Nneka - Get it Together

Although you may have just heard of her, Nneka is not a new artist. She's been around and her talents stretch from teardrop soul-singing to freestyle rapping. Every year since her musical career took off in 2005, Afro-German warrior princess Nneka has built on her successes, stretched her muscles, and widened her range.
Nneka’s music has a big splash of Bob Marley in the recipe, a measure of Nina Simone and a lick of Erykah Badu. Her US debut, Concrete Jungle, is an offering of love, hope and optimism dedicated to the people of Warri & the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Holding it all together is the focus of her beautiful voice, located in a place somewhere between yearning and rage. This EP, ‘The Uncomfortable Truth’ is just a slice of what’s to come.
It’s a testament to the strength of Nneka’s talent that her success so far is based on word of mouth, on the quality of her albums and the intensity of her live performance. Her audience now numbers hundreds of thousands across two continents, and those listeners are people who have tracked her down, because there will always be a demand for music that does more than just entertain, but touches something universal


Nneka - Get it Together

Giant Step Presents SVEDKA Vodka Sessions #4: an evening with Nneka, making her Los Angeles debut performance, and special guest DJ Vikter Duplaix. Click pic to RSVP and go HERE to download Vikter Duplaix's new single Electric Love

Bembe Segue + Seiji - Get it Together

Lucky me (and you) I just found Seiji's website and it's filled with treats, mixes and unreleased tracks, such as this bottom heavy collaboration with Bembe Segue. Check this out and go to his website to download this and more goodies. Enjoy!

Bembe Segue + Seiji - Get it Together

Another Heist / Camp Lo [Album Review]

"Let's get rich (What?!?!?) Luchini falling from the sky, this is it (what?!), the cheeky dimes the sugar dimes / Can't quit, (what?!)"...

If nothing else, you probably could come in on the "what's" and that used to be enough when you heard "This is it" by Camp Lo. Well, theeeeerrrrreeeee baaaaacccckkkk! Another Heist by Camp Lo is another hip hop incarnation of what it would sound like if two of the coolest dudes ever rolled all the blaxplotations films with some cryogenicaly frozen herb from 1969 and the lost episodes of Good Times into a musical Swisher. In other words they haven't lost a step.

From the title track 1 "Another Heist" to track 12 "Uptown/Remix", you'll feel how ever you felt when Camp Lo was in heavy rotation back in the day. This hip hop duo is famous for making semi-distinguishable slanguage as enjoyable as any song you really do know all the words too.

Instead of the "traditional" review, you know, which songs are hot and which songs are not, I thought I'd invite a dialogue. Let's discuss "growth vs. good" as it pertains to music. I was torn while listening to Another Heist. On the one had, I'm a fan of Camp Lo. I love this new album...but why? Because it's great new music or because I love the "type of music" that is Camp Lo? This dichotomy has inspired my fist bi-polar album review score. As a fan, I give Another Heist by Camp Lo 7 out of 7 Head Nods. It's EVERYTHING that I would expect from Camp Lo. Catchy hooks, hard hitting hip hop beats and really cool slanguage. If you're a fan, you won't be disappointed.

As an unbiased album reviewer, I'd give it 5 out of 7 Head Nods. This is a solid album. There are at least 3 or 4 solid songs your'e sure to enjoy. "Another Heist" (track 1) is classic hip hop. "Satin Amnesia" (track 3) is super mellow. With all that you hear in today's rap music it felt good to hear a smoothed out track. "Get Em Lo" (track 4) would be a good theme song if I ever heard one. The classic Camp Lo cadence can be heard throughout. You can just let this one ride. "Boogie Nights" (track 5) has a "Kanye-ish" feel for to the track (you know, sped up vocal sample, repeated break or bridge of a track, Kanye...the early years). It's funny how that some how sounds a little "dated" now, but I still like it. And "Beautiful People" (track 8) is stepping music and I wanted to find my cane and top hat when I heard it. R. Kelly would be proud. Give the album a listen and let me know if you found yourself torn as well.

I'm Thed Weller and I approve this review.

* Head Nod Scale

1=Don't waste your time like I did mine.

2=Waste your time like I did mine but I dare you to disagree.

3=Well, there was the single.

4=If it were a hand in spades there's "two and a possible".

5=It's a "good" album. Meaning at least 3 or 4 solid songs.

6=Really Good Project. Has the "Rewind Factor" more than once.

7=The number of completion. Great Album. Instant Classic.

New Bilal! Levels (Live)

Excited to share this live performance of Bilal performing a NEW SONG entitled "Levels," performed recently at the VTech and Plug Research showcase in NYC for CMJ, which was hosted by Pharoahe Monch, and featured performances and DJ sets by Exile, Blu, Shafiq Husayn (SA-RA), J Rocc, DJ Spinna, Large Professor and Blu Jemz.

Hold tight for Bilal's first official album since 1st Born Second dropping early 2010 via Plug Research. Get Ready!

I'm sorry, I couldnt get the embed code to work, so for now go HERE to view the video for Bilal’s Live Performance of “LEVELS”

Hawthorne Headhunter : Live at the BBQ Pt.2

Loving this HVW8 pod & I wanna say much love to c.blak for clueing me in. This pod ladies & gentlemen is live and has all the vibes that come from a live set. Ad-libbing, free styling, and figuring isht out is what is taking place and I love it!

"Once again gracing the HVW8 stage, originally coming from that special place between Long Beach and Los Angeles (Hawthorne, Ca), we have the Hawthorne Headhunters! The crew, including the additions of Jimi James, Coultrain, Stopha and TeLuv on vocals, are all on hand to give us more of what they started on the podcast about a year ago. Here we are for round 2. In the mix we hear full tracks from the current Hawthorne Headhunters EP release along with bits of solo material, inspirations for future work and, until now, unreleased works being refined for future projects with HVW8 Records. You heard it from us first. Full track listing available soon."

~HVW8 Records.

Listen, watch clips from the set, and download HERE

Coultrain/Black Spade - What Time it Was (Live)

Mayer Hawthorne - Maybe So, Maybe No Remixes

Spotted over in our chatbox, these Mayer Hawthorne remixes are just to nice to be potentially overlooked. So go over to BeatMUp and check out AND download these gems. Even though theyre all dope, my favorite is Presto's dub version, what's yours?

Mayer Hawthorne - Maybe So, Maybe No (Presto's Dub)

Vinyl? Check! #45: Closer to Charro

I must admit when I pulled this album from the shelves, I had low expectations on how this would sound. I am very much a Salsoul fan, but recalled how loony Charo was on those old Love Boat shows. When the first song, Dance a Little Bit Closer, begins and I hear Charo singing, in a more reserved mode than her usual over the top persona, over a classic Vincent Montana Jr production I got excited! At the 3:00 mark Vincent takes over with a killer virtuoso vibraharp solo, yet sadly this one song is the high point of the 10 track album, although there are 2 more songs that are listenable.

Charo and the Salsoul Orchestra - Dance a Little Bit Closer