THIS THAT B-BOY SERTIFIED!Hip-Hop is in the blogsphere, and it's time to showcase some of my favorite talent on the grind. Like what you are hearing? Get your 'Google on' for the research and make some financial contributions to these artists working hard to put these records together. This joint is "B-Boy Sertified" so hip-hop heads check for it.

The Ear Snacks: 1=Kankick-Herb Hintro 2=MED+Talib-Classic 3=Exile-Mega Mix 4=TrekLife+Olivier-Everything Change 5=Promise-The Bridge 6=Drake/TI-Fancy 7=VonPea+Lessondary-Faded 8=Rhymefest+Saigon/ADaD-Give It To Me 9=Roots-Hustla 10=Donwill-Leading Lady 11=John Robinson-The Visionary 12=Fred Joachim-That's Life 13=Kanye/Be/Unc Charley-See Me Know 14=Slum Village+Dwele-Don't Fight The Feeling 15=Rakaa+KRS One-Human Nature 16=Von Pea-Cantstandya 17=Joel Ortiz-Freestyle 18=Ras Kass-Scenario 2012 19=Blacksheep+Jean Grae-Party Tonight 20=The Hrsmn-This Sh*t Right Here 21=8thW1-Be On You

Here's a couple videos b4 you exit stage right:

CARLITTA DURAND STAYS BUSY!

Carlitta Durand has been on my musical radar for years now, and she's still pretty much an unknown the masses. I love her voice! I expect her work with the Foreign Exchange crew with bring her much shine in the very near future. Remember the "Doug & Patty" EP (shown above) that she dropped in the last quarter of 2009? Of course you do. It was a heater! However, if you were one of the unfortunate soul music lovers that did miss hearing the Carlitta EP, make sure you snatch it up immediately.

Take a gander at the 1st video from the EP for "Love Lost" featuring Jabee:

Carlitta Durand - Lost love feat. Jabee from BECAUSEUS on Vimeo.

PHONTE & NIC HAVE AUTHENTICITY!Foreign Exchange (Nicolay & Phonte) is a group that you can depend when it comes to bringing original quality with every release. Lucky for us they plan to releasing their third album "Authenticity" on October 12th! As Phonte explains it, the group has been religiously trying to find their own sound, and this new album is pretty close. The new joint will continue where the second album "Leave It All Behind" left off, but expect a fresh twist. This has been a good year for music, and it's only getting better...

The album tracklist:

1. The Last Fall
2. Authenticity
3. Eyes To The Sky
4. All Roads
5. Fight For Love
6. Maybe She’ll Dream Of Me
7. Don’t Wait feat. Darien Brockington
8. Make Me A Fool feat. Jesse Boykins III & Median
9. Everything Must Go
10. Laughing At Your Plans feat. Chantae Cann
11. This City Ain’t The Same Without You feat. YahZarah

www.theforeignexchangemusic.com

BLACK MILK/ROYCE/ELZHI!

THIS!!! Keep your ears out for that new Black Milk album!

ERIC ROBERSON LIVE IN DETROIT!

I videotaped this clip of Eric Roberson doing one of his many made up songs during a live performance at the Charles H. Wright Museum in Detroit. I titled it the "Astrology Song" due to the subject matter. These are the types of moments that reveals the silly side of Erro, which makes his shows so entertaining. If you haven't seen one of his live shows, make sure you do when he visits your town. You'll be glad you did. Enjoy the clip!

SOUL SPANGLE BANTER!If you haven't heard by now, Faith Evans (one of my favorite singers) is about to release her new album Something About Faith on October 5th. Mark your calendars. She has a new single featuring Snoop Dogg "The Way You Move" that is creating some buzz on the Internet. Snoop's rap sound slightly dated on the track, but overall the song is still pretty hot!

"Soul Spangle Banter" is my latest soul podcast, so please enjoy it.

The Goodies: 1)14KT-The D Light In You 2)Dwele-Give Me A Chance 3)Muhsinah-Stay Here 4)Miles Bonny-Learnin To Fly 5)Erro-Bad 4 Me (live) 6)Faith/Snoop-The Way You Move 7)Electric Wire Hustle/Stacy Epps-Walk On 8)Foreign Exchange-Let's Music 9)Nadine Charles-Kisses In The Morning 10)Me'Shell N'degeocello-Come Smoke My Herb 11)Zo!/Phonte/Carlitta-Say How You Feel 12)Soulful!-Damn Thing 13)Geno Young-The One 14)J. Mitchell-Your Summer Song 15)Wes Felton-Slow Down 16)Colin Munroe/Drake-Cannon Ball 17)Conya Doss-What We Gone Do 18)Bilal-Someday We'll Be Free 19)Darien Brockington-Desire 20)Angela Johnson-Days 21)Macy Gray-On & On 22)Eric Roberson-A Tale of Two (remix) 23)Raheem DeVaughn-2 Be U

SOUND SPOT: NADINE CHARLES
I recently rediscovered an independent soul artist from London that I had forgotten about, and her name is Nadine Charles. She's worked with Raphael Saadiq, and provided vocals for electronica-soul groups Silhouette Brown and 2000Black. Don't know those groups? Look them up! Modeling is another passion of hers, so checkout some of her photos online. I sent a newer track of hers entitled "Kisses In The Morning" and it is a lovely track! For that reason I showcased it on my latest soul mixx, so keep your ears open for that one. I put these mixxes together to give music lovers an opportunity to discover and support artists that I feel are dope! Without support these artists may not be able to continue to make this great music we love...

Checkout these websites to discover more about Nadine Charles:

www.nadinecharles.blogspot.com

www.myspace.com/ncharles

COULTRAIN IS SEYMOUR LIBERTY!
Mr. Coultrain is an Indie soul music artist that has been working pretty hard over the last few years trying to make a name for himself. If you purchased, stole or listened to the Platnium Pied Pipers (PPP) last album (Abundance)which you should have if you like good music) then you've already been introduced to Coultrain. He provides the vocals on several of the PPP laced tracks, which made that album a success in my personal opinion. He has very soulful voice that reminds me of the good ole' days of soul music from the 70's and 80's. I was hoping we'd get some more tunes from this dude sooner or later, and my prayers were answered.

Coultrain recently release an EP "GodMustBeABoogieMan" for his fans. There are 13 songs on the joint broken into a musical story format of three chapters: APrince'sDeparture, ARoofTopXperience and ACharlatan'sReturn. Most of the production duties are being handled by Patrice Rushen and Yesterday's New Quintet. It's fresh music worth you taking a listen. Soul music lovers take notice!

Click Here!

www.myspace.com/coultrainmusic

NEW DONNELL JONES MUSIC!


That's right, Mr. Donnell Jones has a new album entitled "Lyrics" hitting the streets on September 28th. A new single from the album "Love Like This" has made its way onto Internet, so if you haven't it put ears on it above.

ESPERENZA'S CHAMBER MUSIC!
I consider myself a fan of all types of jazz, but there are only a few artists from today's list that I stop what I am doing to pay attention. The female jazz musicians that tops my list is definitely Esperanza Spalding! She's dope in so many ways that I won't bother trying to explain them all. Her stage presence is overwhelming and her skills on the bass are effortless. Esperanza's voice just brings everything together with a strong, but smooth quality that I consider hypnotic. Watching her live is amazing! I remember channel surfing one late Saturday night last year, and I was lucky enough to catch a live performance of hers in Central Park (located in Manhattan, NY). That was one of the best live musical performances I've watched on television.

Anyway, Esperanza is about to release her third album "Chamber Music Society" on August 17, 2010. The new album is a mixture funk, soul, acoustic, classical and jazz. Even if you just think you like jazz, I would suggest you take a listen some of Esperanza's music. You just might like it.

www.esperanzaspalding.com

THIS SONG REALLLY CRACKS ME UP!

Recently, I was surfin' the Internet, and came across this video/song called "Doin Your Mom" by some dude named Ray William Johnson. This disrespectful song is hilarious! They are rapping, but don't expect anything like Mos Def or Black Thought type of lyrical prowness though. Thing more Beastie Boys meets Weird Al Yankovic!

BILAL'S REVENGE IS AIRTIGHT!
Soul Brother #2 (James Brown is Soul Brother #1) is about to drop another album on September 14th. His name is Bilal, and when he releases new music you can expect it to be tight. Airtight in fact! His last album was leaked and bootlegged so much that it was never officially released. Fans ravaged that unmastered and incomplete musical treasure all over th Internet. When fans are deprived that is what happens. I expect the same thing will happen if and when D'Angelo finally decides to release some new material. True music lovers are like drug addicts, and when they get wind of some new goodies, nothing will stop them. They'll beg, plead, pay outrageous prices, borrow, fight, sometimes steal to get that music. Fortunately, Bilal fans will not have to do any of that. We only have a few weeks to go before "Airtight's Revenge" hits the streets, so mark your calendars.

Until then, here's a little ear snack until the full meal is ready:

RAS KASS: A.D.I.D.A.S.!
One of California's finest emcees is back on the scene once again. Ras Kass is his name, and real rhyming is his claim to fame. Most fans wonder if their favorite emcees of yester-year still have the gift-of-gab on the microphone after a long absence. Truthfully, most of them don't have it anymore, and they usually sound pretty dated. Not Ras Kass though. He still brings the fury on the mic like it was 1995! I think that time in prison made the dude hungry again, and it shows on his latest album "A.D.I.D.A.S." featuring DJ Rhettmatic. The double album has a total of 26 tracks on it. What I like most about this joint is the numerous amount of dope emcees guest featured. Ras had to lift up some rocks to find some of these rappers from Christmas' past. Checkout this line-up: Chino XL, Planet Asia, Xzibit, Kurupt, Canibus, Jean Grae, Phil Da Agony, David Banner, Royce 5'9, Ice T and many others. Nice!

Put eyes on this video for the classic "This Sh*t Right Here" track below:


You can buy the new Ras album @ RASKASS.BANDCAMP.COM

$9 for 26 tracks in a steal!

OPEN HOUSE GROOVS MIXX!All house music lovers unite! I am a huge fan of soulful house music; however, I don't make many mixxes showcasing that genre. I get at least 3 emails a month asking when I plan on dropping another house mixx. Truthfully, it is difficult for me to find the kind of house that I like these days. I prefer the older deep house stylings of kats like DJ Spinna, Men At Work, Roy Davis Jr., etc. A lot of the newer stuff sounds more like techno music, which is alright, but it's not my preference. Fortunately, I was able to pull together a group of select tracks from the past, present and near future that definitely developed into a hot compilation!

I call this joint the "OpenHouseGroovs" mixx, because I want the listeners to remain open minded while this one is playing. Open yourself up and ingest these groovy house vibes. Rock in your chair. Get up and dance. Pump your fists. Get your house on!

Remember, this "Good Life" track by Inner City!

EXILE: AM/FM BONUS TRACKS!
Remember, the underground producer,DJ and rapper Exile from California? How about the group Emanon where Exile was the DJ for rapper/singer Aloe Blacc? This is the kat that dropped the dope album "Dirty Science" back in 2006! If none of that is ringing any bells, then you probably don't know Exile, so here is your chance to get familiar. He's worked with artists like Ghostface Killa, Blu, Mobb Deep, Jurassic 5 and many others. Exile's production style can't really be discribed in one or two words. His music strips your listening abilities down and mangles your previous comprehension of what beats should sound like. It's the type of musical journey you would expect from producers like El-p and Flying Lotus. That's definitely a complement coming from me. It may sound like noise at first to new listeners, but just keep listening and you may find the dopeness you seek!

Exile just released a new album entitled "AM/FM" for the fans, which is a compilation full of hot remixes. He was generous enough to provide some of the remixes that didn't make the album, which he calls "Radio Exile Bonus" available for download here: DIRTYSCIENCE BANDCAMP

Don't hesitate to grab both the "AM/FM" and "Radio Exile Bonus" joints!

CONYA DOSS: TRANSITION BLU!The soulstress Conya Doss is about to release her 5th album "Blu Transition" in September, and being a fan of hers from the start I am happy about this news. Conya is a talented singer and she's definitely easy on the eyes, but what I dig most about this woman is her great personality! She is always humble, polite and charming in person, which isn't always the case with many of today's artists.

Listen to the first track from her new album called "What We Gone Do" by clicking the album cover above.

www.conyadoss.com