G.O.O.D Soul Food Volume 1... #loveis OHDICHI

OK So... I know a little part of you... only a little part of you though... must be reeling from the overdose of Hip-Hop (Albeit GOOD MUSIC) that's been featured on the website lately so we're gonna slow it all the way down for you for a minute still... That doesn't mean that the gritty side of you should leave the room, I'm sure you'll enjoy this too!

When we first thought up this here 'We Plug G.O.O.D Music' website & I was looking for GOOD MUSIC to share with you back in March, I came across this next feature... I heard the (GOOD) music BUT I didn't really listen & I was foolish for that BUT as they say, God works in mysterious ways & as fate would have it, I bumped into the G.O.O.D.N.E.S.S again a few weeks ago & I haven't stopped listening!

Who? or What am I going on about? Well it's 24-year old Nigeria native & California bred Songstress, Songwriter, Actress, Sociology Student, Fashion Muse & all round Soul Sista who claims to 'paint pictures without paint'... & it's that 'SOUL... LYRICAL... SUBSTANCE MUSIC' that we're on about!!! What is it that I always say? We're NOT bout the artistes on 'We Plug GOOD Music', it's strictly bout the music? Yeah that one... SO without further adieu, some of that GOOD Soul Food right after the jump!




That one's called 'Show You' & I really dunno where to start with this BUT the one thing I can say right away bout this record is that I love it! Production on this (by Tayo Wesey, The Produstar) is all kinds of GOOD, it gets me from the trumpets at the beginning & that inter-play with the kicking drums & the sultry vocals is just really really beautiful & the way she just lets it rip right smack @ the middle of the record is quite enjoyable, it's almost like she's saying 'You didn't see that coming, did ya?' lol!!! You know we're not one for comparisons on here BUT (on the higher notes) she reminds me of Mary J. Blige! So who is she then?

Her name is Ohdichi & she's quite frankly the BUSINESS! She's got me hooked for a minute now & I fear I cannot break free (lol). Funny thing is, the music is so damn good, I aint even tryna switch her off. SO I could stay here saying all these wonderful things about Ohdichi & the music she creates BUT in the somewhat appropriate words of Ms. Ohdichi herself, '... cos I could say a million things BUT I'mma show it', why don't I just 'show you' instead...




What you just heard is titled 'I Can Get By' & I dunno if it's just me but this record is so flippin engaging to me. For one, it's so gentle & you know how much I enjoy 'gentle', The Produstar (T-Wes) shines again on this record, BUT like, even the vocals are so soft! I like it, I like it... There's no frills, there's no gimmicks... It's jus straight 'this is me pouring my heart out on this record' (obviously NOT me but you catch my drift right?).

You can feel that pain or hardship, shall I say, of trying to get over someone, in this song & for us who've been through it OR are going through it, the realness of the song truly resonates! Well I know it does for me. Ohdichi's ability to capture that moment, that feeling of 'Aurgh! I need to get over you!!!' so rightly, in her lyrics... in her vocals? It's just beautiful. BUT jus so I know I'm not hearing different to you, what do you think???

We've got another record for you 2 vibe with right after the jump...




This one's called 'It's Time' & it's got Sinister Beats on the production & he delivers the apt onus upon which Ohdichi rides, on this sultry/sexy & yet soulful opus. 'Official Love-Makin Music' as she would call it (we love it!). We bumped into this record bout a week ago on NotJustOk and we cannot leave it alone. She's got us wishing she was singing to us and all sorts.

So are you feeling the G.O.O.D.N.E.S.S or am I just overly excited with this? You know I always fancy our lil discussions so let's get another one going yeah?... OK back to the music, shall we?




This was originally my favorite Ohdichi record, it's called 'Alright' & on this, she not only shows off her wider reaching song-writing skills BUT far too many singers get boxed into the somewhat cliched 'R&B love song singer' moniker & its refreshing to hear Ohdichi switch it up on this tune. It'd be really GOOD to hear an R&B/Soul album filled with a few different song topics because true say, there's more to life than boy meets girl... JUS SAYING!

Before I go though, I jus have to let you listen in on this next record...




It's another T-Wes produced gem titled 'Standing Still' and if I were arranging her album, this would be the last track! Not for nothing 2 imply that it's not as good as the rest of her songs BUT it just has that perfect feel to close out an L.P... It leaves you wanting more... It's such a BEAUTIFUL song to be honest. The way it's arranged... the lyrics (Did he really leave her @ his door step? That's tres deep!)... & that bit right @ 0.22 - 0.40 minutes right before the drums kick in & again circa 3.30 minutes = Magical Music!!! I can envision Ohdichi & a live band doing all kinds of G.O.O.D things to this record... I can envision Ohdichi & a live band doing all kinds of G.O.O.D things PERIOD!

OK I'm literally gonna stop talking now & jus let the music marinate your heart... your mind... your soul & make damn sure you leave your comments before you leave... We gotta show Ohdichi some love for the good music she's blessed us with!!!

Check out her ReverbNation, you'll be glad you did truss me! Keyword = FREE DOWNLOAD!

Until the Next Time...

#loveis OhDichi & we're sooo in love with 'love' x

ONE MIC... An Ode to the Performing Arts

Hey Ladies & Gentlemen (well if you're in the UK that is), NOW we've been working on something really special for the last three months and we're so proud to finally be able to share it with you guys... You already by now know what we're all about but I just wanna introduce you to this right here....

Yup Yup Yup!!! You know we eventually had to take it there...

This showcase, ONE MIC, is just a natural step further in the 'We Plug G.O.O.D Music' ideology... It is simply an avenue for new and upcoming performers to take a stage and do what they love in front of a wide range of audiences that may OR may NOT have heard their material BUT will definitely appreciate the ART... & We've teamed up with the few G.O.O.D People over @ 'the dMp', who are consistently commitment to bringing the best evenings & night-outs 2 London, to bring this to life!!!

I know you're patiently waiting to hear who we've got on the bill for the evening... After the jump yeah?





OK incase you couldn't read the fine print!!! We've got G.O.O.D Music by Byron Gold... Uche (You remember him right? Ladies you know what it is!)... Shanaz Dorsett... Shean Williams... Pepe (He's plugging goodmusic like the blogspot!!!)... Falz (One of the We Plug GOOD Music originators, nuff said!)... & Fobi

We've also got some G.O.O.D Poetry from Ms. Deanna Rodger... The ever so graceful Hollie McNish & 2 G.O.O.D poets from 'Partnas in Rhyme', Comfort & Saran Green!!! G.O.O.D Laughs will be provided courtesy my man, Skinny Black!

This is guaranteed to be one hell of a Night, Ladies & Gentlemen! We've sorted out the GOODNESS with the Music, Poetry & the Comedy... We've also gotten one of the Premiere Venues in the City of London, Digress City, to host us on the 9th of August, 2009! Now all we need to complete the equation is all of you G.O.O.D People 2 come down & make it into a G.O.O.D evening!!! Tickets are only £7.50 as well... More details right after the jump ok!

★THE VENUE

Digress City
City Point, 1 Ropemaker Street
London.
EC2Y 9AW
http://www.digress-city.co.uk

★ENTRY

For advanced £7.50 tickets, Call any of our HOTLINES...

07595947017
07886825551
07956228622
07931197612
07960340814

Dress Code - Smart Casual (No Hats, No Trainers) & I.Ds may be required.

To be part of the Open-Mic Session, send us a message & we'll get back to you asap to make it happen.


Until the Next Time Ladies & Gentlemen... P.S New Feature coming up real soon! Key-word = The Bridge


We The BEST!!!

Why Are U Still Sleeping? An Ode 2 The New School...

So Last month when we did our 'Drake' feature, I got a few people holla @ me (notably home-girl 'Bola' clamoring for a 'BIG SEAN' feature) saying how 1. Drake ain't the best new emcee out there (we never said that btw) & 2. If we're gonna do a feature on Drizzy then surely we should consider the other very very talented newcomers out there, even more so talented than 'October's Very Own'. One quite memorable email I got went a lil sufin like this... "Yo dude I see you on this Drake fella and it's all good but there's better acts that you could put on! Where's Charles Hamilton? Where Kid Cudi @? Where Mickey Factz @? Cory Gunz? Blu? (My Rejoiner - Blu is my man from day so don't even! & if you dont already own 'Below The Heavens', you need 2 get it HERE now!) Ace Hood? B.o.B? Where the hell are all these guys??? You need to come correct IMO!"... Ok did they jus take their list from HERE but anyway, Suffice to say that y'all (everyone that sent in an email) got us envisioning this here feature for a few weeks now...

2 be honest right, there are a truck load of 'newcomer' emcees out on the circuit these days, my Itunes has been inundated with new music from the best of em for the past year and a half, a few of which I aint even heard yet BUT one of my fav new emcees (asides Drizzy ofcourse) is D.C's finest, Mark Ronson's Allido Records signee & Jay-Z's Roc Nation affiliate... Wale (pronounced Wah-Lay lol). In the last 3 years, it's been very hard NOT to take notice of this 24-year old... I saw him over here in the UK back in October of 2007 for the BBC Electric Proms @ Abbey Road when he was on tour wiv Mr. Ronson & he f**kin KILLED it! Check out some footage HERE. He rhymed he was 'kind of a big deal' back then, well he so damn kinda is!!!

2 weeks ago he, along with 'Hip-Hop's Favorite Producer' 9th Wonder, dropped some new music by way of his 5th mixtape 'Back to the Feature' to ready us for the debut album 'Attention Deficit' thats due out in September. Let's listen 2 some Wah-Lay, shall we? After the jump...




What you jus heard is the kid jumpin on Yael Naim's 'New Soul' with production from BKS. This is my favorite track off of the 'Back to the Feature' E.P (you know how we always on that mellow retrospective hip-hop sound!!!). On the reals though, this song is too sick!!! What do you reckon? Anyway as we proceed...




This one's an ALL 'Allido' effort with Mark Ronson on production & Daniel Merriweather on the hook. In case you didn't already know, Mr. Ronson is a genius, he brings that ol skool vibe on this one & I gotta give it up to this Merriweather fella cos I haven't been payin him nuff attention, the dude can sing! What can I say bout Wale though, I like this brova... his flow is on point, it's not boring & he's got dope verses for days!!! This one's called 'Pot of Gold'...

You can download the 'Back to the Feature' mixtape HERE, other joints you should definitely check out are the Jean Grae collabo 'Goodbye', Say It Again (featuring Royce Da 5'9) & the '5 Minutes' joint with Skyzoo... The kid's 2008 E.P 'Mixtape About Nothing' is HERE too for your downloading pleasure!!! We're gonna ride outta here wiv one more record off the new E.P if you don't mind?




Seein as its a collaborative work wiv 9th, it's only right we feature one of his productions... This one features Big Sean, Ken Starr & Mike Posner & its called 'Wonder Why'...

So are we feeling Wale? I know I am... let's get your 2 pence.

From a Roc Nation affiliate, we go straight in on Jay-Z's first signing for Roc Nation... North Carolina native, Jermaine Cole quite simply known as J. Cole. This rapper/producer & St. Johns University graduate Magna Cum Laude first came into our ear's sights in 2007 with his 'The Come Up' E.P and was heavily slept on at our very own peril because that s**t was opus!!! Get it HERE before we go in... Fast forward to Monday 15/06/09 and J. Cole' released his second E.P 'The Warm Up' and everyone was listening this time around... Let's join in!




WOW! Ok I know I always go on bout amazing production and what not, like all the time BUT you can hear this for yourself, those are guitars you hear right??? It's that soulful s**t & it's undeniable too!!! The amazing thing 2 me is that for an emcee this dope 2 come with production that's this on point is very rare BUT that's what you get with J. Cole (he produces 20 of the 22 tracks on 'The Warm Up'. This track's titled 'Losing My Balance' and those vocals? So dauntingly G.O.O.D! Now unto a track I reckon Mr. Roc Nation C.E.O, Shawn Carter, will very much enjoy... After the jump yeah?




'I'm Out 4 Dead Presidents 2 represent Me!'... SNM Jermaine, we hear you loud & clear on this one! Dude comes overly HARD and he rides this original Ski produced classic very very nicely! If you haven't taken notice of J. Cole until now, I suggest you wake the F**K up already & witness the goodness!!! & Courtesy his record deal wiv Roc Nation, this revolution will be televised! Download 'The Warm Up' HERE & get your knowledge up!!!

& jus in case you're a deep sleeper, here's a bucket of cold water being splattered over your sleepy heads lol...




I'm in love with this here record on the E.P and the overriding concept of the whole E.P cos I definitely relate to the 'if-at-first-you-dont-get-in-try-try-&-try-again-until-you-make-it' message but not only that, it's such a beautifully crafted piece of art... Enjoy it! & do tell us what you think...

SO from Fayetteville, North Carolina, we're taking it back to the heart of Hip-Hop, Brooklyn NYC!!! BUT for something not quite Hip-Hop in the traditional sense of it... His Myspace page describes the sound as Soul/New Wave/Pop & his Facebook page adds Hip-Hop & Funk to that genre description BUT you can obviously tell by his music that he's influenced by a wide array of music.. It's definitely very different BUT it's also very GOOD music! We Plug 2 YOU... Theophilus London & he's a HELL-OF-ALOT!!! & Mr. London is HIP-HOP (Yeah I said It!) so 2 all you hip-hops don't leave jus yet (& a bit electro too) & we've got some G.O.O.D Music right after the jump... Just wait 4 the drop on this one k!




The track's aptly called 'Always Love U' & I love off how he refixes this Whitney Houston classic. I reckon I could stay listening to this for days & I can imagine this being played in Fabric on the regs & a few summer house parties. Such a shame that most London D.Js aren't ready or futuristic enough to rock wiv this tune cos this is a BIG record. It's off of his latest mixtape, 'The Charming Mixtape', the sophomore to his very creative 2008 debut mixtape 'Jam' which you can download HERE... Anyway let's get back to the music, shall we?




Who here remembers Twissman's 'Women's Psychology' from time ago? Doesn't this record start off a lil like it? Maybe that's why I liked it from the 1st listen... This one's called 'Aquamilitia' & I mean, the title already shows you it's on some different futuristic s**t... Question is, are you really ready for this??? We're givin Theophilus London & the music he creates the 'We Plug GOOD Music' co-sign, get with it!!! 'The Charming Mixtape' should definitely be in your record collection which is why you can get it HERE! Definitely check out 'Day One Fans', 'Fatality', 'Hum Drum' & Theophilus going in U.K's own Crazy Cousinz' funky house hit 'Bongo Jam' but one of my favorites from the mixtape is this right here...




& It's called 'Cold Pillow', straight fire I tell ya! Straight FIRE!! So what's your verdict on Theophilus London then? The kid is the business... Jus don't sleep is all I'm saying!!!

So ladies & gentlemen, there you have it... some real GOOD music from 3 of the best (or shall I say 3 of our favorite) freshmen into the class of Hip-Hop. Do let us know what your take on these fellas are OR what your take is on any other new emcee out there...

SO Until the Next Time...

OH sorry, Quickly right before we leave you... As recommended by my home-girl Bola & partly because I've been listening for a month now & I must say Kanye West was on some futuristic s**t when he signed Big Sean last year... His latest mixtape 'U Know Big Sean-Finally Famous Vol. 2' is definitely worth a listen... you should definitely add it 2 your collection from HERE!!! My fav tracks on there are 'Say You Will', 'Love Story' featuring Keely, 'Supa Dupa' & 'Who Knows' which features Mike Posner... The album's coming soon as well, make sure you cop that!

Peace & Love! RIP 2 the King!!!