Get To Know: Ntjamrosie.

Ntjamrosie is a soul/jazz artist from Southern Cameroon. When she was a young child, she moved to the Netherlands. As she got older, she became influenced by soul and R&B music and started to sing. However, she never had the intention of singing professionally. As time passed, she realized that music was indeed her passion. When she got older, she studied at the World Music Academy of the Rotterdam Conservatoire and majored in singing. There she absorbed various music styles such as bosa novas, boleros, and jazz. These sounds are very apparent in her sound which has been labeled "Bulu Soul." (Bulu is the dialect in Cameroon). On her album, Atouba, she sings in this dialect as well as English and French. The album was released last year. Purchase it from iTunes.




Also, watch her live concert HERE.

Get To Know: Inobe

One thing that I love about this genre of music is the depth of the artists. With each note, song and album they reveal so much of themselves to the world. That takes courage, and confidence. The reason I say all this, is Inobe (her name Eboni backwards), is a perfect example. She has a very real and tangible personality that comes through her music. I hate to try to describe artists, because they all are unique, but Inobe exudes a simple organic passion for music. You are not going to get complicated songs that are over produced. What you do get is a relaxed melody with a firm soothing voice. She currently has two albums, "I Am Inobe" released in 2003, and "Spiritual Soul" released in 2006. Sample her music below, and take some time to Get To Know Inobe. Enjoy.

Click album cover to download.

MySpace/Offical Website

Get To Know: Sabrina Starke

Sabrina Starke is a Dutch Soul artist from Rotterdam, Netherlands. She started making her moves into the industry when she joined a Raggae band. In 2005 she decided to move on with her solo career. She has a very unique mixture of Jazz, Soul, R&B and a dash of Folk. She recently recorded her debut album "Yellow Brick Road" in California with Dutch producers, Chris Kooreman and Edo Plasschaert. The album was released in the Netherlands October 1st. Her first single "Do for Love" was an instant hit in the Netherlands. Listening to the album, I see vivid and also subdued flashes of various styles. This defeintly doesn't have the sound of a debut album. It has a very cohesive feel, that is also polished, but not overtly.

MySpace

iTunes

Get To Know: Leigh Jones.

"The little white girl with the big soulful voice" was what she was referred to in her past. Leigh Jones, a singer/songwriter, was born and raised in North Hollywood. She is a graduate of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and was taught how to sing by her father (who sang backup for artists like Frank Sinatra and Natalie Cole).

Her debut album, Music In My Soul, was released September 9th, 2008 off of Peak Records. The blend of jazz, soul, and blues is a very refreshing sound to hear. You can hear influence from A few of stand out tracks from the album include "Have It Your Way," "Sick of Fools," and "Who What Why." Her voice is definitely one of an old soul.

Unfortunately, I heard this album too late to include it in my top albums list but this is an album you must listen to at least once. You may just put it on repeat after that. Check it out on iTunes or Amazon. (Read that review on iTunes. Perfection).

Late pass needed. I've seen her name around a couple of times, yet I never looked into her. I have to thank someone from last.fm for introducing me to her. You know who you are...

Video for her single "Free Fall":

Get To Know- Eva Kennedy.

Now, I don't have too much to write about her since I cannot find a bio of any sort. All I know is she's a singer from the underground scene in Georgia. She is very talented and I hope to hear a lot more material from her in the future. She is working on an album entitled The Eva Kennedy Project: Chameleon so look out for it. Check out the videos of her performing her song "Cream" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" below.

Cream.


Crazy. (She killed this, in my opinion)


I probably need a late pass for this.

Get To Know- Andreya Triana

Andreya Triana is an artist from the UK. She began singing and songwriting at the age of seven. At the age of seventeen, she started performing at Open Mic Night at one of her local music venues. There, she was introduced to a group by the name of "Bootis." The group slowly despanded, and eventually Andreya decided to reform Bootis with new members and a new sound. While in this group, Andreya showed off her skills as a singer, songwriter, and a performer. The grouped performed for about two years, their final show taking place at Live8 in 2005.

After recieving a degree for Music Technology, Andreya started working on her solo career. In 2006, she was selected to attend the 2006 Red Bull Music Academy in Australia, and she was one of the sixty people selected. Now, she's been traveling and performing at a few gigs. Look out for her debut album.

Check out her website and her MySpace. Watch the videos below, as well.





Major props go to Kissey Asplund.
P.S. What the heck is up with Blogger?

Get To Know: Suai.

So I'm sitting here watching (kind of watching, kind of not) ABC Family's "Lincoln Heights," and I hear some female's voice. She sounded great so I was like, "who is this?!" (if you don't watch Lincoln Heights, you should. Aside from it being a good show, they usually feature "underground" artists on there). Anyway, I waited until the end of the show to get find out what her name was and I looked her up immediately.

Suai (Pronounced Sway) is an artist signed with Universal Motown. While she was just a teen, she released an independent album and released a single by the name of "Forever and A Day," which was a hit on Detroit's radio station WJLB. Suai is currently working on an album which should be dropping sometime this year. Also, she'll be on the official album for Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign with the song, "Am I All Alone?" Keep your eyes open, people. =)

Check out her MySpace, Official Site, and YouTube channel.

Get To Know: Tawiah.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I am so late on her, it's not even funny. Tawiah, a soul artist from London, has such a great style and a great voice to match. She can be heard on Wale's Mixtape About Nothing. It's been a while since I heard that song on his mixtape, I don't know why I never looked her up because she sounds amazing. Well anyway, I stumbled upon her name recently and I was thinking, "why does she sound so familiar?" I searched her name and I found her EP In Jodi's Bedroom. Words cannot describe how impressive it is. Europe is really bringing it with the soul music, I tell you. To name a few artists: Hil St. Soul, Giovanca, Estelle, Bryn Christopher, and now her. Good lord...

The tracklisting:
1. Watch Out
2. Another One
3. Boy From Da Endz
4. Every Step
5. Interlude
6. Broken Heart

Standouts? Every single track. I recommend that you all go find this ASAP.


thank you, sensitiveaboutmysh*t.

Get To Know: Sarah White.

I'm going to be honest, I don't have too much to say about her right now because I JUST discovered her today (shame on me....props to Nu-Soul Magazine, though). I went to her MySpace and gave a couple of her songs a listen. One word that I'd use to describe them: "WOW!" Please, please, please go to her MySpace and listen to her songs. If you like them, I suggest you purchase her EP, "Hiding Blind," off of iTunes. As soon as I can listen to that, I'll definitely post a little review on it.

Oh, and check out her blog (well, a blog she co-writes on). It's under the links, it's called "Wrong Lips."

Get To Know: Esperanza Spalding.

Check out this interview with Esperanza Spalding. She is what the music world NEEDS right now, seriously. (Her album is available on here for download)