Eddie Rockerz VibeZ

Twenty-six tracks from a singer who releases an album roughly once a decade and has never made a bad one. OneLove Maxwell Maxwell arrived in 1996 with Urban Hang Suite , a concept album about a single relationship, recorded with musicians from the seventies soul world including Leon Ware — who wrote much of Marvin Gaye's I Want You — and Stuart Matthewman of Sade's band. That combination is the whole story. His records sound like nothing else because they are made by people who understand seventies soul as a craft rather than as a reference, and because he sings in a falsetto that he uses architecturally rather than for display. He is also, famously, slow. There are long gaps between albums, and he has said plainly that he releases records when he has something to release. The catalogue is small and there is almost nothing weak in it. What to listen for "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" is the record that introduced him and still the be...

Thirty-four tracks from a Minneapolis singer who was nearly in Prince's band, and instead became the voice of the city's other great production team. OneLove Alexander O'Neal Alexander O'Neal is a fixture of the Minneapolis story from an unusual angle. He was the original lead singer of Flyte Tyme , the band that — after he left — became The Time under Prince's direction with Morris Day out front. What he did instead was reunite with the two Flyte Tyme members who became Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis , and make a run of albums for Tabu Records that are among the best productions either party ever managed. His voice is the distinguishing thing: a big, slightly hoarse baritone with real force behind it, which gave Jam and Lewis's meticulous, synthetic arrangements something rough to push against. He was also enormous in Britain, considerably more so than at home. What to listen for "If You Were Here Tonight" appears twice here and...

Twenty-five tracks from the group that invented new jack swing and changed how R&B records were built. OneLove Guy Guy were Teddy Riley , Aaron Hall and — after Timmy Gatling's departure — Damion Hall , and their 1988 debut is one of the genuine hinge points in Black American music. The innovation was Riley's. He took hip-hop's drum programming — hard, swung, sampled — and put R&B singing over it, which nobody had properly done. The result, christened new jack swing by the critic Barry Michael Cooper, dominated the following five years and is the direct ancestor of essentially all modern R&B production. Aaron Hall is the other half of the story. His singing — enormous, gospel-derived, unashamedly indebted to Charlie Wilson of The Gap Band — became the template for a generation of male R&B vocalists, Jodeci's K-Ci very much included. What to listen for "Groove Me" is the opening statement and the clear...

Sixteen tracks from a supergroup of three established solo singers who decided, against all industry logic, to form a vocal group in 2013. OneLove TGT TGT were Tyrese , Ginuwine and Tank — three men with separate, substantial careers who spent years talking about forming a group and eventually did it. The album, Three Kings , arrived in 2013 and went to number one on the R&B chart. The premise was explicitly nostalgic: a deliberate attempt to make the kind of male vocal group record that had essentially vanished from the market. Three leads, real harmony arrangements, ballads that take their time, and a complete indifference to what radio was playing. The voices are genuinely complementary. Tyrese has the biggest instrument, Tank the most technically agile, and Ginuwine the most distinctive tone — and none of them is trying to win. What to listen for "Sex Never Felt Better" is the single and the most immediate thing here. "Tear...

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Born and raised in Philadelphia, spoken word artist, poet and songstress Ursula Rucker graduated from Temple University’s journalism program and has been enchanting audiences with her talent since 1994. Rucker is recognized as one of the premiere spoken word artists in the recording industry today. She has collaborated with an array of artists and producers including King Britt, 4 Hero, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Josh Wink and most notably The Roots. The Grammy Award-winning band called on Rucker to craft “The Unlocking,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Return To Innocence Lost.” She has performed alongside Gil Scott-Heron, Mos Def, Macy Gray and opened for the late Nina Simone. Hear her truth…and ascend. OneLove

. Linton Kwesi Johnson, aka LKJ, is the intellectual conscience of reggae music. Since the early 1970s he has forged a melding of true poetry with roots reggae rhythms, holding to a political perspective honed by long involvement with movements for better living conditions and rights for Black people in England, where he has lived since he was eleven years old. As a university student, writer, editor and musician, his voice and words have been unmistakable – unique within reggae, really. Arguably,LKJ invented dub – or reggae – poetry, and still does it best; he is thus both the premiere and premier exemplar of this singular genre of music. OneLove

One of my favorite Reggae Dub poets. Mutabaruka is the truth. His observations/critiques are powerful and prophetic and in this vast wasteland called Western ‘civilization’, voices like this need to heard & respected. OneLove