SOUNDSPOT: LINA
This good lookin' lady in the photo on left goes by the name Lina. The craziest thing is her is that she's been doing her thing-thing for a minute, but many music lovers don't even know her. Some know a couple of her past singles, but wouldn't even recognize her on an album cover. That's pretty sad because Lina is talented in my opinion. Her biggest smash record to date is definitely the track "It's Alright" from her debut album called "Stranger on Earth" that dropped in 2001. At that time her sound was strange to many, because she was doing something totally different with her music. Some of her tracks had a spacey like ballroom feel to it with a touch of soul and rock. I dug her debut from the gitty-up, while many slept! With mixed reviews of her debut, Lina just vanished from the music scene. I thought she was gone forever, but then she popped up like a morning erection in 2005 with her second album release "The Inner Beauty Movement." Her second album still had her original sound, but it was definitely more polished. Soul music lovers seemed a little excepting about Lina's second joint. Album tracks like "Smooth" and "All Around The World" featuring the scruffy looking Anthony Hamilton putting it down like a 1970s blacksplotation flick is worth the price of admission. If you missed her first two albums, be sure to check them out when you get a chance.

Alright, that's enough about Lina's past. Lets move on to 2008, where my girl Lin-Lin has just dropped her third album called "Morning Star." This joint is leaning toward left field too, but it still remains very soulful throughout. I'm definitely digging it for sure! In a small way she reminds me of other dope female soul artists like Davina, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Adriana Evans. The mainstream doesn't know what to do with them and most music fans are confused about them. It's great music no matter how you label it, so take the plunge. As I always encourage, support artists like these because they are the true future of this music that we know and love. It's artists like Lina that keep me interested in soul music and even blogging about music. If all I had to write about was Omarion, T-Pain, Cassie & Ray J, I'd shut this muthasucka down with the quickness! You'd be saying bye-bye to the Sound guy!

For more info about Lina and her music, click the links below:

http://www.lina-music.com/

www.myspace.com/linamusic

Then put eyes and ears on this new video from Lina as well:

Lina - I'll Stick Around


Now...you are free to bounce, or check for some dope mixxes on the right hand side!

ERYKAH BADU CHANGES AMERYKAH!
Ms. Badu has not lost a step since she dropped her classic record "On & On" back in the day, and in 2008 she's still taking even larger strides musically. Her genius is unmatched when you combine her originality, style, creativity, and obvious brilliance. She has managed to make a lane all her own on the musical freeway a.k.a the music industry filled with rehashed carbon copies. While many have conformed in hopes of being successful, Ms. Badu has stayed going against the grain. I would consider her successful as well. Let me be frank by saying that Erykah Badu is the ish, and don't you let anyone tell you any different! I'm rarely impressed with live shows, but the first time I saw her perform live back in the late 1990s I knew I had witnessed something special. Seeing her perform a third time in 2007 made it clear that she still hasn't lost a step when it comes to putting on a great live experiences. It's not a just a concert, it's a journey of musical pleasure takes your love of her music to another level. If you haven't seen Erykah do her thing live, you have definitely been missing out. Do yourself a favor and catch her live when she comes to your town. Don't be a cheap sucka neither!

If you don't know by now, Erykah is releasing her new album "New Amerykah: Part One" on February 26, 2008. The album has been getting plenty of promotion around the internet and record stores, so I know real music lovers are feenin' for this joint. I promised myself that I wouldn't post anything about this album until after I put ears on it first. Now, that I have had the album in rotation for a minute, I can say that I fully digested it. It took me about three good listens to get the full understanding of this album. There are a lot good messages embedded throughout the joint that may get overlooked on the first couple of listens. Erykah is definitely taking her fans to a different level musically, but it's all for the good. We need more albums like this to remind us that being different and taking risks is important. Not only is it important, but it's necessary to keep real music alive. New Amerykah is soulfully groundbreaking! I won't go into too much detail about the album because I want you folks to form your own opinions after hearing it, then we can talk about it later. I will definitely be purchasing my copy of this hot joint on Tuesday, and I hope you will too.

Show Erykah some love here:

www.myspace.com/erykahbadu

Let me show you some love by clicking below:

Love Hangover


Erykah Badu - Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop)

EAR TEST 8: SACRAFICIAL JAMZ MIXX!
I thought it was about that time for another Ear Test mixx, since I haven't posted one in a few months. I call this chumpy "Ear Test 8: Sacraficial Jamz" and you need this one. For all of you newer SoundNexx visitors my Ear Test series mixxes are used to showcase some of that soul music that can't be labeled under any one genre. This music consist of heavy basslines, catchy rhythms and diverse lyricism. Not radio friendly music at all. Just the way I like it actually! Like all of the mixxes that I post, I'm using this joint as a way for you folks to discover some new and dope artists. No, most of you probably won't recognize the majority of the artist names on this track list, but don't let that discourage you from checking it out. Think of it like the first time you had sex, it was probably scary initially, but the pay off was hopefully worth it. If you are still a virgin, ignore the previous sentence and download it anyway! With dope artists like Madvillian, Osunlade, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Marvin Gaye in the same mixx how can you lose?

EAR TEST 8 TRACK LISTING:

01~Bite The Dust Intro - Eska
02~Blind Man - Cut Chemist & L.A. Carnival
03~And I (Remix) - Break Reform
04~Rhinestone Cowboy (Remix) - Madvillian
05~Distructions - Robb Scott
06~My Reflection - Osunlade
07~Longing - Geology feat. Lorah Cross
08~Turn Left - Little Dragon
09~The Gunshot - Nicolay & Kay
10~It's U (Remix) - Domu feat. Tiombe Lockhart
11~Le Fox - Owusu & Hannibal
12~Too Much Tenderness - Koushik
13~Noitulover - W. Ellington Felton feat. Lou-Lou
14~W.C. Recycler (Remix) - Gerogia Anne Muldrow
15~I Want You (Remix) - Marvin Gaye
16~Everybody Loves The Sunshine - Incognito
17~See No Evil - Tony Remy & Bluey

GET SACRAFICIAL JAMZ HERE!

GIFTS ON V-DAY!
Maybe it’s just me, but for some reason I think Valentine’s Day is a holiday created by the retailers to make even more money during the year that isn’t being spent during the major holidays. If that’s your thing, then enjoy it. In my opinion, you don’t need a specific day to express your love for someone. That should be going all through the year. So, back in the day when I was naïve enough to get caught up in the holiday hype, I would try to things that I thought were pretty original instead of predictable stuff. I realize that something genuine coming from the heart goes a lot further than a box of candy. With that being said I have decided to share one of my personal Valentine’s Day gift ideas for you fellas out there that desire an original approach. So, check it out.

I call this the gift of music. This gift works better with a person you have been with a little bit of time. If you’ve just met them with in the last couple of months, this gift may not be the one for you. Since, I enjoy music and I have a lot of it, I came up with the idea of telling my girl a story with love songs. It took me a while to find the right songs to fit into this compilation, but in the end it all came together. I started the story with songs that described the feelings I had when we first met. Then the songs transitioned into describing how I enjoyed the time we spent together and so on. You know the rest. Just let the music tell them how you feelie-feel, whatever that may be. Women eat that kind of stuff up, because it’s personal and it shows effort. She’ll throw those dead roses in the trash after a few days, but she’ll hold on to that personalized compilation forever. I used a 90 minute cassette tape to put my compilation together, so you know it had to be dope for it to still be in her possession. That’s just an inexpensive yet effective Valentine’s Day gift you can share, but I would suggest you do some else to go along with it though. Don’t be a cheap sucka! Take her to dinner and a movie or something as well.

Alright, enough of the sentimentals, lets get into some music. It is slow jam soul time folks. These joints are on some of that “Quiet Storm” in the rain type mixxes, which are perfect when in chill mode. A couple of these joints are re-ups, but I actually think one of them was never shared, so get them while you can.

SoundNexx loves the ladies, so enjoy!

Quiet Storm Bedroom Classikz Mixx

Twisted Valentine Mixx

USoNasty R&B Mixx

SOUND SPOT: JOSE' JAMES
I'm about to change up the music pace around the piece with this next kat that I'm about to speak on right now. He may not look like it at first glance, but this dude Jose' James is a jazz musician and he's definitely serious with his. My dude Synflood turned me on to this dude, and now I'm doing the same for you. Let me start off by saying that Mr. James is on the come up right now and he's redefining the whole contemporary music movement. He effortlessly combines jazz, hip-hop, soul and blues into an original sound that he can call his own. Some of his musical influences include Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday and John Coltrane, which is obvious at times when you listen to his music. Jose' is a proud New York native that definitely has that East Coast swagger, but don't confuse him with a local rapper from around the way though. He sports his fitteds, t-shirts and jeans, but dats about it when it comes to any rapper comparisons.

He's a true vocalist that reminds of me of the days when so-called singers could actually sing! His music is deep and lyrics are even deeper at times. What you need to do is listen to his latest album called "The Dreamer" and get dose of what Mr. James is bringing to the musical table. The album is hot in my opinion, but I truly enjoy this type of music. It's that Saturday afternoon chilling at the house type music.

Since, I have such a wide array of visitors that come through this site on the regular, I already know some of you will hear Jose' do his thing and think it stinks? If that's the case, I suggest you give yourself some time to get familiar with his sound. Don't think of this type of music as fast-food, because it's more like a 5-course meal with dessert afterwards. It takes time to appreciate music like this, so be patient and give your ears a chance to digest what's being heard.

Check out Jose' do his thing during a live session:



Peep his sites out too:

www.myspace.com/josejamesquartet

www.josejamesmusic.com

BOUT DAMN TIME KANYE!

I know you've heard about the "Flashing Lights" video, right? The masses have been waiting on the video for months now! No more video still shots and fake fan renditions dammit! This time it's the real thing, and it better be good too? Let's peep it, shall we.




Awww, man...I'm half way dissappointed with this video overall! The T&A was pretty original, even though I can see that in just about any ole' rap video in 2008. I have a question though. Where the hell is Dwele? Shyt, I almost thought Kanye wasn't going to be in the video either until ole' girl started giving him the business with that spade shovel. Why was the damn song shortened? With only two people in the whole video I'm quite sure playing the full verison of the song wouldn't have taken Kanye over budget. Now, I bet a massive group of people around the internet will take it upon themselves to try and explain what the true message behind this video really is. Don't look forward to that happening on this site though, because I'm not even going there with Kanye and his brilliant video concept?

I guess it is kind of cool to get offed in your own video though...

I MET ROSCOE JENKINS!
Fresh out of the movie theater (no bootlegs here) from watching the funny flick "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" and I must say that I enjoyed it! Pure comedy entertainment! Personally, I normally don't like Martin Lawrence's movies. Phucka Big Momma! This Roscoe flick was different though in a better way. Yes, it was predictable, but if it's funny who really cares? I was nervous about this movie having so many comedians in it with Cedric, Mo'Nique, Mike Epps and of course Martin Lawrence all having large roles. Sometimes, too many jokesters can mess a good plot up! I will admit that things worked out better than I expected. I laughed a lot more than I thought I would, which is rare for comedies of this nature when I'm concerned. Normally, the over-the-top slap stick type jokes make me frown rather than laugh, but this cast was able to pull some of them off successfully. Now, this flick is no movie classic, but it's definitely an urban comedy cult that most ethnic folks will probably enjoy. If you just want to sit back and have some good laughs check this one even if you catch it on DVD.

BTW, Mike Epps stole the show with many of his lines throughout the flick!

The music in the movie worked pretty well overall too. A mix of classics with some newer soul tracks seemed to the the trick. I mean really, who doesn't like Rick James, Maze and Kindred? No matter how many times you hear them they always sound good. If you haven't already, check out Joe's new joint/video from the movie soundtrack.

Joe - Where You At (Video)

FRESH UNDERGROUND TALENT!

The underground hip-hop scene is at it again. Here are a few videos from some of that fresh and new talent on the come up! If your ears and eyes haven't been ruined by the overdosage of rap boo-boo that fills the radio and video stations these days, check these joints out.

Kaimbr - Low Budget

Atlas - Hood Famous


Roddy Rod - Whip It


Legacy

MEMORABLE MUSIC MIXX!
Yes, the self-proclaimed iPod Kang is back with another mixx for your listening pleasure. I made a bet with myself that if the underdog New York Giants won the Superbowl this evening I would post this mixx. Guess we know who won, right? I knew I should have bet some money on teh damn game. Since, the Giants just finished ruining the Patroit's perfect record, instead of calling a bunch of my buddies and rubbing it in their faces I'll just share some music instead. I titled this mixx "Memorable Music" for some reason. Maybe some of these tracks will be remembered by you when you finish listening to this mixx?

This joint features artists: Little Brother, Bilal Salaam, Pete Rock, Outkast, De La Soul, Erykah Badu, Jean Grae, Elzhi, Jay Electronica, Wayna, Kaimbr, Dion, Spacek, The Roots, etc...

MEMORABLE MUSIC IS HERE!

AND

HERE 2?

If you want the track listing for this mixx, just leave me your info in the comments area and I'll hit you up with it.

SOUND SPOT: PURPLE ST. JAMES

I have had the pleasure of meeting and greeting many of my favorite soul artists over the years, but by far one of my favorites is definitely Ms. Purple St. James a.k.a Yahzarah! That’s because she has a wonderful soul and a genuine personality. She loves her fans as much as she loves her music, and it definitely shows. I have exchanged some verbage with Yahzarah about 5 times in person over the years at different events, but there was one particular time that stands out amongst the rest. It was back in 2006 when I was working with my dudes from the Flowink.com movement while they were here in Detroit promoting a concert of great music showcasing Darien Brockington, Dwele and Yahzarah. During this event I was helping out my folks where I could to keep the show moving along smoothly. As I entered the club’s VIP area to retrieve a battery pack for the video camera recording the event, I noticed Yahzarah staring at herself in a mirror hanging on the back wall of the room. No one was in the room but her and the lights were very dim. At first I didn’t even know it was her, but when I realized it I tried to be respectful to her personal time before her set, so I just grabbed the battery pack and kept it moving. As I was exiting the VIP area, she turned around and spoke to me. I responded to her greeting from afar, and then I mentioned that I was big fan of her music and that I was hyped about seeing her performance. That’s when our somewhat simple conversation got deep real fast!

My kind words seemed to spark something in Yahzarah. Before I realized it she was standing directly in front of me and suddenly took both of my hands into hers. Her grip was firm and deliberate. While looking deeply into my eyes, she stated that those words I had said meant the world to her. She went on to say that she definitely needed to hear that. She admitted while she was looking into that mirror on the back wall, a lot of negative thoughts were going through her mind. She was nervous about what we (the audience) were going to think about her performance, so she was second-guessing herself. The most powerful statement she made to me was when she said that I was an angel sent from God to pass this message of encouragement to her on that night. While standing at that mirror she asked God to send her a message, and then I came walking into the room. At this point she had tears in her eyes, so I was taken back for real. She then released my hands and proceeded to give me the warmest hug that I had felt from a stranger in a minute. After that heartfelt hug, I departed the room feeling bewildered while replaying her words over and over again in my mind. From that time on I have continued to look at Purple St. James as more that just a great singer, but a spiritual and connected person. Real folk, which is definitely my kind of folk!

When I was talking to her last December at the Soul Track Music Awards, she told me that she had some new music dropping in 2008! She has a new track called “Orbit” that is making some noise on the soul music scene, which is the first single off of her “Purple St. James” album that should be dropping later this year. If you are unfamiliar with Yahzarah at this point, I suggest you start with her first official release entitled “Blackstar” to step your soul music game up a little. Her music is great, but seeing her perform live is where it’s at, so check out this video footage I have provided you below. You can thank me later...

Yahzarah (Purple St. James) - Live


www.myspace.com/yahzarah