mixtape maestro (2.0)

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Ashanti featuring Busta Rhymes “The Woman You Love” Posted: 14 Dec 2011 10:44 PM PST Years removed from a lengthy period in the aughts in which everything Ashanti‘s bright, girly coo touched was guaranteed to occupy the upper reaches of the R&B and pop charts (no matter the quality), hearing something new from the former Murder Inc. First Lady feels entirely welcome, especially with that new being something as tough as new leakage “The Woman You Love”. Though there’s still something woefully basic about Ashanti’s choice of lyrics, her confrontational turn here as a girlfriend completely exasperated with trying to make a going-nowhere union work (“What about my pride?/ You never satisfied/ You make me feel like I wasn’t worth being by your side”) matched with a stormy, hard-knock of a hip hop-soul loop carries a forceful edge that excitingly picks up on the heavier, somewhat-experimental vibe Ashanti promisingly brought forth, then disappointingly walked away from, on her severely underrated 2004 single “Only U”. Rather than be another pleasant layer over another smoother-than-smooth R&B instrumental, Ashanti sounds alert and convincingly fiery here, and bringing along Busta Rhymes for some extra manic energy proves to be a smart move. A sturdy comeback effort from the once-hailed Princess of Hip Hop-Soul. (Stream via) BONUS: Ashanti featuring Charli Baltimore, Young Merc & D.O. Cannons “Happy (Remix)” (alt)

Leonard Friend “Serious Music” Posted: 14 Dec 2011 06:05 PM PST Quick back story: Upon the break-up of Brooklyn act The XYZ Affair after eight years, frontman Alex Feder decides to hightail it across the country to L.A. pursue a solo career…but not one in which he’s toiling within the same sounds as before, desiring to use this second shot at stardom to merge his indie rock roots with the slick urban-pop of Michael Jackson, Prince and The Neptunes, a style he grew up admiring but could never quite fit comfortably within the aesthetic of his previous band. Cue the birth of alter-ego Leonard Friend and the emergence of debut single “Serious Music”, a synthy-sleek White Boy Funk ditty that seems to track the nervousness of premiering a new style to the public (“If they think i’m some kind of joke/ I might lose it…”) while effectively balancing MJ-via-Timberlake spunk, “Notorious”-period Duran Duran and some Zapp & Roger-esque vocoder work. Mr. Friend, if this is what you’re serving this go ’round, we thinks you shouldn’t have any problem connecting with an audience who can appreciate a killer groove. Check out the video, inspired by this ankle-sprained King of Pop performance from the 1993 Soul Train Awards, in which Leonard, stricken with a torn ACL, gives us some nice “chair-eography” and eye-catchingly impressive pink shoe-accented footwork. Leonard’s debut EP Lynyrd Frynd drops January 31st.

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