When Junior Giscombe first arrived on the UK music scene thirty years ago, he was a background vocalist with Linx, a funk/R&B band that crossed over to the U.S. R&B chart. The singer/songwriter went on to chart with “Mama Used To Say”, “Too Late” and “Oh, Louise”, in addition to racking up songwriting credits with Heavy D and the Boyz and Philip Bailey. Yet, his crowing achievement remains “Mama Used To Say”, which was released in 1981. Now “Mama Used To Say” is brought back to life as Junior joins forces with Luciano in a lively reggae version. The single grooves as their voices deliver a contagious vibe from beginning to end. Sometimes remaking an R&B classic is a gamble, but in this case, the teaming of Junior and Luciano is shear joy in motion.
The Isley Brothers are an American R&B group from Cincinnati, OH. The group, which initially consisted of brothers Ronald, Rudolph, Vernon and Kelly Isley, began singing in church. Patterning themselves after Billy Ward and his Dominoes and the Dixie Hummingbirds, the quartet began performing professionally in 1954. A short time later, they won a spot on the Ted Mack Amateur, where they won the competition. With Vernon on lead vocals, the group began touring all over the eastern US region performing in several churches. When Vernon was thirteen, he was killed after a car struck him while he was riding his bike. Devastated, the remaining trio disbanded. Convinced to regroup, the trio decided to record popular music, and with their parents blessing, moved to New York City. With Ronald assuming the lead singer position, the group contacted Richard Barrett, who had them contact several New York record producers. They eventually had their first recordings produced by George Goldner, who recorded the singles “Angels Cried” and “The Cow Jumped Over The Moon.” These songs were regional hits. In 1959, the group landed a recording contract with RCA Records. Later that year, mixing their brand of gospel with doo-wop harmonies, the group recorded their composition “Shout”, a song devised from a Washington DC club performance where they covered Jackie Wilson’s “Lonely Teardrops.” The original version of the song peaked at #47 on the Billboard Hot 100 but never reached the R&B chart. Nevertheless, it sold one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. Follow up recordings for RCA failed to chart, and the group left RCA in 1961 and signed with Scepter Records. In 1962, the group had their first top 40 hit with the Bert Berns composition “Twist And Shout”, which reached #17 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the R&B chart. The song remained on the charts for 19 weeks. Moving their entire operations to New Jersey, the group struggled with recordings, eventually forming T-Neck Records in 1964. With guitarist Jimi Hendrix on board, the group recorded “Testify” and “Move On Over And Let Me Dance.” The brothers later signed with Motown Records where they had their second top 40 hit “This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You).” While the brothers recordings were more successful than their earlier works, they struggled to have a follow up hit with the label. They left Motown in 1968. Resurrecting their T-Neck label that year, the brothers signed a distribution deal with Buddah Records and released the single “It’s Your Thing” in February 1969. The song, which featured younger brother Ernie Isley on on bass, reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart. By 1971, brothers Ernie and Marvin Isley and brother-in-law Chris Jasper added input to the group’s music. By the end of the group’s tenure with Buddah Records in 1973, they became official members. With a lineup consisting of Ronald, Rudolph, Kelly, Marvin and Ernie Isley and Chris Jasper, the group went on to chart with such hits as “That Lady”, “Live It Up”, “Fight The Power”, “For The Love Of You”, “Summer Breeze” and “Harvest For The World”, to name a few. They have released the albums “Shout!” (1959), “Twist & Shout” (1962), “Twisting And Shouting” (1963), “This Old Heart Of Mind” (1966), “Soul On The Rocks” (1967), “It’s Our Thing” (1969), “The Brothers: Isley” (1969), “Get Into Something” (1970), “Giving It Back” (1971), “Brother, Brother, Brother” (1972), “3+3” (1973), “Live It Up” (1974), “The Heat Is On” (1975), “Harvest For The World” (1976), “Go For Your Guns” (1977), “Showdown” (1978), “Winner Takes All” (1979), “Go All The Way” (1980), “Grand Slam” (1981), “Inside You” (1981), “The Real Deal” (1982), “Between The Sheets” (1983), “Masterpiece” (1985), “Smooth Sailing” (1987), “Spend The Night” (1989), “Tracks Of Life” (1992), “Mission To Please” (1996), “Eternal” (2001), “Body Kiss” (2003), “Baby Making Music” (2006) and “Power Of Peace” (2017).
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Gazzy Garcia, known professionally as Lil Pump, is an American rapper/singer/songwriter/producer from Miami, FL. Garcia’s music career began after producer Smokepurpp asked him to freestyle over a track he produced. The single, which was independently released via the streaming service Soundcloud in 2016, became his debut single “Lil Pump.” Garcia followed that effort up with the singles “Elementary”, “Ignorant”, “Gang Shit” and “Drum$tick.” All the aforementioned singles went on to receive three million streams. The success of those tracks earned Garcia recognition among the South Florida rap scene, a style referred to as “Soundcloud rap.” Garcia began 2017 by releasing the singles “D’Rose” and “Boss” via Soundcloud. The tracks received a combined 70 million streams. On October 6, 2017, Garcia released his debut album “Lil Pump.” Garcia released “Harvard Dropout” in 2019.
Bonita Jalane returns with the new single “Magnet”, a track produced by Gregory Sanders and Terrance Nelson. The song sticks to her tried and true formula, and doesn’t steer far from her first single “Retro.” The music video was directed by Kim and Ryan “Boogie” Marsh, who contacted Bonita while dealing family health issues. The directors brought the vision to life. Fans should definitely check this one out. R&B singer Talea steps into the spotlight with her sophomore effort, “In Motion”, and she intends to bring back the true essence of R&B while making it fun and authentic. “In Motion” is the follow up to her 2017 EP “Made In Gold”, which featured the single “Same City”, a duet with rapper K. Camp. The production work was handled by Honorable C Note, Bobby Kritical, Knucklehead, Sam Thorne, Bobby Keyz and the Pionears. Lizzo just released a third single ahead of her forthcoming album ‘Cuz I Love You.” The Houston native joins forces with rapper Missy Elliott for a duet titled “Tempo”, which served as Zane Lowe’s Word Record on Beats 1 today. Fans should give “Tempo” a listen.
Comethazine has created quite a buzz with his “Bawskee” mixtape series. The first tape’s opener featured the single “Walk”, which gained momentum last fall. After attracting the attention of A$AP Rocky, Flako had Comethazine join him on the Injured Generation Tour. Now, the duo head to the booth to collaborate on a remix for the single “Walk.” The track premiered on Beats 1, where the St. Louis native revealed why he felt the Mob frontman was the right choice for the remix. The rapper will continue his world tour in Toronto today, with a string of Canadian dates before heading to Europe for a month of shows scheduled in Portugal, England and Ireland. As for Rocky, the rapper appeared alongside Kristen Crawley and Lori Harvey in the Teyana Taylor video “Issues/Hold On.”
