this year sprinted past me like jackie joyner baby. so much to do, so little time to devote to music review and enjoyment. with that in mind, at the suggestion of my ace, monalisa, i managed to come up with a list of 7 singles, 7 albums, and 8 artists to peep as we transition from 07-08. i attempted to keep the selections as accessible as possible. every one of the joints listed comes highly recommended from yours truly - no filler, no hype, and certainly no payolla. happy hunting. the saga continues...

7 SINGLES

1 STEVE AND I - COME N GET ME - STILL MUSIC
2 TAYLOR MCFERRIN - BROKEN VIBES (EP) - RUDE
3 TROUBLEMAN + STEVE SPACEK - TURN IT ON - SONAR KOLLEKTIV
4 THE POLITIK - MONEY - BBE
5 KEZIAH JONES - IN THE BACK OF A CAR IN SAN JOSE - INDY
6 MIA - PAPER PLANES (ADROCK REMIX) - XL
7 BARON ZEN - BURN RUBBER (DAM FUNK REMIX) - STONES THROW

7 ALBUMS

1 TITA LIMA - 11:11 - KAJMERE
2 HOT 8 BRASS BAND - ROCK WITH THE HOT 8 - LOUISIANA HOT
3 ACEYALONE - LIGHTNING STRIKES - DECON
4 VIKTER DUPLAIX - BOLD & BEAUTIFUL - BBE
5 J DAVEY - LAND OF THE LOST - WARNER BROS (DIGITAL)
6 LITTLE DRAGON - LITTLE DRAGON - PEACEFROG
7 LITTLE BROTHER - GET BACK - ABB

8 TO WATCH

1 KISSEY ASPLUND - she’s the new hot thang creeping out of sweden. mellow vocal tones that flow beautifully and compliment the post modern future soul production she prefers. if she stays focused on the current vibration, i’m looking forward to much more.

2 VIKTER DUPLAIX - armed with his first grammy nomination for the song "make a baby" (best urban alternative performance, of course), vik is poised to position himself as a unique fixture, bubbling just beneath the surface of the mainstream. duplaix mode in full effect.

3 TAYLOR MCFERRIN - yup, he’s the son of bobby, and from the sound of his vocal harmonies, production, and instrumentation, he’s looking to make people feel real good with his sound. post modern vocal soul jazz to kill you softly.

4 COOL KIDs - out of chi-town comes "the new black version of the beastie boys". they said it, not me.

5 WALE - from the real chocolate city (washington dc), wale (WAH - LAY) is poised to keep the concept of the emcee alive and well. he’s the first cat i’ve heard in a while with the ability to mix his vocal prowess with a natural entertainer’s swagger and crowd rocking acumen.

6 WAAJEED - from bomb-ass cuts for slum, remixes for the international progressive soul set, and the platinum pied pipers project, im waiting on waajeed to blossom into the producer he has the potential to be. the audience is listening...

7 HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE - another young windy city outfit, 9 of em brothers, out of 11 last i counted. rumor has it they’ve turned down record deals cus they’ve had plenty of success playing and selling mad cds in the streets of manhattan. after much critical acclaim in europe and a subsequent tour, the future looks bright. they play jazz, and it’s fresh like the spring rain.

8 JIMI JAMES - atlanta sounds good right about now, cus that’s where jimi stays. her style is something like hip hop smoothed out on the r&b tip with a pop appeal to it (member dat??), but very funky, quirky, raw, stylish, and sexy. i’m excited.