2014: THE BEST INDIE SOUL SINGLES

THE TOP 50 INDIE SOUL/RnB SONGS OF 2014

 

1. AKNU "Owe Me Love" is the sound of a young trio of popped soul artists with an energy that transfers to the listener. It's a defiant piece of punk rock growl and incredible pitch-perfection. An undercurrent of mildly expressed sexuality is present both in its defiant sound and lyrics like: "just give me what i want / problem solved ... i want it all / you owe me love." Please do not confuse AKNU with a "boy band."
2. THE BLACK OPERA brought us "Beginning of the End" featuring GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW  in a haunting, gorgeous affair. Taken from TBO's latest installment THE GREAT YEAR, "Beginning" is one of the year's most-rewarding listens.
3. RAURY was a rising star when "Cigarette Song" was released. This song proved to me that RAURY is more than the hype surrounding him. Until i heard "Cigarette Song", i shrugged him off as temporary, trendy alt-soul. But RAURY's self-examination is a bit too contagious to be trite. He sings of temporary pleasures, cigarettes and commitment-free sex. An acoustic guitar strums carefree summer love chords while RAURY promises that "I can't love you right, but if you need a light ... I'll provide it." RAURY may not have planned it but he's forced us to examine ourselves. And he's shown us that what we are is less than our illusions. 
   
4. DIZZY DORTCH  is an incredible rising vocalist. "Give Me A Chance" is his debut single. His no-frills vocal style and direct lyrics will hopefully rein in a new era in American soul music. Hasn't america been hungry for a new soul connoisseur to charm the ladies while confirming to the guys that classic style is important? Look at the awkward chic that is today's fashion code for young males: the angst passing for style is a cynical political
   
   statement (not fashion), and both R&B and Hip-hop have been infected by it. "Give Me A Chance" is unapologetic confidence without pretension.  DIZZY DORTCH is a fashion-forward eye-pleasing representative of the new soul: he's ahead of the game.  
5.  JULES BORN (of Voices of Black) brings us “Missouri Loves Company”, likely to be the favorite song of many who’ve watched Ferguson with despair and anger. Jules’ EP Memorybilia is alt-soul with heavy funk injections: the V.O.B. sing as chorus most of the time. There are echoes, space music soundscapes perhaps. Voices of Black are always a tremendous resource for artistic intelligence.  
6. LAMAR STARZZ released "P.A.M." at the year's sleepy mid-point. It woke me up. This is the type of song STARZZ shines on. Keep the affection, keep the love: LAMAR STARZZ is about the sex and the money. Perhaps his strongest, most muscular vocals to date.
7. DONYE’A GOODIN offered the most haunting love song of the year with “I’ll Kill Her”. His vocals often evoke PRINCE and in that sense, the material has that perverse touch the Purple One perfected. Donye’a sings with something simmering just beneath the calm: then in the chorus he reveals a possessive nature that characterizes spousal abusers. "If I can't be with you then nobody can.'
8. DONCHRISTIAN hypnotized the nation with "Odysseus" and the effect lingers. You cannot un-ring a bell, or un-fuck a fuck. "I don't even know when i'm dreaming", the Master of cool, dangerous soul sang. He nearly owned 2014.
9. JAY STONES is, i have to say it, eclectic. It's an annoying yet meaningful word. STONES has been creating and sharing his spacey-trippy soul for at least a couple of years (online anyway). "Can't Swim" is one of 2014's best soul songs because it features JAY STONES breathy tone as he shares a longing with a faraway lover: "No my heart can't swim in the ocean so my love drowns tryna to get to you..." And some of us suspect he's saying more than that.
10. KEVIN FRANKLIN  “Make It” is Mr. Franklin’s sympathy for a girl from his past who now is doing lapdances (& more?) — she’s trying to “make it.” Touching, surprisingly sympathetic, it’s a bit of social commentary flowing through the story. Which is what makes it such an appealing, timeless number.
11. COMMAND, the Atlanta-based musician, released 'BLK GRL MRMD" from his flawless album WATERMOUTH. The music is a lilting, reggae-inspired bounce. "Everytime I think about that tail," COMMAND muses. His music is clean, crisp, pared-down to its bare essentials. If there are mermaids in some distant waters, COMMAND will find them.
12. RACHAURD THE WRITER "Stranger" is a brilliant piece of soul-pop from RICHAURD's project THEY NOTICE 2. Like most of his music, it's catchy not cloying. And it's got interesting context, as RACHAURD describes being a "stranger" to his lady (the couple has a little secret i won't reveal.) Is RACHAURD making a playful commentary on the state of the nation when it comes to lovers? Are we strangers to one another each time we wake in a new day?
13. ANTONIO RAMSEY has been bringing the baby-making music for awhile and
    
    "Pheromones" is a continuation of AR's brilliant use of metaphor and innuendo: "Girl you are my apple, my peach. I don't want no simple honey to eat." ANTONIO RAMSEY makes baby-making soul an art unto itself.  
14. VOYCE* gave us the chilling (and chilly-wave) "You Don't Get To Break My Heart". Reluctantly i have to mention TOM KRELL here. Not that VOYCE* sounds like a HTDW rip-off, i can hear the echoes of Total Loss maybe. Except that VOYCE* isn't resigned to total loss like KRELL might be. HDTW would've called the song, perhaps, "You're Going to Break My Heart Soon (Goodbye)."
    
15. VON TAE’ released “Natural Born Sinner” as the second single from his hit album MY OWN RELIGION. “Sinner” is a declaration of independence. VON TAE’ sings with muscle and energy so that yes, you believe his declaration. It’s also an affirmation of the singer’s humanity (“i’m hear to say it loud: i’m imperfect and i’m proud.”). A bit of a throwback to “My Prerogative” perhaps, but there could certainly be worse comparisons than to a funky pop hit from Bobby Brown’s earliest and most-celebrated solo days. VON TAE’ can make you dance, make you think, and hopefully you’re already smiling when you’re dancing. If so he’s done his job.
16. C-NOVA could easily be a gospel singer. "Let's Play" is a nice piece of slow-grind, quiet storm music. With just enough innuendo to keep it interesting.  
17. KEVIN COSSOM gives his fans a real treat: "FTOB" is a mid-tempo track, with COSSOM sounding at the top of his game. "I just want you, fuck them other bitches" is his pledge of devotion to just one lady. It may or may not be a first-time sentiment for KEVIN COSSOM in a song. But it is refreshing. 
18. KEVIN FRANKLIN released a gem called “Da Da Da”. He sings that “She’s so beautiful it don’t make no sense”. FRANKLIN then sees an “opportunity … to be in unity”, his aim is to make it official over a slow dubstep-style background. KEVIN FRANKLIN has a voice that sounds "plain' (no offense). It's a voice that one could imagine sounds the same when he's speaking.
19. CORI SIMS started 2014 off right with the much-anticipated (and teased) "Hush". CORI SIMS hasn't altered his successful formula of club- or bedroom-friendly songs, they still drip in machismo. "Hush" reveals that CORI SIMS aims higher than boy-band status. And his vocals attest to the fact that he could be the Next __fill in the blank___.  
20. BRIK.LIAM takes an interesting look at individuality in "ahoarder'sprayer" from the comforting, uneasy album MR. LIAM'S NEIGHBORHOOD.
21. STEVEN CHRISTOPHER tells his girl to do just one thing: "Breathe." Over a repetitive guitar sample, CHRISTOPHER promises her that he is going to go so far for her. His vocals are muscular and convincing in their devotion ot a loved one. "If you can't find the words, it's okay .. i'll take your breathe and Ima give it back." STEVEN CHRISTOPHER is definitely a name to watch in RnB music.
22. JAY DEUCE released "Runway" sometime around summer in '14. Hype combined with DEUCE's generally accepted likeability, and "Runway" became a local and national cuhit. "Runway" echoes earlier mainstream soul when "mainstream" carried no
    
    negative connotations; the mainstream of soul was the soundtrack to a summer, or a cold winter. "Runway" in its all its sleek sophistication should look good on anyone's playlist. 
23. LAMAR JAY is having a party in "Caught Up". He's invited his whole team, and he "only hit it once, got a n_a caught up ...she got the whole team caught up." It's not one-sided, LAMAR JAY notes that "ever since i laid the pipe she given up the brains." 
24. JOSEPH JACKSON gave the year’s best, understated & underrated performance in  "Take Me”.  Its poignant plea to the Gods couldn't be simpler: “take me from this earth” — his vocals tug at your heart. 
25. KRISTOPHER DE'SEAN "Good Ole Days" is a smooth piece of nostalgia for day when they read books,"didn't have a Kindle." Lines such as you think your mom's gonna be mean and "she turns to you with a bowl of ice cream" are worth it, though i've yet to meet someone who doesn't sit in awe of DE'SEAN's vocal prowess. 
26. MISHON in "No Flex Zone" MISHON makes his message clear:  "wirh a voice like this, them panties gonna stay wet."
27. LANCE SOMERVILLE (DR. SOMERVILLE) released "F.U." a few months ago and it is sheer RnB perfection. DR. SOMERVILLE's voice is all its own, i cannot even think of a
    
    singer who sounds remotely like DR. SOMERVILLE. And there was no song like "F.U." in 2014. 
28. SHALIEK shares his magic, shine with the possibilities "Dance in the Rain" presents to him and his lover. It's of course from SHALIEK's acclaimed, Award-nominated album "BLOOD SWEAT TEARS." 
29. DON JAYE gives us the tense, moody composition "Lost in Love" which presents a simple, yet frustrating question: "If we fell in love, why are things so complicated? If we fell in love, why are we so underrated?" Lovers are devalued, according to the protagonist o this song. The song is a microscosm of the human condition: we don't get along all the time, and all of us on the planet would never get along. Interesting how DON JAYE expresses almost shame for being in love, looking around and thinking the question: Am i devalued? There's no answer to that question, but there are about a billion answers, ever-changing.
30. JAY 'QUAY "Friends with Benefits (F.W.B.)" is classic JAY 'QUAY. It's up there with his 2013 hit "Imagine Me." Everyone appreciates classy soul, we appreciate JAY 'QUAY as well.
31. JAKE & PAPA made the world smile when they released ATHENA's EROTICA. "Fuck My Soul" was at least part of the reason: the vocals are about as sensual as they could get without actually performing the act. JAKE & PAPA are brilliant musicians, singers, and writers. "Fuck My Soul" took sensuality further than i'd ever heard. When they sang "let me fuck you til you feel my soul' the words alone would mean nothing: JAKE & PAPA make it a virtual act through their music.     
32. KEITH CORBETT  the song "Black (Couldn't Be Alone)" is from his critically-acclaimed ______BLACK  Album. MR. CORBETT sings with such a heartache that it feels like an existential pain, the worst kind. He uses technology to help the despair sound as bleak as it is. A highly textured song from one of our best indie soul singers. If you don't have ____BLACK yet, you will have a new obsession once you download it.
33. KEVIN COSSOM spits, sings about half each on "Tell Me Something". KEVIN COSSOM reminds his homie that "you ain't doin the right thing." Ladies love KEVIN COSSOM. Especially when he spits and sings in the same song. "Tell Me Something" is another son like that. KEVIN's vocals are top-shelf.
34. MIKE DE’COLE has a voice you immediately recognize. It is a pure voice, one that communicates with purpose. On “Good Moaning” his purpose is clear: a little breakfast-time moaning and sighing. The song sounds  like a lost classic from who-knows-when? Mike De’Cole besides his seductive voice, brings a timeless quality to His music. Mr. De’Cole doesn’t do trendy music that evaporates the first time you play it. His mixing of genres doesn’t even sound uneven, as if often the case. De’Cole’s process isn’t grab-bag songwriting or producing. Mike De’Cole’s method of constructing an album is as much an Art as writing or singing. “Good Moaning” probably wouldn’t have been recorded by any of today’s chart-toppers; it’s not traphouse nor is it sleaze. So there is a mystery to Mr. De’Cole’s methods. Thankfully enough of us recognized a truly unique and top-shelf class act in MIKE De’COLE. I urge every soul-music fan to download His EP So It Was Written.
35. BANDIT GANG MARCO with TEAM TWIN  teamed up to cover Pleasure P.’s “Get Chu Wet” with results that rival the original. Marco is a natural for a mid-tempo strip and stick song like this. Team Twin hold their own, surprising alot of music fans at how adept they are in rhyming everything from the softcore of “Get Chu Wet” to innocent teenage love songs. Marco, prolific as ever, gave us a few real gems this year. “Get Chu Wet” is one of them — a classic he’ll likely be remembered for rather than its originator. A testament to Bandit Gang Marco’s mass cult appeal.
36. DESMOND DENNIS has one of those pitch-perfect, male-angel voices so intimate, so sincere that even a break-up song like. “It Ain’t Worth It” becomes not pretty, but that gorgeous tenor softens the blow considerably. Another winner for the SJ3 singer.
37. KAMERON CORVET released DARKER THAN GRAY album this year to much-anticipation. The critics received it well. It’s got themes that can be difficult to conjoin with pop/soul music: emotional pain games within a relationship. “Round of It” is about a man who can’t break away from a girl, he keeps falling victim when she gives him “another round of it.” Of course he’s free to “move miles away” as he contemplates. He also could simply say “No” the next time she brings another “round of it.” It’s interesting the man should suggest that he’s trapped.
38. DAY’QUIROUS DEZIRE YOUNG is a respected young singer-songwriter from Kentucky who scored big fan points with the softcore stimulation of “Up & Down”. Dezire’s vocals were made for the mild, slightly-provocative sex romp song and He went one better with another song on this list. Dezire takes us back to some of the steamier sex-lite songs of the 1980s. We thank him for that.
39. DESMOND DENNIS has a great year turning cover songs into his own. “Long Distance” is possibly one of DESMOND’s greatest performances because He expresses longing with a kind of grace that our drama-hungry culture finds distatesful. The lyrics tell of the longing, of how difficult it is living far from your lover. And though the song doesn’t end in breakup, DESMOND’s vocals are the cue. Hopeful though he may be, ugly realism confounds us, disrupts our plans. DESMOND DENNIS, a class act in popular music.
40. DAY’QUIROUS DEZIRE YOUNG is as promised back on the list with the steamy lust romp “Throw.” Despite using the word “hoes” about 20 times, Dezire describes his predicament like being caught in a crowded zoo. Or maybe i’m overthinking the song. “Throw” does continue Dezire’s reputation as an heir to the sexiest RnB like Joe, Tyrese, or Jaay Quay. Dezire has that gift of getting the lady naked, at least in theory, and for softcore soul “Throw” is just about top-shelf.
41. KAMERON CORVET‘s  “No Love Allowed” is a resignation to the idea that intimacy’s not a possibility with one who’s got another. There is no joy in Kameron’s voice when he sings that there’s “no love allowed”.  His falsetto betrays an intensity of feeling for someone out of reach on a moral level, yet physically too close in “a dangerous game[they're] playing.” DARKER THE GRAY is the album. Kameron Corvet scans most of the emotional spectrum and, as in “No Love Allowed,” doesn’t always find a favorable feeling.
42. TAYLOR MALLORY made a lot of good, positive noise when He released His album earlier this year. “Your Beauty is a Problem” might be one reason. Of course Taylor’s voice was enough to get people to listen. The depth of songs like “Your Beauty” is an added bonus: the story of a woman who’s unaware of her beauty. It’s a gorgeous song that reminds me of George Nook’s “Homely Girl.” 
43. SJ3 are without question the most dynamic, versatile “boy band”, forgive the term, making music. And with Desmond Dennis, Tone Stith on vocals, and KT‘s fresh rhymes, SJ3 have the tools to keep the dynamic spirit alive with songs like this year’s hit “Cali Girl.” Obviously not a song of depth, it’s an energetic song tailor-made for summer. And of course SJ3 were the trio to pull it off.   
44. DECARLO released “Working Hard” earlier in the year, somehow got slept on. It’s an infectious single, DeCarlo’s an above-average vocalist. The song is all about that hustle, has a pop feel to it but ultimately it’s got a funky appeal. 
45. DAY26 are back a Gem called “Bullsh*t”. On its surface it’s another tale of jealousy & suspicion. But DAY26 bring their own special intensity to the tale. Here’s hoping their here to stay (again) because they’ve never sounded better (or sexier, right, ladies?) 
46. KINGSTON HAUGHTON Kingston’s latest is “Bow Down”, and  it’s raised his status up one level, he’s a Boss: “Recognize the presence of a Real N*_*.” Kingston has developed a sound which has his own identifiable swag-appeal. If there were swag zip codes Kingston would have his own, — at least if the music he creates is accurate.
47. KEVIN FRANKLIN an Acclaimed young, upcoming Artist from Chicago brought perhaps the best mood-piece of 2014: “Fade Away”. With a nice smooth intro that stretches into Mr. Franklin’s vocals — the timeless feel emphasizes his pleas (“can’t let it fade away.”). KEVIN FRANKLIN has succeeded above & beyond many of his older peers, and if “Fade Away” is not on Best-Of lists then i’m starting a riot. Or maybe just angry tweets & emails will do.
48. DAY26 “Make It to the Bed” is more of what DAY26 do best: They tease with the foreplay, then the man fills every orifice he can fill. Yes, some of DAY26  best work are misogynistic. But the melodies, the harmonies and how perfectly natural the Men sound as they dig in.
49. MNEK  His elegant vocals, mild-double entendres lift the already-gorgeous “In Your Clouds” to new heights. The song is a celebration of 1970s funk ala Earth Wind & Fire and showcased by the classical midnight-soul of MNEK’s vocals. Britain’s Got Soul.
50. QUA L'AMAR follows his debut with "Good Girls" , a catchy and sunny disco-tinged longing for the girls in the title. L'AMAR is apparently tired of sexing a different girl each night (maybe they were "good girls" until he stained their names). Here's hoping we get to hear from QUA L'AMAR more frequently.

Labels: 2014 aknu best black opera jay deuce kingston haughton lamar jay mnek RnB soul