The Eclectic Eight

1) Angel Taylor is a pop singer/songwriter from Cali who started out by hitting up local coffeeshops with just her songs and a guitar, to landing a record deal with Aware/Columbia Records out in NYC. I saw her on MTV’s You Outta Know and she caught my attention mainly because you rarely see black acoustic singers getting proper recognition. I’d say you should definitely keep an eye out for her and take a look at her latest music video for “Like You Do”

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2) Lionel Loueke is a Beninese jazz guitarist and vocalist.  He went to Ivory Coast to study music and then went to Paris and after landing scholarship ended up at Berklee College of Music. In early 2000s, he auditioned for Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at the University of Southern California in front of jazz greats such as Herbie Hancock and Terrence Blanchard and managed to get in. Over the course of the next decade he collaborated with numerous people and has now released his fourth album. Check out this clip of him performing:

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3) Burkina Electric is a music group from Burkina Faso that fuses electronica and Burkinabe popular music. The lead is Lukas Ligeti, a renowned composer and percussionist. I came across them while surfing internet and I definitely glad I did. Yes you will most likely not understand a lick of what they are saying unless you are from Burkina Faso but you will definitely appreciate the sound they are trying to create by bridging traditonal music with electronica, out of all genres of music. Take a listen here and let me know what you think! (If you only want to listen to a song or two, check out Mdole or Bobo Yengue)

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4) Flying Lotus Those really into music are thinking…em okay c’mon he’s been around but I don’t think many have really been turned onto him still yet or really aware of how long he has been around.  I just learned of him two years ago, but apparently he’s been around for 10 years! I feel like telling you about one or two of his tracks wouldn’t do him or his work justice so check this really great compilation of his work made recently by The Gaslamp Killer. Download here.

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5)Roska & Jamie George are two artists with two very different background stories and sounds who collaborated on one project together and came out pretty nice. Both UK-ers, Roska dabbles in afrobeat and hip/hop, meanwhile Jamie George is a pretty established house/alternative DJ. Check out their project here.

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6) Platinum Pied Pipers is a Detroit-based duo comprised of rapper/producer Waajeed and  multi-instrumentalist Saadiq. They met one another through Baatin, (one of the founding members of Slum Village). Since that fateful meeting in 1992, the two guys have been composing and producing not only records for themselves but for other artists such as Slum Village and Dwele. Check out their music here.

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 7) Diamond District is a trio of DMV-based hip/hop MCs who came together about 2 years ago, put out a pretty solid album last year, called In The Ruff which mind you was one of top selling hip/hop albums on Itunes.The group is comprised of XO, yU and Oddisee; arguably,  they are some of the top artists of the DMV hip/hop scene as of late.  The single, I Mean Business is a huge fav among  a lot of folks; I know it gets played pretty regularly on my ipod.  The album is not only a hit among music fans but fellow music artists as well. Recently, the DJ  Premier released a list containing his pick of the top 20 albums of 2009 and Diamond District was at number 12. So take a listen to their music here. 

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8) Carolina Chocolate Drops is a trio hailing from North Carolina. They are one of the few African-American string bands still in existence. Since their formation in 2005 they have released 4 albums and now this year as of today they released their newest album called  Geniune Negro Jig . If you like trying things that are more on the old school folk and instrumental side then this is the group for you. Take a listen for yourself here.

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Hope you liked this edition of Third Mondays. Apologies for the lateness, better late than never right?! Right. So leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

-Selamawit