One of the many miracles of music – good music – is its ability to transcend cultures, space, time and connect people from all walks of life. On her sophomore record, 9m88 (Joanne Tang) does just this. 9m88 (pronounced...
Nashville is called Music City for a reason. From the country music capital of the world to the home of the famed Fisk Jubilee Singers, Nashville is brimming with creative talent. Red Bull is working to elevate that creativity...
Tori Helene combines earworm pop production and glimmering vocals on her first project of the year, Moonchild. Teaming up with frequent collaborator and producer Natown, the Cincinnati-based songstress breezes through feelings of longing, lust and dissatisfaction in relationships on...
Meagan Hickman has always been intentional about creating uplifting music, a trend she continues with her new song, “One Day.” Born and raised in Chicago, the singer-songwriter was trained classically, falling in love with songwriting after discovering acts ranging...
For some artists, the last year of increased solitude offered an opportunity to step into their craft and be more prolific and creative than ever before. For others, it presented a debilitating pit of emotional and physical quicksand, making...
I met Mario Sulaksana four years ago, in a Wayne State University practice room. He was the band leader of a fundraiser for the Artist Residency I was living in, and the residency coordinator suggested he accompany me for...
Ahya Simone had no intention of being a harpist. From the minute her high school counselor added the novel elective to her schedule in ninth grade, she wanted nothing to do with the class or the instrument. But, like...
If you haven’t heard neo-soul artist Madelyn Grant’s name before, there’s a chance you’ve heard her voice. From being featured on tracks with huge EDM artists like Odesza and FKJ to a short stint on NBC’s The Voice back...
Cincinnati-based singer/ songwriter Tori Helene has joined forces with frequent collaborator and producer Natown for her first single of the year, “Detached.” Helene says it’s one of her “most empowering” songs yet. “At the time when I was writing...
A week-long bootcamp for The Voice was Piwa’s window to the music industry – and its cruelty. At age 17, the singer-songwriter, then known as Tapiwa, was in California with her mom for rounds of auditions after a successful...
In her new video for “Juliet,” Detroit multidisciplinary artist, singer, and songwriter Morgan Hutson (aka Supercoolwicked) creates a fantasy world of her own – an Afrocentric, baroque daydream that meshes the Shakespearian with the contemporary, the traditional with the...
It’s been three and a half years since Rowan Niemisto released his electro R&B masterpiece Gradient. In those three years, Niemisto says he was preoccupied with his first “big boy” job at Detroit’s NPR station, WDET, where he works...
Is My Mind a Machine Gun? This is the question vocalist, songwriter and producer Kesiena “Kesswa” Wanogho asks on her latest collaboration with interdisciplinary artist and musician Zach Saginaw, a.k.a Shigeto. The audio/visual experience exemplifies two artists in their...
Noelani Petero is on a mission to bring back early the iconic 2000s R&B sound. The Melbourne-based singer-songwriter is unabashedly old-school in her approach to hip-hop and super-smooth R&B in the vein of Janet Jackson, Lauryn Hill and Aaliyah....
Audley’s world is colorful, honest and full of possibilities. The 27-year-old singer/rapper just released his new album ROY—a glittery yet deeply personal offering that shifts between pop, R&B and hip hop sounds and combines introspective tales of love, pain...
Tori Helene has dropped a vibrant new video for her latest single, “Sitting Pretty.” The Natown-produced earworm finds Helene unapolgetically feeling herself, as she weaves cocky lines with messages of self-love and independence. “Lookin’ real good but what’s the...
You know you are in for something good the moment that Oakland singer Freddie’s voice comes in on their EP opener “Oblivion.” Later in the song, their rich, evocative voice moves to deliver that ever-elusive diva wish: “I...
As we move deeper into the quarantine vortex, Detroit musicians continue to use their open schedules to release new songs. While most things are still up in the air, it is a simple comfort to know that there will...
Bri Mari goes all in for her new “Lost With You” visual. The Cincinnati-bred songstress dials up her sultry verses, as she and her love interest find some alone time during a house party. Bri’s sound is dazzlingly reminiscent...
Seattle-based singer Marquetta Miller met most of her fellow bandmates in blistering soul fusion band Breaks and Swells while working a cocktail bar in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. It’s in this same neighborhood, at a dive-y karaoke bar, that...
Following up her debut solo EP, Views From The Cut, Aziza Love will release her debut solo album, Bare Soul, later this month. “Over these years I’ve watched myself choose everything and everyone else first… from people I’ve worked with,...
Last month, pop-tinged R&B artist Maryze released her first-ever music video – a dreamy visual for her tender single, “Soft.” The Montreal-bred singer teamed up with Paris-based director Amanda Louise Macchia for the beach-set clip. “’Soft’ is about abandoning...
SassyBlack, a.k.a. Catherine Harris-White, has spent years making lunar-inflected R&B and sending Seattle audiences on a funky galactic journey—both as a member several Seattle-based groups, like rap duo THEESatisfaction, and now as a formidably innovative and prolific solo artist....
Oski Isaiah finished out a busy July with the release of his highly-anticipated new album, Fuck A Job. The 10-track LP features assists from Aziza Love on “Anytime,” Monty C. Benjamin on “Over” and Jus Clay on “Business.” Fuck...