Common's new album " Black America Again " RAP ROYALTY

I've been a huge fan of Lonnie Rashid Lynn,JNR aka Common ever since I heard his debut album " Can I Borrow A Dollar " in 1992.....24 years ago brothers and sisters !
My personal favourite is 2005's " Be " featuring " The Corner " with seminal " Last Poets ".....rap GENIUS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mnKNr2Tiq8

and " They say " featuring Kanye West and John Legend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_OmxdXkdNM

I followed his career ,including the brilliant Oscar-winning " Glory " from the movie Selma

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZOKvYcx_o

 but wasn't sure if he would make another great album......little did I know, as his new album  " Black America Today " may just be his very best ....from the opening " Joy And Peace " featuring the MIGHTY Bilal this album is utterly brilliant .
Classic Conscious lyrics featuring some of SOUL's very best including Stevie Wonder and more Bilal....brilliant production....pure HIP-HOP
" Home " featuring Bilal once again represents all I LOVE about SOUL music and RAP...it's glorious...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-TQc9-3U_Y

Listen to Black America Today NOW.......
The Soul Guru loves YOU
xx

The Fedz...The most significant British Black Music Collective since Soul II Soul

 I write this blog because I LOVE music ...especially all types of  British Black Music,Electronic ,Drum & Bass and Hip-Hop ( aka Rap/Grime ;-) )  ( I loathe EDM and all that crap ) .

 In my long and illustrious career I was fortunate enough to sign Loose Ends,Soul II Soul,Maxi Priest,Leftfield,Grooverider and more unique innovative acts who shared a simple common denominator...they made great original music that changed the perception of British music all over the world .

I signed Soul II Soul 28 years ago ....it seems like yesterday....and in the intervening years I haven't heard another artist/band or collective who come close to having the same impact musically and culturally ....until 6 weeks ago when my great friend  Garfield Hackett sent me a video by The Fedz to their debut track " What's My Name "....I was blown away 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-e9O4ti0Swsh Black Music

Since then I've heard 6 more tracks and been to the studio to meet the man behind the project  the LEGENDARY Dennis Bovell ,and one of his co-collaborators ,the mysteriously named Q .

For those of you youngsters unfamiliar with Dennis's  history he was bass player in iconic British reggae band Matumbi and was a long-time collaborator with the great Linton Kwesi Johnson...my personal favourite album of his is his incredible collaboration with Steve Mason " Ghosts Outside "

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9j7cUnkka8

The Fedz are simply brilliant...a true collaboration,a collective meeting of incredibly talented musicians dedicated to creating outstanding music.....I'm lucky as I've heard the music...suffice to say that it's the best British Black Music I've heard since Soul II Soul....and I've never said that before 

The collective have an amazing vocalist..Karmie ( forgive me if I got the spelling wrong Karmie ) whose voice is unbelievable...effortlessly soaring with clear and precise diction .

The songs are brilliant ...real songs with real melodies ,great lyrics and choruses.....wait til you hear " Imagine " 

Mista Jam and Clara Ampho are on the new track " Best I Ever Had " and it was featured on Steve Lamacq's " Round Table " show on 6 music yesterday

The Fedz gonna be HUGE.....get onboard now !

New music from Frank Ocean,Mac Miller and Danny Brown

Apologies  to all you believers,non-believers and don't knows....The Soul Guru has been listening to a lot of new music but  I haven't felt inspired to write about a lot of it as the majority of what I heard was just mediocre rubbish .
 However there exceptions...but not always for the right reasons.....
Once I heard Frank Ocean's brilliant first releases in 2011 ,Novocane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMfPJT4XjAI

and Swim Good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmN9rZW0HGo

then his phenomenal debut album " Channel Orange ", in 2012 I believed he could be a worthy contemporary successor to Marvin Gaye due to his intensely honest and personal lyrics .
In August this year Frank Ocean released his second studio album " Blonde " . I was so excited....bought it the day it came out and settled down to listen to more great music .
To begin with I was confused by the album but thought if I stuck with it more would be revealed ....after a month of listening I came to the conclusion that far from being a work of genius it was pretentious self-important rubbish.....just like Terence Tent D'Arby's dreadful second album " Neither Fish Nor Fowl " .
He obviously didn't have a label or A&R guy strong enough to tell him the truth about the album .
Blonde is a MAJOR disappointment

I love it when folk introduce me to new music ...especially when either of my sons - Jamie and Callum- play me something I really like .
I was staying with Jamie a couple of weeks ago and he said " Dad have you heard Mac Miller's new album " The Divine Feminine " ? I'd heard tracks from his 2015 album " GO:OD AM " ...100 Grandkids being especially memorable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDCoM1x7U38

The Divine Feminine is a great listen,a collection of excellent  contemporary songs featuring Anderson.Paak on the brilliant " Dang " ! A classic dancefloor filler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR3GQfryp9M

and " We " featuring Cee-Lo-Green

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL--KSNxfy8

The Divine Feminine is HIGHLY recommended

Last but certainly by no means least is Danny Brown whose terrific new album Atrocity Exhibition is truly outstanding
His last 2 albums , XXX from 2011 and Old from 2013 earned Danny a lot of critical acclaim but in my opinion Atrocity Exhibition has put him the Premier League of MCs...tracks like " Really Doe " featuring the ubiquitous Kendrick Lamar , Ab-Soul and Earl Sweatshirt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spfsdpuvUyQ

and Pneumonia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs-Dc3_eiV8

demonstrate an artist who has developed over time and is now at the peak of his powers....once again HIGHLY recommended

The Soul Guru loves YOU
xx

New music from Massive Attack & George The Poet.....Oh Joy Oh Bliss !

Good morning friends,fiends,believers,non-believers and don't knows......I am an extremely happy Soul Guru as there is some truly outstanding new music for me to share with you and enjoy...
Initially from a collective whose music has been a constant in my life since 1991's seminal " Blue Lines " album...the MIGHTY Massive Attack and secondly from a young artist who I've written about before...a unique talent....George The Poet

Massive Attack...the name says it all....3D,Daddy G,Mushroom and a galaxy of supreme guest vocalists...Horace Andy, Shara Nelson,Tracey Thorn and Elizabeth Fraser from The Cocteau Twins ,Mos Def to name a few..have been making great music for 25 years and show no sign of stopping thankfully .
This year's " Ritual Spirit " EP featuring Tricky,Young Fathers and Roots Manuva  was their first new music for ages ( released initially via the Fantom app ) and showed that Massive Attack remain a force to be reckoned with ....
Last Friday I awoke to 2 new Massive Attack tracks...." The Spoils " featuring Mazzy Star vocalist Hope Sendoval  and " Come Near Me " featuring one of my favourite British artists...Ghostpoet
The video,Directed by Ed Morris, is superb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY0TZQTwwbk

Massive Attack are true greats of British music, I still listen to all their albums and they sound as fresh as ever and continue to make challenging intelligent music for us,we're privileged to have them improve our lives .....they are brilliant live too !

From true LEGENDS of British music to a new star....George The Poet
I've been writing about George since his debut release " The Chicken And The Egg " EP in 2014 which  tells the story of premature parenthood and insecurity and remains on my stereogram
In the intervening 2 years a lot has happened for George The Poet....

True story...2 weeks ago I drove my son Callum to Newcastle and he was DJing...he played George The Poet and it sounded SO good......" I wonder when we will hear new music from him " I said as it had been over a year since " Search Party "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akq2dJ9N5Do

Well now we know....last monthe George posted this brilliant explanation of why he chose to leave his label Island Records " No Man Is An Island " ...eloquent,articulate,intelligently expressed it's everything I admire about George The Poet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3wCL91n9bE

Then 3 weeks ago Chase & Status released " Spoken Word " featuring George The Poet.. it's SO brilliant and pointed the way forward

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3wCL91n9bE

Last week George The Poet's " What Do You Reckon " was made available on Spotify on his own George Mpanga label...it's everything I LOVE about his music....intelligent,articulate, humorous but now with a wicked two-step beat.....listen now !

This has been a great week for new music
The Soul Guru loves YOU x

Blood Orange " Freetown Sound " .......today's featured album

From now on I am going to try to blog about new music I'm really impressed by as often as possible....I'd like more to people to read my posts so I'm going to have a go at promoting The Soul Guru on social media .

Blood Orange's new album " Freetown Sound " is another excellent album that I'm enjoying a lot .
Blood Orange is Dev Hynes latest project following his recordings as Lightspeed Champion and Freetown Sound   is Blood Orange's 3rd album....and unquestionably their best so far following " Coastal Grooves " in 2011 and " Cupid Deluxe " in 2013
Dev was named the " 49th Coolest Person In Rock " by the NME in 2007

" Best Of You " featuring Empress of Lyrics was the first track to be made available on Spotify etc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1giWnKWIDo

The awesome " Augustine " already has over 800,000 Youtube views and is one of my favourite tracks of the year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXtzcViZPGA

check the album out on Spotify...it's well worth it

The Soul Guru
x

Michael Kiwanuka's " Love & Hate " is a truly GREAT Soul album

Michael Kiwanuka's new album " Love & Hate ",released on Communion Records, is a truly great SOUL album.....in my opinion one of the best British Soul albums ever

Michael was raised in that well-known SOUL hotbed Muswell Hill ;-)  and won the BBC's Sound Of 2012 poll

I was a bit disappointed by his debut album " Home Again " released in early 2012...to me it sounded like he needed more time to work on his songs

" Love & Hate " ,released 2 weeks ago,shows that he's spent the intervening 3 years working on his songs....the album is a fabulous collection of great songs ....the lyrics and production are as good as anything I've heard this year ..." Love & Hate " is definitely my album of the year so far .

He's been compared to Otis Redding,Bill Withers,Terry Callier and more but  he reminds me of my idol Marvin Gaye more than anyone .....that's not something I say lightly .

The title track is beautiful.......an 8 minute SOUL opus ,Michael's voice is fantastic as is the production....I wish I'd signed him !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMZ4QL0orw0

" Black Man In A White World " is so relevant today given the state of things in the USA at present....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TYlcVNI2AM

That's what real SOUL music has always done...from Marvin to Gamble & Huff and Gil Scott Heron ..it addresses real issues ...before hip-hop SOUL was the music of social protest......thank you Michael Kiwanuka for bring it back and making SOUL music important again........

The Soul Guru loves YOU
xx

The GENIUS that is Maxwell

Friends,fiends,believers,non-believers and don't knows this week's blog features one of the greatest contemporary SOUL artists who has just released his first album for SEVEN long years.....Gerald Maxwell Rivera...aka Maxwell

Listening to his new album blackSUMMERS'night ,the follow-up to 2009's BLACKsummersnight , the second album of a trilogy , makes me glad to be a SOUL man as it encapsulates all I've loved about SOUL music since Marvin changed my life with " What's Going On " .

I've been a huge fan since Maxwell's seminal debut album " Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite " released back in 1996 . At the time I was A&R Director of Columbia ( the label not the country ;-) ) in the UK so saw him perform at numerous Sony conferences and  in front of a real audiences too - as opposed to Sony executives who must have been the worst audience for any artist to play too .

I've been fortunate to see most of the great SOUL artists live...Marvin at The Albert Hall 1974...Stevie Wonder at his peak many times...Prince - possibly the greatest live performer ever -James Brown ....Maxwell is right up there as a live performer...I was astonished when I saw him for the first time in New York at a Columbia Records showcase ,he was amazing ....I met him afterwards and he was such a lovely guy ,modest but so confident in his talent ,quite rightly .

I've always been drawn to the more enigmatic artists.....Marvin,Curtis Mayfield,Prince,Erykah Badu,to name but a few,and Maxwell is worthy of their company

blackSUMMERS'night features the first single " Lake By The Ocean "
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsSu0bRZEHM

It's brilliant....and listening to it it's clear who Frank Ocean's inspiration is !

It's a joy that after a 7 year break Maxwell has returned with a great album,he sounds better than ever,the songs and production are outstanding....do yourself and stream or buy blackSUMMERS'night asap...it will make your life better

The Soul Guru loves YOU
xx