Far from being the progressive political statement that West has talked up of late, Yeezus actually marks an awkwardly regressive step in his career. Inspired in parts and...
Kanye West’s Yeezus is not for the faint of heart. But neither is the rapper himself. Although, to be honest, referring to Kanye West as a “rapper” feels a bit too feeble at this...
Is that a fist pump or a clenched Afrocentric salute? A stag party breaking out in the middle of a Black Panther rally, Yeezus is the confounding, uncompromising protest record...
Rejuvenated rap veteran flaunts her dance-floor fluency and overall baddest-bitchitude.
One of a man, or men - simply not of these times. Although, to style him as a "revivalist," or a "futurist," for that matter, would be as ill-suited for this particular outfit as...
Bilal is a soul musician and member of the musical collective known as Soulquarians.
A Love Surreal is only the third studio album Bilal has managed in 12 years, a remarkable fact that testifies to a career marked primarily by speed bumps and absences.These days...
Despite some overly repetitive moments, the album's overall atmosphere of sophisticated filth buys inc. enough favour to ensure we’ll stick around.
no world is Andrew and Daniel Aged's second release as inc. (formerly Teen Inc.), and it refines and improves on 2011's 3 EP. On that brief release, the two L.A. producers were...
This merits a special place on your shelf. All the great songs are here: the simmering "Call Me (Come Back Home)", "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)", "Let's Stay Together", "Love And...
Steven A. Clark is another name involved in today’s r&b fusion. The North Carolina Singer/Songwriter/Producer normally creates all of his music as a solo act, but for his latest...
Fearless, heavily armed R&B warrior transcends Diddy, feels it in the air tonight
Emerging without due fanfare last month, Dawn Richard's GoldenHeart has already set the bar very high for pop this year. It's her second solo album proper, following her 2005...
Goldenheart is a major culmination for Dawn Richard. After Hurricane Katrina left the New Orleans native without a home, the singer and songwriter's career took numerous turns...
"Get ready for war," Dawn Richard repeatedly intones on the intro to Goldenheart. She takes love very seriously: For Richard, love has been religion, scripture, an all-changing...
Dawn Richard's Armor On EP was an album in all but name, offering as fully-realized an artistic vision as you could hope to emerge from any genre. The trickle of new songs to...
Pop's unlikeliest radio killer gets ambitious, sprawling, and splendidly weird.
It's impossible to talk about Voodoo without talking about what's happened since Voodoo. Or, more accurately, what hasn't happened since Voodoo. It's been 12 years since D'Angelo...
When we heard from Solange Knowles four years ago, she was a major-label signee trying to find her footing on a conceptual and vintage-sounding album called SoL-Angel and the...
Solange is an American singer-songwriter, actress, model, dancer, and DJ. Knowles was born and raised in Houston, Texas along with her older sister singer Beyonce. Showing an...
I don’t know if anyone, including Alicia Keys, really gives a fuck about Alicia Keys. Keys’ droopy new album is named after the worst song on the album, Girl on Fire; it’s a...
Singer-songwriter, producer, actress, philanthropist, and one of the best- selling artists of her time, Alicia Keys returns with Girl on Fire ! For her fifth studio album, Keys...
Alicia Keys' fifth studio album opens the same way each one of her previous albums does: with a short, pensive piano piece. The quiet "De Novo Adagio" is meant to set the stage...
The Weeknd's Trilogy is ambitious, messy, uneven and baffling but it will remain one of the most thrilling records to come out of this decade, writes Paul Bridgewater.
Emerging artists these days seem to have a love/hate relationship with major labels. For some, a deal with a major is the first big step to what many would deem winning. And for...
Astounding, sex-drenched R&B breakthrough proves Frank Ocean ain't the only game in town.
It's hard to fault a young artist for putting out a record that sounds like vintage Prince; it's been too long since Prince himself released one that did just that. The often...
He may like drugs and hugs, but Miguel Pimentel must love good press too. After a tentative 2010 debut album still managed to send 'Sure Thing'-one of the greatest singles of the...
Since his debut in 2010 with the outstanding "Sure Thing", the young Los Angeles singer/songwriter Miguel has been something of a for-the-R&B-heads-only sleeper star. He showed up...
