU
― maura, Friday, 16 August 2019 15:50 (five years ago) link
phonte (naturally), stokley, and madison mcferrin are among the other guests
Is this the thread where I can gush about the new Normani single with the rest of the Internet or should I take it to the pop thread
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Friday, 16 August 2019 17:00 (five years ago) link
Do it here! I haven't listened to it yet.....
― Stub yr toe on the yacht rock (morrisp), Friday, 16 August 2019 17:10 (five years ago) link
I feel like normani almost deserves a thread of her own at this point
― monotony, Friday, 16 August 2019 21:07 (five years ago) link
anyway it’s delightful. I’ve sort of thought she would be a star ever since her ad libs of “that’s my girl”, and it’s been pleasing to see her build this oeuvre of confident collaborations over the past year or so before now having this break out moment
― monotony, Friday, 16 August 2019 21:09 (five years ago) link
i came around on "dancing with a stranger" but honestly didn't really feel any other songs normani was involved in. this song is pretty good and i'll be glad if it finally enables her to properly step out as an artist -- the fact that she had to maneuver her way in thru very strategically selected collaborations honestly struck me as highly unfortunate. as 'confident' as was on those hits they were also ample evidence that her label was, like, the opposite of confident in her potential as a pop solo personality. major props to her if she really gets to go the distance and thank fuck she's proving herself now.
i have to say the excellent video kinda makes the song. i don't think i would find the track nearly as striking without it.
― dyl, Saturday, 17 August 2019 01:45 (five years ago) link
in theory I'm skeptical of the massive pr push behind normani but "waves" is one of my favorite R&B songs of the year and this is also pretty good
― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Saturday, 17 August 2019 02:12 (five years ago) link
I like how unselfconsciously oldschool this is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u8HFDULaq0
― vcrash, Saturday, 17 August 2019 17:26 (five years ago) link
my fav track from elle varner's new album, which is indeed good tho not as great as the debut (but tbh what is?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCLsxNiNfZ4
it took a while for me to give the album a shot b/c one of the pre-release singles w/ wale was so dull but fortunately that ended up being among the worst couple of tracks
― dyl, Saturday, 17 August 2019 19:56 (five years ago) link
gave lucky daye's album a spin... strikingly arranged but much of it just drifted from my memory as unassumingly as it came. (perhaps one should 'roll some mo' to appreciate the full impact?)
aside from the radio hit, this track stood out to me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCVeK3DyNYM
― dyl, Friday, 30 August 2019 03:55 (five years ago) link
I really like this (caveat: cover art is Not-quite-SFW):
Justine Skye - Bare With Me (EP)
― #YABASIC (morrisp), Friday, 6 September 2019 22:49 (five years ago) link
It remands me of those Amerie EPs that I loved last year.
― #YABASIC (morrisp), Friday, 6 September 2019 23:02 (five years ago) link
new Summer Walker jam (video/song NSFW) - album coming in October:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w98GE4kHJzM
― #YABASIC (morrisp), Tuesday, 24 September 2019 16:50 (four years ago) link
Her vocals aren't really my style, but there is good stuff on this album:
Melii - Phases
https://is2-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music113/v4/0b/e3/53/0be3537d-b30f-de3d-41ae-8bbb9a5e5235/00602577602252.rgb.jpg/1200x630bb.jpg
― Spry at 78 (morrisp), Thursday, 3 October 2019 21:29 (four years ago) link