Tag: "Soul Searching"

R&B fused together with pop and a sprinkle of jazz — that’s the recipe for this week’s Soul Searching artist. Ife began developing her soulful voice in choirs then perfected it in college as a voice major. She worked hard to move her way up in the local DC scene by singing backup vocals for local talent. Her efforts paid off as she was at last able to release her debut EP, Crescendo. The five-song collection provides just a small taste of her musical ability.

Ife’s music is in rotation online on several radio stations across the country along with Sirius XM Radio. She is currently performing all over southern California and will soon to be heard in an independent film, ConSINsual, from One Truth Media Films. After listening to a few of her tracks, it’s no wonder her music is so well received by music lovers, radio DJs and film makers. Her music is beautiful and very real. Take a listen to her song, “Fly” below. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Mike Murphy—this week’s Soul Searching pick and OurStage artist on the rise—hails from Canton, Ohio. With an extensive background in gospel music (thanks to an early start performing in church), Mike quickly found his soulful side and has perfected his craft over the years. His music frequently features an R&B style, and heartfelt lyrics that he attributes to his religious upbringing. Growing up, Mike frequently participated and succeeded in a number of local talent shows due to his stage skills and vocal abilities.

Fast-forward a few years later, Mike joined the Armed Forces. As fate would have it, he was selected by Army Entertainment to participate in the 2000 US Army show. From there, Mike traveled the world in order to perform and entertain the troops with his talent. Once his duties were complete, he gave New York a chance—showcasing his skills at popular nightclubs. During this time, Mike also teamed up with producer Hamza Lee and worked on a few tracks with the lead singer from the group Soul for Real.

The culmination of all this experience brings us to his recent full-length release Love. The album shows Mike’s personal vulnerability and features everything from ballads to club tracks. Mike has shown some great success on OurStage, ranking in the Top 10 in R&B and the Top 100 for “Best of ” Urban Channel.

Listen to Mike’s single “Hopeless”— a track about when someone is just not that into you and how hard this realization can be—below. The song is a prime example of Mike’s vocal ability.

Keep an eye out for Mr. Murphy as he continues to climb the ladder of success.

The new year is rapidly approaching. With the holidays so close, who has the time to find that perfect slow jam to ring in 2011. OurStage does, that’s who! We’ve compiled some great songs from talented OurStage R&B and soul artists that we think you’ll really enjoy with your champaign—especially if you’re spending the New Year’s Eve with someone special. From the Best of the Best charts to promotional winners to music found by our content review team, we’ve got all the bases covered.

We hope you enjoy our slow jams play list below. Have any additions for the play list? Share them with everyone by linking to the song below in the comments section.

It’s been a awesome year for OurStage R&B and soul artists. There is such a large pool of talent here that pinpointing the Top 10 songs (even if the picks are just in our personal opinions) is very difficult. In the end, we selected artists who landed in the top of the Best of Urban Channels, won promotional competitions, and scored the Number 1 spot on the Soul and R&B Channel.

10. Nadirah Shakoor, “Know what I’m lookin’ for” – Nadirah hit Number 1 in the Soul Channel in June of this year, and placed in the Top 10 for Soul four times over the last year and half!

9. Jeremy James, “Well be as it may” – Jeremy was previously featured on Soul Searching, so feel free to learn more about him here. He also was first in the urban Best of Charts for 7 weeks.

8. Tess Henley, “Easy to Love” – Tess is another recently  Soul Searching artist and has demonstrated a mastery of the old school soul feel. She resides in Seattle, Washington and, despite her young age, is making her moves as an independent artist.

7. Jeff Hendrick, “Old School Party” – Jeff’s music is influenced by some of the greats including Michael Jackson, Prince, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. No wonder he is currently in the Top 20 of the Best of Urban Charts with his song, “Old School Party”.

6. Bridget Barkan, “Heartbreak Lane” – Maybe you remember Barkan won Number 1 in the best of Soul Channel all the way back in January thanks to her unique voice. Here’s a reminder why.

5. Ed M.a.e.s.t.r.o., “Choose U” – Gospel-driven and soul-filled, Ed M.a.e.s.t.r.o. won Number 1 in the Best of Urban Channel in February this year. His profile proudly displays 11 Top 10 badges.

4. Von Sway, “U Mean the World” – Back in May, Von hit Number 1 in the Soul Channel. Nit a surprising feat from a cat with a voice that’s reminiscent of some of today’s biggest R&B stars like Neyo and Usher.

3. ML the Truth, “ML’s Silent Night” – Another artist not unfamiliar to the Soul Searching column. His version of “Silent Night” is the perfect touch for our Holiday play list this year.

2. Jesse Idol,  “Movie Night” – Jesse Idol is a past Needle in the Haystack winner —one of OurStage’s most prestigious awards.

1. Lou Writer, ­“Dream Girl“ –You can’t float around the Best of Charts without seeing the name Lou Writer and for this reason, he’s earned our Number 1 spot.

We strongly encourage you to go to our Best of Urban Charts and find some of the other OurStage soul stars yourself. Also, if you know of any artists that you feel should be a part of this list, please share a link to their song in the comment section below.

This week’s Soul Searching artist is a passionate singer-songwriter from Seattle, WA—Tess Henley. It seems Tess was destined to be musically inclined.  Her pregnant mother performed nightly until the very week she gave birth to Tess. It’s not uncommon for the greats to begin their musical adventure so early in life so it’s no surprise to learn that tess began playing piano at the young age of 3. No wonder she  developed such a strong and beautiful voice. Though Tess is frequently compared to Alicia Keys, she exudes an old school feel that most likely stems from her Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye influences.

Already receiving international publicity, Tess is in a good place to take off as an artist.  Highly respected SoulAndJazzAndFunk.com says “Tess shows remarkable maturity and focus, her music is draped in luscious harmonies; it’s truly infections…”  Take a listen to her track “Easy to Love” below. What do you think of this soulful jam?

Esnavi (pronounced es-nah-V) is an international “Top 40″ recording powerhouse on OurStage.com. She is a singer songwriter who writes unique and moving music motivated by her real life situations. Her inspiration stems from the likes of Stevie Wonder all the way to Cyndi Lauper, and her background in poetry allows her to able to write meaningful lyrics. Born and raised in Milwaukee,  Ensnavi’s musical calling eventually brought her to New York after her college graduation.

It’s not surprising that Esnavi has an incredibly soulful voice— that’s why we chose to feature her! However, if you listen to her song, “Ding Ding” below, you’ll hear a very poppy sound. Don’t be fooled by her hip hop, soul, funk, blues and jazz fusion. To be a Top 40 recording artist, you sometimes have to stretch yourself into other genres to survive. If you want to listen to some great music, stream a few more of her songs on her OurStage profile here.

Let us know what you think of Esnavi’s music in the comments section below. We love hearing from you!

Like many soul artists, this week’s Soul Searching pick was raised on greats such as Ronald Isley and Luther Vandross. Beginning his musical journey in the church at age 12,  Denaron has become a force in the soul and R&B world. Participating in numerous talent shows throughout his teenage years, and winning first place many times, brought his talent to the attention of his fellow competitors. Over the years, these early relationships blossomed into collaborations and subsequently helped Denaron get his name out there to further his career. This type of cross promotion and collaboration is becoming a typical marketing technique in today’s music business, so Denaron clearly knows what he is doing. On the music front, Denaron has become an expert when it comes to writing hooks for rappers, and can be heard on numerous tracks laying down some sweet vocals. Not surprisingly, his music is in rotation on stations in the Houston area. Denaron isn’t just a voice however, he’s a talented songwriter as well. Take for example his song, “Someone to Love”. The track is catchy and smooth, leaving the listener hooked and wanting more. What do you think of the song? Is this something you would listen to? Think he has a chance to make it big? We’d love to hear your 2 cents!

As a classically trained vocalist, and self-taught pianist, Orlando Dixon brings flair and style to the stage. He works hard to mirror the greats such as Donny Hathaway, Sam Cooke and John Lennon. But his own style comes out strong as he begins to establish himself in the industry.  Dixon is currently promoting his Mixtape series In My Element—an original collection of music.

After winning the grand prize of Disc Makers’ Design Studio Cover Search Contest, he went on to become a finalist in VH1’s Songwriting Contest. In addition to these notable accomplishments, Dixon has shared the stage with renowned artists such as Lalah Hathaway, Paula Cole and Philip Bailey of Earth Wind and Fire.

“Don’t Give Up On Us” is one of our favorite Orlando Dixon Tracks. It’s super catchy and fun to listen to. We posted the track below to stream so that you can tell us what you think! After listening to that, check out his cover of Robin Thicke’s “Lost Without You”.

Self made and motivated to win, Shaun Mykals is this week’s Soul Searching featured artist. Shaun’s first project, Urban Sophistication, is simply an extraordinary album. You can hear the effort put into making the recording with each and every phrase. Every detail seems to be intentional, and is packed with soul, just like we like it! Shaun is clearly influenced by artists such as Marvin Gaye and Luther Vandross, but he brings his own style to their old school sound.
With all this talent, there is sure to be an impressive resume. Shaun’s video “Cold World” was voted Best New Video of the Week by BET’Js viewers. He also was a back up vocalist for Patti LaBelle which brought him to the attention of 710 Muzic Group President, Natacia Harrison.
Want a taste of Shaun Mykal?  Check out his track “Leave Me Alone” below and let us know what you  think.

Love is one of those strong emotions that just naturally inspires great soul songs. This week’s Soul Searching artist takes that emotion and runs with it! ML The Truth is another OurStage artist on the rise in the R&B world thanks to his smooth vocals and tight harmonies.  ML recently won the OurStage “Here I Am” talent search with Monica and Coca-Cola. In September, ML was the winner of the Cellular South’s Listener’s choice award for his song “Missing You”. He’s also opened for Trey Songs, Lenny Williams, LeToya and Anthony Hamilton just to name a few. It’s hard to believe he started out writing hooks for local underground hip hop artists. Lucky for us, he was encouraged to start singing  and producing his own music as an artist.

We asked ML a few questions to see what was going on now, and what he had up his sleeve for the future. Check them out below:

OS: What are you currently working on now?

ML: I am gearing up for the release of my first independent album entitled The Truth. It will be released under my company 100 Drums Productions LLC. I am shooting for November 13th as a release date because it falls on my birthday. This album will feature a great spoken word artist before each song that I allowed to listen to my music before its release. They meditated on the creations and were allowed to express how they felt after the connection in their own art form.  I wanted that unconventional element added to my first project.  Because I am independent it has allowed me to have that creative control. I just finished a video shoot for my song “First Time” with Dreka Shevon of Primestone Media and Johnny Coleman of Crescent Creations.   It’s a song about the beauty of asking your significant other if you can make love for the first time.  The first shoot was good but the feedback was that it was too safe.  I was trying to make it family friendly but I think I went overboard Beaver the Cleaver clean.  This one should be spicy enough to get the message across without being a shock value soft porn video.

I just purchased my first billboard sign in the area I grew up (in my hometown of Jackson, MS). The ad agency suggested a more non-urban market, but my neighborhood needed to see something other than bails bondsman, tobacco and liquor signs. Hopefully, it will give inspiration to the youth to let them know they can achieve dreams.   It was kind of a blow to the wallet but my prize winnings from the OurStage Monica “Here I am” Talent Search Competition softened the blow.  In between that and viral marketing myself on the Internet, I am also producing local artist in the Mississippi area to keep my lights on.

Lou Writer just won the Black Entertainment Television (BET) 106 & Park W.O.W. Male R&B Grand Championship title in August 2010 performing two songs I produced entitled “Aftermath” and “Touch.”  “Aftermath” was the Number 1 downloaded ring tone for BET during the month of July.  Another group I produce called LAVAGE will be competing on BET’s 106 & Park Wednesday, November 10, 2010. So look out for them doing a dance they created called the “Hula Hoop.””

OS: Where do you want to be as an artist in 2 years?

ML: The sky is the limit now after winning on OurStage because I was working on a shoe string budget.  Prayer, the OurStage voters and R&B artist Monica gave me the rest of the shoe so to speak to finish my project. When Monica validated my music, it was awesome! In two years, I see sponsorship, my songs in movies and my videos on MTV, VH1 & BET.  I hope to have major placement with several well-known artists.  I have a great team of individuals around me who are supportive and help to foster my creativity, so it will happen.  My mind set will stay competitive and I will continue to enter my songs in contests. Some days when the planets are in alignment I feel like I can win a GRAMMY.  I recently won the Emerge Artist Cellular South Listener’s choice contest for my song “Missing You” in September.  I think that will be my next video. That song seems to have a crossover appeal that I eventually want to have for all my songs.  I don’t want to be shoved in a genre box all my career.  In two years when you ask “Who is ML?” People will say I know him. He is the guy that makes great music.

Most importantly in two years, I want to be able to take care of my family financially and those that have supported me from the beginning.

Check out ML’s track “First Time” in the player below and tell us what you think in the comments. Just make sure it’s the truth.