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!:
Maximum Balloon – “Tiger”
The video for “Tiger” reminds me a lot of a cake induced nightmare I had after one of my childhood birthday parties. Maximum Balloon is the brainchild of TV on the Radio’s Andrew Sitek. Sitek brings his creative indie flair to this track which also features Aku, the frontman for Dragons of Zynth. Meow, meow, and meow.
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KT Tunstall – “Fade Like A Shadow”
We have enjoyed KT’s music ever since her debut with Eye to the Telescope. This Scottish firecracker always brings the goodness. “Fade Like A Shadow” is the lead single off of her upcoming release, Tiger Suit. KT Tunstall’s career is certainly showing no signs of fading…like a shadow.
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Dirty Heads – “Lay Me Down”
Hold on to the last remaining days of summer with the music of Dirty Heads. These dudes are the embodiment of Southern California reggae rock. “Lay Me Down” definitely has a Sublime feel to it. Oh, that maybe due to the fact that Rome Ramirez of Sublime with Rome appears on the track. Chill yourself out with this summertime hit.
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It’s not that I’m a die-hard reggae fan. I’m not. But there’s little question about hip-hop’s roots in Jamaican toasting, and Damian Marley (Bob’s kid) is among the best there is in today’s world of music. Add that to always strong work of Nas—one of rap’s most credible lyricists—and you’re bound to end up with something musically substantial and meaty.
The newest collaboration from Marley and Nas, entitled “Distant Relatives,” is a perfect marriage of reggae and rap. It’s not like a bunch of rap songs with some Sean Paul verse attached to the end, and it’s also not some overly-loose pop reggae track with a name brand hip-hop voice on the intro and outro. It’s a legitimate blend of the two—something both artists took special care to do. They wanted to create something authentic, something believable, and most importantly, something musical.
That’s said knowing full well that much of today’s music is produced for the sole purpose of making record labels money. But the proceeds to this record, centered around themes of a shared African heritage and the love to be shared among mankind, is going to African charities, most likely to build a school. These guys don’t see a dime from this album, which means they put it together simply to create good music and support a good cause. Even if the album sucked, that alone would make it respectable.
But it doesn’t suck. Not at all. The first single, “As We Enter,” is absolutely mixtape-worthy and prepped for serious hip-hop radio play. “Tribal War,” featuring K’naan (another FS favorite) is both haunting and emotional. Joss Stone and Li’l Wayne share the track “My Generation,” which preaches positive activism in the young people of the world.
Look, Nas alone is reason enough to buy an album, but when you’ve got the blood of Bob Marley, a good cause, and music for the love of the music as well, you’re going to get your money’s worth and then some. Even if you hate the record (and we’re guaranteeing that you won’t), the worst-case scenario is that you indirectly helped build a school in Africa. And you’d have to be a cold hearted S-O-B to say no to that.
Check out this trailer for the album, out in stores now!
I’m just gonna put this out there, and you can do with it whatever you want—k-os is the best all-around hip-hop musician you’ve never heard of.
Okay, I thought that was going to come off as this huge, bold statement, but it’s reading a little vanilla bean. I don’t mean it to. In terms of artists who legitimately care about the poetry of rap as well as the legitimacy of the music, few do it better than k-os. He seems to have a perfect grasp on how to walk the tightrope between true, gritty, hip-hop culture and catchy, marketable hip-pop. Usually, we have to choose one or the other. It’s Black Eyed Peas or Mos Def, Eminem or Talib Kweli. Why should we have to choose? Why can’t we just have hip-hop music that does everything?
Well, we can, I guess. And when I say everything, I mean everything. In his music, k-os dabbles in funk, rock, pop, reggae, and any other genre he can get his hands on. Sometimes he raps, and sometimes he sings. He plays the guitar, writes all his own music, and produces a ton of it, too. There aren’t enough musicians like him in today’s industry, sadly, which is why I’m taking the time to make sure you know who, exactly, he is.
In 2004, his “Joyful Rebellion” album really put him on the map with hits like “B-Boy Stance” and the invariably catchy “Crabbuckit.” Between that album and its 2006 follow-up, “Atlantis,” k-os sold over two million records in Canada (his home country) alone. 2009’s “Yes” wasn’t quite as successful commercially, but it’s still a hell of a record, with hot tracks like “4,3,2,1” and “I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman.”
For the hip-hop fan looking for a taste of literally everything, take a sip of k-os and tell me honestly you don’t like the flavor. He might not be somebody TMZ follows around with their Flip cameras, but his stuff is more than good enough for regular airtime on your iPod. Then, it’s quite possible he’ll become the best all-around hip-hop musician you have heard of, and I’ll tell you I told you so.
Buy the album:
