Tamia, Kelly Price, and Deborah Cox had come together to form a new female super-group The Queen Project. It’s been entirely too long since we’ve heard any new material from both Tamia and Kelly (Deborah Cox released an album last year) and I’m super duper excited to hear what they have in store. While no full music is available yet, the trio has released an interview where you can hear a small preview of their debut single “Queen”. All three ladies look absolutely splendiferous!

Hit the jump to see the interview!(...) Continue Reading →.

Allow me to introduce you to one of today’s hottest rising soul singers. Jon Bibbs hails from Richmond, Virgina and is slowly making a name for himself in the independent music scene. When I say this man is the truth, you better listen!

Jon has been developing his musical talents since the age of two, when mother enrolled him in piano classes at Virginia Commonwealth University. By the age of 12 he was playing with the Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra.

After discovering his vocal abilities during a late night recording session while attending Hampton University, Jon Bibbs’ became quite popular throughout the area. In 2001 he released his first project True Story, which swept though the eastern region. His second effort, Red: The Color of Love, garnered him national recognition and heightened anticipation for his last project, Unbreakable.

Jon Bibbs – Heart 2 Heart
(...) Continue Reading →.

Love muffins, let me introduce you to a new artist that goes by the name of Zaho. She’s an Algerian R&B singer living in Canada who has managed to make a name for her self not only in France, but in also in other parts of the world. Her lyrics are in french, but regardless of the language her vocals are stellar! She can easily hold her own against many of the chart-topping R&B divas we have here in the states. After doing a few guest features in the French rap scene, she garnered enough attention to pursue her dreams of a solo record. Her debut album, Dima was released in 2008.

“Incomprise” and “Assassine” in my opinion, are the two stand-out tracks on the album. “Incomprise” is a nice mid-tempo R&B song with a strong baseline and the hard-hitting “Assassine” could easily be compared to any Timbaland production. She recently won both the 2008 MTV Europe Music Award for Best French Artist and the 2009 NRJ Music Award for French Revelation of the Year.

If you’re looking to venture out and expand your musical horizons, Zaho is a great artist and I think you will enjoy her. Take a listen to the tracks below, and to find out more about Zaho, please check out her website!

Zaho – Incomprise: Link
Zaho – Assassine: Link

Zaho – Kif’n'Dir: Link
Zaho – C’est Chelou: Link

As she promotes her new album, Fantasy Ride, Ciara displayed why she’s hands down the best dancer (with arguably the best body) in the music industry with her live renditions of “Love Sex Magic’” featuring Justin Timberlake and “Never Ever” on Saturday Night Live last night. View the above video and I know you will all agree that her “Love Sex Magic” dance performance was down right mesmerizing! “Go Girl” as you dance for your life!

I’m pleased to introduce you guys to the super talented Nikki Jane. With her unique voice and incredible style, Nikki manages to blend the sounds of old-school soul, hip-hop, R&B, funk and rock to create her own unique genre which has been described as “Bold ,sensual, confident and extraordinary….”

Hailing from Roswell, GA, 18 year old Nikki Jane (who’s real name is Valencia Burse) combines highly personal and philosophical lyrics, as well as unusual musical influences together to create a rich texture of sound. She provides a fresh, innovative, alternative to mainstream soul. Her debut single “I Love U” was released in January to online retailers and was also featured on the Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom soundtrack. Her debut EP was released shortly after.

Listen to another song from Nikki Jane called “Neva Again” below! For more information please visit her MySpace page and check her out on YouTube.

Nikki Jane – Neva Again Link 1
Nikki Jane – Neva Again Link 2

In the mist of my sleeplessness last night, I pleasantly ran across again these absolutely amazing live (2007) MSN Tamia performances of songs from her (2006) Between Friends album that she completely infused her heart into. Tamia is one of the most underrated singers currently in the music industry and that’s so terribly sad because she has a voice of an angel. For more information about Tamia visit TamiaWorld.com.

View the live performances after the jump – (...) Continue Reading →.

Mariah Carey (From Merry Christmas Holiday Album)

Whitney Houston and Celine Dion’s versions after the jump! (...) Continue Reading →.

Ne-Yo – Can’t B Good [Link 1]
Janet Jackson – Can’t B Good [Link 2]

Love muffins I almost fell out of my chair when I heard this man’s voice. Take me higher Lord, he is the closest thing we’ve heard to Luther Vandross that has covered one of his songs. This is actually sung as a duet with Cheryl Lynn and Luther, and he did both of them beautifully. The only thing is that I wish it were a longer video. I could listen to that guitar and voice all night. To hear more of L’Debois, visit his YouTube channel for more of his beautiful voice. Thoughts?

I am sure many of you YouTube fanatics & music lovers out there have already heard of Dondria Nicole a.k.a. Phatfffat, but to those of you who haven’t, I’m here to tell you who she is! Dondria is a beautiful girl with a beautiful voice who started singing on YouTube a little under two years ago. Her popularity skyrocketed – she quickly gained many subscribers and millions of views. She caught the attention of Jermaine Dupri, and he signed her to his label, So So Def! She has been working on her debut album which will be out July 29th! The above video takes you on a journey from her beginnings on YouTube as an aspiring singer to becoming a So So Def artist! I wish her all the best in her new career!

Love muffins, I sat down and gave Angie Stone’s new album The Art Of Love & War a thorough listen before watching American’s Next Top Model. Her album was released last October debuting on the Billboard 200 at number 11 selling 45,000 copies.

Angie Stone was definitely good enough for the business, but to her, good enough was unacceptable. With a new sound and a new attitude, The Art Of Love & War defines who Angie Stone truly is; meant to be seen and heard. Which is probably why she felt compelled to write about 90% of the album. Also on the album, “Here We Go” and “Sometimes” are two of the six tracks produced by Jonathan Richmond.

“Take Everything In” is a beautiful song with a nice groove complimenting the spiritual words written for this track. “It’s time for me to step up, he gave me a reason, to walk into my season…,” yes love muffins, this is so true! This song helps confirm that I am on my way to where I need to be. “Make It Last” is about a person leaving the relationship but in the back of their mind, they are thinking if they made the right decision. I recommend you listen to “Sit Down” and “Pop Pop”. Both songs are super duper sexy! Don’t forget to pick up a copy of the album at your nearest music store if you haven’t done so already. Dim the lights, sit back, and sip on a good shut yo mouth potion!

Check out the talented Renée singing an original song entitled “Goodbye”. Also check out Takiyah’s version of Usher’s hit song “Love In This Club”.

To hear more of her incredible voice, CLICK HERE.

Love Muffins, meet one of the songwriters behind Mimi’s splendiferous song “Touch My Body”! So So Def/EMI signed songwriter, Cri$tyle, teamed up with producer/songwriter C.Tricky Stewart to create this future #1 hit. Learn more about Cri$tyle as she talks about growing up in Atlanta, signing with Jermaine Dupri, and working with Mariah for the first time which she describes as “a dream come true”. In addition to “Touch My Body”, Cri$tyle also co-wrote three more songs on Mariah’s upcoming album E=MC² due out April 15th.

CLICK HERE to download one of the hottest songs that I have listened to in a long time by one of the most divinely (unsigned) talented singers I have ever heard! Please show your love HERE!

My love muffins, this man can cater to me anytime! Lord have mercy! This time around, we are putting the spotlight on Chris Cole singing his version of Cater 2 U. Visit his Youtube channel HERE for more songs by him. Continue to post who you think should be featured in the spotlight on the LBS forum.

Every year, Clive Davis uses his Pre-Grammy party to breakthrough his new artists and introduce them to industry insiders. Past artists have included Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, and last year it was Jennifer Hudson. This year, its all about Leona Lewis giving her debut performance in the US. What do you think of her performance of “Bleeding Love”?

Here are some past Grammy Performances:
Jennifer Hudson

Alicia Keys

Jill Scott’s new DVD/CD combo, Live In Paris, hits stores today it is absolutely wonderful. Treat yourself and get it, this is exactly what I needed! Take me higher lord!

Listen to her rendition of “The Fact Is (I Need You)” from the DVD and be uplifted!

Born on January 19th, 1983 in Manhattan, NY,this child protégé was born to traditional-Japanese-style singer mother and a musician/producer father, music was this girls destiny.

Traveling as child between New York and Tokyo, Utada Hikaru remembers going to the studio after school to do homework, taking naps under huge speakers, and watching her parents record music. Utada composed and recorded her first song at the age of 11, and recorded her first solo album in English, which she had written and composed most of the songs. Her first Japanese album, release in 1999, has sold over 9 million copies. She’s currently one of top selling artist in Japan and has been crowned by her fans as the Princess of J-Pop. This girl is like the Japanese Janet Jackson!

In 2004, Utada released an English album under the Island Def Jam label entitled Exodus, that featured production from super-producer Timbaland. Now here’s the sad part about this Love Muffin’s, and is part of the reason why the music industry frustrates me these days. Exodus sold 500,000+ copies in it’s first week worldwide, and was Utada’s 4 consecutive release to debut at #1, which eventually ended up selling 1.35 million copies. I’m going to assume that the album must be good. But how many copies were sold in the US? A weak 30,000 units! My question is why is it that if your music is not some factory-made BS that they’re trying to feed our ears today, you won’t have a chance being successful in the US market? Any thoughts Love Muffins?

Here are some select Utada Hikaru tracks, including a duet with Ne-Yo!

“Let Me Give You My Love” (produced by Timbaland)
Ne-Yo feat.Utada – Do You
Exodus 04 (produced by Timbaland)
The Workout
Simple and Clean
Blow My Whistle feat. Foxy Brown from the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack
Utada and Kiley Dean – By Your Side (produced by Timbaland)

And check out her first video for “Easy Breezy” off of Exodus!

Take me higher lord, love muffins you have to watch the below video of Jayms Madison in the studio with Teron Beal & Jimi Kendrix free-styling “Definition Of Love”… you better sang Jayms!

If you think you got what it takes to be in Jayms Madison’s upcoming video for “Room Service” choreographed by Jonte (...) Continue Reading →.

Courtesy of my friend, Kevin of Kevipod Music, I bring you the first hot like fire single, “Surveillance”, from songwriter/Singer Wynter Gordon. Wynter’s first taste of success in the music game came when one of her songs was featured on Mary J. Blige’s highly successful album The Breakthrough. The Dream, Bryan-Michael Cox, Ryan Tedder are some of the producers that have helped Wynter who is signed to Atlantic Records bring to life her debut CD to be titled Wynter which hits the streets later this year. Well she definitely has a new fan in me! Love muffins we have another splendiferous young talent on the way, thoughts?

Download:

Wynter Gordon – Surveillance [Link 1]
Wynter Gordon – Surveillance [Link 2]

One of my Love Muffins just sent over this video of a talented new artist, Zach Pincus covering Britney’s hit single, “Gimme More”! Zach comes from Thousand Oaks, California with a fresh new Pop/Rock/Acoustic sound. Head over to Zach’s Official MySpace Page for three new original singles written and performed by him and upcoming tour dates in the Los Angeles area! Enjoy!

Love muffins check out this new buzz single by Island Urban Music artist (signed by Jermaine Dupri) Jason Fox titled “Coffee Girl”, that features Kat Deluna. Does he sound familiar? Well, Foxx released his debut single called “Aunt Jackie” earlier this year, which was featured in JD’s Dunkin Donuts commercial. This cutie-pie is currently working on his debut solo album titled Year of the Fox tentatively scheduled for next summer. So love muffins are we going to jam or slam this track?

Jason Fox Featuring Kat Deluna – Coffee Girl [Link 1]
Jason Fox Featuring Kat Deluna – Coffee Girl [Link 2]

Note: I provide two links for all the songs I post on LBS in case one of the links goes down, you still have one that works.

Love muffins you already know I love myself some Renee Thomas, I have featured her twice on LBS before! So without further ado here’s comes the third time! This should have been signed lack since she was born talent recently covered one of my current favorite songs, Keyshia Cole’s soulful “I Remember” and she worked it over! Indeed! I just love how she says the word “broke” – so comforting! Please checkout Renee Thomas YouTube page HERE and listen to her stellar cover of “I Will Survive” HERE! I love you Renee and know that you have a friend in me! (B. Scott is jamming to RT real hard right now!)

This talented woman is Katy Shotter. The 20 year old was signed by Beyonce’s dad Matthew Knowles last year after winning his reality TV show “Chancers” which only aired in the UK and has been working hard on her album all year. She has an amazing voice! It’s surprising to see such a petite woman come out with such a big voice!

Check out a video of her performing HERE. She opened for Beyonce in Europe and due to popular demand was asked to open for her in America and Canada by Miss Knowles herself. Check out her debut single “Complicated Woman” which is from her album “Beautifully Strange” due out in 2008. It’s just splendiferous!

Download “Complicated Woman” HERE.

What do you think Love Muffins?

This unique sounding singer is Miss Asia Cruise. She is just splendiferous! No photos of her have been released leaving people thinking “Who Is Asia Cruise” hence the name on her Official Myspace, only silhouettes of her body have been released (as shown above). Her debut single will be released in early 2008 and is called “Selfish”. I love it! The video should be out soon and we’ll be the first to have it! Love Muffins, you just have to check her out!

Download two of her amazing songs here:

Step Step
Selfish

Tell me what you think?

EDIT: Love Muffins, she’s not the new Pussycat Doll. That’s Asia Nitollano, they’re totally different people but Asia Nitollano has reportedly left PCD for a solo career.

This very talented girl is Esha. She started out posting videos on youtube which you can view HERE and has songs on her Music Myspace, some she wrote herself including the spendiferous “Priceless” and remakes of songs like Chris Brown’s “Kiss Kiss” and “Bed” by J. Holiday . Make sure to check her out!

Also download some of her songs here:

Kiss Kiss Remake
Priceless
Bed Remake

When you think of hip hop and the movement that has embodied the force behind the genre, Milwaukee Wisconsin is probably the last place that would enter into your mind, until now that is. Enter, Casta. Casta represents a movement that not only transcends political boundaries and conscious awareness, Casta symbolizes a growing movement of hip hop culture which focuses on what really happens when people “stop being polite and start being real”.

Listen:

Casta – Message

To read more Click (...) Continue Reading →.