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10 Years of D’Angelo’s Voodoo: He Done Worked A Root
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/dangelo-voodoo.jpgPublished 25. January 2010 at 1:19 AM - No Comments
It’s been exactly 10 years since Voodoo, D’Angelo’s sophomore album, hit the top of the US Billboard 200 in the day of its release (25 January 2000). In some ways, Voodoo is the reason Soul Culture exists. It opened a conversation. Voodoo’s often ambiguous lyrics – when they can be heard...
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One-to-Watch in 2010: ROX [Feature - SoulCulture]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/rox-live.jpgPublished 29. December 2009 at 1:23 AM - One Comment
Roxanne Tataei’s musical journey began in church, encouraged by the choirmaster (“He’d make me go at the forefront [to sing] every week and I’d be shaking… It was the best thing that he could have done”). Primary school performances soon led to tours around England with the National...
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Paving The Way: Speech Debelle Interview [SoulCulture]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/speech-debelle-wins-mercu-001.jpgPublished 22. October 2009 at 1:31 AM - No Comments
South London’s Speech Debelle snuck in the back door this year with alternative Hip Hop album Speech Therapy. This time last year, many of us had never heard of her. Then in September, having developing a media buzz surrounding the album’s June 1st release on Big Dada (British home to Hip Hop...
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Asher Roth: The Hangover [Interview - HipHopDX]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/asher-roth.jpgPublished 20. September 2009 at 12:00 PM - No Comments
April 2009 was a poignant month for 24-year-old Asher Roth. His debut offering, Asleep In The Bread Aisle (Universal Motown), peaked at #5 in the charts boasting features from the likes of Busta Rhymes, Chester French, Cee-Lo, Beanie Sigel and more recently Keri Hilson. The Eminem comparisons ...
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Coming Full Circle: Beverley Knight Interview [SoulCulture]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/beverley-knight.jpgPublished 1. September 2009 at 1:28 AM - No Comments
“I don’t know a single big successful black artist who hasn’t had the finger pointed at them from their own community at a given time in their career, to say ‘you’ve left us behind, you’ve sold out’ or whatever, who hasn’t then come full circle and suddenly is totally respected…” With...
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Marsha Ambrosius: The Flow Goes On [Interview - HipHopDX]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Marsha-Ambrosius1.jpgPublished 12. July 2009 at 11:24 PM - One Comment
Grammy-nominated repeatedly from 2003 to 2006, Floetry were a soulful R&B duo out of London comprised of poet Natalie Stewart and songstress Marsha Ambrosius. “Butterflies” – an Ambrosius-penned song from their debut album – caught the ear of Michael Jackson who immediately commissioned...
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Amanda Diva Interview [Shook Magazine]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/amanda-diva.jpgPublished 14. June 2009 at 11:20 PM - One Comment
photo: Stephanie Meiling
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Cameo Interview [Shook Magazine]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/larry-blackmon.jpgPublished 13. June 2009 at 11:22 PM - One Comment
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Independence Is An Advantage [Jesse Boykins III Interview - BlackSheepMag]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/TONE_2009_JesseBoykinsIII_Jul29_234.jpgPublished 15. May 2009 at 11:22 PM - One Comment
Late 2008 saw the release of an impeccably-produced R&B/soul album which could quite possibly be classed as the sexiest soul album unleashed in recent years – The Beauty Created. You may well not have heard of it, or the artist behind it – Jesse Boykins III – due to its very...
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Innervisions: Raphael Saadiq Interview [BlackSheepMag]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/raphael-saadiq.jpgPublished 14. May 2009 at 12:24 AM - No Comments
Despite describing The Way I See It as “probably some of the best material I’ve ever toured with,” one gets the feeling Raphael Saadiq is still waiting for the peak in response to his latest album. “Still, for me, the best promotion is going out playing your record,”...
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A New Day For McKnight [Interview - BlackSheepMag]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/brianmcknight.jpgPublished 28. April 2009 at 12:31 AM - No Comments
With an evening show on “42 radio stations nationwide, all the way down the Eastern seaboard” (US), a role in the current American series of Celebrity Apprentice and a TV show launching in September along with a brand new album, Brian McKnight is on a mission to squeeze everything he can...
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Dready: Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop [Feature - Flavour Magazine]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/themes/wp-creativix/images/add-feat.jpgPublished 2. May 2008 at 6:37 AM - No Comments
In Flavour Magazine.. www.flavourmagazine.co.uk Chilling in London for a few months after spending Christmas with his son, Flavour magazine caught up with versatile producer and former So Solid Crew affiliate JD aka Dready. Why is he racking up so many air miles in Richard Branson’s favour?...
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Cosmic Conductor: AFTA-1 [Dazed & Confused]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/AFTA-1DAZEDANDCONFUSED2.pngPublished 14. April 2008 at 6:20 AM - No Comments
“It seems like everybody who’s grass-rooting it is really doing some real shit,” says Manuel Moran, an emerging 21-year-old explorative beatmaker causing sonic ripples under the name AFTA-1. “It’s getting to the point where it’s not about who’s getting signed...
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Joe: Who? [Interview - Blues & Soul]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/joe.jpgPublished 11. March 2008 at 11:23 PM - No Comments
Joe Thomas is throwing his last name out there in a conscious bid to join the ranks of first-and-last-name soul legends whom we lovingly refer to as Marvin, Stevie, Luther; because Gaye, Wonder, and Vandross helped to pave the way. The influence of Marvin Gaye is apparent in Joe’s ad-libs and he cites...
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Make It Drizzle: Guru & Solar [Interview - HHNLive]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/guru-solar.jpgPublished 19. September 2007 at 11:23 PM - No Comments
“This is a scenario when the champ comes back and knocks the other dude out, and then he’s the champ for all time and he comes back with a new team. Solar’s my new team – we’re the new team.” Guru is known for his partnerships: most notably with DJ Premier to complete the legendary Gang...
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The “N-word”: Bhavna Malkani [Feature - HHNLive]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/b-malkani.jpgPublished 12. August 2007 at 1:00 AM - No Comments
The elephant in the living room, otherwise known as the word “nigger”, became a high talking point when comedian Michael “Kramer” Richards let loose a spray of the N-word with a lynching reminder at black audience members of the Laugh Factory last November, when UK Big Brother contestant...
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The Rise Of The “Video Girl” In The UK [Feature - HHNLive]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/karrine-steffans-superhead.jpgPublished 12. July 2007 at 1:02 AM - No Comments
There has been a phenomenal rise in demand for ‘video girls’ in the UK’s ” black music” industry, with the rise of Channel U encouraging more wannabe rappers to whip out their home recorder and knock up a video. Cue crop tops, batty riders and quivering un-toned flesh bulging...
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Robin Thicke Interview [SoulCulture]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/robinthicke.jpgPublished 1. May 2007 at 6:35 AM - No Comments
It’s the day before he performs at London’s prestigious Jazz Café, and Robin Thicke is cooped up in a plush hotel in West London doing press interviews on this sunny April afternoon. The charismatic singer relaxes on the sofa; a suave and polished contrast to his former grungy self...
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Life, Love & Musiq Soulchild [Interview - Blues & Soul]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/musiq.jpgPublished 11. March 2007 at 4:31 PM - No Comments
Musiq Soulchild, born Talib Johnson, entered the airwaves as an accessible gateway between modern RnB and the more soulful end of the scale – much like fellow Philadelphia soul artist Dwele. The comprehensible simplicity of his lyrical phrasing is his trademark feature, and since the release...
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WHAT’S HARDCORE? [K'Naan Interview - Blues & Soul]
http://www.mgoshooakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/knaan1sml.jpgPublished 6. February 2007 at 6:29 AM - No Comments
“Don’t pre-judge, I don’t want anyone dismissing me as another thug. I’m poor, a refugee, been in prison and survived the war. I come from the most dangerous city in the universe – you’re likely to get shot at birth.” These are lyrics from The Dusty Foot Philosopher...
10 Years of D’Angelo’s Voodoo: He Done Worked A Root
Published January 25, 2010 at 1:19 AM - No Comments
It’s been exactly 10 years since Voodoo, D’Angelo’s sophomore album, hit the top of the US Billboard 200 in the day of its release (25 January 2000). In some ways, Voodoo is the reason Soul Culture exists.
It opened a conversation. Voodoo’s often ambiguous lyrics – when they can be heard at
read more..
One-to-Watch in 2010: ROX [Feature - SoulCulture]
Published December 29, 2009 at 1:23 AM - 1 Comment
Roxanne Tataei’s musical journey began in church, encouraged by the choirmaster (“He’d make me go at the forefront [to sing] every week and I’d be shaking… It was the best thing that he could have done”). Primary school performances soon led to tours around England with the National Youth Music Theatre,
read more..
Latest Articles
My Recently Published Work
- 10 Years of D’Angelo’s Voodoo: He Done Worked A RootPublished January 25, 2010 at 1:19 AM
- One-to-Watch in 2010: ROX [Feature - SoulCulture]Published December 29, 2009 at 1:23 AM
- Paving The Way: Speech Debelle Interview [SoulCulture]Published October 22, 2009 at 1:31 AM
- Asher Roth: The Hangover [Interview - HipHopDX]Published September 20, 2009 at 12:00 PM
- Coming Full Circle: Beverley Knight Interview [SoulCulture]Published September 1, 2009 at 1:28 AM
- Marsha Ambrosius: The Flow Goes On [Interview - HipHopDX]Published July 12, 2009 at 11:24 PM
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