... And like we always do it, let's get stuck right into the G.O.O.D.M.U.S.I.C!!!
The 'quintessential male R&B artiste' is somewhat of
a rare/almost extinct phenomena in the U.K these days & has been for a while now I might add... YES we all know Craig David came thru & crushed the building BUT to be fair, dude went a bit more Capital Radio than Choice FM with those last two albums! C.D is still that dude though and for successful U.K R&B, he's undoubtedly one of the very few benchmarks... I definitely give nuff ratings to Jay Sean (he looks closest to breakin that ever elusive U.S market at the mo') & Nathan, Taio Cruz, Darren B & Lemar all rep their corners majorly BUT in Autumn of 2007, THIS REPLY to T2 & Jodie's 'Heartbroken' started gettin serious play everywhere and I was like 'who's this brova anyway?'Well 'that brova anyway' was/is Soundbwoy Entertainment's 18year-old singer/song-writer from North London, Young Nate and he burst on the scene properly with this 'UKG sounding' stellar effort that had production oozing with the Soundbwoy signature... Lets listen!
& he even managed to get 08' MOBO Award winner, Chipmunk to jump on the radio cut remix generating over a hundred thousand views on youtube alone & constant rotation on Choice FM, 1 Xtra and cross-over radio station, Kiss FM... & I know you're liking that still but the real reason I'm featuring Young Nate on 'We Plug G.O.O.D Music' is this right here...
U-U-U-UKKKKK!!! What you jus heard is called 'I Wonder' (The colossal Wretch 32 graces the REMIX & its so heeaavvyyy yo!!!) and its official release date is May 11th and its the second single (at the back of 'Mixed Messages') of the forthcoming debut E.P, 'A Piece of Me' which is to be released this summer and after he KILLED IT at a rammed out O2 arena as the opening act for Bad Boy Record's Day 26 & Donnie Klang back in February, this kid is definitely the FUTURE!
DO you Like? Tell me... Tell me... Tell me!!!
So straight from an 18year-old British singing sensation that's about 2 BLOW, we're gonna take you over 2 Africa where another 18year-old (see what I did there lol) emcee is sounding like he's ready to get his 'shine' on all over the hip-hop circuits. He showed up @ last year's Nigezie Tru Search in Nigeria & WON in the North-Central region of the competition... & in ways that only we can, we've got a couple exclusive records! Ladies & Gentlemen, I Plug 2 Y.O.U... Skales!
This right here is called 'Feel the Music' and I must say that I quite like the tune! First of all, it's one of them musical records & you know how I get with them ones! The production is simplistic wiv its soft instruments and it just works... this record is one of em ones that'll sound sooo good liive... I see a live band going nuts wiv it and the fella on the hook? He sounds quite G.O.O.D to be honest and as for the emcee? Well he's good too! His flow is on point & he's very easy on the ear which is good but his delivery is patchy at times & them lyrics aren't anything special! However he's only 18 & if he sounds like this now, in a couple years & with the right opportunities to hone his craft, he'll definitely be BIG...
This next one is rather boldly titled 'Heading For A Grammy'
NOW I cannot get this tune outta my head... I been goin 'headin 4 a grammy, one man army' over & over for a whole week lol! Part of it, I think, has to do with the production on the record! the thumping beats are that G.O.O.D head bumping kind that we love and what did I tell you about the flow? Dude can switch up his style to go all energetic on a ridiculous beat like this and still go all gentle when he needs to, like on 'Feel The Music'. & did you notice the backing vocals on the second verse? I thought that was brilliant, it adds that haunting feel to the song. It sounds very much like a fight song and I suppose that moniker fits right in as Skales tells us he's literally gonna go tooth & nail to bring that Grammy back home... We wish him all the best & we'll be sure not to stand in his way!
BUT this is where I have qualms with his management team.... For a brova who's heading for a grammy? NO myspace? NO website? No reach? NO presence? Come on guys, what are you playing at?
ANyway ladies & gentlemen, what do we think of Skales???
Soo if the pattern we suspect is true, we'll have one more artiste 2 feature and they'll be from the states, if the pattern exists though???
Cue in 23year-old Nigerian Born, ATL based R&B reco
rding artiste (honest to God, its all a coincidence), Keno Kenett or jus Keno for short (lol)... Describing his style as inspired by Blues, Jazz & Afro-Beat with influences to include Etta James, Donna Hathaway, Nina Simone & Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, what you get from this 8 year veteran is NO games... No gimmicks... just his voice in its true form and that's where he says the music lies. You would be permitted to expect ALOT from this airy falsetto singing ladies man, cos I know I do!We got first dibbs on a couple records from his upcoming album (we think its gonna be called Love Drunk but we're NOT sure) & your opinions are very much needed and appreciated... First off is what might be the first single of the L.P, its called 'Selfish 24/7'.
Wow!!! He says he's got enough soul for an eternity & after hearing that, how can we doubt the kid... I know I'm always harboring on about how 'musical' certain records are & I hope you get what I'm on about BUT you can't fault this record, the production is so on point giving it that summer-in-your-'top-down'-riding-slow feel to it... the gentle lyrics & the dude's voice jus add to the GOOD MUSIC that is 'Selfish 24/7', although the talking at the end there could have been avoided in my opinion.
And to ride this listening party to the end, Keno laced us with an uncompleted version of another top tune from the album, it's called 'Never Gonna Stop' and the completed version is supposed to have a female emcee somewhere in there and the beats jus need to be tweaked a lil more but its sounding quite CRISP already... Aww where are my manners? Listen and let's continue this conversation in about 4minutes!
Like I was saying ladies & gentlemen... Real G.O.O.D Music right here or what do you reckon??? Your feedback is especially welcomed by Mr. Kenett himself and you know I always love the conversations!
And that's it folks from 'We Plug G.O.O.D Music' at the moment... all of your feedback and comments are much appreciated, please keep em coming! So as per usual... tell us who & what you're feeling? Who & what you're NOT feeling?... Keep it a 100 like always!
Until the Next Time...
From London 2 Lagos & Right Back x
