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We were very sad to hear about the untimely passing of Steve Marston, a founding member of the seminal UK soul band D-Influence. Giant Step was honored to know Steve who was a true gentleman. We presented D-Influence's US debut way back in the early 90s, and we hope the video above, live in Montreux, is a fitting tribute today.

Plan B performed an acoustic version of his UK hit "Love Goes Down" for Radio 1, a great take on the original track from his album The Defamation of Strickland Banks (to be released in the US in April 2011). Check out the official music video below:

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Check out the spacey video from The Electrolightz, "The Future," which just made its premiere on Popmatters. Their full-length album It Happened Over Night is available now on iTunes.

The Beast & Nnenna Freelon released their jazz-hip-hop hybrid, Freedom Suite, for free download on Okayplayer's new jazz-inspired channel, The Revivalist, in October. Since then, extra goodies have been released to supplement the Freedom Suite album: the "Freedom Pt 2" music video, a Phonte freestyle and the non-album track, "Black Fantastic."

This song "Come Up, Come Down" is more complete than a freestyle, but not quite polished enough to be a final studio track. Not included anywhere on the album, this song showcases the unique composition of The Beast. This full album is available for free on Bandcamp.

The Beast - "Come Up, Come Down" [MP3]
 

Erykah Badu does her thing on David Banner's new single "Silly." Off his upcoming album Death of a Popstar, produced by 9th Wonder and scheduled to be released on December 21st.

David Banner & 9th Wonder ft. Erykah Badu: "Silly" [MP3]