Maxwell - This Woman's Work

Maxwell joins the likes of Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott, D'Angelo & Raphael Saadiq in the beginnings of the neo-soul movement. Now, artists with a Motown influence are bursting onto the scene. Guys like Mayer Hawthorne made their presence felt in recent years.

Maxwell has a style that is all his own. You could draw comparisons to Lenny Kravitz, but that has much more to do with Maxwell's willingness to experiment with a variety of genres. On occasion, you might hear Maxwell do a rock cover only to switch over to a Jazzy tune on the next track.

Today, we actually feature a cover that Maxwell did. While he has got plenty of work to choose from, I could not pass up "This Woman's Work" as the first Maxwell post. There will definitely be plenty more from him on here. You can count on hearing "Get to Know Ya" in the near future.

Listen Now: Maxwell - This Woman's Work
Maxwell - This Woman's Work Download
Maxwell - This Woman's Work Lyrics

Common - So Far to Go (Featuring D'Angelo)

I have been on a little hip-hop binge lately and generally Common comes up somewhere in the lineup. Yesterday, I was listening to one of Common's many successes: Finding Forever - a tribute to J. Dilla. Dilla was arguably the best producer of all time. He is most certainly one of my favorites. In the words of Common on  "Forever Begins" the closing track to Finding Forever:

"It was in the van when she said Dilla was gone//
That's when I knew we'd live forever through song"

"Forever Begins" also features a very impressive spoken word exit from Common's father, much like the end of Like Water for Chocolate among other Common albums. Dilla's production will surely be felt and remembered for a very long time. Common's tribute to him is well deserved.

Today we lay down "So Far to Go" which features D'Angelo. It is a smooth track, also produced by J. Dilla and eventually finished by Kanye West in an effort to honor his style and efforts in the industry.

I also encourage you all to check out "Misunderstood" in which they sample Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" to kick the song off. Great sample and a great track in and of  itself, definitely worth a listen.

P.S. You will most certainly get a chance to hear Nina Simone on here in the near future.

Listen Now: Common - So Far to Go (Featuring D'Angelo)
Common - So Far to Go (Featuring D'Angelo) Download
Common - So Far to Go (Featuring D'Angelo) Lyrics

Miguel - All I Want is You (featuring J. Cole)

Miguel has not done too much in his short career, but what he has is pure gold. Most of his success comes from behind the scenes as the producer of a number of Usher tracks. In his young solo career, he has only 2 hit singles and has yet to release a second album. He made it big on the scene last year when he released "All I Want is You" which features rapper J. Cole. With a contemporary R&B sound, similar to the likes of Usher and D'Angelo, he is sure to keep it coming. Hopefully he will be releasing a new album soon - all signs point to it happening.

His only other hit single "Sure Thing" is currently one of my personal favorites. I have been listening to it religiously, but I am going to have to make you wait until later to get it from me. Until then, enjoy "All I Want is You."

Listen Now: Miguel - All I Want is You
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D'Angelo - Brown Sugar

I know we have been covering a lot of contemporary music lately, but D'Angelo cannot go unrecognized this far into it. While he has not recorded too many albums as of late, his presence in the emergence of neo-soul was felt.

With just two albums under his belt with another one the way, it is hard to get to deep into his work, but that is not to say that D'Angelo has not been active in the industry. He has shown his face on tracks by Common and Raphael Saadiq and is scheduled to release his third album this year. Along with some of the songs that he is featured in, I encourage you to check out his version of Smokey Robinson's - Cruisin'.

Here is a link to D'Angelo's version of Cruisin'.

Today, we are going to stick with D'Angelo's debut album and first major single. Brown Sugar was the first song I heard by D'Angelo and to this day remains my favorite piece of work by him. It is a song for the ages and definitely helped spark the neo-soul revolution.

Listen Now: D'Angelo - Brown Sugar
D'Angelo - Brown Sugar Download
D'Angelo - Brown Sugar Lyrics