“My Dear”, the new single taken from singer Afi Soul’s new EP “Mrs. Nkrumah”, is a song about the sweet sorry of separation and the anticipation and longing for reconnection. Afi Soul sings the song in the form of a love letter written after she is forced to leave the man she longs to reconnect with. “My Dear” is a story of memories made by two lovers during a short time together that is told in the form of a love letter. Her angelic voice floats above a percussive arrangement that also features jazz flourishes on the keyboard and lush background vocals. Listen to “My Dear” below.

Bryson Tiller is hitting the road for the first time in six years with his upcoming Back And I’m Better Tour. The 25-city jaunt will occur in major markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and more. 

Tiller, who once contemplated retirement, has been active in music. Following the release of his third album, Anniversary, in 2020, he returned with A Different Christmas the following year. In 2022, he partnered with Diddy for the polymath’s chart-topping hit “Gotta Move On”; in November, the song zoomed to No. 1 on the Adult R&B Airplay chart and even earned the remix treatment with Ashanti and Yung Miami onboard. He also released his single “Outside,” which sampled the Ying Yang Twins’ 2009 hit “Wait (The Whisper Song).”  

Presale tickets are available on Wednesday (March 22). General on sale tickets starts Friday on ticketmaster.com. See the dates below. 

BRYSON TILLER: BACK AND I’M BETTER TOUR DATES: 

Thu May 04 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues San Diego

Sat May 06 – Las Vegas, NV – Lovers & Friends Festival

Mon May 08 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium

​Wed May 10 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant

Thu May 11 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave*

Sat May 13 – Chicago, IL – Radius Chicago

Mon May 15 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit

Wed May 17 – Boston, MA – Citizens House of Blues Boston

Thu May 18 – Montclair, NJ – The Wellmont Theater

Sat May 20 – New York, NY – Manhattan Center Hammerstein Ballroom

Sun May 21 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadephia

Bay Area rapper Larry June is ready to hit the road with Larry’s Market Run Tour, which Live Nation announced Monday (March 20).

The 47-date jaunt will kick off on May 8 at Minneapolis’ Varsity Theater and hit various cities across the United States, including Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta, before eventually wrapping on July 23 at Oakland, Calif.’s Fox Theater for a hometown show.

Pre-sale for tickets starts Wednesday, March 22 at 10 a.m. local time, and general on sale begins this Friday, March 24 at 10 a.m. local time here.

June’s tour arrives two months after the release of The Great Escape, his collaborative album with producer The Alchemist, due March 31. Previously released tracks “60 Days” and “89 Earthquake” will be featured on the project.

His Spaceships on the Blade album ranked No. 4 on Billboard‘s 20 best hip-hop albums of 2022. Regarding the album, this reporter wrote, “The 20-track set plays like a laidback soundtrack for a late-night joyride (in June’s Lamborghini Huracán EVO, no less), as he whips though ’70s soul-funk on ‘Private Valet,’ ’80s R&B on the Syd-assisted ‘For Tonight’ and ’90s house on ‘Don’t Check Me.’ Even when he takes his listeners through the scenic route of his life, he reflects on the previous bumps in the road on ‘Organic Adjustments’ (‘You can hear it in my music/ Came from the bottom of it’) and maps out his ultimate destination on ‘Appreciate It All’ (‘Now we cop real estate, pass it down to the seed’).”

See Larry’s Market Run Tour dates below.

Dequantes Lamar, known professionally as Rich Homie Quan, is an American rapper from Atlanta, GA. He has released the album “Rich As In Spirit” (2018).

Rising singer/songwriter/visual artist Lonnie is cementing his own lane with his new single “One Night Stand.” He’s definitely one to watch. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday

Singer/guitarist George Benson 80

Singer Stephanie Mills 66

Singer/songwriter Charles “Chuck” Jackson (The Independents) 78

Percussionist Patrick Olive (Hot Chocolate) 76

Singer/songwriter Beverly Knight 50

R&B singer BLK Odyssy recently released the single “Honeysuckle Neckbone”, which is a collaboration with R&B veteran Bootsy Collins. The track talks about a man who is remorseful after losing his first love, and of course, he misses her. Collins speaks in his funkadelic tone while referencing his 1976 hit “I’d Rather Be With You.” This track would fit perfectly on a playlist with Childish Gambino, especially the single “Redbone.” Listen to “Honeysuckle Neckbone” below.

This song is the property of BLK Odyssy/Empire.

Here are some of my favorite film soundtracks.

1 Superfly

Curtis Mayfield

2 Shaft

Isaac Hayes

3 Sweet Sweetback’s Badass Song

Earth, Wind & Fire

4 Cooley High

Various High

5 That’s The Way Of The World

Earth, Wind & Fire

6 Come Back Charleston Blue

Donny Hathaway

7 The Mack

Willie Hutch

8 Foxy Brown

Willie Hutch

9 Claudine

Gladys Knight & The Pips

10 Sparkle

Aretha Franklin

11 Colors

Various Artists

12 Krush Groove

Various Artists

13 Waiting To Exhale

Various Artists

14 The Show

Various Artists

15 Youngblood

War

16 The Bodyguard

Whitney Houston

17 The Preacher’s Wife

Whitney Houston

18 New Jack City

Various Artists

19 Menace To Society

Various Artists

20 Soul Food

Various Artists

Jody Watley, the Grammy Award-winning artist whose hits résumé includes the R&B/pop singles “Looking for a New Love” and “Real Love,” is celebrating Women’s History Month with the launch of her new SiriusXM show. Airing on The Groove channel and sporting the tagline “Wattage Vibes Rooted in the Music,” The Jody Watley Show featured Emmy Award-winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph of Abbott Elementary on its first two-hour episode. 

A former dancer on television’s iconic dance show Soul Train and the female vocalist of the R&B trio Shalamar (“Uptown Festival [Part 1],” “The Second Time Around,” “Make That Move”), Watley began pursuing a solo career in the mid-’80s. The singer-songwriter scored her first No. 1 R&B/No. 2 pop single with “Looking for a New Love” in 1987. Then Watley logged three successive No. 3 R&B singles that same year, “Still a Thrill,” “Don’t You Want Me” and “Some Kind of Lover,” on her way to winning the 1987 Grammy for best new artist. In addition to No. 1 R&B/No. 2 pop single “Real Love,” Watley’s other hits include “Friends” with Eric B. & Rakim, “Everything” and “I Want You.”

The next episode of The Jody Watley Show is set to air on April 9 (6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT) on The Groove (channel 50). Subscribers can also tune in via the SiriusXM app on smartphones and other connected devices as well as online.

The funkmaster George Clinton informed the world of the passing of legendary Parliament-Funkadelic singer Clarence Eugene “Fuzzy” Haskins. He was 81.

The West Virginia-born Haskins first came of note as the lead singer of The Parliaments, Clinton’s doo-wop group that hit the charts with “(I Wanna) Testify” and became the predecessor to the iconic Parliament-Funkadelic funk music machine (with the singers generally being referred to as Parliament and the backing band being referred to as Funkadelic).

At the time of the group’s transition to funk pioneers in the early 70s, Haskins took on a significant role as both a singer and songwriter. He remained part of the burgeoning group until 1977, when he left due to a financial dispute.

Haskins’ departure coincided with the beginning of a solo career for him. He released A Whole Nother Thing in 1976 on Detroit’s Westbound label with a host of P-Funk members as backing musicians. He followed two years later with Radio Active. Neither album achieved the success of his P-Funk work, but both have maintained their heightened status as solid early funk projects.

In the 1980s, Haskins also formed a parallel universe version of Funkadelic with other former P-Funk members, and later formed a similar act, Original P, largely consisting of P-Funk alums.

While it has been nearly a half century since Fuzzy Haskins departed from Parliament-Funkadelic, he was a key contributor to some of the most innovative and influential funk albums of our time – music that will be revered for years to come. Rest in peace.