Tag: new release

FreeWorld – D-Up (Here’s To Diversity)’

April 20, 2021

Memphis Tennessee is probably the most important city with regard to the development of popular music. It’s the home of the king of Rock and Roll, it’s one of the birthplaces of the blues, it marks the gateway to the Dirty South, and and it’s the birthplace of many influential rappers and rap styles. Soul, R&B, gospel, funk, jazz, rockabilly, psychedelia: there’s hardly any American musical style that isn’t being done in Memphis, and being done well.

Sparkle – ‘Easy’

April 20, 2021

You may remember Sparkle from her debut single, ‘Be Careful’, released by the Chicago Soul and R&B singer back in 1998. It was one of the year’s defining songs, and it hailed the arrival of a gorgeous new voice, finding its way to the top of Billboard’s “R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay” and charts all over the world. Sparkle followed this success with a number of other hits, including ‘Time to Move On’, ‘Lovin’ You’, and ‘What About’. The songs were sexy tunes, but they were also grown-up pop tracks, which addressed complicated relationships in direct, unsparing language. Sparkle could communicate intense passion and true sophistication at the same time, and people noticed.

Fresh Da Zoe – ‘No Sleep’

April 20, 2021

Born in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, but now in the US, Fresh Da Zoe doesn’t sound particularly menacing, or angry, or secretive on his new single, ‘No Sleep’. But with lyrics like, “If I want you dead, you won’t hear about it,” making the boast point-blank, almost cheerfully, utterly confident about his ability to eliminate rivals without breaking a sweat: that’s probably more frightening. He’s effortlessly lethal, yet at the same time he’s able to say the most remarkable and threatening things in an instantly approachable way.