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Pop Rock Nation

Author: Money Mike

  • R&B’s Best Kept Secret Makes His “Point”: Anthony Hamilton

    Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what to make of the current R&B landscape. The R&B band has all but disappeared, the divas of yesteryear still exist in a radically faded state with no ladies in waiting to replace them, and as for the guys? Well, most male R&B singers either spend their time trying to be rappers or trying to be Michael Jackson. Nothing against rappers or MJ, but you’ve gotta wonder what happened to what they call “grown folks” R&B. Stick-to-your-ribs soul music. A man who sounds like an adult instead of a perpetually horny teenager, someone with real-life perspective. An artist capable of filling the void created when Gerald LeVert and Luther Vandross passed away. Well, if Anthony Hamilton hasn’t found his way into your music collection yet, I strongly suggest you check him out right now.

    North Carolina-born, Harlem-based Anthony Hamilton is still pretty much under the radar. Despite selling a combined 1.5 million copies of his first two albums, the majority of music listeners-even fans of R&B- music fans would be hard-pressed to name three songs from the guy. That anonymity has prevented him from getting his props, because 37-year old Hamilton is easily one of the best-if not THE best- singer in his genre. His raspy tone has drawn comparisons to everyone from Bill Withers to Bobby Womack, and he’s proven himself to be one of the few current artists capable of sounding like an authentic throwback (as opposed to a pale facsimile) and completely contemporary at the same time. He appeals equally to men and women, although the (formerly) scruffy, diminutive Hamilton is not the traditional R&B sex symbol. His music has a strong spiritual element to it (the song “Pass Me Over”, from his last album, literally got me through a very trying period several years ago), and the guy throws down live. Believe me, y’all. Anthony Hamilton is the whole package.

    Rumors of his third album, The Point of it All, being a more “uptempo” affair caught me off-guard and had me thinking the worst. After all, Hamilton certainly wouldn’t be the first favorite artist of mine to make a sellout move after showing promise. My fears were compounded when I realized the first single, Cool, featured a guest spot from rapper David Banner. Again, I love my hip-hop just like I love my R&B, but there are definite times when the two don’t need to mix, and although Hamilton has made guest appearances on a couple of popular rap singles, I felt like the addition of a guest emcee on a Hamilton album was a compromise of sorts.

    Thank goodness, my fears turned out to be unnecessary. While The Point of it All has added a few elements to make Hamilton sound a little more contemporary, it’s basically still an Anthony Hamilton album. Fans of his first two albums will find much to enjoy here.

    Cool actually turns out to be a pretty decent song, a mellow midtempo track with a fairly unobtrusive (and witty) rap section from Banner, but it’s far from the best song on the album (actually, it‘s one of the weakest).  The News opens the album and immediately sets the tone for everything that follows with a groove and socially conscious lyrics that recall both Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. Listen to a song like this and it’s no wonder that the guys who put together the music for American Gangster (which was set in the early Seventies) picked Hamilton to perform two original songs on the soundtrack . Prayin’ for You/Superman is a two-part song that stretches Hamilton out with a little bit of country twang followed by some piano blues. It’s pretty ballsy for an R&B artist and shows why musicians as diverse as country star Josh Turner and blues-rocker Jonny Lang have sought him out to work with. Hamilton even proves that he can handle adult contemporary balladry. He pulls off a song like Her Heart beautifully when it would be mush in any other artist’s hands.

    Hamilton’s more spiritually inclined work hits me the hardest, and to me, this album’s centerpiece is Fine Again. It’s got a hopeful message and  pleading vocals that put it head and shoulders above the rest of the album.

    One good album can be a fluke. Two good albums suggest potential greatness. Three great albums seals the deal. With The Point of it All, Hamilton has sewn up his position as one of the most talented R&B artists around. Hopefully, this will be the time that the world-at-large realizes this.

    See the video for “Cool” here.

  • Not Necessarily The News – DMB, Prince and (of course) Kanye

    What Would You Say?: If DMB Went Back To Work:
    After a four-year absence from the studio and the loss of saxophonist Leroi Moore, the Dave Matthews Band are soldiering on with a new album and tour. The album is scheduled for release on 4/14, with the tour kicking off in New York on the same day. This new album is produced by Rob Cavallo, who manned the boards for Green Day’s massive “American Idiot” album (speaking of which, where the hell are those guys??). As a veteran of DMB shows numbering into the double digits, I am looking forward to both a new album and tour from these guys. See? I can write something without being smarmy!!

    Photograph by Penner.

    What Will Wendy & Lisa Say?
    In the “I Love His Music, But The Guy’s a Douchebag” department, Prince allegedly revealed himself as a homophobe by saying “God came to Earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out”. Of course, Prince (who, in case you haven’t heard, has been a Jehovah’s Witness for the past several years)’s people denied that he made the statement, but the New Yorker, the magazine in which the statement was published, is standing by the quote. Talk about sticking your foot in your mouth, especially when you’re an artist who has traded in on gay imagery and tons of gay fans for years. I wonder how a cuban heel tastes in your mouth, Mr. Nelson?

    Mr West: Lip Synching?
    So, according to this news clip, the message boards are abuzz, wondering if Kanye lip-synched his “Saturday Night Live”. Folks, find a place somewhere that has the clips of his performance and you tell me if he’s lip-synching, because if I was miming, I’d have made sure the vocals I was miming to sounded a hell of a lot better than Kanye’s did on Saturday night. Kanye fairly obviously used a background singer to hit the high notes he would have otherwise muffed, and the Auto-Tune was in full effect, but anyone with half an ear can tell the dude wasn’t lip synching.

  • The New Music Files 12/16/08: Ending the Year With a Bang

    Well, folks, we’ve come to the end of the road for 2008. The last big release date of the year. The labels are emptying their chambers until 2009 (and from the looks of the ’09 release schedule…those chambers won’t be emptied until we’re way into 2009). Here’s what you can expect to see on the new release shelves in stores today.

    Fall Out Boy Folie a Deux: This is supposed to be Pete Wentz and the boys’ “political” album, originally scheduled to release on Valentine’s Day. While I kinda like FOB (their last album impressed me, actually), I’m not so sure that I want to hear them talking about politics. Anyway, Folie a Deux continues their move from emo to power-pop as evidenced by their hit single “I Don’t Care”. Debbie Harry and Lil’ Wayne-of course-are among the guests on this album.

    Anthony Hamilton The Point of it All: This man, ladies and gentlemen, is a soul singer the way they used to make ’em. His first two albums have been excellent, and even the pre-fame vault releases that have been put out are pretty good. The Point of it All is touted as a more uptempo effort from Anthony, but I’ve heard the whole album, and it’s not much different from his first two. This is a good thing, because I was scared when I found out the first single had a cameo from rapper David Banner.

    Keyshia Cole A Different Me: It took Mary J. Blige 13 years and seven studio albums before she went from “troubled” to “diva”. Keyshia Cole is trying to turn the same trick in five years and three albums. Of course, Mary had to deal with drug and alcohol addiction and an abusive relationship. Keyshia’s pretty much only had to deal with being a hoodrat. This new album is already off to a shaky start, as the first single heads back to the grave of Tupac Shakur one more time. Leave the man alone! He’s been dead 12 years now!!!

    Soulja Boy Tell ’em ISouljaboytellem.com: What’s that sound? It’s the sound of Soulja Boy Tellem’s career dying a quick and undignified death! The maker of last year’s biggest novelty hit returns for round 2, only this time, no one cares.

    Jamie Foxx Intuition: Back when Jamie was playing Ugly Wanda on “In Living Color”, did anyone think the words “Oscar winner” would precede his name? Probably not, but here we are a decade and a half later, and Foxx has a successful dual career as actor and singer. This, his third solo album, features more slightly lecherous R&B (dude, you’re 40!) with cameos from T.I., Ne-Yo, and (you guessed it) Lil’ Wayne.

    But wait, there’s more!

    The All-American Rejects follow up their breakthrough album, Move Along, with When the World Comes Down, which features the hit single “Gives You Hell”. They’re joined on this week’s release schedule by rapper Plies (didn’t he just release an album?), Josey Scott & Saliva, and in this week’s oddest release, Vibes,a reggae album by Heavy D. Yes, that Heavy D.

    On the reissue tip, The Bee Gees re-release their Love Songs compilation a full month and a half in advance of Valentine’s Day.How thoughtful. There’s also the annual Dave Matthews Band live album (I think this might be one of the last shows sax man Leroi Moore played), a best of from Ghostface Killah, and budget compilations from the likes of Bob Dylan, Brooks & Dunn and REO Speedwagon, so if you’ve been interested in checking these bands out, you can do so at a low price.

    Get your full list of this week’s new releases here.

    And with that, “The New Music Files” is taking the remainder of 2008 (and the first week or two of 2009) off. Enjoy the holiday season and see you next year!!