Estelle Swaray may be a born-and-raised West London girl, but we'd venture that the 27-year-old is right at home in the energy of New York, her newly adopted city. She's got the self-determination with a bit of swagger. The get-up-and-go hustle. And this is one singer / songwriter / producer /...
With a voice that can caress or confront, embrace or exhort, Gregory Porter exhibits such an incredible degree of vocal mastery, that no less a jazz luminary than Wynton Marsalis has gone on record to call him "a fantastic young singer." Born in Los Angeles, raised in Bakersfield, and now...
There is a tradition in classic black music that goes back to the smooth crooning of Sam Cooke, the earthy, gritty, sound of Otis Redding, the lyrical beauty of Curtis Mayfield and the unfiltered intensity of Donny Hathaway. It's a combination of church-rooted hallelujah praisin’ and...
Growing up in Houston, Texas, Robert Glasper had a strong musical influence from his mother, who played piano and sang gospel music in church as well as in jazz and blues clubs in Houston. Raised on gospel, Motown, and R&B, by his teens he was listening to jazz, rock, pop and hip hop. He attended...
Super-producer Timbaland has stamped his indelible imprint on the music scene since the mid-1990s. His production has helped create career-defining hits for artists such as Jodeci, Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Missy Elliott, Destiny’s Child, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z, among many others. Respected...
Much can be said about the late Amy Winehouse, one of the U.K.'s flagship vocalists during the 2000s. The press and tabloids seemed to focus on her rowdy behavior, heavy consumption of alcohol, and tragic end, but fans and critics alike embraced her rugged charm, brash sense of humor, and...
Sometimes stars emerge. Sometimes stars are thrust upon us. And sometimes stars simply slip into the atmosphere as if propelled by something otherworldly. It is into this last category that the astonishing presence, voice, look and feel of Lana Del Rey falls. Musical stardom is not an option with...
Led by producer, engineer, and percussionist Amon - the Analog Players Society is a collective and community of musicians rooted at The Hook Studio in Brooklyn, NY.
In addition to leading Analog Players Society Amon has a rich musical history having shared the stage with a wide-range of...
Raised in the East Flatbush (aka the Little West Indies) section of Brooklyn, as the only child of a Jamaican mother and Bed Stuy-native father, Cole Williams was immediately inducted into a melting pot of food, music and attitudes. The neighborhood was rough, but the influences remained....
The notion of "traditional hip hop" has changed forever. Whether you're talking about genre bending projects from superstars like Kanye West and Lil Wayne or surprising debuts from new artists like Kid Cudi and Drake, hip hop has never had a more exciting, expressive moment. If hip hop is...
The product of a creative family, K’NAAN fled Mogadishu with his family at age 13. After learning English, partly by immersing himself in the classic hip-hop albums of the ‘90s, he came to prominence in 1999 with a spoken word performance at the United Nations that caught the attention of...
Like a lot of us, Elliot Gleave (or e.g., for example), is a bit jealous of those lucky people who know exactly what they wanted to be when they’re 18 and just went for it. He never had that. As a kid he listened to Nirvana, Motown and Michael Jackson. At school in west London it was all Wu Tang...
From the beginning of her life to her current success as a creative musician, Esperanza Spalding has charted her own course. The young bassist/vocalist/composer was one of the biggest breakout stars of 2011—not just in jazz, but in all genres of music. Her receipt of the 2011 GRAMMY® for Best New...
While still a teenager, Emeli Sandé got her first big break as a singer-songwriter. After her kid sister filmed her performing one of her own songs (the smoldering “Nasty Little Lady”) at a piano in their rural Scotland home, Sandé sent the clip to a BBC talent contest. She was named one of the...
Three years ago, passion drove Nikki Jean to embark on a historic cross-country journey, visiting the great music cities of America to collaborate with songwriters who, by anybody's measure, are considered some of the most accomplished ever to work at the craft. The result is an album of twelve...
Skylar Grey has written the worldwide number 1 smash hit "Love the Way You Lie" (Parts I & II, and the Piano Version) for Eminem & Rihanna, as well as writing and featuring on "I Need A Doctor" (Dr. Dre & Eminem), "Coming Home" (Diddy-Dirty Money), and "Words I Never Said" (Lupe Fiasco).
Singer/songwriter/musician John West is a gifted yet humble talent who’s serious about his craft but also having fun with it. He’s a natural who feels music and, more important, can make others feel it too. His colorful, acoustically driven melodies—nuanced by influences ranging from classical...
LIP Label 14
After her beautiful 37-year-old Aunt died in 2004 during childbirth, Antoniette was devastated, but stumbled across 14 poems written by her Aunt Lilly when she was only 18 years old. Although Lilly was a very successful corporate attorney and had left the arts decades before, these poems,...
Up-and-coming singer, "soulwriter" and musician Elle Varner's unparalleled sound is a combination of funk and meticulous rhythm with an added quirkiness as showcased throughout her forthcoming debut album, Perfectly Imperfect, dropping this fall on MBK Entertainment/RCA Records.
Second Sky is the trio of co-conspirators Billy Medina, Wes DiIorio and William Lascek-Speakman. Together, they are remixing the traditional idea of a musical group: crossfading organic and electronic, live and studio, while recombining classic genres for a completely new and eclectic sound....
Tall Black Guy Productions was birthed from humble beginnings in Detroit, MI and homegrown on a diet of Motown, jazz and early hip-hop.
From his home base in Chicago, IL...Tall Black Guy has performed and won numerous beat battles, most notably the “Dance To The Drummers Beat” and “Red Bull...
Memphis is America’s musical heart and soul. It’s the birthplace of rock, the spiritual home of the blues, and more recently, host to some of the best rappers of the past decade. Fittingly, FreeSol has synthesized Memphis’ myriad influences and has crafted a fresh sound that is electrifying fans...
Lenny Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, and folk. In addition to singing lead and backing vocals, Kravitz often plays all the guitar, bass, drums,...
