It's been four years since the release of the debut album, "Ctrl" from alt-r&b artist, SZA. The record was met with universal acclaim and placed a spotlight on an exciting new talent. And while she's made several guest appearances on records by other performers (most notably with Maroon 5 on 2017's "What Lovers Do" and teaming up with Kendrick Lamar on the top-ten hit, "All The Stars" for the "Black Panther" soundtrack which also was nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar), we have been waiting for new music from the singer born Solána Rowe.
SZA had also been frustrated, publicly grumbling recently about the hold-up of her follow-up album from her label, Top Dawg Entertainment which had announced the record's release back in 2019. But now a new song has just materialized called "Hit Different" and that certainly describes this track. Written by SZA, Rob Bisel, Ty Dolla Sign (who also performs on the tune) along with the track's producers, The Neptunes, the song rides a sensual yet choppy beat, which deals with a dysfunctional love affair that she just can't end.
There is also a music video for "Hit Different" directed by SZA that is a striking visual wonder. The clip features the singer seen in a several settings (in a junkyard and a farm surrounded by animals) while performing slick choreography with dancers while wearing various sexy and stylish outfits. But there are also shots of SZA covered in blood like some sort of new-born embryo. Then almost near the end of the video, we are briefly introduced to another song, a smooth ballad. What does it all mean? Who knows and who cares as it all looks and sounds great. I know I can't wait to hear more from SZA.
I have to say that I haven't paid much attention to Post Malone although he is certainly one of the biggest acts in pop music right now. While I know it's not fair or right but I think it has been mostly due to his physical appearance: the face tattoos, the grills on his teeth and his overall look of just rolling fresh out of the gutter. For me, it was all a little off-putting.
But I have to admit that I really like the music of the twenty-four year old performer who was born in New York and raised in Grapevine, TX. From his breakout single, "White Iverson" in 2015 to his latest top-ten hit, "Take What You Want" which features heavy-metal legend, Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott, Malone's easy blend of hip-hop, r&b, country, and indie rock makes him a thrilling and dynamic force in contemporary music.
Born Austin Richard Post, his father had been a disc jockey when he was young and introduced his son to a wide variety of music. Following in his father's footsteps, Post did some DJing before learning to play guitar and joining a heavy-metal band as a teen. After dropping out of college and moving to LA, he joined a group of musicians and producers, drifting towards rap and hip-hop.
This lead to the self-released single on SoundCloud, "White Iverson" (which in part was a reference to basketball player, Allen Iverson) and the single quickly reached a million plays. Record labels came courting with Malone signing with Republic Records and his debut studio album, "Stoney" released in 2016. Several hit singles followed with "Congratulations"(featuring Quavo), his first number one, "Rockstar" (featuring 21 Savage), "Psycho"
(featuring Ty Dolla Sign), "Better Now", "Wow" and "Sunflower" from the 2018 animated film, "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse". To date, Post Malone has sold an estimated sixty million records in the U.S.
To respectfully honor this artist and publicly acknowledge my poor initial judgement, here is a showcase of the exceptional sounds of Post Malone:
When Christina Aguilera made a surprise appearance on the season opener of “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, one of the first things the queens asked her was when was she coming out with some new music. The thirty-seven year old singer played coy with a vague answer of “soon”. Well, the wait is finally over and after six years, Aguilera has returned with a new song called “Accelerate”. With assistance from a large tribe of writers and producers (including Kanye West), this track is a departure for the singer. Leaving behind the r&b-flavored pop that first brought her fame, Aguilera dives into trap music with Ty Dolla Sign and 2 Chainz providing additional vocals. I have to say I think this song is really hot and can’t wait to hear more.
Xtina also announced that her sixth studio album is called “ Liberation” and will be out in June.
With the music video for "Accelerate", Aguilera delivers trippy and hyper-sexual imagery with her licking milk out of a bowl, being doused with some sort of shiny liquid and appearing topless with her nips covered with masking tape. The whole look of the clip feels like vintage hip-hop Miley Cyrus which I'm not sure is good or bad. Anyway, check it out for yourself:
I had read a interesting article recently in the Los Angeles Times about the difficulties of a new generation of Black female singers being able to cross over to the pop charts. It really made me take notice and realize how true this has become. Female soul singers have regularly appeared on pop radio for decades and there was a high point back in the '90's when there were a large number of solo artists (Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige) and vocal groups (TLC, SWV, Destiny's Child) who found major success on both the r&b and pop charts. But by the mid-2000's, a large number of these female performers seemed to fall out of favor as male-dominated hip-hop took over the charts.
What is making it particularly difficult for these new singers to crossover is that while they're using classic soul as their foundation, each one is taking their own individual approach by creating what would be considered alternative soul music, which merges electronic dance, rock and hip-hop, and doesn't easily fit in today's narrow pop music scene. As I love a great female voice, I'm going to do my little part and put a spotlight on a few of these very talented vocalists featured in this article.
If you want to read the story, please click below:
Jhené Aiko, the twenty-nine year old, L.A. native, began her music career as a teen by providing backing vocals for the r&b boy-band, B2K in 2002. Due to her association with this act, she was able to get signed to Sony Records and recorded an album but the label would not released it. Following this disappointment, Aiko decided to go back to school to finish her education. When she made her return to music, Aiko did so on her terms by releasing a mixtape, "Sailing Soul(s)" in 2011 which features an impressive roster of musicians lending support including Miguel, Drake and Kanye West. This lead to her opening for Nas, Lauryn Hill and Drake before getting signed to ARTium Records. Aiko released an EP in 2013, "Sail Out" which featured the single, "The Worst" that peaked at number four on the U.S. Adult R&B chart and was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Song. The following year, Aiko finally has her debut album released. "Souled Out" is an alt-r&b concept album about a woman's journey to enlightenment and received plenty of critical praise. Now her follow-up album, "Trip" just came out last month without any advanced notice. Not only will Aiko be on a headlining tour to support the album through the end of the year but in January she will go on the road with Lana Del Rey with her LA To The Moon tour. Take a look at the video for the first single from the new album, "While We're Young":
SZA
Born Solána Rowe, SZA (with her stage name inspired from RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan) started her career in music purely as a lark. After dropping out of college without a future career plan, Rowe was inspired to write a few songs one day. She later recorded them with a friend and eventually decided that this was something that she seriously wanted to pursue. SZA self-released her first EP, "See SZA Run" in 2012 which was met with critical acclaim with music critics describing her sound as a fascinating mix of Beyoncé and Björk. She would release two more well-received mixtapes that led to her writing songs for other artists like Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé and Rihanna before signing to a major label, RCA Records and releasing her debut studio album, "Ctrl" (pronounced "control") this past June. The first single, "Drew Barrymore" was named after the actress and inspired by her role in one of her early films, "Poison Ivy". You can hear SZA now on pop radio due to her recent collaboration with Maroon 5 on the rising hit, "What Lovers Do" which just reached the top-twenty. She also has just dropped another single from her album, "The Weekend" which is riding high on the r&b and pop charts.
SEVYN STREETER
Amber Streeter knew she wanted to be a professional singer ever since she was a little girl. She sang in church and talent shows (including tying for first place while competing on "Showtime at The Apollo") before becoming part of the teen girl-group, TG4 (which was short for "tom girls four") at the age of fifteen and signing her first recording contract. The group opened for other youth-oriented r&b acts like B2K, Immature and Lil' Bow Wow but their music never made an impact on the charts. Soon TG4 disbanded and Streeter would join another girl-group, RichGirl in 2007. This group managed to open for Beyoncé on tour but their promotional singles failed to take off. By 2011, RichGirl was done and Streeter was on her own again but her career would begin a major shift after meeting r&b bad boy, Chris Brown. She signed to his label, changed her name to "Sevyn"and sang on Brown's 2012 album, "Fortune". Later that year, Streeter dropped her own singles, "It Won't Stop" and "Next" which brought her plenty of attention as a solo artist with them reaching the top-twenty on the r&b and hip-hop charts. This year, the determined thirty-one year old Streeter released her first album, "Girl Disrupted" with the singles, "My Love For You", "Before I Do" and "Fallen" serving as perfect representations of her brand of passionate and sensual modern soul. Check out the video for the ballad, "Fallen" that features Ty Dolla $ign and Cam Wallace:
