At long last, the newest LP from YONAS, About Time. We recently previewed the first single, “All Rise,” and the rest of the album (14 tracks, including a couple of short musical interludes) is similarly intense, in contrast with some of the Bronx MC’s lighter remixes and one-off singles. On About Time, Yonas returns to the darker vibe that marked his 2013 album The Transition, supremely confident, but starkly honest, with unvarnished thoughts on the ups and downs of success, mortality, fatherhood, and building a legacy, no matter what else the work yields. Toward the end of About Time, the inclusion of some of those previous singles (“You F#cked Up,” “King of the Summer,” “Wait a Minute”) lightens the load a bit with some universal pop appeal. As usual, the production is stellar and the album just sounds great. Listen to a few tracks below, and click here for the full length.
More:
Video Of The Month: Kyle Bent, “Running” (feat. ANoyd)
Yonas Isn’t Dead In “All Rise” Video
Catching Up With Ciph Boogie: Q&A
New video of the month for you here. It’s Boston-based rapper Kyle Bent, featuring ANoyd, with “Running.” It’s a great track, with a throbbing beat and Bent’s baritone, contrasted nicely with ANoyd’s tenor flow. Check it out.
More:
Kyle Bent, “Just A Little Bit” Official Video
Catching Up With Ciph Boogie: Q&A
Yonas Isn’t Dead In “All Rise” Video
Every once in a while, we like to share some of our favorites among recent uploads to OurStage. This month, we’ve got music from should-be country star John Thibodeaux, who had to put his career on hold in 2015 to serve in Afghanistan, but is back with a album produced by Grammy winner Robb Tripp, Moments Like This (get it here). There’s also a new track from our old friends Xolie Morra & the Strange Kind, from a forthcoming album. Xolie’s voice is golden. Finally, another familiar voice: Jimmy Lyback, aka July Fighter, who have been at or near the top of our charts for the last year or so. Listen below:
More:
Xolie Morra & The Strange Kind Perform On Kimmel
Featured Artist: July Fighter
We don’t get too political here at OurStage HQ, but I think we can all be glad that Election 2016 is about over. To celebrate, we combed our catalog for politically inspired songs that you might enjoy. Some of these are funny, some are angry, some have a thoughtful message, and some are…unclassifiable. But they’re all worth checking out.
Click here for the playlist. Below is a tracklisting and user’s guide.
Don’t forget to vote!
- Mr. President by Jimmy B. (hip-hop)
- Scandal by Adam Ezra Group (roots / rock)
- Your President by Joe Bagale (r&b)
- Why by openhiphop (hip-hop)
- One Love America by Sam C (hip-hop)
- Campaign Trail by The Filthy Addiction (indie rock)
- America by mallory (rock)
- Mr. President (feat. Y-Love) by AWKWORD (hip-hop)
- FBI by p*dubb and the special agents (punk)
- The President’s Men by D’Mangelo (hip-hop)
- Declaration of Independence by Clash of Civilizations (alt. hip-hop)
- New Constitution by Benny Moore (retro/indie rock)
- Commander In Chief by Pills Clinton (hip-hop)
- Our Devolution IS Televised by HUMANWINE (indie/roots)
- We Vote For Peace by STOP (classic rock)
More like this:
Post-Election Songs: From Hopeful To Head-Scratching
Musicians And Their Controversial Politicking
Soundcheck: Hip-Hop Gets Political
Paterson, New Jersey’s own H2-O (aka Lemonte Williams) is back with a brand new project, released today, entitled idothisforthelove (1000 Words). The artist we once favorably compared to Nas worked with a number of high profile producers, including Flawless Tracks (Wale, Dr. Dre) and Stompboxx (Bubba Sparxxx), to create his most fully realized work yet. The album was preceded by the killer singles “Let Me Do That” and “Still Vivid” (both released around early autumn last year), and now we’ve got a preview of the excellent video for “Let Me Do That.” You can also watch the video for the utterly wrenching “Still Vivid,” released in January, after the jump.
idothisforthelove (1000 Words) is streaming here and available on iTunes now.
Every month, the OurStage community (that’s you) listens and ranks the songs competing on OurStage.com. Once those songs get to the Finals stage, five grand prize winners are selected. Those winners get featured on the ‘OurStage on Amazing Radio’ show, broadcast from the UK to hundreds of thousands of music fans, both on terrestrial radio in the UK and online around the world. Last month’s show is streaming now. Below are the top five that you’ll hear on this month’s show, but you can preview them now by clicking here for a playlist.
POP FINALS:
“Falling For Your Everything” by The Chance
ROOTS FINALS:
“A Love Quite Like Yours” by Derren Raser
ROCK FINALS:
“Creatures” by Soapbox Army
URBAN FINALS:
“What’s Good” by Axcess ft. Maskerade
ELECTRONIC FINALS:
“Dance With Me In The Starlight” by Mark Barnes
Check out all the additional 1st place songs from our genre channels here.