Tyler Brooker ft PHAZE - Step Aside

Step Aside - Tyler Brooker ft PHAZE (EDM) it’s been three years since we last touched base with Tyler Brooker, having previously reviewed 2023’s Hypocrite, and so we’re happy to have him back on the blog with latest track “Step Aside.” On “Hypocrite”, Tyler served us an in-your-face house number with pointed lyrics over a huge production. On his latest track, we get a mellow island jam and an artist in a much better headspace. Here, Tyler is extolling the virtues of a potential love interest, and how they have him magnetized. It’s the perfect breezy dance floor track for summertime beach parties and rooftop happy hours. This is one you wind to.

Best Lyric: “Melodies born outta’ love fixing hearts split.”

Keesha Blair - Access Declined

Access Declined - Keesha Blair (R&B) Fresh off our review of “Truth Always Shows Its Face”, Keesha Blair is back with us again with track “Access Declined”. On her previous neo-soul gem, we credited the smoothness of the production, rainy coffee shop vibes and expertly crafted poetry on the lyrics. With “Access Declined”, we keep those R&B feels but with a much more upbeat, punchy track. The pen game is just as strong, as Keesha sings from her chest that the fairweather friends in her life will be left outside the gate. Keesha also gets the opportunity to show off her vocal prowess, flying into the rafters with a heartfelt belt. Sassy, smart and with a strong point of view, Keesha shines on “Access Declined.”

Best Lyric:  “Keep that same energy both in public and privately.”

Keesha Blair - Truth Always Shows Its Face

Truth Always Shows Its Face - Keesha Blair (R&B) We have a newcomer to our blog this week, Keesha Blair, who brings us her latest track “Truth Always Shows Its Face”. Songwriter, music creator and custom music director, Keesha Blair centers her work on healing, empowerment, boundaries, truth and emotional restoration. The track is an expertly polished R&B/neo-soul gem, which gives fuzzy vinyl feels and rainy coffee shop vibes with its understated keys and crisp drum kit. It’s a total groove, with Keesha’s easy and free vocals sliding all over the track, punctuated by plush backing vocals and occasionally hitting us with some spoken poetry-slam style deliveries. And that is probably the word that sums up the track best—poetry. Despite all the song has going for it, it’s the pen game that stands out to us the most.

Best Lyric:  “Lies stacked on lies until they caved on me.”

The New Citizen Kane - metalLIC

metalLIC - The New Citizen Kane (Pop) The New Citizen Kane returns to us for the first time this year after six prior features on our blog, this time bringing us “metalLIC”. This latest track is an explosion of synth goodness, with all the 80s electronica feels. It’s a dreamy cut, romanticizing the moment in one’s life when you stop analyzing and just start feeling, so our artist tells us. With his razor sharp baritone slicing through the miasma of swirling keys, his falsetto soars on the chorus, giving the airy lightheartedness of release that the song aims to convey with its message. It’s a wind down the windows on a sunny day, cruise down the freeway type record.

Best Lyric:  “By the morning hesitation won’t mean a thing.”

Aurealis - Cursed

Cursed - Aurealis (Pop) This week, our newcomer to the blog is Aurealis with latest single “Cursed.” Pop project Aurealis aims to explore the emotional edges of the human experience, blending atmosphere, layering and a cinematic production to create music that ranges from dance floor anthems to introspective deep dives. On “Cursed”, we get the latter, an introspective number where grandiose synths lay a vast soundscape before an 80s feeling drumkit kicks in to drive the track forward. Lead by a rich baritone, the track stirs the emotions with a soulful delivery and sweeping instrumentation. Hitting its heights during the rousing choruses, this is a sing-along in the car kind of record.

Marie Noire - Paper Hearts

Paper Hearts - Marie Noire (R&B) Marie Noire joins us this week with latest track “Paper Hearts”, her debut single. The brand new project Marie Noire blends dark-pop moods with contemporary R&B, lifting inspiration from heartbreak, obsession and emotional numbness. On “Paper Hearts”, we start with a soulful piano and lilting jazz-infused vocal, baked in intimacy and vulnerability, punctuated by a far away cello (which we really enjoyed). The song is an ode to fragility, begging a lover to be gentle with her heart. The track conjures comparisons to a Sia production, from the instrumentation to the tone of the vocals. Overall, it’s a song built for shower singalongs.

Best Lyric: “Every I love you I whispered.”

Rosie Belvie - Unapologetic

Unapologetic - Rosie Belvie (Pop) We are excited to have one of our favorites back with us, Rosie Belvie, for her fifth feature on our blog with latest single “Unapologetic”. Having previously reviewed cuts “O.M.G.”, “Survive”, “Crush” and “Attitude”, we’ve come to expect versatility, ranging from her comfort zone of 00s R&B vibes to EDM to pop to afrobeat—basically we know to expect something sizzling, but we can never expect the flavor. With “Unapologetic”, Rosie is giving us a funky synth-pop R&B diss track, a combo we don’t often see. The track feels like it could be from Christina Aguilera’s “Bionic” era, with a touch of Britney Spears “Work Bitch.” On “Unapologetic”, Rosie is telling you that she said what she said over a collection of buzzy synths. And while the lyrics are sharp, the standout is the chorus, which begs for repeat listens.

Best Lyric: “I’ve got the power to defeat my enemies.”

Nova Blu - Satellite Love

Satellite Love - Nova Blu (R&B) We’re back this week with a new artist on our roster, Nova Blu, bringing us her latest single “Satellite Love.” A sharp and sizzling production, Nova’s silky vocals take center stage on this mid-tempo groove about being the secret love hanging around in her lover’s orbit. Tonally, it’s an R&B/pop crossover that gives heavy early-Ariana Grande vibes, with similarly engaging touches of ear candy in the background vocals. There’s a sweet sadness to the song, and Nova tells us her goal is to make emotionally driven records to forge a real connection with her listeners. We’d say she’s done exactly that with “Satellite Love.”

Best Lyric: “I see the ghost of her upon your skin.”

R.Nelson - Gravity

Gravity - R.Nelson (R&B) This week we are joined by R.Nelson with his latest track, “Gravity.” A sultry R&B mid tempo groove, our Washington, DC-based artist gives us the feels of a 00s pop/R&B crossover record, which tells the story of being pulled in by the magnetism of a coworker. It’s a track we might ascribe to Neyo or Bruno Mars back in the day—that feel good music that can’t help but make you smile as you bump it in your car, windows down on a sunny afternoon. “Gravity” was created by a meld of traditional songwriting with AI-assisted workflows, resulting in a polished and professional number with humanity shining through the lyrics. Overall, it’s a head-nodding two-stepper built for summer.

Best Lyric: “Then you walked in, now my days move stranger.”

Tori Lord - Conman

Conman - Tori Lord (Pop) This week we welcome Canadian-born and New York-based artist Tori Lord to our blog with latest track, “Conman”. On “Conman”, Tori is a woman who knows her ex’s story well, and serves a warning to his latest flame that the guy isn’t the strongman he appears to be. Tori does so with a pillowy soft vocal, like an oracle foretelling the future, with the intensity in her delivery building as her warning becomes more dire. She’s been there before, she knows the version of himself that he plays that is only a facade. There’s a country sensibility to the track, be it in subject matter or hints of the production, but remains focused in the top 40 pop lane. Overall, it’s a fierce mid tempo, and a great track for the jilted ex.

Best Lyric: “Take her down to that dump in Costa Rica, and when the bill comes I bet you won’t pay.”

Young V - On Top Of The World

On Top Of The World - Young V (Hip Hop) We’ve got Young V riding the beat this week with latest track “Top of The World”, where our artist relishes in his success in a groovy, mid tempo feel good number. Starting with an introspective, atmospheric chord progression, Young V slides into the mix with vocals that remind us of T-Pain, but without the pitch effect. The cadence finds a middle ground between sung and spit, giving that early 00s hip hop vibe. The pen game is superb, clever and memorable, especially during the spoken breakdown — and boy do we appreciate a proper bridge. Good energy abounts in “On Top Of the World” and we rock with it.

Best Lyric: “Now that I’ve got the bases loaded, I’m swinging for the fences.”

Antoin Gibson - Diss Tribute

Diss Tribute - Antoin Gibson (Pop) Antoin Gibson returns to us for the third time with latest track “Diss Tribute”. When we last heard from Antoin, it was with a roiling stormcloud of a track, “Venom-Laced Tears” which followed our review of the gritty “Diss Qualification”. What those two tracks set up was a high bar with respect to lyrics, as in both reviews we noted Antoin’s stellar pen game. “Diss Tribute” does not disappoint, delivering her cleverness with a Nicki style flow, taking shots at the current state of democracy as well as the culture around fame and virality. Pointed, vicious and delivered with passion, “Diss Tribute” goes hard, and is a perfect track for those moods when you just want to set the world on fire..

Best Lyric: “Being heard has become a bureaucracy”

Amara-Fe - A Queen's Ambition (LP)

A Queen’s Ambition (LP) - Amara-Fe (Pop) Amara-Fe has returned with a brand new LP just weeks after her 9-track LP “Echoes” with latest project, “A Queen’s Ambition”. We always love hearing from Amara-Fe, whose typical mid-tempo R&B lane is one we love to travel. Last time around, Amara-Fe brought us her confidence at full force, along with some cracks in the facade that led to love and loss. This time around, Amara-Fe expands her sound into more pop crossover territory, but keeps her strong point of view that defines her as an artist. But before we go any further, let’s recap what we know about the artist.

Hailing from Mission, rising star Amara-Fe comes to us with deep-rooted connections to the music industry. With uncles Eugene & Rene jamming in Tulsa and a grandmother writing for Minnie Ripperton, music is in Amara-Fe’s blood. We’ve been fortunate to review Amara-Fe in the past when she brought us feel good track “To good for that” from her REBORN LP and the “Echoes” LP. On those projects, a self confidence permeated the track in a Lizzo’s “Good as Hell” kinda way, with a pop Top 40 flare and hard hitting, theatrical vocals preaching a simple message: “Boy, bye!”

Feeling very much like a sequel to the “Echoes” project, Amara-Fe continues to explore the contrast between vulnerability in love and confidence to maintain boundaries and know what one deserves out of love. With 16 tracks, the album starts out with a suite of love songs before a turn to the collapse of love. But those are just the intro to the project, as the bulk of album is focused on a woman’s strength, resilience, inner fire and ability to survive her darkest times and fight her own battles.

Production wise, we lean much more Top 40 than R&B this time, with even a few dancehall Skrillex-style flourishes that elevate Amara-Fe’s typical sound, showing her to be a crossover artist. The mixes and masters are impeccable, deep, rich and thudding, with hyper modern sounds that fit perfectly on today’s radio landscape.

“Moonlight” sets the stage with an ode to what makes Amara-Fe special, her glow, before diving into tracks “Rooted Love” and “Solid Ground” which give pop/R&B feels when describing the strength of the love Amara-Fe has with her partner. However, things quickly go south with “Don’t Walk Out That Door” and “No Games No War”, two tracks detailing the end of her relationship with varied soundscapes, the latter giving us a nice funk sound that feels fresh for our artist.

There’s a brief diversion into “Ecstacy”, a pure R&B cut that might be our favorite on the album, before all the remaining tracks veer into Amara-Fe’s proclamations of her strength and ability to rise from the ashes like a phoenix. Of those tracks, we get soul rousing numbers like “Legacy Untold” and finale “Strength Of A Goddess” which use choral backings to give an anthemic feel to those records. She also makes sure to give us her spit game with “A Woman’s Worth” and “Fall Back”, as well as another glistening Ariana-tinged R&B cut with “Far Above Rubies.”

In sum, Amara-Fe’s “A Queen’s Ambition” stays true to her point of view and messaging about female empowerment and rising above the challenges of love, while at the same time expanding her sound into crossover appeal.

Tracks:

1. Moonlight

2. Rooted Love

3. Solid Ground

4. Don’t Walk Out That Door

5. No Games No War

6. Ecstacy

7. Ascend From Ashes

8. Legacy Untold

9. The Reckoning

10. I Won’t Fold

11. Fighter In Me

12. Far Above Rubies

13. A Woman’s Worth

14. Fall Back

Jnabe - Respect Her Bag

Respect Her Bag - Jnabe (Pop) This week, we welcome Jnabe to the blog with pop/dance confection “Respect Her Bag”. Mixed and mastered by platinum-winning engineer Mostwanted and the Grammy-nominated Chris Gehringer, “Respect Her Bag” is gaining streaming traction for reasons we can clearly hear. A catchy mid tempo with an island vibe, the song is a certified hip winder. The bass fills the backing as Jnabe’s crisp vocals slice through the mix, constantly switching up the cadence of the rhythm in the verses to keep the listener engaged. “Respect Her Bag” tells the tale of a woman whose ways of making money are looked down on by her man, but not Jnabe. The track reminds us of all those afrobeat inspired dance cuts of the 2010s in the best way possible. We defy you not to get to the dance floor with this one.

Best Lyric: “He outta respect you girl. So goodbye.“

Baby Booder - Champion

Champion - Baby Booder (Rap) Baby Booder joins our ranks this week with latest track “Champion”, an ode to the artist’s challenges and triumphs during the last year. Recorded from his home studio for an underground vibe, Ann Arbor artist Baby Booder gives us a tight little biographical track with “Champion”. The intro of warbly keys gives a mystical vibe, underlying a tight and crispy percussion. It’s a contemplative record with a very catchy chorus led by a pitch dropped chant and a lilting female vocal line that are both great ear candy. On the verses, Baby Booder gives us somber and reflective, injecting a little melancholy into the record. Overall, it’s a moody record with a tight production, and a perfect little head nodder.

Best Lyric: “Kinda hard to be me but I manage it.“

Solar Soundz - Loyalty & Respect

Loyalty & Respect - Solar Soundz (Rap) Solar Soundz joins our blog this week as we review the title track to latest album “Loyalty & Respect”. Lisbon-based producer Sam, better known as Solar Soundz, has been making music for over two decades, and with his latest LP bringing a blend of classic boom bap grit and modern trap energy. Joined by Kinetic 9 and Legs Mc on the track, we are treated to a breezy old school 90s hip hop vibe with twinkling keys backing a punchy, dirty percussion. Our vocalists ride the beat with ease, and are treated to a crispy distortion effect that blends well with the grit of the instrumentation. But while the standout production provides a nice balance of gritty and smooth, what pops out most about this record is the excellence of the pen game, which displays thoughtfulness and maturity. It’s a “calm before the storm” feeling kind of number dipped in poetry.

Best Lyric: “Grappling with gravity, pulling you in tight.“