After offering up his wonderfully complex ‘MSI MUSMID’ track as a free download a few weeks back Ghostpoet officially unveils the first single taken off his forthcoming album Some Say I So I Say Light (May 6th). ‘Meltdown’ is steered by beautiful drums and a woeful-sounding piano which eventually (and rather emotively) builds up into a lush string arrangement. All the while has Obar performing an introspective set of verses while in parts accompanied by a delicate female vocal.

One of Slondon’s finest, ItsNate, returns with a analogue heavy new video for his latest single ‘Windy’ taken off his kush-ready mixtape Never Average Talking Excellent. Featuring a customary laid back flow from Nate and smothered in witty dialogue ‘Windy’ is emblematic of the type of leftist approach he’s taken across the entire tape. Dope video.

via Noisey

I could write a dissertation on how influential Prince has been to all the musicians featured in this video, but that would be digressive and long. Instead I’m going to calmly bug the f*ck out that D’Angelo is on camera talking about Prince (albeit rather briefly). The piece (courtesy of Okayplayer) not only features God D, but also master of Prince-ology Questlove, Bilal (Purple incarnate) and the legendary Elvis Costello to name but a few, all speak on Prince’s impact on them and on music period. Interviews were conducted backstage at the Music of Prince Tribute in New York.

… It certainly feels like something very big is coming from the Purple Yoda this year, don’t know what it is but it’s coming.

I can find very few faults on Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience, but unfortauntely ‘Mirrors’ (for me at least) stands out like a sore thumb. It’s the weakest song on the album with a sloppy rehashed Timbaland beat at the heart of it. It’s the only song on the LP that feels completely uninspired and as Wiley so eloquently put it “sounds like he went round Timbaland’s for half hour” to record it. Their attempt at making a lazy anthemic power-ballad worked perfectly of course (just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean I don’t see the genius in it) with it shooting straight into the #1 spot in the UK and fast becoming another one of JT’s most commercial songs. On the upside the backend of the song is smashing – shame it’s not like that the entire way through. Anyway – here’s the video…

5 years ago I don’t think anyone could have predicted so many electronic producers openly embracing an R&B crooner like Jeremih – exciting collaborations like this are a testament to how far it’s all come (specifically referring to R&B here). Just a few years ago R&B was generally considered a dirty word, untouchable by near enough everyone – even at times long-time fans; But having gone through a semi-URL-rebirth over the past few years it’s back on the tips of everyones tongue and in a good way. #Cyclelife.

Shlohmo mentioned in an interview we did with him in Seattle late last year that his favourite song of 2012 was Jeremih’s ‘F*ck U All the Time’ (which you’ll remember he remixed) and that he wanted to work with him properly in the studio – well here’s the fruits of that wish. ‘Bo Peep’ (Do U Right)’ was recorded as part of Yours Truly & Adidas’ ‘Songs from Scratch’ series, the drowsy slow jam sees Shlohmo delve deep into his multilayered influences (is that a ‘Tainted Love’ sample?) and has Jeremih singing a typically come-hither set of verses.

Danny Brown joins forces with producer Skywlkr to create a furious new production aptly titled ‘Kush Coma’. The beat is erratic and aggressive and sees Brown spitting in his typically eccentric, yet irresistibly addictive style. The song is unfinished and will sound much fuller on the rappers upcoming album Old which is tentatively due out in August. 

Los Angeles native Banks serves up a wonderful slice of future-pop for her new single ‘Fall Out’. The song combines a plethora of influences and carves them into an edgy and dramatic soundscape. The guitar influence suggests mainstream aspirations while the etherial arrangement feels defiant. Cleverly her accompanying video looks more suited for those ever-familiar alt-R&B/post-dubstep uploads sprawled across YouTube (as astutely pointed out by Mount Kimbie a few weeks back) than an avant garde pop ballad, but contextually speaking it’s all rather smartly done.

A couple nights back we tweeted a link to Okayplayer’s forum or rather specifically to a post published by Questlove which suggested that Justin Timberlake would release part 2 of his new album The 20/20 Experience sometime in November. Despite The Roots’ drummer being slightly disgruntled by his ‘news’ being picked up across near-enough every platform in blogland – it was up until last night an unconfirmed story. However according to various sources (including this guy) JT confirmed the release of part 2 during a gig in Los Angeles.

According to Questlove’s original post the second part of The 20/20 Experience will feature “throwback Timb” productions, saying the songs he had been played by Timbaland “were straight up Missy/Magoo Timb and [that] Justin said he wanted Timbaland to “get back in his real zone” even if it meant alienating the tweens born after ’86 who never ever heard of Sly Slick and Wicked”. 

We’d had our suspicious that there could be another 10 tracks on the horizon given the album title (“20/20 Experience”) so this all makes perfect and wonderful sense. JT’s album is officially released worldwide this week, it will no doubt (and hopefully) shift a shit load of copies – and deservedly so. Despite a shocking amount of relatively confused reviews the LP stands alone as yet another great Timberlake record. It’s not an easy pop record to get to grips with that much is true – but how can you miss the beauty in that? A pop record that isn’t easy to digest? All a part of that Timberlake/Timbaland genius.

It’s been around 2 years since KING released their much loved debut EP The Story, a lapse in time that left many of their admirers very thirsty. The trio have now returned with ‘In the Meantime’, a soul heavy ballad that in parts even recalls some undercover Sade influences. The sweet love song will please adoring fans hungry for some much needed new soul music – personally I would have liked to have heard them push the envelope a little further.

MNEK is back with another killer refix, this time he takes on Janet Jackson’s classic ‘That’s the Way Love Goes’ taken off her ’93 Janet album. Having already made his mark covering Kelis’ ‘Get Along With You’, Rosie Gaines ‘Closer Than Close’ and most recently Disclosure’s ‘White Noise’, he’s quickly secured a reputation as a bit of a producer/arranger prodigy; Not to mention a true-powerhouse vocalist – very few young singers can rival what this young man does as a singer; And so as we’ve come to expect this latest refix ticks all the right boxes. Take a listen to his interpretation of one of Janet’s most beloved jams…