Will we ever get new music from Tawiah? I’ve given up asking and wondering. Like most, we love this lady – her voice is quite simply different from everyone elses – but we continue to wait. This week our patience is satisfied by the arrival of this video of the UK songstress performing a new song called ‘Break Away’. And like anything else this young woman wraps her vocal chords around – it’s beautiful and stirring. Not sure this is coming off anything solid, but hopefully it makes ‘the album’ – either way, I’ll be playing this one a few more times.

… An .mp3 of it wouldn’t go a miss either Miss Tawiah.

I sure do love me some Monica and granted, she’s been a little hit and miss (her entire career), but when she gets it right – she gets it right. Many found her last effort quite boring, I didn’t – I really enjoyed it. ‘Anything (To Find You)’, which samples Biggie’s ‘Who Shot Ya’ and features Rick Ross & Lil’ Kim – this is working it’s charm on me. Love Monica’s voice, love it when she sings this type of R&B – I still think she can come harder than this so hoping the new album New Life offers more, but for a first taste – I’m on it.

Download: Monica Feat. Rick Ross & Lil’ Kim – ‘Anything (To Find You)’

Ayah and DJ Jazzy Jeff drop another corker,  this time in the shape of ‘Make It Last’ – a track sampling Marvin Gaye’s classic (of the same name). The song comes off their new mixtape Back For More, which drops this week! I really like what these guys do together, have long loved Ayah’s textured vocals.

Download: Ayah & DJ Jazzy Jeff – ‘Make It Last’

Here’s another previously unreleased Frank Ocean track for your listening pleasure. I’m not jumping off the walls over this, but Ocean fans should be satisfied enough. It’s cool, just not his best. Ironically, I think this tune would work for C-Breezy.

It’s tagged, so only download available.

Download: Frank Ocean – ‘Anywhere’

Peep the trailer for Common and Nas’ upcoming video for ‘Ghetto Dreams’ – which I’m currently obsessed with. Genuinely can’t wait for Lonnie’s new album and the news that No I.D is producing it in it’s entirety  is definitely welcomed.

I still have Bey’s new album 4 on heavy rotation, I stick by my review (have you read it?) – I think it’s her best effort. While this song, written by Babyface, isn’t necessarily the best reflection of the project as a whole – it has sufficiently grown on me over the past few weeks.

… As for the video – Beyonce continues to remind us why Jay-Z keeps #winning.

Word on the street is Andre 3000 and Big Boi plan to release not only an new Outkast album next year, but the duo will also release separate solo albums before the end of 2011. In January Big Boi revealed he was already working on Daddy Fat Sax: Soul Funk Crusader, his sophomore solo effort which would likely be out before year’s end. Big Boi also revealed Andre 3000′s solo LP would be released before his own. Sounds like there will be some good, game-changing music out for the fans in the next few months.

Fresh off the leak of the No ID-produced ‘Ghetto Dreams’ featuring Nas, Common is giving up some details about the experience recording it and the vintage Hip Hop tumblr wetdream artwork for the single.

Initially the song only featured the Nas vocal sample in the production of him saying “Ghetto dreams”. Common told MTV News: “Once Nas heard that — No ID played it for them ’cause they was working — and Nas was like, ‘I’ll get on that. And Nas is my favorite MC, so that was a blessing.”

The single was supposed to have been released on June 23, but it wasn’t shared with the world until the man featured on it threatened to “leak” it via twitter over the weekend if Common didn’t do it himself. Common didn’t release the single himself with in Nas’ 15 minute deadline so Nas kept his word and put out the track. If you haven’t heard ‘Ghetto Dreams’ check out our post on it courtesy of my PinBoard brethren @Def_Danny.

“I decided to write about ghetto dreams just in a way that was raw. I almost approached it like I was a character because I don’t smoke cigarettes and blah, blah, blah… I told it in respect to the relationship I got with my lady, it’s ill. It’s not a love song or none of that; it’s just raw.” -Common

The raw non-love-song’s artwork is a a real photo of a youthful looking Nas and Common that was taken in the mid ’90s. Common recalled:

“We was at a Fat Joe video, I think. Two young MCs, young dudes, just real young cats, one from Chicago, one from Queens that just ended up reconnecting and connecting and always being cool. I ain’t going to say ‘reconnected,’ ’cause every time me and Nas always would chop it up, I felt like we was two musicians that really just loved and respected each other, two voices that really mean something to the culture and respect the culture. So, we always had on a personal level just a respect for each other.”

Common says No ID has produced all of the music on his soon to be released album The Dreamer, The Believer and ‘Ghetto Dreams’ was the first song completed. If this track is any indication of what we can expect from Lonnie’s new album we’ve got some dope music coming our way.

We posted up a new Hawthorne Headhunters a few weeks ago called ‘If You Were My Baby’, didn’t realise it came with a b-side titled ‘Teleport’. I f*cking love what these guys do, so glad they’re back with new music.

Listen to below and buy via Plug Research.

… If it’s raining where you are like it is where I am – quickly press play, this should hopefully brighten up your day.

Shouts to moovmnt

If ’6AM’ is anything to go by, we are all in for a special treat when Rahsaan Patterson releases his new, way overdue album Bluephoria on July 19th. Ahead of it’s release he, along with some collaborators (including Miss Lalah Hathaway & Faith Evans) speak about the album and what went in to it’s creation, have a look-see.

Traditionalists may disagree but this honestly is one of my favourite Sade tracks, I never saw it coming. Off their spectacular greatest hits album The Ultimate Collection here’s the video for the epic (should-have-been-a-bond-theme-song) ‘Love Is Found’.

Sade will always be >>>>

I feel well and truly starved of new Electric Wire Hustle music, I’m in serious need of something new from them. And while a music video for their song ‘Again’ is exactly satisfying my cravings, it is at least something. Peep the video they filmed last year in New York City up top.

You can preview HudMo’s forthcoming EP Satin Panthers which drops on August 1st/2nd. It’s been a minute since this guy released anything – looking forward to hearing the full project.

B aka Blu will be re-releasing his Jesus EP on August 30th on CD and Vinyl under the new alias “B”. I’m beginning to loose track with this dudes movements – I just need that damn album already – but in any case listen to ‘l u c k y’ off the extended player below…

Download: B (Blu) – ‘l u c k y’

The PinBoard family (@Def_Danny, @Miss_Tosin, @MadameToussaint) have kept this place jam packed with goodness while @PinBoardFilm & I were away at the Main Square Festival in France (more on that a little later). Truly loved exploring their musical musings, sure you have too.

I’m back on my blogging grind now too, thought I’d get things poppin’ correctly with a couple tracks from one of my favourite producers around at the moment. Freddie Joachim is churning out tunes like there’s no tomorrow and unlike many of his ‘flood the internet til’ you hear me’ comrades, this guy is making some ill sounds, consistently.

The first track is a completely new jam called ‘Waves’ featuring that classic Joachim sound – warm, grooved and Soulful. The second is a remix of Toro Y Moi’s ‘Freak Love’ which he flips fantastically – can’t go wrong. Trust.

Freddie Joachim – ‘Waves’

Toro Y Moi – ‘Freak Love’ (Freddie Joachim Remix)