Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 5:22PM With the release of her third single 'Light Up (The World)' just 10 days away, Yasmin today uploaded this stunning cover of one of my favourite tracks from Frank Ocean's critically acclaimed mixtape 'Nostalgia, ULTRA'. You can pre-order the forthcoming single HERE and find her on Twitter HERE. Smashed it.
Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 12:51PM 
Taken me a while to get round to listening to this, but here is my favourite track from Project Alfie's 5-track mixtape, which sees the 25 year old singer/songwriter reworking Hip-Hop Classics by Jay-Z, OutKast, Dr. Dre, NaS and this one from KanYe West. 'Family Business' has always been one of my favourite KanYe songs, but Alfie definitely does it justice by adding his own unique Soul-infused classic style to it and creating a totally fresh sounding track - can't wait to see what he has to offer in 2012. Download the tape HERE.
Hip-Hop, Kanye West, Project Alfie, R&B, Remix, Rework, Soul Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 10:00PM 
After bringing you the Top 100 Remixes of 2011 on Christmas Eve, here is my Top 100 Songs of 2011. Whereas the majority of the tracks on the remixes list were from an Electronic genre, this list covers a much wider range of music, including Funk, Soul, Hip-Hop, Folk, Alt Rock, Pop, Grime and more. There will be a distinct lack of songs from Rock/Indie artists, but for those people who follow my blog closely, you will already know that this isn't something that I cover on regular basis anyway. 2011 has been a simply mind-blowing year for music, and putting this list together became a much more difficult task than first planned, because I had to get down to an eclectically selected list of 100 tracks from a 8,500 song playlist. As with the remixes list there will be a few selections that you would/wouldn't have in your list (or higher than I have them), but for me this covers everything positive that has been released in 2011 and the incredibly wide diversity in sound. Hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed putting it together over the past 3 months, see you all in 2012 and thank you for your continued support. Happy New Year and Happy Birthday to me (for New Year's Eve)!
Monday, December 26, 2011 at 1:05PM 
Frank Ocean, one of the stars of 2011, recently took to his Tumblr and let go of this short, but brilliant, unreleased piece of music. Can't wait to hear his debut LP next year:
"I just listened to this a few times for myself. Figured maybe some else needed to hear it - it’s called ‘4 tears’."
Frank Ocean, R&B, Soul Friday, December 23, 2011 at 10:00PM 
It's a week before the end of the year, which means it's time for the first of my two 'Top 100 of 2011' lists. This is the Top 100 Remixes of the year, which mainly consists of my favourite reworks from the cream of the crop when it comes to Electronic music, alongside a selection of Hip-Hop/Soul tracks for good measure. When I started to compile my Top 100 Songs in September, I wasn't going to do a remixes list, but then realised how much of a shame it would be to not appreciate the time and effort that has gone into creating all of these songs that have been smashing up our clubs and blessing our ears over the past 12 months. There are some commercially successful remixes in here, along with a few under appreciated remixes and definitely a couple that you will have missed along the way. Granted there may be a few selections that you would/wouldn't have in your list (or higher than I have them), but for me this covers everything positive that has been released in 2011 and the incredibly wide diversity in sound. So yeah, hit the jump to see/listen to all 100 remixes, and hopefully you'll enjoy listening to them as much as I enjoyed putting the list together.
Top 100 Songs of 2011: New Year's Eve...
Saturday, December 17, 2011 at 6:38PM 
A new piece from John Legend surfaced today, which is believed to be on a forthcoming album that is set to be released at some point in 2012. The sound is a little different to his usual stuff, but I love it, and he is still without doubt one of my favourite artists of the 21st century.
John Legend, R&B, Soul Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 12:36PM 
Here are two of my favourite tracks from Anthony Hamilton's fourth studio album, Back To Love, which is the follow up to his Gold-certified, critically-acclaimed 2008 release 'The Point of it All'. The album features production by industry legends and Grammy Award winning producers Kenny 'Babyface' Edmonds, Salaam Remi, Kelvin Wooten and Hamilton himself. With his distinctive voice and signature grit, Soul and Funk, Hamilton has gained a steady and loyal fan base throughout his career, beginning with his 2003 platinum-certified debut album. A modern-day Bobby Womack, and one of my favourite Soul singers of the 21st Century. Out December 16th.
Anthony Hamilton, R&B, Soul Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 6:47PM 
Here are my two favourite tracks from Rebecca Ferguson's debut album, Heaven, which was released today on Syco. Not a huge fan of X-Factor contestants, but this girl has a simply incredible voice, and the 60s vibe that the album has is difficult for anyone to not appreciate. A few boring moments along the way, but overall a very pleasant listen - hopefully she'll last a bit longer than Duffy did. Get your copy HERE.
Pop, R&B, Rebecca Ferguson, Soul Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at 10:45PM Stevie pops in to see Ellen Degeneres and perform one of his (countless) all-time classics. One of the greatest men to ever walk the Earth - blows my mind every time I see him take to the stage.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 7:32PM 
Having brought you the three leaks from Amy Winehouse's first posthumous album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, here are two of my favourite (unheard) tracks from the album. It was said by all who worked with Amy that she never sang or played a song the same way twice. With this in mind, it quickly became apparent to Salaam and Mark that they had a collection of songs that deserved to be heard, a collection of songs that were a fitting treatment to Amy the artist and, as importantly, Amy the friend. This is a must have album for any Amy (music) fan. Available December 6th.
Amy Winehouse, R&B, Soul 