“XO Man” One to watch

If you’ve never heard of XO-Man, you need to get to know! The 6ft 10 phenomenon (yes he really is 6ft 10) from Mitcham, South London has been doing his thing slowly but surely for a hot minute now, and in December 08 was crowned winner of HUGO BOSS URBAN RULES, and through winning it will go on to record a single with full backing from SONY BMG while playing a series of intimate live gigs.

Personally I’ve known about XO Man for a while now, from his humble beginnings as a garage/grime MC, XO has now diversified his sound and is a real breath of fresh air incorporating all sorts of musical genres within his sound. His live shows aren’t your run of the mill MC spitting bars on a backing track dropped by a dj, NO... These performances have character, including a live band and usually some off the cuff banter.

With a quirky swagger, an excellent live show, and great comedic lyrical content, I’m definitely shouting out XO Man as one to look out for, furthermore I’d recommend you go see him, and while you’re there you might as well cop some neat goodies. You can see him next at WIRED 6th April, @Shoreditch house, London.



XO Man
Microwave/ Lady Dog’
Double A-Side Debut Singles out April 13th
Available As Digital Download Package on iTunes and all the rest

http://www.myspace.com/xomanmusic

GS BOYZ - STANKY LEG

I saw this on Dj.b’s blog and frankly I’m not bloody impressed, the novelty is REALLY starting to wear thin. This actually makes me cringe. With that in mind stats don’t lie, so I’m worried, REALLY worried...


** #1 video on BET’s 106 & Park **
** Performing on BET’s: Rip The Runway (airing 3/2)**
** #19 on MTV2 Network **
** 30,000 in combined Digital and Mobile Sales (TW) **
** Over 2,460 spins this week (+233) **
** #28* on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart **
** #13* on the Billboard Rap Songs Chart**
**Fans recorded over 12,000 voicemails on the Official Stanky Legg Hotline**
** Over 15 million streams online **

For those who don’t get some of those stats…that’s pretty F’ing big. Is every big hip hop/grime/electro/funky tune going to have a silly dance to accompany it now??? Come on... Stanky leg??? They have taken it too far now. What a bunch of Bullsh*t! This is indeed Soulja Boy all over again. For f*cks sake...

N.B - Their crew is called Swagg team... hmmm.... I was told as a child if I have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all... No comment

Coby & Chris are Doin' It Big!

Hey Guys!

I’ve been gone for a minute...but I’m back now! No seriously, I apologise for the delay in my post but everything’s okay again...because Colby O’Donis is here!

Who’s Colby O’Donis I hear you ask? Well if you didn’t know, he’s the 19 year old RnB singer-songwriter that music mogul Akon has managed to lock in his case of artists, signed under the label ‘Kon Live’. I was extremely surprised to hear how old this guy actually was, as his talent seems so mature and his voice is technically sound.

Colby hasn’t just popped up from nowhere though. At the age of nine he worked with the hit-makers responsible for Backstreet Boys, N*Sync and Britney Spears to name a few, developing his craft and homing in on his song-writing ability. He was even asked to sign a record deal with Babyface’s label at the tender age of 15!

To cut a long story short, this guy has done so much in so little time it amazes me...supporting artists such as JoJo, Brian McKnight and N*Sync...collaborating with Justin Timberlake...he even worked with Michael Jackson in the legend’s own studio, releasing the single ‘Your Love in My Life’...What more can I say? As soon as I heard his voice early last year, I just knew he was going to be huge, and was so excited about him. I can imagine the fight that the major labels must have had to secure him and Akon the Convict won (although his label is in conjunction with Interscope)!! Coby is, of course, featured in the bridge of label-mate Lady Gaga’s hit ‘Just Dance’, but here’s some of the material he also released last September from his debut album ‘Colby O’:

‘Dont Turn Back’




My Fav...'So Beautiful’ with Akon...listen out for Coby’s backing vocals and lead on the second verse!



Sorry guys, I was so excited that I had to tell you all about CHRIS CORNELL whilst I’m here. This is what happens when I’m gone too long...there’s too much to say mayn! Not sure if you know who he is, but Chris Cornell was the lead singer and songwriter of rock bands SoundGarden and Audioslave back in the 90s....and guess who he’s been working with? Yep...Timberland (of course)! Timbo’s produced his new album, ‘Scream’, set for release early this year. I heard Chris’ debut single ‘Part of Me’ a few days ago, and knew it was going to be huge! I think it sounds a bit ‘Prince-ish’ mixed with some Maroon 5 melodies...Unfortunately the video hasn’t been released yet, but as soon as it is...Hustle ‘Ard will bring it to you!

‘Part of Me (That Bitch)’

One to watch B.o.B

20 year old, Bobby Ray Simmons aka B.o.B produces, writes, raps, arranges and mixes his own music, and is definitely one to look out for over the coming year/s. He hails from Decatur in Atlanta – the same place as Outkast, and his sound is very much inspired by the Outcast Duo. T.I. has signed him to his label Grand Hustle and featured him on the album Paper Trail. "The Adventures of B.o.B", his debut album is due out later this year and he’s been tipped as one to watch by many HipHop tastemakers. I’m liking the debut single and video. To see more check his MySpace.

JoJo and LilWayne ft Kevin Rudolf!

Just a short one!

I was up really late listening to music when I came across this mind-blowing video of RnB singer Jojo singing the US national anthem. If this doesnt make your jaw drop or give you goosebumps, then something's wrong with you! Baring in mind she was 16 when she sung this:



I was also listening to Mr. Annoying aka Lil Wayne this evening. Some may gasp, but I really think Lil Wayne is saturating music way too much at the moment. I'm not disputing his talent, but give us a chance to breathe! Anyhoo, I actually like this song he's done with US rocker Kevin Rudolf, its just the kind of music I love and am currently recording in the studio. I don't think he particularly adds anything special to the song, but just having Lil Wayne's name on the track gives Rudolf credibility in a broader range of music genres.

La Roux in 09

If you’re a reader of our blog you’ll see that one of my shouts for new artists in 2009 is the red haired female singer La Roux (pronounced La-Ru). Whether it be Estelle or the foul mouthed Lilly Allen, female singers from London are known for their outspokenness, and La Roux is no different. However, her music separates her from her counterparts.

Like Duffy, Lilly Allen and Amy Winehouse before her, there seems to be an emergent buzz commencing. La Roux’s sound though, is electro-pop, inspired by the likes of Human League and early David Bowie, while the single ‘Quicksand’ is reminiscent of some of the early Price stuff. “Electro music is so throwaway now. The lyrics don’t mean anything and it should be about how the words sound together rather than the overall sound of the songs. Proper songs are really emotional, like Why by Annie Lennox” says the Brixton raised singer.

South London is the area where La Roux has lived all her life and goes on to say “Brixton’s got a bad rep from ages ago but it’s not as bad as anywhere else in the capital. I could be biased because as a girl you don’t get that much trouble - apart from the odd crackhead shouting at you in the street. Singers these days always seem to be from east London or north London, so I’m definitely going to rep Brixton!”



http://www.myspace.com/LaRouxUK

Source: RWD Magazine

From Model/Video Vixen to Recording Artist

From this

To this

2 Questions

1. Is this a joke?

2. Why oh why would you wanna go and do that?

HEAD, SHOULDERS... signs to universal

Thats right you heard it here first! Universal have signed K.I.G Family's underground smash "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". I think a congratulations is in order, these guys have been Hustlin Ard... Looks like 2009 might be a good one, Bubbly Bubbly!

Keep a look out...

2009 will see the launch of two particular artist’s solo careers in the UK. The first is the London born and bred, rapper/indie solo artist that goes by the name ‘Master Shortie’. If you mix Dizzie Rascal with Calvin Harris you may get something a little like this. Whether you feel what he’s coming with or not, I don’t think it can be debated that he is quite unique in his sound and positioning. He can be seen live, early next year across the UK.

For more info check out his Myspace



The second of the artists you may well have already heard of, or if you don’t know who he is you would have at least heard his voice before, (well unless you’ve been living underneath a rock for the past 12 months). In any case, his name is Daniel Merriweather, his claim to fame would be his vocal on the Mark Ronson hit “Stop Me”, while more recently he featured on the Wiley track “Cash In My Pocket”. Now he’s taking on the challenge of stepping into the limelight on his own. On the debut release “Change”, he puts down a nice vocal, however, I’m not really feeling some of the other stuff on his MySpace most notably ‘Cigarettes’. For me his success depends on where his management and record label position his sound.

For more info check out his Myspace

A Star Is Born

Yesterday Alexandra Burke was named the winner of X Factor 2009. In a tense show with emotions running high for all those involved, and over 12 million viewers, once again Alexandra put in a number of faultless performances, and if you haven’t seen the performance with the institution that is, “Beyonce”, this is something that you need to see (an amazing performance by any measure).

What I think makes Alexandra’s story so inspiring is that not only has she got immense talent and comes from humble beginnings, but she was cut from the show three years ago just before the live finals. Testament to her character she went away and honed her talent, then came back to win the competition.

I will go as far as to say that after the X factor tour over the coming year, this young lady will go on to be an absolutely huge success. Congratulations Alexandra, you Hustled Hard!

BBC Sound of 2009

Over 130 movers and shakers within the music industry come together each year and vote on 15 artists who they think will be the names to watch out for in the coming year. 2008’s list included Duffy, Adele, The Ting Tings and Glasvegas. So this list is pretty important, great to see Lady Gaga on there as we posted about her last week. Also I’d say to watch out for Master Shortie and La Roux in 09.

Click here to see the full list




Source: atribecallednext

Lady Gaga

For those that don't know there's a new female artist on the scene. Her name is Lady Gaga and she is the protégé of none other than American go to guy for a hit, "Akon". I heard about the female, edgy, pop, solo artist a while back but Cam recently schooled me, so I looked in to her a little. She hasn't really blown in the UK yet, and I do emphasize "YET" as her debut single has already got over 20 million hits on YouTube, yes that right 20 MILLION! To put that into perspective that's like a 3rd of the UK's population.

Akon's influence is apparent on her debut single 'Just Dance' and I would suggest with the backing of the hit making artist/producer, she's going to be a huge success. I'd say she's a cool blend on Gwen Stefani and Katie Perry. So props to Akon and the protégé Lady Gaga, your Hustlin 'Ard!

Definitely one to watch...