Funk
Prince’s Unreleased Album Welcome 2 America Gets Release Date, Title Track Revealed: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-08T15:26:26+00:00“>April 8, 2021 | 11:26am ET The Prince Estate has revealed that the late icon’s shelved 2010 album Welcome 2 America will be the next LP freed from Paisley Park’s vault. Arriving July 30th, Welcome 2 America features 11 Prince originals as well as a cover of Soul Asylum’s “Stand Up and B Strong”. The Purple One recorded the LP with the 2011-era New Power Generation, featuring bassist Tal Wilkenfeld; drummer Chris Coleman; keyboardist/co-producer Morris Hayes; and singers Shelby J, Liv Warfield, and Elisa Fiorillo. Jason Agel served as engineer for the sessions at Paisley Park Studios. The songs have never officially been released save for one-off radio...
R.I.P. “B.B.” Dickerson, War Co-Founder and Bassist Dead at 71
Morris “B.B.” Dickerson, co-founding member, co-vocalist, and bassist of War, has died at the age of 71. According to Billboard, Dickerson passed away Friday (April 2nd) following a long, undisclosed illness. War’s origins date back to the late 1960s, when Dickerson and several other future members of War served as the backing band for football player Deacon Jones. After record producer Jerry Goldstein caught the band in concert, he linked them up with former Animals singer Eric Burdon — and the rest was history. Burdon and War released their debut album, Eric Burdon Declares “War”, in April 1970. It peaked at No. 18 on US albums chart, due in large part to the hit single, “Spill the Wine”, which peaked at No. 3 on the singles chart. The group’s sophomore double album, The Black-Man’s...
Earth, Wind & Fire and The Isley Brothers to Battle on Next Verzuz Episode
Earth, Wind & Fire (photo by Ben Kaye) and The Isley Brothers (photo courtesy of artist) One of the true success stories of the pandemic era, Verzuz was recently acquired by Triller after a short-term deal with Apple Music. Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s music “battle” series will return to the Verzuz TV website and the Triller app with an Easter Sunday meeting of true classics, as The Isley Brothers face off against Earth, Wind & Fire. The legendary R&B and soul bands will meet on April 4th, no doubt to bring some funk to the resurrection of Christ. Verzuz has featured some legacy battles before, like when Teddy Riley took on Babyface in Season 1, or Gladys Knight and Pattie LaBelle squared off during their Master Class live special back in September. However, never before have t...
Grammys 2021: Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic Perform “Leave the Door Open”: Watch
After successfully talking their way onto the Grammys stage, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak made their live debut as Silk Sonic performing “Leave the Door Open”. Later, as the award ceremony paused to reflect on the artists who died this year, Mars and .Paak paid tribute to Little Richard with a performance of “Good Golly Miss Molly”. The soulful supergroup released their debut single earlier this month, and then all that was left to do was promote it. “Dear Grammys”, Mars wrote in a Twitter letter, “If you can see it in your hearts to allow two out of work musicians to perform at your show, we would really appreciate it.” Ask and ye shall receive. For music’s biggest night, the artists performed “Leave the Door Open” in throwback threads, wearing brown suits unbuttoned to the ste...
Song of the Week: Lucy Dacus Delivers a Wrenching Ballad with “Thumbs”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Lucy Dacus delivered a wrenching ballad that left all of us speechless. Some songs end and sit in the pit of your stomach for the rest of the day, so visceral and affecting that they can’t be shaken. Lucy Dacus’ raw, devastating new release, “Thumbs”, is such a song, offering a gothic revenge fantasy that lingers long after the four and a half minutes have passed. Extremely minimal in production, “Thumbs” is also nearly formless, unfolding more like a whispered secret, twilight confession, or piece of local mythos than traditional...
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic to Make Live Debut at Grammys
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak are not only some of the smoothest guys making funk-based music these days, but they’re also two of the most entertaining artists of this era. A few weeks ago, they revealed they’re joining forces under the new moniker Silk Sonic, and now they’re already gearing up to make their live debut as such at the 2021 Grammy Awards. This all started when Mars and .Paak decided to write music together while stuck in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic. The two artists originally bonded when .Paak opened for Mars on his 24K Magic world tour years ago, and they collaborated on record for the first time when they contributed to Chic’s 2018 album It’s About Time. But for them, Silk Sonic is a chance to explore other creative corners of the funk world that they’ve not...
Redman, Method Man, and H.E.R. Join D’Angelo’s Verzuz in a Celebration of Live Music: Review
For music lovers, the COVID-19 pandemic effectively put an end to live performances for the foreseeable future. Many venues across the country have temporally (or permanently) closed or now operate with capacity restrictions. Never again will we take for granted the sweet simplicity of being able to catch our favorite artist/band in concert. But one of the few positive things to happen for live music during all the insanity that has taken place over the last year and counting is the emergence of the Verzuz series. Curated by super producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, who dueled in the first battle last March, Verzuz gave fans a lifeline as we sat at home watching our favorite producers and singers reminisce about the creation of their classic songs, many of which have defined hip-hop and R...
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak Announce Collaborative Album as Silk Sonic
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak have teamed up for a new collaborative project called Silk Sonic and plan to release an album in the near future. Mars shared news of the project on Twitter, explaining that it was made during quarantine. Funk legend Bootsy Collins is also involved in some capacity. The first single will be released next Friday, March 5th. .Paak previously joined Mars on the road as an opening act for the latter’s 24K Magic world tour. They also both appeared on Chic’s 2018 album It’s About Time. .Paak’s most recent solo album came in 2019 with Ventura. ✨We locked in and made an album. The band’s called Silk Sonic. First song drops next Friday 3/5.✨ pic.twitter.com/kzCQ3f7NRa — Bruno Mars (@BrunoMars) February 26, 2021 Related You Deserve to Make Money Even ...
Janis Joplin’s Pearl Remains a Stunning Gem 50 Years Later: Classic Review
Consequence Podcast Network and Sony’s The Opus is back for Season 12, which examines the enduring legacy of Janis Joplin’s posthumous final album, Pearl. Also, after you read this article, scroll below to enter our exclusive Janis Joplin giveaway or score some original Opus swag. — Pearl never stood a chance at being just an album. That was assured when Janis Joplin was found dead in her hotel room of an accidental heroin overdose during the sessions that would lead to her second and final solo record. At that point, Pearl, which came out a little over three months later, could never simply be the latest measure of the brilliant blues singer as a recording artist. It became part of the myth of Janis Joplin — an idea that’s only grown bolder and more complex over the decades. To many fans,...
Gang of Four’s Jon King: “Hendrix Was a God to Us”
Kyle Meredith With… Gang of Four Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Gang of Four co-founder Jon King speaks with Kyle Meredith about the band’s new box set, ‘77-’81. The post-punk legend discusses being rejected by numerous record labels, their bleak ’70s British life, dealing with Nazis who attended their shows, and how their songs still speak to all of the same issues today. King also tells us about being influenced by Jimi Hendrix and funk music, touring with Public Enemy, being sampled by Run the Jewels, and having their music used in film and television, namely 13 Reasons Why, The Manchurian Candidate, and Marie Antionette. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in whic...
Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, 9th Wonder Serve Up New Dinner Party Album Dessert: Stream
Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper (photo by Philip Cosores), Robert Glasper (photo by Todd Copper) Over the summer, Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, and 9th Wonder cooked up their self-titled debut album as Dinner Party. But the jazz-funk supergroup isn’t quite done feasting: Dinner Party are back at the table to serve up a new dish titled Dessert. As its name suggests, this project is closely tied to the tasty meal that was Dinner Party; it features all seven tracks of that first album, but reworked with the help of new guest “chefs” Snoop Dogg, Herbie Hancock, Bilal, Tank and the Bangas, Cordae, and Rapsody. Buddy, Punch, and Alex Isley also jump in the musical kitchen to lend a helping hand. Phoelix, who sang on the original debut LP, still has vocals throu...
Tank and The Bangas Announce Friend Goals EP, Share “Self Care”: Stream
Tank and The Bangas have announced a new EP called Friend Goals. Due out November 20th via Verve Forecast, the six-track, guest-heavy release is being previewed today with the track “Self Care”. The New Orleans-based group are known for their collaborative habits, having this year teamed with the likes of Jacob Collier and Fantastic Negrito. Friend Goals, as the title might suggest, brings together a number of artists Tank and The Bangas have befriended over their career. The follow-up to last year’s Green Balloon LP features guests like CHIKA (“Mr. Insta”), Duckwrth (“Fluff”), PJ Morton (“TSA”), and Pell on the title track. Lead single “Self Care” actually touts three collaborators: Jaime Woods, Orleans Big, and Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph. The track itself is exactly what we need i...
