Michael Jackson dies at age 50

A tale of rise and fall fitting a King…

The Los Angeles Times was the first to report his hospitalization and passing. Then announced that Jackson was in a coma before confirming that, at age 50, Michael Jackson suffered a fatal cardiac arrest. Read more

Beyoncé: I Am… Sasha Fierce

I’m going to forego any jokes about split personality disorder in reference to Beyoncé’s new album as not to upset half of the people out there with the affliction. Wait… oops. However, I will split this review into two parts accordingly. Marketing gimmick or not, there is an inescapable division within the concept of this release. Read more

John Legend: Evolver

May I throw an ‘R’ before that album title, sir?

John Legend’s new album Evolver is what I like to refer to as mainstream soul.  In fact, John Legend in general defines mainstream soul.  He draws upon all that greatness that could make an artist iconic, but for some reason it never quite manifests into new greatness. Read more

Jazmine Sullivan: Fearless

A review of the debut album from Jazmine Sullivan…

I know you be asking yourself who Jazmine Sullivan is right now, but let’s just say you should get familiar with her.  Finally releasing her debut album “Fearless” on J Records, Jazmine stands up and reminds us what mainstream R&B could be right now. Read more

The Gentleman’s Playlist

“F#@k what you heard!”

Often asked what i’m listening to when not performing or all too eager to share when listening, I, The Gentleman, have compiled a list of tracks that I hope you (all) have heard or will go find. Read more

Giving up on Musiq…

“Don’t front. You know you loooove it.” Not quite, homey.

As if soul wasn’t already an underground genre, now Musiq is trying “Radio”. I expected this one day, but thought there would be a few more singles signaling the inevitable end between then and now. Nope, Musiq dove head first into the mainstream. Can he swim though? Read more

Isaac Hayes found dead at age 65

Never can say goodbye…

Musician and actor Isaac Hayes’ wife called police to their Memphis home after discovering him unconscious. Taken to a hospital, he was pronounced dead at 2:08 PM (EST). The cause of death is not immediately known, but family members believe it was a medical condition. Hayes was hospitalized for exhaustion in January 2006 and reportedly suffered a stroke that year. Read more

Are you ready for the new D’Angelo?

“This is my MTV diary. You think you know…”

So my boy texted me the other day asking if I read the Spin Magazine article on D’Angelo. “Of course (I haven’t)” I replied. Thus, priority one was finding this article. Supposedly folks were scouring the internet for this article but to no avail, complaining that it was nowhere to be found and being pulled down from sites. Meanwhile, the Gent found Spin Magazine’s free digital version and read the article at his leisure. Read more

Artist Spotlight: Blu

Some artists are hip. Some artists like to hop. Certain selected go pop; others stay grounded, yet the music never stops. Okay so I can’t rap, but I also can’t dunk from the free throw line. So all you speculators out there claiming that hip-hop is dead clearly have not heard of an up & coming artist by the name of…wait let me rephrase myself….by the color of Blu. Read more

Wale – “The Artistic Integrity”

Props to Wale for breakin’ in the game.

I say “breaking” because that is the prerequisite for reaching the masses nowadays. Hope the rest of his work is on par with this here. What I’ve heard so far I’m cool with though. Peep the video. Read more

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