On the voodoo space hippie side of things, track five from Bilal’s Airtight’s Revenge gets the video treatment. And not just any treatment — Flying Lotus makes his directorial debut, lacing “Levels” with suitably crazy visuals. Shafiq Husayn’s beat is so powerful that it’s no problem at all that Bilal doesn’t come in until two minutes into the song. And when he does, it’s with a melancholy croon that breaks your heart.
The “Levels” EP is out today and it includes a FlyLo edit and remxies from KenBts. and Sonnymoon. Grab the KenBts. remix below.
British singer, DJ, producer Ben Westbeech has a great new single. “Slowly” is smooth and creamy with house drums and subtle synths that keep it exciting. Ben’s floaty vocals seal the deal. His sophomore album There’s More To Life Than This due out in April.
You can download “Slowly” at his website (bottom right corner).
[audio:http://www.benwestbeech.com/uploads/slowly-re.mp3]
The benevolent Salaam Remi continues to empty his vault, taking R&B whippersnappers like Trey and Jazmine back to when R&B didn’t suck. And apparently there’s a lot more where this came from:
So much New Music Coming , The 1st 2 weeks of the year have been great..gon do this 26 mo timesFri Jan 14 03:54:48 via webSaLaAM ReMi
SaLaAMReMi
Crazy ass Amy Winehouse played her first full show since 2008 on Saturday night in Florianopolis, Brazil. Meanwhile, Salaam Remi released this alternate version of the Frank bonus track “Mr. Magic.”
Prematurely announcing your retirement is almost a rite of passage for artists. Lupe Fiasco, Game, and Kid Cudi have all announced their retirement from music at one point, probably after a lousy day or something. On Sunday, Jazmine Sullivan wrote on Twitter, “i’m making an official announcement that i am taking a break from music. i’m trying to figure out who i am… w/out a mike, paper or pen. i promised myself when it wasn’t fun anymore i wouldn’t do it. and here i am..” But then she quickly deleted the tweets.
The good news is Salaam Remi leaked this unreleased/new song to cheer her up. Jazmine just needed to be reminded that she’s not a robot and she has one of the best producers around in her corner.
The first single from Raphael Saadiq’s Stone Rollin’ is about that trifling chick named Radio. Slide this to the guy spinning classic soul records. He’ll never know the difference.
Every artist has a vault of unreleased material; rarities, remixes, and alternate versions that never saw the light of day for one reason or another. This week, Mark Ronson used the holidays as an excuse to excavate some music from his hard drive and post it on Facebook. So what did the super-producer/Beat Drop contributor have in his vault?
I actually asked Mark about this track two weeks ago (full Q&A coming soon) and he told me he had no plans to release it. I guess Boxing Day changed his mind.
Here is an unfinished cover version of “Let’s Ride” by Q-Tip that Mark and Daniel Merriweather recorded during the Version sessions. “Stop Me” remains Daniel Merriweather’s best work. And last but not least,
here’s a reversion that i did of one of my favourite late-era MJ songs, “Happy Birthday, Lisa”. me, victor axelrod, nick movshon, homer steinweiss and thomas brenneck were in the studio working on “Record Collection” when we got sidetracked and made this….
Mark Ronson has three DJ sets tonight in England. Set times, locations, and a flyer after the jump. If you’re stuck in NY like me, go see Q-Tip at the Ace Hotel. Happy new year, fam!
Def Jam is that last place you should check for R&B, but Chrisette Michele, who has provided hooks for Nas, Jay-Z, Game, and Rick Ross, gives an emotional and extremely polished performance on her new mixtape. “Black Boys Still Die” is as powerful as the title suggests and “Its Not You Its Me” is a lighthearted funky breakup song. She also accommodates different generations of hip-hop fans with awesome renditions of Wale’s “90210” and KRS-One’s “Step into a World.”
