Category: Features
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What Do You Call It? Islands-flavoured? R&B/Hip-Hop fusion? Carib-pop?
Hi, I’m Marvin Sparks and I appreciate all types of music (generic mucho?). You can follow me on Twitter to see the madness I listen to. Some may criticise, but I’m genre-blind; it’s all about chord progressions, drums and (in my case) HEAVY bass. While I say I’m genre-blind, this whole post is about genres.…
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Mara Hruby: From Her Eyes, From The Heart
The name Mara Hruby flows off your tongue like a beautiful melody, so it’s only fitting that she chose music as her career. Starting early — singing in class and listening to music constantly at home with family – it was her natural path.
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Usher previews new album in London, talks fatherhood’s influence on “Sins Of My Father” | Album Preview
“I wanted to give you the foundation and allow you to hear where I am, and what the essence of expectations should be,” R&B superstar Usher Raymond says of tracks shared with London media at the preview event for his new album Looking 4 Myself (which contrary to reports is not called The Shanertance), held…
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Whitney Houston: A Voice of a Generation (Aug 9, 1963 – Feb 11, 2012)
The beatific voice of a generation known as Whitney Houston passed away on the afternoon of February 11 in Beverly Hills, California at 3:55 pm PST at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The loss of Houston comes on the heels of the passing of the late Don Cornelius ten days prior. Her passing came as earth…
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Don Cornelius: A Soul Revolutionary (Sept 27, 1936 – Feb 1, 2012)
The soul sonic force known as Don Cornelius passed away on the morning of February 1 in Sherman Oaks, CA at 4am from a self-inflicted gunshot. The loss of Cornelius sent the world into shellshock this morning and it continues the tragic trend of the Soul community losing our legends at a crippling rate. His…
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SiairaShawn : Get Familiar
The skyscrapers and lights of New York City have a way of taking people from their hometowns to the beauty of the fast paced culture. If you want to be an actor, model, fashion designer, or in SiairaShawn’s case a singer, the city is the place for you.
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Kof : Get Familiar
No stranger to the music scene, this young Liverpudlian first generated a buzz under the alias of Young Kof with a sound that combined house and electro. Having performing at Glastonbury on the BBC Introducing Stage in 2009 and collaborated with the Godfather of Grime Wiley in 2010 on his debut track “Fire It Up,” the singer now simply going by Kof has built…
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Dot Rotten : Get Familiar
This time last year, Dot Rotten was already a highly accomplished MC and producer with a substantial reputation in the UK’s underground music scene. Now, after an outstanding 2010, the South Londoner, signed to major label Mercury Records, heads this year’s queue of underground rappers on the cusp of breaking through into the mainstream. Last month,…
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Raf Riley: Get Familiar
Raf Riley is crazy. In a musical sense (and only in the best possible way) this hot new producer from North London, signed to Labrinth‘s Odd Child imprint, is substantially off-kilter. Given that his superstar artist/producer label boss inserted an operatic monk choir into his already groundbreaking most recent single (released on a record label…
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Angel: Get Familiar
In the space of around 18 months, West Londoner Angel has gone from virtually unknown to UK R&B’s prince-in-waiting, signed to a major record label and with a quality debut EP (that featured guest appearances from almost all of the UK’s hottest artists) already under his belt. Having signed a publishing deal with Universal alongside his songwriting…