It’s not often two incredible artists come together to create something really special. If you’re thinking, “But wait! Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber collaborate on stage all the time!”, you have obviously been inhaling paint fumes for the past few hours and need some time to come down off your dumb statement high. It’s ok, we’ll wait.
Now if you’re looking for a REAL artist collaboration (I’m looking at you imaginary guy from the first paragraph), look no further than the brand new album release Wake Up! from John Legend & The Roots. It’s a full on mixture of funk, hip-hop, soul, reggae, R&B – pretty much every genre ever created ever. Of course you might be thinking that too much of a good thing could in fact be a bad thing. Ye of little faith. You like John Legend right? You like The Roots right?? Then it’s not even a question of IF you are going to enjoy this album, it’s WHEN.
The first single is titled “Wake Up Everybody” and includes appearances by Melanie Fiona and rapper Common. I know, it sounds to good to be true. But if there’s anything life has taught me, it’s that it usually is especially when you find out it’s a pyramid scheme. This case is different though.
Buy Wake Up!:
Mat Kearney – “Closer to Love”
I had the pleasure of working a gig with Mat back in 2007. I have been a long time fan of his music and his new release “City Of Black & White” does not disappoint. The first single “Closer to Love” is getting a lot of radio play in major markets this summer. If you are not familiar with Mat you need to get acquainted right now! And don’t stress over the fact that he spells his first name with only one “T”. I will give you a “T” later if you like.
Amazon
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears – “Sugarfoot”
This track is hott! (There you go, your missing “T” courtesy of Kearney.) If these Texas natives are not on you music radar, well your radar needs to be repaired. These guys are bringing raw, funky, new blues on to the scene in a major way. Their music is off the charts. And in my opinion, they have one of the best band names out there right now.
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Daniel Merriweather – “Change”
A fan of Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake are you? Do you find yourself saying, “yeah, but I wish they were Australian.” Problem solved. Welcome Daniel Merriweather to the stage. Daniel has a great R&B and soul vibe and knows how to partner up with industry heavyweights. His first full length album “Love and War” has already dropped in several countries. It will hit the United States in October 2009. In the meantime, our American readers can buy the import or enjoy the first single “Change” featuring Wale. This is a heavy rotation song for me right now.
Amazon
Simon Webbe isn’t your typical singer-songwriter. I mean he sings and he songwrites, but he’s more than that. He’s what you’d get if you mixed Seal with Usher and a super-fly DJ that plays acoustic guitar but is also a part-time break-dancer and friends with Timbaland. You see what I’m saying?
This UK native first graced the music scene in 2005 with his debut album, Sanctuary. Overall, the album is definitely different, but good different. Like putting flavored creamer in your coffee or switching to Geico. To be honest, the first single from this album, “Lay Your Hands”, is really what put me on to Simon Webbe. The mix of acoustic guitar, R & B flavor and sample tracks give it a sound that pulls on many musical genres, uniquely defining the music that is Simon Webbe.
Lay Your Hands
But that’s just the icing on the cake. Or the cake without the icing. Or the sugar that hasn’t gone in the cake yet. Either way it’s delicious.
After the success of Sanctuary came the sophomore album, Grace. This is the album that I seriously can not get enough of. One listen to the first single, “Coming Around Again”, and you’ll be hooked. One thing I really dig about Simon Webbe is the overall positive feeling he generates through his music. He chooses not to take liberties with explicit content which, nowadays, is hard to come by with hip-hop and R & B music. Check out “Coming Around Again” below. There’s really no video, but you can listen to the song and that’s all that really matter in the end. But seriously, check out the full video here.
So if you don’t want to listen to a mix of Seal with Usher and a super-fly DJ that plays acoustic guitar but is also a part-time break-dancer and friends with Timbaland, then I don’t know what to tell you. Except that you’re missing out.
Amazon Music
Like Simon Webbe? Check out DJ Format!
