Category: R&B

Stubbys House of Christmas

LILI K. & PETER COTTONTALE - A CHRISTMAS SONG

12/25/2011

I don't know the first thing about Lili K. Tag says she's from Chicago, so that's something I guess. But I do like this Christmas song. Titled simply enough "A Christmas Song", it's a nice combination of Soul, Jazz, and mellow Hip Hop. And the voice is sweet. Lili K. is reportedly working on a project for release in the coming year, along with collaborator Peter Cottontale. I'll be watching for it. In the meantime, grab this free holiday single on Bandcamp. It's also on Mediafire, if the free downloads run out.

VARIOUS - A CHRISTMAS GIFT FROM SOULTRACKS

12/22/2011

1. The Sugarplum Dance - TAKE 6
2. Celebrate - JEAN BAYLOR
3. We Thank You - COKO
4. Secret Place - AMBER BULLOCK
5. The First Noel - NOEL GOURDIN DOWNLOAD FREE FROM SOULTRACKS

SoulTracks is an Internet site that covers the world of Soul, with news, features, reviews, interviews, new release information and more. Artists regularly give exclusively to SoulTracks songs to be used as free downloads in order to promote their releases. And, every year at Christmas, SoulTracks has a handful of free seasonal downloads. This year, the site is offering up 5 such freebies. The tracks from Take 6 and Coko are drawn from previous releases. Jean Baylor and Amber Bullock are Gospel Soul artists, with Amber the recent winner of this year's Sunday Best (a kind of American Idol for Gospel artists) competition on BET. So, to me, the big "get" here is Noel Gourdin, a rising star, whose "The First Noel" single would set you back $1.29 on iTunes. Jean Baylor's song, it's worth mentioning, is from her new Christmas EP "Light Up The World", available on CD-R or digitally through Amazon.

VARIOUS - TRACHEAD FAMILY & FRIENDS CHRISTMAS

12/21/2011

1. Intro
2. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
3. The Christmas Song
4. What Is The Real Meaning Of Christmas
5. The First Noel
6. Jesus Is Coming To Town
7. Go Tell It On The Economy
8. This Christmas
9. Silent Night
10. Joy To The World
11. Mother Mary (Interlude)
12. Away In A Manger
13. Christmas Don't Be Late
14. Oh Come All Ye Faithful
15. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
16. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Instrumental)

DOWNLOAD FREE AT BANDCAMP

Ostensibly, Trachead is a Gospel label. But it's a modern Gospel label, which means this collection features some fine soul, R&B, and Hip Hop. There are some straight soul infused Gospel numbers on "Trachead Family & Friends Christmas", but I really like the more adventurous stuff that's just overflowing with goodness--selections like "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "This Christmas" and "Christmas Don't Be Late". "What Is The Real Meaning of Christmas" is cocoa butter, too--very Tony Toni Tone. For the more Gospel oriented, give a listen to "Go Tell It On The Mountain". Supremely satisfying soul, here. And it's free at Bandcamp.

THE NOSTALGICS - CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED

12/19/2011

Free single from The Nostalgics of Harvard University. This ain't no Glee Club...at least I don't think it is. Hmmm. Anyway, "Christmas Is Cancelled" isn't the Long Blondes track from several years back, but rather a Northern Soul number. And there are certainly better tunes in the Retro Soul genre, but this one isn't bad. The female vocalist has talent and there be a horn section. And Daptone didn't release a single this year, so we'll take whatever fine soul comes along. Bame your price and download "Christmas Is Cancelled" at Bandcamp.

GUMMY SOUL - IT'S CHRISTMAS

12/18/2011

Gummy Soul was originally a radio show--or a concept for a radio show--that Nashville producer Walter Clark had weekly on WRVU. The concept was playing only the very very best of old school R&B, Funk, and Hip Hop. In time, Gummy Soul developed into a small record label helping to further the careers of a select few modern day Hip Hop artists.

This Christmas track, "It's Christmas", features the aforementioned Mr. Clark, Amerigo Gazaway, and Kurtis J. Stanley. It's Hip Hop, tru dat, but it's got the grit and soul of the old school. Heck, if only for the Barry White intro, you should probably download "It's Christmas", free at Bandcamp.

Hat tip to Christmas A Go Go for finding this one earlier this week.

WILEY - CHEER UP, IT'S CHRISTMAS

12/17/2011

Wiley - Cheer Up, It's Christmas by Big Dada Sound

British producer, MC, and rapper Wiley is part of the new millennium wave of hip hop artists in the UK who built their followings largely through pirate radio stations. Because everybody's always looking to slap labels on things, the style Wiley uses is generally called "Grime" which is a minimalistic, somewhat off-center sound that incorporates elements of hip hop, punk and Jamaican Dancehall. Wiley's roots are in Trinidad, so Dancehall is likely something he's familiar with. "Cheer Up, It's Christmas" is a track from Wiley's coming album, "Evolve Or Be Extinct", and he and his label have made it available as a free download through Soundcloud for the season. Cheers, mate!

STERLING SIMMS & MARSHA AMBROSIUS - NOTHING FOR CHRISTMAS

12/14/2011

It's not always easy to tell when a Hip Hop download is "free and legal" because, well, that's just the way it is. An awful lot of Hip Hop tunes get picked up and spread through the 'Nets (yes, that darn New Jersey basketball team). But when the artist is directing you to the web sites where the free downloads are via his Twitter feed, you kinda have to accept that he's given his blessing.

Sterling Simms is an R&B artist--born in Philly, raised in Atlanta--and his debut record "Yours, Mine & The Truth" was not the chart burner he'd hoped for (though, artistically, it was a fine first effort). A lot of the reason for the album's under performance resulted from a lack of support and promotion from the label. Sterling moved on, has a new label, and is readying a new album, "Time Capsule", for release next year.

Sterling got some assistance on this one from Marsha Ambrosius. "Nothing For Christmas" is a righteous jam, mixing in many of the old standards as well as clips from "A Christmas Story". And when the song even tosses in some "Christmas All Over The World" (the Sheena Easton song from "Santa Claus, The Movie", well that's when I knew for sure we had a winner. It's definitely something you can bop and sway to. And it's got the spirit of Hip Hop Christmas in it. Go download it, yo, via HulkShare.

THE REVELATIONS FEATURING TRE WILLIAMS - IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR

12/9/2011

1. It's That Time Of Year
2. Merry Christmas Baby
3. It's Christmas Time
4. This Christmas

DOWNLOAD FREE AT BANDCAMP

Saw this one up at Mistletunes and couldn't wait to bring it over here. If the Soul is grooving the way it used to, then it's most likely coming from one of two places--either Dap-Tone records or Tre Williams. Tre is a Soul and R&B singer that ought to get more attention than he does, because he is the real deal. And Tre and The Revelations have just dropped an awesome 4 track freebie, named after their previous Christmas treat, "It's That Time Of Year". You betcha I believe in Santa Claus.

Williams could hold his own with most of the greats of years gone past and certainly with the wannabes that populate the Soul charts these days. "It's That Time Of Year"--the single--was originally released in 2008. And, for that track alone, you should download this set. But wait! There's more! The Revelations turn in one of the hottest, grittiest versions of "Merry Christmas Baby" I've ever heard. Tre and Company then turn in a deep soul ballad, "It's Christmas Time", which figures to be an original, and close it out with a fairly faithful cover of Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas". Funk up your holidays with The Revelations featuring Tre Williams.

But don't stop there. You can't, you can't, you can't stop this. On the right hand side of the Bandcamp page, you'll notice a FREE sampler, "An Introduction To..."--that's 9 more slices of soul heaven right there. The only catch is, after that, you'll be wanting even more. Might I recommend "Concrete Blues"? What the heck, you're already there. If nothing else, though, take advantage of the free Christmas gift that is "It's That Time Of Year". Think of it as Soul to feed your soul.

RANDOM AKA MEGARAN - A VERY RANDOM CHRISTMAS

11/29/2011

1. Wishlist
2. Snow Business
3. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
4. Christmas Is Coming
5. Humbug!
6. My Christmas Prayer

DOWNLOAD AT BANDCAMP

The master of 8-bit Hip Hop, Random (aka MegaRan) dropped "A Very Random Christmas" over the Thanksgiving Weekend. It may take a minute or two to reach you, but it's actually kind of infectious. Random's a Philly product who cites everyone from John Coltrane to Bob Dylan to Bach ("the next big thing") as artists he loves. His Rap tends to be positive and fun, no Parental Advisory required. For Christmas, Ran sampled "A Charlie Brown Christmas" to lay down his beats and, for the most part, it really works well.

Special mention has to go to the Hip Hop version of "Twas The Night Before Christmas". Back in the day, all the early hipsters had a crack at Clement Moore's iconic poem, with Babs Gonzalez' "Be Bop Santa Claus" likely being the best known and Phil Moore's "Blink Before Christmas" likely being the best. Why not Hip Hop? I won't give away the ending but I loved it when he grabbed Santa's pipe and said "No Smoking". Now that was cool.
The rhymes are fresh,
the beats are all fly.
Sure as hell surprised me.
And you know I don't lie.

There's actually a limited edition hard copy (to 100) available, which will include instrumental tracks. But the download is "name your price" and Random encourages you to enter "0", though tips are gladly accepted. Merry Christmas, yo.

LLOYD - SHE'S ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

11/26/2011

25 year old Lloyd Polite, Jr.--who goes simply by "Lloyd"--is an R&B singer on the come. "Southside", Lloyd's solo debut in 2004 (following a stint with N-Toon) rose well up the Billboard charts. It didn't hurt that the single also featured Ashanti. Since signing with Interscope earlier this year, Lloyd has totally raised the ceiling, with the album "King of Hearts" doing very well since it's release late this summer and the lead single "Lay It Down" reaching the R&B Top Ten. Not to offend anyone on either side of the equation, but it's hard not to hear echoes of Michael Jackson when you listen to Lloyd's Christmas single, "She's All I Want For Christmas", which you can download freely, courtesy of OneShot Promotions.