R&B
R.I.P. Pamela Hutchinson, The Emotions Singer Dies at 61
Pamela Hutchinson, a member of the famed R&B trio The Emotions, died Friday (September 18th) at the age of 61. A post on The Emotions’ Facebook page confirmed the news on Sunday. “In loving memory, we are saddened to announce the passing of our sister, Pamela Rose Hutchinson,” read the posting. “Pam succumbed to health challenges that she’d been battling for several years. Now our beautiful sister will sing amongst the angels in heaven in perfect peace.” Hutchinson’s sisters Wanda, Jeanette, and Sheila began performing gospel music as the Hutchinson Sunbeams in the early ’60s. By the end of the decade, though, they’d pivoted to making soul and disco music as The Emotions, releasing their Isaac Hayes/David Porter-produced debut in 1969. The Chicago-based girl group found relative fame i...
Jamila Woods Shares New Version of “SULA (Hardcover)”: Stream
Last month saw Jamila Woods return with “SULA (Paperback)”, her first new music since releasing one of 2019’s best albums, LEGACY! LEGACY!. Now, she’s shared a different version of the track, appropriately called “SULA (Hardcover)”. Inspired by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison’s 1973 novel of the same name, “SULA” finds Woods rejecting conventional ideas of identity in order to “embrace my tenderness, my sensitivities, my ways of being in my body.” Whereas the “Paperback” version did this as a peaceful mantra, the “Hardcover” take features a more sensual grove. With a silky beat from Slot-A, “SULA (Hardcover)” fully embodies the sexuality at the song’s core. As does the accompanying music video. The clip would be labeled slightly NSFW in normal days, but let’s be real, this is a pa...
Blood Orange Teams Up with 박혜진 Park Hye Jin for New Song “CALL ME (Freestyle)”: Stream
Blood Orange (photo by Ben Kaye) and 박혜진 Park Hye Jin (photo courtesy of artist’s Bandcamp) Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes, has teamed up with Los Angeles experimental pop musician 박혜진 Park Hye Jin for a new song titled “CALL ME (Freestyle)”. The track marks his first Blood Orange release since guesting on The Avalanches collaboration “We Will Always Love You” back in February. Today’s so-called “freestyle” falls somewhere between a remix and an interpolation of Park’s original “CALL ME” from 2019. Hynes alternately raps and sings over that song’s weary, lo-fi piano beat for a while, and then Park pops in later for her own verse. The collaborative track is accompanied by a video featuring footage that Hynes shot while wandering around New York City in March. It pairs perfectly wi...
Faye Webster Shares New Song “Better Distractions”: Stream
Faye Webster has returned with a new song called “Better Distractions”. Additionally, our former Artist of the Month has announced her first full-band livestream performance of 2020. “Better Distractions” follows the excellent one-off single “In A Good Way” from April, and marks the second offering since her 2019 LP Atlanta Millionaires Club. As with its predecessor, today’s track continues to push Webster’s sound in a gorgeously singular direction. It finds harmony between smooth R&B and minimalist indie rock, with the added bonus of a weepy slide guitar lead and a meandering jam in the vein of Kurt Vile or Courtney Barnett. In a statement, Webster revealed that the song flowed out of her with very little intention or purpose. “It’s a kind of free association, just thoughts running st...
Audrey Nuna Uncorks New Song “damn right”: Stream
Emerging singer/rapper Audrey Nuna has uncorked her new song “damn right”. This satirical stunt track is the first single from her forthcoming debut EP. Nuna grew up in New Jersey, releasing Instagram covers that eventually attracted the attention of manager/producer Anwar Sawyer. After high school, she split time writing with Sawyer and attending the prestigious Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU. But soon, her studies had to give way to the real thing. Now 21 years old and signed to Arista Records, Nuna has released a string of buzzworthy singles, of which “damn right” just might be the best. Producer Nate Donmoyer has built a thumper of a beat, but with delicate synth touches which keep the track from sounding overly serious. Nuna kicks off with a slurred, chest-banging flow...
Song of the Week: James Blake Comforts Listeners with Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify New Sounds playlist. Cover songs often get a lot of shade thrown at them. That’s nothing new. Don’t we all get at least a little skeptical (and disappointed) when one of our favorite artists announces a covers album or drops a cover instead of an original single? While we may dig the song, it tends to feel like we’re being re-gifted something, and part of us might even suspect that the artist is holding out on us or, worse yet, has nothing else on creative tap. Of course, how quickly we forget that some of the best songs in our collective canon are cover versions and that all musicians (from The Beatles to those assholes who “practice” in your neighbor...
MICHELLE and Arlo Parks Collaborate on New Version of “Sunrise”: Stream
Earlier this summer, New York City collective MICHELLE returned with “Sunrise”, their first single since 2018. Today, the R&B-inspired group of mostly queer PoC are releasing an alternate version of that song featuring new contributions from British poet and bedroom pop artist Arlo Parks. This new collaboration doubles down on the feel-good warmth of the original track, breezy, sunbaked melodies and all. Its air of longing — specifically for someone who’s definitely not worth a second chance — also remains, but is further emphasized by Parks’ additional verse. Although just 20 years old, Parks has earned a reputation for brutally raw and honest songs — including perhaps one of the most devastating of the year — and she shows that same self awareness here, recognizing that she needs to ...
James Blake Releases Studio Cover of Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed”: Stream
Earlier in the year, James Blake shared an intimate piano performance of Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed” on Instagram. Today, he’s released an official studio version of his cover. Blake is extremely familiar with the Blonde cut, considering he provided both production and arrangement for the track. He’s also been known to whip out his solo version during live shows. But he’s done something an extra special for this official version: He’s actually dyed his hair platinum blonde, so now he’s a blonde playing Blonde. Obviously, his take is very faithful to the one Ocean recorded, only without the studio flourishes. It’s as sparse and evocative as ever, though, as you can hear below, followed by the Blonde rendition for comparison’s sake. Via his Instagram, Blake has delivered a number of other ...
Alicia Keys Teams with NFL to Launch $1 Billion Endowment for Black Businesses and Communities
As America continues to wrestle with the systemic racism that to this day impacts millions of its citizens, the NFL is undergoing a reckoning of its own. After blackballing Colin Kaepernick for beginning the “take a knee” protests during the National Anthem, the league has been clawing its way back from a hole of racial insensitivity. The latest move comes in collaboration with Alicia Keys, who has agreed to perform at the NFL Kickoff event and is teaming with the league to create a $1 billion endowment fund for Black business and communities. In a statement to Billboard, Keys said she saw the collaboration as an opportunity to “use my platform to further racial equity.” She also penned a letter explaining her decision to take part in the Kickoff show, which airs tonight, September 10th, a...
Bilal Releases New Star-Studded Album VOYAGE-19: Stream
Veteran R&B and soul artist Bilal has returned with his first album in five years. Stream VOYAGE-19 below via Bandcamp. The long-awaited follow-up to 2015’s In Another Life was created over the course of just three days last month in partnership with Brooklyn-based studio HighBreedMusic. Joining the Grammy-winning musician remotely was a long list of special guests, who all recorded their parts in real time as part of a live event. Among those who participated: Erykah Badu, Robert Glasper, Nick Hakim, Cory Henry, Madison McFerrin, Marcus Strickland, and Jaime Woods. Ben Williams, Ray Angry, Brandee Younger, Marcus Gilmore, Louis Cato, and Melanie Charles also appear on the project. VOYAGE-19 is broken up into three separate parts, one for each day: “Day One – Warning-19”, “Day Two...
Sade Announce This Far Vinyl Box Set with All Six Albums
Sade Adu and her eponymous band have announced a new vinyl box set that collects every Sade album to date. The career-summing This Far will be available October 9th through Sony Music. Over six luscious LPs, Sade has written about the great human passions with disarming sincerity and a killer instinct for the smooth. The lady herself was always the star, ensnaring and elusive, with a rare gift for retaining her charms even as she maintained her privacy. But real ones know, Sade is a beloved band and not just a beloved singer, and the contributions of Stuart Matthewman (saxophone/guitar), Andrew Hale (keyboards), and Paul Spencer Denman (bass) should not be dismissed. Now, all six records — Diamond Life (1984), Promise (1985), Stronger Than Pride (1988), Love Deluxe (1992), Lovers Rock...
Song of the Week: SZA Simmers with Infatuation on Surprise Single “Hit Different”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify New Sounds playlist. Stardom didn’t come immediately for SZA, nor did she take a path most would associate with a typical rise to fame and fortune. Long before she began topping charts, earning Grammy noms, or collaborated with Kendrick Lamar on Consequence of Sound’s 2018 Song of the Year, “All the Stars” (from the Black Panther album), the singer-songwriter — raised orthodox Muslim and later studied as a marine biology major — was honing her craft, developing her voice, and slowly building a fan base and reputation. If industry stories are to be believed, SZA worked so hard and obsessively on her game-changing debut, 2017’s Ctrl, that her label final...
