New to the sound of Beach House, the first song I heard was “Real love”, from their 3rd album, “Teen Dream” (on Sub Pop). Paired with a piano, the sweet and earthy voice is that of French-born Victoria Legrand’s. The song has a gentle, almost fragile, feel where you can hear the pain in her voice. With starting lyrics like, “I met you somewhere in a hell beneath the stairs…”, it immediately pulls you into its imagery.
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If her last name seems familiar, that’s because you probably grew up watching her dad, actor and comedian Robert Townsend. However, don’t turn your nose up, because she’s not just another Hollywood Kid looking to ride off of her father’s name. Skye Townsend is truly talented in her own right. At the age of 13, she began uploading herself singing on youtube, videos that soon began getting thousands and thousands of views. Now, at the age of 17, the aspiring singer/designer is currently working on her own clothing line, as well as completing her demo. Not only is her voice amazingly soulful, but her comedic timing and Behttp://www.crayonbeats.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpyonce impersonations are spot on. Read on:

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Southern  hip hop is getting a whole new meaning with Answer, a rap group who hails from the South. South Korea, that is. This rap duo is expanding the sounds of Korean pop, Hip Hop and R&B as they bring a little bit of American laced southern hospitality to their country. Influenced by dirty south hip hop artists such as Lil’ Wayne, the group brings that same charisma and fire to their songs. Impressive and rhyme patterns on top of heavy hitting beats separates this crew from the competition: their flow and style making them easily stand out in the crowd. Their new single is currently creating a huge buzz on the Korean internet, as well as here in the States, with videos of their songs on youtube drawing in more and more views each day.

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I first came across the beauty that is Ebony Bones! in an URB magazine of mine. It was this little article with a picture of her laying on a couch. Her stunning face surrounded by a blonde afro, and the multi-colored foam rings that she wore around her neck and arms, drew me in. She was a vibrant color frenzy that caught my attention quickly. My eyes immediately locked in on her. I was interested in hearing her music right then. Well, a couple months passed and I had totally forgotten to check out some of her tunes… until a couple hours ago. The first track that I heard was “W.A.R.R.I.O.R.” and I loved it. In fact, I had it on repeat for about 20 minutes before I checked out another song. The beat is lead by a loud hand-clap rhythm, with a marching bassline, crashing cymbals, and loud chanting. It’s about anyone who has made it through any kind of adversity and made things happen for themselves. It’s brilliant!
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Reggae music, like other genres of music, knows no boundaries and speaks to everyone regardless of mother tongue. So it should come as no shock to you that it is starting to grow a stronghold in the Far East.  Artists and musicians have gravitated towards this soulful sound, and by incorporating elements  of their natural surroundings, have produced many flavors of what was once a purely Jamaican sound. Enter Koonta & Nuoliunce. As a duo, they are one of the very few musical groups in South Korea to have embraced and promoted Reggae…with a Korean twist of course.

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Having  just recently debuted no less than a few weeks ago, Boni’s mini album is a soulful collection of dance tracks, smooth R&B, and ballads that gives new meaning to K-Soul.  Singing in both English and Korean, the young chanteuse is bound to win over fans with her powerful voice that’s dripping with emotion. Alhough the 24 year old may be new to the K Pop scene, she was featured on the renowned band 015B’s 2006 track “잠시 길을 잃다” after being discovered by the lead singer Suk-Won Jeong.  While studying at university for the past two years, she also created a large buzz on Korea’s user created content (UCC) sites  similar to Youtube.  She’s been nicknamed the “Female Taeyang” by Korean netizens after Big Bang’s resident crooner, and it’s not a bad or baseless comparison if you ask me. So let’s get on and see what all the fuss is about.

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The Nigerian-German hip hop soul singer, Nneka (pronounced NEH-kah), was born and grew up in Nigeria. She used to sing in choir, at both her school and her church. In her late teens, she relocated to Germany. Her first album, “Victim of Truth“, was released in 2005. It was only released in Germany, and other places like England, Nigeria, Japan, Netherlands, and France. Her second album, “No Longer at Ease“, was released in 2008. Touching on political topics and the situations in her homeland.

And finally we, in the United States, are starting to hear about her. Kind of a bummer, considering she’s been releasing music for a few years… but that’s how it happens. This year she released her first US album titled, “Concrete Jungle“, which is like a compilation between her first two albums. I first heard of her a little while back (the end of ’09, I believe), due to her collaboration album with producer J.Period. They presented, “The Madness (Onye-Ala)“. I just listened to her album today, and it’s beautiful as a whole.
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It’s been a while since we’ve posted up a SOUNDCHECK and I thought that this group would be a perfect remedy for that. I stumbled across them on myspace and with their smooth  jazz inflected hip hop, it ‘s no wonder why just after 10 seconds of landing on their page I immediately became a fan of their musical style and it seems that Ovall has made their mark on both artists and listeners alike based on their track list (both literally and figuratively). Comprised of three solo artists successful in their own right; they have recently released their first album together as a group titled Don’t Care Who Knows That. Having collaborated with international artists as solo acts and as “Ovall”, their music reflects this global vibe and doesn’t feel contrived or forced, but rather chill. Soulful and fresh, the sampler they have up on their myspace is more than enough to convince me to put their album on my ‘Get This’ list. With that being said, I wanna get on with it; and after checking out this post, I hope you guys feel the same way.

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