After hearing the first track of Kawan DeBose’s mixtape, Exposed, trepidation set in about where he was going with it. On “Wish I Would’ve Hit It” , he sings uninspiring lyrics straight over Trey Songz’s “Can’t Be Friends” track and at first listen it seems that the mixtape is going to be more of the same old, same old…

But… Exposed gets better. Although it’s not clear where DeBose was going with the first track, he heads in the opposite direction with the rest of the mixtape. On “Adore You” ,the first of four cover songs, he covers Prince’s “Adore”. Although Prince is an artist who, in the opinion of die-hard fans should never be covered, DeBose’s effort is not offensive. He does not try to imitate Prince. He sparingly uses falsetto and he does not use the exact same track or lyrics. The track is acoustic with some added some finger snaps and light keys and it’s actually not bad. He soulfully and clearly delivers Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” acappella and it helps bring the message of the song’s lyrics out. The slowed down, piano arrangement of Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To The World” is good and his jazzy rendition of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” works, unlike Brian McKnight’s jazzy, slow, cover of “Careless Whisper” on his current project.
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When I first learned of my assignment to cover Trey Songz’ Passion, Pain & Pleasure listening session here in Atlanta, I jokingly said in my Eddie Murphy voice, “Get the f**k outta here! Are you serious?!?” While I was very grateful for the invitation, truth be told, (more…)

Over a month ago we began our “Grow the Hell Up!” campaign. Now it’s time for part two of our three part series.

How the series works is first a manifesto of sorts is posted for each focus area, followed by a commentary on each point of the manifesto with not only rhetoric but some workable solutions. We would love for this process to be as interactive as possible so after the initial posting of each manifesto we would love to hear your feedback and incorporate your ideas into the commentary portion of the series.

Remember this is all in love! (more…)

Over a month ago we began our “Grow the Hell Up!” campaign. Now it’s time for part two of our three part series.

How the series works is first a manifesto of sorts is posted for each focus area, followed by a commentary on each point of the manifesto with not only rhetoric but some workable solutions. We would love for this process to be as interactive as possible so after the initial posting of each manifesto we would love to hear your feedback and incorporate your ideas into the commentary portion of the series.

Remember this is all in love! (more…)

A few weeks ago we began our “Grow the Hell Up!” campaign. So over the next few weeks we are going to expand the series to include posts that will speak to how we feel that these goals can be achieved by record labels, artists and fans.

Well, we’re back this week with the commentary on our posted manifesto. We hope that there has been an opportunity to consider what we are proposing and with the addition of commentary the conversation /debate can begin in earnest. (more…)

A few weeks ago we began our “Grow the Hell Up!” campaign. So over the next few weeks we are going to expand the series to include posts that will speak to how we feel that these goals can be achieved by record labels, artists and fans. (more…)