The Foreign Exchange – Daykeeper [Video]

Dangggggg.

That’s all I gotta say.

Legit.

-STAN

Q-Tip – Move [Video]

Oh man! This video is so legit. Such a dope ode to the classic Michael Jackson “Rock With You” video.

The Renaissance album is gonna be a good one.

-STAN

Murs – Can It Be [Video]

Damnnn. I’m glad they decided to a video for this track. One of my favorites off Mur’s latest CD, Murs For President. Dope sample from The Sylvers.

Go get the CD if you haven’t yet.

-STAN

Lyfe Jennings “Will I Ever” [Video]

This guy is super underrated as a singer. And this song is a pretty dope song.

If you don’t know the back story of Lyfe Jennings, here it is.

It was during his ten-year sentence in prison that Lyfe Jennings developed his honest sound, thanks to isolation and Erykah Badu. It was an arson charge that put the Toledo, OH, native in prison. His musical aspirations started in the church choir and grew in the Dotsons, a teenaged group that Lyfe formed with his brother and a couple cousins. Prison made his music deeper, according to Lyfe, and when a copy of Erykah Badu’s Baduizm ended up in his cell in 1997, he was inspired and had the feeling that this introspective edge to his music was worth developing. Two days after his December 2002 release from prison, he was recording a four-song demo CD. The day after that, he was performing live in a club. He only had a month of freedom before he was on-stage at the famous Apollo. He was booed when he walked on-stage with an acoustic guitar, but when the Apollo audience heard his gritty falsetto and lyrical songwriting, they were swayed — swayed to the tune of five amateur-night victories in a row. Lyfe figures he sold a thousand copies of his four-song demo CD during his Apollo “residency.” That, along with a ton of calls from promoters and record label execs on his answering machine back in Ohio, influenced Lyfe to move to New York City and pursue a major-label deal. Columbia had the right offer in 2004 and he’s been releasing albums ever since. Lyfe Change, his latest, is nothing fancy, nothing outrageous — just humbled, wise, thoughtful modern soul.

Peep him when you get a chance. You won’t be disappointed if you like Soul/R&B music.

-STAN

Phonte performing Daykeeper live!

The September edition of “In The Artist’s Studio” featured Phonte. Playing with DC’s own “The Els”, he performed material from Little Brother and “Zo & Tigallo Love the 80’s”, and live debuted The Foreign Exchange’s new single, “Daykeeper“.

Mannnn. I’m so excited for the album coming out on the 14th. Can you tell?!

-STAN

Velvet Elvis

I’ve been reading this book by Rob Bell called Velvet Elvis. I skimmed through bits and pieces of it before, but after finally finishing a bunch of books I’ve been meaning to read, I’m finally getting into this one.

Velvet Elvis is a great book about repainting the Christian faith I must tell you, but I came to this specific part in the book that I wanted to share.

“I’m learning that very few people actually live from the heart.  Very few live connected with their soul.  And those few who do the difficult work, who stare their junk in the face, who get counsel, who let Jesus into all the rooms in their soul that no one ever goes in, they make a difference…They are pursuing wholeness and shalom, and it’s contagious.”

Amen Rob Bell. Let’s be “the few” who “make a difference”, my friends.

-STAN