Loyal fans know Estelle as a vibrant female rapper who started her musical ventures in 2004 with The 18th Day and went on to release her second album, the gold-certified Shine, in 2008. Both albums received a great response, making the British singer/occasional rapper a force to be reckoned with.
Having already made her mark on her home turf of the UK, it was time to take her name and achievements to the U.S. Showing no fear whilst being so far away from home, the singer has made a mark in the States since meeting John Legend and signing to Atlantic/Homeschool Records.
After making her first chart appearance with the Kanye West-assisted single "American Boy," the success that was to follow was set in stone. Now with a U.S. tour, several accolades and TV appearances all complete, her third studio album, All Of Me, is out in the open.
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...
Keri Hilson doesn’t particularly care what you think, especially if you think she’s wrong. The 28-year-old is a regular (and not always unwitting) magnet for controversy but claims to be nonplussed by the chirping of her naysayers. “I don’t feel backlash”, she tells SoulCulture bluntly, “I rarely feel it”. Given that in the past two years, Hilson has been attacked for her choice of collaborators, accused of cynically sexing-up her image, and disparaged for taking perceived indirect shots at her female peers, it’s lucky she deals so level-headedly with the running commentary.
Still going strong in 2011, the Wu-Tang revolution, continues get Hip Hoppers amped like the first time they ever came across the Staten Island natives. One question which continues to remain unanswered (besides when the new joint Wu album will be released) is which member has the most stellar catalog of albums? Whilst there’s room for many debates, the Chef Raekwon is one name who can lay claim to the accolade. Putting out fine, cinematic material since the 1995 classic Only Built For Cuban Linx, Rae’s importance to the branding of the Wu remains ever much important, and his latest release intends to keep the ‘W’ in the circle of rap’s greats still present in the new millennium.
After performing at The Roundhouse in London on the 17th of this month, Talib Kweli invited SoulCulture down to the studio the next day, where he was joined by Akon affiliated UK emcee Sway to record a song together.
He later refers to other homegrown talents Kano, Estelle, Ty, Roots Manuva and Blak Twang as some of his favourite local artists, but refers to an overall sense of the UK scene as being "real goonish right now," judging from what he's seen online.
"Goonish rap for the sake of being goonish, it comes off real cartoon-ish..." he states. "I saw some stuff that just came across as, like, 'You don't even have to try that hard, dude'," recalling a time S.A.S "ran up on" him outside the BBC in the past.
In-between recording and shooting a music video in London, Kweli spoke to SoulCulture TV about his displeasure at the gig of the night before, his experiences of the UK's Capital and why he chose to shoot a video here for a song from his new album, Gutter Rainbows.
He also discusses how he perceives his growth across albums and another album he is also working on titled Prisoners Of Conscious, describing the forthcoming Gutter Rainbows project as "like the early outtakes of Prisoners Of Conscious, but embellished upon."
He names some of his favourite self-penned verses as
Loyal fans know Estelle as a vibrant female rapper who started her musical ventures in 2004 with The 18th Day and went on to release her second album, the gold-certified Shine, in 2008. Both albums received a great response, making the British singer/occasional rapper a force to be reckoned with.
Having already made her mark on her home turf of the UK, it was time to take her name and achievements to the U.S. Showing no fear whilst being so far away from home, the singer has made a mark in the States since meeting John Legend and signing to Atlantic/Homeschool Records.
After making her first chart appearance with the Kanye West-assisted single "American Boy," the success that was to follow was set in stone. Now with a U.S. tour, several accolades and TV appearances all complete, her third studio album, All Of Me, is out in the open.
Keri Hilson doesn’t particularly care what you think, especially if you think she’s wrong. The 28-year-old is a regular (and not always unwitting) magnet for controversy but claims to be nonplussed by the chirping of her naysayers. “I don’t feel backlash”, she tells SoulCulture bluntly, “I rarely feel it”.
Given that in the past two years, Hilson has been attacked for her choice of collaborators, accused of cynically sexing-up her image, and disparaged for taking perceived indirect shots at her female peers, it’s lucky she deals so level-headedly with the running commentary.
Still going strong in 2011, the Wu-Tang revolution, continues get Hip Hoppers amped like the first time they ever came across the Staten Island natives. One question which continues to remain unanswered (besides when the new joint Wu album will be released) is which member has the most stellar catalog of albums?
Whilst there’s room for many debates, the Chef 
After performing at The Roundhouse in London on the 17th of this month,