As The xx continue their worldwide ‘Night + Day’ tour (soon to be hitting London, we cannot wait!), they surprised their German fans in Berlin by bringing out fellow London girl Jessie Ware to perform A unique cover of Stardust’s ‘Music Sounds Better With You’. Just take a listen to Miss Ware’s powerhouse vocals and how they work so wonderfully with The xx’s nocturne production.. Need an official version of this ASAP.

Yo, Ciara looks like Ciara means business this time round. Her latest single ‘I’m Out’ features Nicki Minaj, who in all actuality is arguably the best thing on the record. But that said for the most part the track is pretty decent. Unfortunately a few cheesy lyrics and ad-libs throughout spoil it from being an all out banger and while it’s not as strong as her ‘Body Party’ single (one of her strongest to date) ‘I’m Out’ still has enough fire to keep people engaged. Expect Ci-Ci’s new self titled album in July.

Canadian producer Jacques Greene follows up his collaboration with Tinashe by teaming up with another compelling vocalist – How To Dress Well. Tom Krell’s fragile voice bounces confidently around Greene’s R&B infused house production. Both seem to instinctively bring out the best in each other. ‘On Your Side’ is title track taken off Jacques Greene’s forthcoming EP released June 3rd.

Andreya Triana makes a welcome return with a delicate new single titled ‘Song For a Friend’. The soulful folk gospel is built around an emotive piano, church organs, romantic strings and glorious BV’s. It the type of quiet ballad that reintroduces what made us all fall in love with her when she released her stunning debut Lost Where I Belong back in 2010. And although the songs beauty is indisputable I do hope the new album offers a more progressive take on what she delivered three years ago. 

via PN

ItsNate’s advancing progression into the spacier realms of UK hip hop has in many ways helped broaden the limitations many heads from these shores impose on British rap. His work, along with the work from his Piff Gang associates have embraced the cloudier aesthetics of hip hop but does so in a typically London way – which by very definition stands it apart from anything Stateside.

His latest single ‘Easy’ was produced by Sumgii and features Piff Gang’s Milkavelli – take a listen as both emcees school you on just how ‘eaaaasy’ it is for them to do what they do. And if you haven’t already make sure you download a copy of Nate’s Never Average Talking Excellent tape which dropped back in September.

Premiered via Earmilk

If you’re having a shitty day Pharrell has something for you. ‘Happy’ is the infectious and unapologetic new mood-lifter produced and performed by Williams for the upcoming ‘Despicable Me 2′ soundtrack. Although the track is a bit of a novelty it does feature some dope production and beautiful/classic harmonies. It also feels perfectly suited for the film, not to mention like his performance on ‘Get Lucky’, has Pharrell sounding better than he ever has. The track will feature alongside two other new songs he’s produced for the movie – one of which will feature Cee-Lo Green.

In other Pharrell news – he recently sat down with Usher to film an episode of ARTIST TLK – take a look at their lengthy (and interesting) discussion after the jump.

via RS

On May 24th The Jet Age of Tomorrow will release their third full length album The JellyFish Mentality for free. Made up of musicians Matt Martians (The Internet/Odd Future) and Hal Williams (Pyramid Vritra) the duo’s upcoming release will feature an impressive list of collaborators including SBTRKT, Hodgy Beats, Kilo Kish, Jesse Boykins III and Earl Sweatshop. In the lead up to this weeks release they’ve uploaded a looming new a two-part single titled ‘ON!’ to their soundcloud, listen below…

While Beyonce continues to befuddle the world with her seemingly unpredictable campaign strategy, a full length version of her Timbaland produced, The-Dream penned new single ‘Grown Woman’ has mysteriously appeared online. A short snippet of the afro-beat song was first previewed during Bey’s Pepsi commercial in April and she’s been performing it live during her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour concerts but until now the full song had not been heard. Listen below…

To celebrate the release of his new Yūgen EP Koreless has uploaded his intricately simplistic ‘Last Remnants’ to give us a taster of what can be expected across the 5 new tracks he’s produced. The song somehow manages to be haunting but yet at the same time carries a warm texture that vividly captures your imagination. Beautiful.

Yūgen is out now via Young Turks.

Following her Terius Nash produced single ‘Dirty Laundry’ last week, Kelly Rowland repays her dues by appearing on The-Dream’s new single ‘Where Have You Been’ which is set to feature on the singer/producer’s upcoming IV Play album. The sweet and uncomplicated production sets the stage for a traditional back and forth between Nash and Rowland  - no alt-R&B nuances here, this is an undiluted throwback.

IV Play drops June 18th.

After an relatively lengthy break away to focus on new material London pop duo 14th return with a sensational new cover track of Indo’s ‘Are You Sleeping?’ and Tina Moore’s ‘Never Gonna Let You Go’. Producer Tom Barber steers the production into an aphotic epicentre where singer Tracey Duodu has enough space unleash a stirring vocal performance – her voice has noticeably grown in power and technical prowess since the last time we heard from her.

14th are currently on tour supporting British producer Bonobo, go here to find out where you can catch them.

Presented by the first and second lady of modern funk, Prince was honoured with Billboard’s Icon Award during last night’s awards ceremony. Erykah Badu & Janelle Monae, donning their ‘Q.U.E.E.N’ get up introduced the legendary enigma before he performed an explosive rendition of ‘Lets Go Crazy’ and his new single ‘Fix Up Ur Life’ backed by his all-female band 3rdEyeGirl. Although I’m not sure I’ll ever be down with that new afro, watching this man do what he does will never ever got old. Nor will seeing Badu & Monae side by side for that matter.

Le1f’s idea of a ‘Spa Day’ was always going to be different from yours, but after you watch his new video – we reckon you’ll probably want switch things up a bit. The relentlessly fierce rapper and his scantily clad crew enjoy a sexually charged sauna where hot water steam is matched by thick white smoke – what you know about that hot-box-sauna-flex? Watch as they tear shit up…

If you haven’t already download Le1f’s Fly Zone tape here.

The Weeknd revealed the first single taken off his forthcoming debut album Kiss Land this weekend. The nearly 8 minute epilogue splits between two songs that seem to reflect both sides of what Abel does. ‘Kiss Land’ ends up being a dramatic and boastful ode to the success he’s  enjoyed since the release of his Trilogy tape, while ‘John Carpenter’ is far more darker and introverted and feels like a real return to those sex-soaked ballads from to his earlier works.

Kelly Rowland’s career has been through it all. She came from one of the world’s most successful girl groups, released a relatively successfully debut album in 2002, won a Grammy for her collaboration with Nelly in the same year, suffered back-to-back album failures with Ms. Kelly & Here I Am; And was arguably one of the catalysts for the urban/dance craze that swept the world following her duet with David Guetta in 2009.

Well in her latest single ‘Dirty Laundry’ she airs a lot out, including some very honest words about her relationship with Beyonce and her subsequent solo success. The track also reveals her experience of being in a physically abusive relationship, which she says also affected her friendship with Beyonce… The song talks a lot about Beyonce. As far as slow jams go ‘Dirty Laundry’ isn’t as as strong as Rowland’s 2011 single ‘Motivation’ but it’s decent enough, clearly though the emphasis here is lyrical content – which will undoubtedly generate buzz (for better or worse).