Returning to the frontline and ready to offer up some of her signature sound, Alicia Keys puts out her RCA Records debut Girl On Fire. Her fifth studio album overall, it’s the first time she’s released any new material since 2009’s Element of Freedom. With her marriage to producer Swizz Beatz and the birth of their first son, Egypt, part reason for the delay, there’s also been a shift in record labels, some sneaker designing, and a bit of charity work thrown in to the mix for good measure. Refocusing her energies on the music, her most recent ongoing promotional campaign has seen her very much stroll back in to the limelight, and to a good reception.
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. Seems a bit contradictory until I explain why...
Bruno Mars, the name about a year or so ago conjured up an image of a neighbouring planets alien boxer. However, we very well know him to be the singer/songwriter/producer who is blazing himself a trail in the world of pop music. His debut album Doo Wops & Hooligans weighs in at only 10 tracks heavy, a suitable expansion on his single and featuring offerings to date.
“When we’re in the studio what are our muses? Alcohol. Lot’s of it. And candy bars. And we like wild animals running around...” Bruno Mars jests with a straight face.
This, along with an awful imitation of a British accent, sets the tone for our hilarious interview.
By the time Bruno’s feature on B.o.B’s “Nothing On You” brought the singer/songwriter/producer into the public consciousness, he had co-written and produced Sugababes’ “Get Sexy”, Flo-Rida’s number 1 single “Right Round”, K’Naan’s breakout World Cup track “Wavin’ Flag” and Brandy’s “Long Distance” with his production comrades Phillip Lawrence and Ari Levine [better known as two thirds of The Smeezingtons].
The latest Bruno-assisted cuts capturing audience attention are Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire” and Cee Lo’s “Fuck You”.
On Thursday night Bruno Mars was the latest emerging talent to grace the infamous stage at west London's weekly hip-spot, YoYo (in the Notting Hill Arts Club). Like any YoYo night, the small basement club was packed beyond capacity with fans, industry heads and London's contrived 'cool kids'.
Following an energetic performance from Mike Posner, Bruno took the stage with fellow Smeezington Phillip Lawrence and the rest of his band. He opened with "Other Side", which, on wax features Cee Lo and B.O.B. Bruno coaxed the sound engineers through the microphones' technical difficulties during the song, which detracted from the opening.
However, the shaky start was only a hiccup, and Bruno and his boys easily won the crowd over with his interpretation of "Nothin' On You", his hit with B.O.B.
"I've always dreamed of performing Hendrix in London, can I play some Hendrix?" Bruno asked before rocking out on his electric guitar to Jimi Hendrix's "Fire". He followed this up with "Billionaire".
The characteristics of "Hip Hop" have undergone several changes over the years. The genre has become associated with many new trends; one of which is the rappers themselves accompanying their verses with their own singing (Biz Markie made it humorous, Ja Rule suffocated the style). Andre 3000 took on this format some six years ago and to this day his Love Below album is still held in high regard. The next ATL superstar who hopes to follow in the same path is B.O.B. Possessing a fiery Southern delivery, Bobby Ray also lays claim to an impressive falsetto voice, which has flooded over many mixtapes and guest collaborations. But when it comes to his first solo outing, which of his skills will triumph; the harmonic soul star or the brazen lyricist?
Returning to the frontline and ready to offer up some of her signature sound, Alicia Keys puts out her RCA Records debut Girl On Fire. Her fifth studio album overall, it’s the first time she’s released any new material since 2009’s Element of Freedom. With her marriage to producer Swizz Beatz and the birth of their first son, Egypt, part reason for the delay, there’s also been a shift in record labels, some sneaker designing, and a bit of charity work thrown in to the mix for good measure. Refocusing her energies on the music, her most recent ongoing promotional campaign has seen her very much stroll back in to the limelight, and to a good reception.
“When we’re in the studio what are our muses? Alcohol. Lot’s of it. And candy bars. And we like wild animals running around...” 
On Thursday night Bruno Mars was the latest emerging talent to grace the infamous stage at west London's weekly hip-spot, YoYo (in the Notting Hill Arts Club). Like any YoYo night, the small basement club was packed beyond capacity with fans, industry heads and London's contrived 'cool kids'.
Following an energetic performance from Mike Posner, Bruno took the stage with fellow Smeezington Phillip Lawrence and the rest of his band. He opened with "Other Side", which, on wax features Cee Lo and B.O.B. Bruno coaxed the sound engineers through the microphones' technical difficulties during the song, which detracted from the opening.
However, the shaky start was only a hiccup, and Bruno and his boys easily won the crowd over with his interpretation of "Nothin' On You", his hit with B.O.B.
"I've always dreamed of performing Hendrix in London, can I play some Hendrix?" Bruno asked before rocking out on his electric guitar to Jimi Hendrix's "Fire". He followed this up with "Billionaire". 
The characteristics of "Hip Hop" have undergone several changes over the years. The genre has become associated with many new trends; one of which is the rappers themselves accompanying their verses with their own singing (Biz Markie made it humorous, Ja Rule suffocated the style). Andre 3000 took on this format some six years ago and to this day his Love Below album is still held in high regard. The next ATL superstar who hopes to follow in the same path is