…Paris for 4 days.
Need to get out of LDN Town for a bit. The PinBoard crew will be out in the French capital in full force, having all kinds of dun. And, er, while the picture above is beautiful – it best not rain!!! Anyways, I’ll back on Monday, so don’t expect much from me until then.
Have yourself a lovely weekend and I shall catch ya’ll on my return!
Peace, Love & Bonjour (?)
Speeakz
I’ve been waiting for this Melanie Fiona album & mixtape to drop, but in the mean time here goes the first official leak off her collaboration project with ?uestlove & The Illadephonics…
Melanie Fiona & The Illadelphonics – “Ay Yo”
Sounds overly good. You know I got mad love for Melanie and her voice anyways, but this is sounding real nice. Smooth and acoustic, just the way I like it. Ya know. Cannot wait for the mixtape and album.
Peace, Love & Melanie Fiona
Speeakz
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB6A8QojiDk&feature=player_embedded]
…And erm, does it pretty well too? Damn?
Peace, Love & Brandy
Speeakz
Check the first single of the two’s Survival Skills album (Sept 15th)…
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.847319&w=425&h=350&fv=]
Peace, Love & Robot
Speeakz
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jb_JXJtnpw&feature=player_embedded]
BLACKsummer’snight is out NOW!
Peace, Love & Maxwell
Speeakz
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaqaoGUNjvc]
I very rarely say I ‘hate’ a person, but this man continues to piss me right off. No offence to all our American readers, but how this guy is allowed his own show, on one of America’s biggest networks (I hate Fox!), is beyond me. I don’t get it. It’s a disgrace. I know he isn’t representing everyone in the States – thank God.
If you’re not a fan of Michael Jackson’s, that’s fine. But the man has died, he has family, children – leave him alone. I’m sure Mr O’Reilly wouldn’t appreciate us speaking ill of his deceased family.
Peace & Love.
Speeakz
Here goes a brand new Sugababes track…
Lemme know what you think? New direction for the ladies huh? Reinvention needed, eh?
Peace, Love & Sugababes
Speeakz
I don’t feel like posting anything today, but I need to.
Let’s get things poppin’ with Beyonce and this video preview…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ5C4f2BpW4&feature=player_embedded]
The hottest chick in the game – without a doubt. While only brief, you can tell this video is gon’ be big. Pictures surfaced a while ago of her in her robotic, metal costume – bring it on.
The moment the world broke down…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfTmFdZpk9o&feature=player_embedded]
Heartbreaking. Just, heartbreaking.
I know many will think it’s corny, or stupid but last night (UK time) was incredibly hard for me and millions, upon millions of Michael Jackson fans. Saying goodbye to the man we grew up listening to and imitating (badly) was never going to be easy, but hearing his daughter, whom he loved and protected so much speak, so bravely about her father – not Michael Jackson, Wacko Jacko or the King of Pop – but her father, sent chills down my spine and will forever resonate in my mind.
Yesterday’s memorial was fit for a King. Its the sad truth of life, that all too often, we forget to be thankful for people while they are here. We often loose people wishing we’d appreciated them in life as we do in death. Never had there been a clear example of this, as right now. The world laughed, accused, ridiculed Michael Jackson for years – but now, as he lay in peace, finally, those very same people are realising his impact and his legacy. It’s a shame, but I’m happy his legend is finally recognised.
Last night was hard. Now, despite the surreal feeling I personally have, I (we) need to celebrate his life and what he achieved and gave to us. Lets not focus on his untimely death, his struggles in life and for Heavens sake, let’s not remember him as the alien the media has and will, in the coming weeks, portray him to be.
After the jump, watch the moving moments and performances which took place in the Staples Centre in honour of Michael Jackson (please note, not all are full performances – I will update in the morning).
Rest in Peace Michael Jackson.
Speeakz
Yesterday/Lastnight (Sunday 5th July) was insane.
Jumping between Hyde Park/Wireless and Camden/Jazz Cafe was, er, interesting to say the least.
Wireless of course was off the chain for all types of reasons which I will go into on another post (coming soon), but Jazz Cafe and more specifically Marsha Ambrosius was stupendous.
I’ve waited a long, long, long time to catch this lady sing live. Never got a chance to see her during the Floetry days and while they were dope as a group, it was always Marsha’s voice that got me locked in. Her vocals are like no one else’s, soon as you hear it, you know it’s her. Soulful, yet so Hip Hop.
So yea, arrived at the Jazz Cafe for about 10pm, listened to a couple of UKSOULJAM‘s warm up acts and waited for the headliner to arrive. Once she did the audience was 100% locked in. A mass of people who knew lyric-by-lyric, adlib-by-adlib, all eager to see this home grown star return to the London stage. Lord knows it’s been too long!
She came on and opened with “Co-Star” off her insanely dope (cannotstoplisteningto) “Yours Truly” mixtape. A great way to start the evening, it’s one of the illest cuts off that tape. While the set was only short (about an hour) she covered a lot of ground and did the tunes everyone wanted to hear. As soon as she sang ‘baby’ from “Getting Late” – that was it. The crowd erupted into a shattering sonic scream, literally blowing Marsha back. She continued to perform one of her most stunningly beautiful tracks, in the most…Stunningly beautiful way. Her voice, I will say over and over, is mind blowing. She then went into “Say Yes”. Ha, you can only imagine the reaction of the soul-hungry crowd, right? Yup, everyone went mental [again]. She loved it, she knew it was the song everyone was waiting on. Easily one of Floetry’s best (and biggest) tracks – written of course, by Marsha. A sultry, sexy, meaningful and deep song that everyone soul fan references. She sang is perfectly.
Aside from “Say Yes”, the track I think we all, unanimously wanted to see her perform, was “Butterflies”. Marsha famously wrote the song for Michael Jackson which subsequently ended up on his Invincible album. Easily one of the stand out tracks on that record (outside of “Rock My World”). It was evident she was going to perform the song in light of MJ’s passing, and we were all anxiously waiting for an emotional rendition of it. But before she sang that song, just as she sat on her piano, she spoke briefly about the King of Pop saying “I worked with that man, spent time with that man, I spent time with his kids – I cannot believe he’s gone”. Visiably upset, it was clear that Ambrosius had been deeply affected by his sudden and untimely passing. She continued saying “before I sing ["Butterflies"], I’d like to perform a song we were working on, but never got to finish”. Wow, I mean, you can imagine what that was like. I for one felt incredibly privileged. I don’t remember what the song was called, but we do have footage of it (coming soon), but she sang and played with so much passion – the Jazz Cafe grew silent. No backing vocalists, no band – just her and her piano. It was a moment. After a roar of applause, she began to play “Butterflies” – most probably the most emotionally charged part of the evening. As an MJ fan, a Marsha fan and a fan of that song – it was phenomenal.
“Butterflies” signified the end of her set, sadly. I really could have done with another hour of her on stage – an hour wasn’t enough. She has tons of material and could have quite easily performed for the rest of the night, but that’s just me acting spoilt. I was happy I got to witness her music live, something, as I mentioned, I’ve been waiting for for a long time now.
I just hope she returns again soon!
PinBoard had the pleasure of interviewing Marsha Ambrosius just before her gig. We got some real exciting stuff coming, including some exclusive, exclusive material from the lady herself. The interview will be up soon. Watch out for that.
Peace, Love & Marsha Ambrosius
Speeakz
Shouts to UKSOULJAM, Keep the Faith, Paul Aaron & Marsha Ambrosius
Here goes the first (official) leak off Outasight’s From Here to Eternity…
Outasite – “Brand New Day” (Prod 6th Sense)
Enjoy it while I cannot. Will share my thoughts when I get a chance to listen properly. In the meantime, tell me what you think?!
Peace, Love & Outasight
Speeakz
Shouts to 2DZ
Omarion and Pharrell team up again…
Omarion Feat Pharrell – “Devastation”
These guys have a great chemistry and they’ve come with dope tracks before (“Touch” was pretty big!). This sounds pretty fresh too – I’ve just had a sneaky listen, and yea sounds kinda nice still. What you thinkin?
Peace, Love & Omarion
Speeakz
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.846416&w=425&h=350&fv=m%3D59859852%26type%3Dvideo%26a%3D0]
Peace, Love & Amerie
Speeakz
Wow, these are amazing.
Firstly, the reigning Queen of Pop salutes the King of Pop during her opening night concert at the 02 Arena…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJh1KSdg6RY&feature=player_embedded]
Then, Beyonce switches it up at her concert and dedicates “Halo” to Michael Jackson…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYN6SxLtKWc&feature=player_embedded]
Moving stuff man. It’s becoming clearer and clearer everyday just how much that one man touched peoples lives – his music, which we have clearly taken for granted for so many years, continues to inspire and affect everyone. Everyone is a fan of Michael Jackson’s music. Everyone.
Peace, Love & Michael Jackson
Speeakz
Always happy to support UK music. It gets a bad ‘rap’, but you know what – we got some talented folk over here. J2K (Roll Deep) is just one example of that. Now, I know this ain’t gonna be everyones cup of tea, but I like this. The tune is big, can’t even front…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDUC9m_EBsA]
What you sayin? I think that beat is big. I do love how nothing other than UK music sounds like this. Do I lie?
Peace, Love & J2K
Speeakz
Shouts to Eddie (sorry for the lateness haha)
