Showing Out

Kelis is a creature of reinvention. Once a crimson-haired crackpot who screamed bloody murder on her breakout single “Caught Out There,” the singer has come a long way since her Neptunes days. In a span of just over a decade, Kelis has done warped R&B (1999’s Kaleidoscope, ’01’s Wanderland), boss bitch pop (’03’s Tasty) and an uneven mix of both (’06’s Kelis Was Here). In the years between the release of Kelis Was Here and today, she’s become more of a tabloid fixture than musician, with her highly publicized divorce from rapper Nas and the birth of their son Knight taking precedence over her career. Needless to say, the past few years haven’t been smooth for Kelis, and a break from music - self-imposed or not - set in.

But one thing has always remained a constant about Kelis’ career: her affinity for dance music. Since the release of Kaleidoscope, her overseas CD singles have always included dance remixes from the genre’s finest, with Kelis even lending her vocals to original tracks from Timo Maas, Basement Jaxx and Richard X. So it only makes sense that her fifth studio album, Flesh Tone, is an accenting of her dance past, subsuming itself in a genre where emotions are scarce and vocalists serve more as accouterments to the beat. If Kelis ever wanted to keep her distance from reality, a dance album seemed like the best way to do it.

With production from David Guetta, Freeschool, Boys Noize, Jean Baptiste, Diplo and more, Flesh Tone sees Kelis strapping on her heels and hitting the dance floor. The album eclipses any R&B leanings that were once prominent in her music, instead set to a steady array of thumping dance beats sapped of emotion. Likely worn from the scrutinizing of her private life, Kelis rarely makes references to her personal matters, reserving only one track - “Song for the Baby” - to sing to her son Knight. But this is an album intended to cater to the dance fiends (hip-hop heads, leave your pointy criticisms at the door), plain and simple. Hit the jump to read our track-by-track preview of Kelis’ Flesh Tone before it hits stores July 6th.

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It’s been almost a decade since Sade released its last album Lovers Rock, but the British outfit is finally breaking its silence with the release of its sixth studio effort Soldier of Love. Though we previewed the album a few weeks back, we’re bringing you an exclusive listen to the album before it hits shelves tomorrow (February 9th) with an advance stream of the 10-track opus. While Soldier of Love doesn’t necessarily stray from the band’s unique sound, they give it somewhat of a modern facelift, incorporating some hip-hop elements into a few tracks (”Babyfather,” “The Moon and the Sky”) but maintaining the sound that the world has come to love from Sade. Listen to the full album before it hits stores tomorrow by clicking one of the streams below, and be sure to purchase a copy on Amazon by clicking here. Hit the jump to see the full tracklist.

Windows Media Stream: Sade - Soldier of Love

Quicktime Stream: Sade - Soldier of Love

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It’s been over a decade since R&B singer Keke Wyatt belted her way onto the music scene, playing leading lady on the epic Avant track “My First Love” in 2000 and dropping her gold-certified debut Soul Sista in 2001. With Avant returning the favor on her hit “Nothing in This World,” Keke was poised to take over the R&B game – that is, until her deal with MCA Records fell apart and she moved over to Cash Money Records in 2004. Soon, Keke was ready to reclaim her former glory with her sophomore album Emotional Rollercoaster, a video for which the violin-soaked “Put Your Hands on Me” surfaced but, for reasons unknown, was shelved indefinitely.

Picking up the pieces of her broken deal, Keke headed over to TVT Records to release her newly titled sophomore album Ghetto Roses, but like with her previous attempt at a second full-length, Keke was put on the backburner against her will. Filing for bankruptcy, TVT closed up shop and Keke’s project was once again stalled.

One would think that two botched attempts at a second album release would kill anyone’s spirit, but Keke, who has previously proved to be a fighter (her much publicized domestic dispute with her husband where she brandished a knife is proof enough), didn’t let label politricks silence her. Keke’s sophomore album Who Knew? is finally seeing the light of day after she decided to go the independent route, with her official follow-up to Soul Sista hitting shelves on February 23rd care of Shanachie Entertainment. Showing Out got an advance listen to the album before it gets liberated next month, so hit the jump to get a track-by-track preview of the joint ahead of its release.

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It’s been a decade since British outfit Sade released their last album Lovers Rock, the band’s fifth release that reached triple platinum status in the U.S. and earned the group the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. The silky, cushy collection of tracks drew from the same book of inspiration as their previous albums, hearkening back to their 1984 debut Diamond Life and flowing in the same vein as ’85’s Promise, ’88’s Stronger Than Pride and ’92’s Love Deluxe. Each album rested on the comforting coos of lead singer Sade Adu, complemented by ethereal arrangements that played like the smoky musical embodiment of a dream.

And after ten years of relative quiet, Sade hasn’t compromised the sound that’s continued to draw worldwide audiences back to the band. Soldier of Love, Sade’s sixth album that’s scheduled for a February 9th release on Epic Records, actually picks up the pace of previous releases, adding heavy hip-hop drumbeats into the fold and incorporating bits of various genres like country and slick R&B, playing with conventions as the album segues from one unique track to the next.

Earlier tonight at the Sony Club in NYC, invited guests sipped glasses of wine as they listened to the album, setting things off by watching a 22-minute EPK about the making of the album before it was played in its entirety. The short doc featured studio footage of and interviews with the band, in addition to behind-the-scenes footage of the music video for “Soldier of Love,” providing insight into the work ethic of the media shy band. “I didn’t ever want to be a singer,” explained Sade, clad in silver doorknockers, a flannel plaid shirt and a kerchief over her slicked back hair. “I ended up being a singer. I developed skills over the years, I’m less limited,” she added, comparing the creation of her music as a “message in the bottle, chucking it out into the sea and seeing where it ends up.” Showing Out was there to get an advance listen to the album, so hit the jump to get a track-by-track preview of Soldier of Love before it hits stores next month.

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Inside of Chung King Studios in New York City, the lights are dimmed in what’s presumably the recording room where artists like D’Angelo, Jimi Hendrix and the Notorious B.I.G. have laid down some of their greatest material. After journalists, bloggers and media folk hit the bar and grab a few vegan snacks from a vegetable-laden spread, they pack into the quaint space and take their seats on floor pillows strewn about the rug. Once everyone gets settled and makes some small talk for a half-hour (label reps snagged cell phones for the listening after one website recorded a track from the album that featured Lil Wayne and leaked it the previous evening), in walks Ms. Erykah Badu, decked out in a furry cap, a down jacket whose top was shaped like a normal winter coat and bottom flared out like a skirt, skin-hugging vinyl black tights and eggplant-colored pumps that put her feet in an almost horizontal arch.

Little did the room know that Ms. Badu was about to earn her spot as one of the premier artists to record and debut some of her best work in the legendary space. Ms. Badu introduced her forthcoming album New Amerykah, Part II: Return of the Ankh, the companion piece to 2008’s murky, politically-charged mind-melter New Amerykah, Part I: 4th World War. Perching on a stool at the front of the room, Ms. Badu explained that the first album was more a product of her left brain, the “socio-political side,” with the pair of albums resulting from the 76 songs she had written for the project.

“Sonically, harmonically, lyrically, I split them into two things,” she said in her soft, knowing tone. “The first was very digital, very barcoded. With Part II, the songs leftover from the pile belonged together as well.” After encouraging the people in the room to listen with their “human ears” (”It’s like my daughter being put on an auction block with grease all over it,” she said of her music being criticized), Ms. Badu headed to the control room to be with her daughter Mars as the lights dimmed and the album began.

And what an album it is. With much more levity than Part I, Part II is even more eclectic and musically daring than the first, with tracks that gleam with gushy drums and soul-squeezing instrumentation, all pieced together, of course, with her incomparable vocals. With production from 9th Wonder, Shafiq Husayn, James Poyser, Karriem Riggins, J. Dilla, Madlib, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Ms. Badu herself, the album was played in its entirety before Badu took a seat and fielded some questions. Showing Out was there to take notes at the listening session, so hit the jump to get a track-by-track breakdown before the album hits stores on February 23, 2010.

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(Corrections Appended)

Lady Gaga has exploded over the past year. The New York-based singer has gone from the party girl in her debut video “Just Dance” to pushing the creative boundaries of contemporary pop with show-stopping performances, dazzling music videos and paparazzi pictures that keeps fans on their toes on a daily basis. And while her debut album The Fame has already broken past the million sales mark (a feat that’s incredibly rare for a newcomer these days), Gaga isn’t just going to rest on her laurels for a few years and pop out an album when her label tells her to. On November 23rd, she’ll be dropping The Fame Monster, an EP-length collection of brand new tracks that offers the world more of what we’ve come to love about Gaga.

Whereas The Fame was wiped with a sheen pop gloss, The Fame Monster takes Gaga’s style one step further. The 8-track mini-album has nary a clunker, with Gaga going from dusky ’80s-inspired glitter jams (”Bad Romance,” “Monster”) to Beatles-esque pop (”Speechless”) to bawse bitch throwdowns (”Telephone” featuring Beyonce, masturbation ode “So Happy I Could Die”). While Monster might be all over the stylistic map, Gaga ties it all together nicely with her disaffected, razor sharp vocals, which shine more on cuts like the Spanish-tinged “Alejandro” and the aforementioned “Speechless.” And for those that think that this album-lite should have taken the form of a full-length, it’s the perfect audio snapshot of where Gaga is at in her career, transitioning from a rookie to a pro, both as a celebrity and a musician. Showing Out was lucky enough to attend an exclusive listening session earlier tonight at Interscope Records to get an advance preview of The Fame Monster before it hits stores November 23rd. Hit the jump to get a sneak taste.

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Earlier tonight, select media were invited to attend a listening session for Bone Thugs~N~Harmony’s reunion album Uni 5: The World’s Enemy, which is slated for release on Warner Bros. on December 22nd. Stationed in one of the engineering rooms at Legacy Studios in midtown New York City, four of the five original members of the Cleveland-based group (Bizzy Bone was unable to make it) played 13 tracks for the tightly packed room, with Krayzie Bone kicking off the session by explaining, “I don’t know who the fuck made this list,” referring to the track list passed out to those in attendance. “We recorded over 67 songs for the album,” added Layzie Bone, later explaining that they mainly stuck with underground producers like DJ-Uneek because their tracks were just as fresh as those of the big names.

But as the group played through the tracks (Wish Bone was seated in a hallway outside the studio, though he could be seen throughout the album’s play), it quickly became clear that the guys are going to have a rough time paring down the tracks to the final cut. The tracks played for the room showed that Bone Thugs are as tight as ever, with a few cuts capturing that classic Bone Thugs sound and others employing a fresh, new style that the group has dubbed “universe,” which Layzie explained as having the group sharing a 16 on a song instead of having each member get their 16 to shine. Showing Out was there to take notes, so hit the jump to get a sneak preview of the 13 tracks that Bone Thugs~N~Harmony played.

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Last night, a bevy of hip-hop tastemakers and industry insiders packed into Chung King studios in Soho to catch an advance listen of Miami-based Triple C’s debut album Custom Cars and Cycles. The quartet, consisting of Rick Ross, Young Breed, Gunplay and Torch, have been around for most of the decade, but Custom Cars and Cycles marks their studio debut, with Rawse and the rest of the Triple C’s celebrating their album’s October 27th release by playing eight of its 15 tracks. “First and foremost, it’s the motherfucking boss Rick Ross,” boomed the group’s gargantuan frontman before hitting the play button. As the tracks played, the Triple C’s exuberantly lip-synced from the studio’s control room as guests on the other side of the glass enjoyed a soul food buffet. The album is a high octane blast of glossy production, un-ironic materialism and Mafioso storytelling, atoning for its repetitive subject matter with catchy hooks and well-placed guest appearances. Showing Out was there to bring you an exclusive track-by-track preview, so hit the jump to get an advance look at the album before it hits retail in a few weeks.

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It’s been less than a year since Ryan Leslie dropped his eponymous official debut, but that’s not going to stop him from keeping the ball rolling on his solo career. Recently dubbed a “Rising Icon” by BET, the singer-songwriter is back on the scene with the forthcoming Transition, an album that, again, focuses almost entirely on Leslie (with the exception of a cameo from Clipse’s Pusha T on “Something That I Like”). Inspired by a tale of courtship, Leslie put his pen to the pad and crafted an electro-brushed R&B record that takes the listener on his journey of wooing this mysterious gal.

In anticipation of the album’s November 3rd release date, Ryan Leslie held an advance listening session earlier this evening for Transition at Chung King Studios in New York City, taking a moment before each song to explain the process and intention behind it. Unlike most album listening sessions where the artist simply shows his face and says his hellos while the album plays, Leslie ran through cuts off the album with introductions that varied between clips from his childhood showing his 14-year-old self rapping at a rotary speech competition and portions from the album’s bonus DVD that showed Leslie in the studio with Drake and Fabolous, rocking it on stage overseas and even a few unreleased videos for tracks off the album. Hit the jump to read our exclusive album preview of Ryan Leslie’s Transition.

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Perhaps you’re not as tech savvy as the rest of the interwebs and you couldn’t figure out where to go to hear that special leaked copy of Jay-Z’s forthcoming Blueprint 3. Well, you’re in luck, because MTV is streaming the full album before it drops September 11th, giving you a legal (keyword here) way to hear the record before it hits retail. The album, which contains a hearty 15 tracks, features guest appearances from Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Kid CuDi, Mr. Hudson, J. Cole and more, with production from No I.D., Kanye, Al Shux, The Neptunes and a few others. Now, you’ll be able to join in the fun and add your two cents to the pile of ridiculously vehement opinions on the album. Ours? “Empire State of Mind.” Nuff said.