The dirty south has brought some of the hottest acts to the forefront in recent years. The likes of Outkast, JD, G-Love, India Arie and Laurnea comes to mind but newcomer Donnie, though not a native of Atlanta  (born in Lexington, KY) who now resides in Atlanta, is being compared to the legendary performer Donnie Hathaway and it's no wonder, to listen to this man sing once  and you would think the legend himself was on the mic.

The album is called 'The Coloured Section' and it's an instant impression with me on the first listen. 'Heaven sent ' and 'You've got a friend ' are first class true soul tracks but the sleeper hit here has to be the samba flavoured 'Do you Know ' a slice of absolute heaven where soul music is concerned and if Donnie was alive today I'm sure he would smile and say "You remind me of me when I was coming up young man." I can say that I would agree that this young man is the real deal and his future looks rather bright indeed. I urge you to not past over this fine young talent or you will be disappointed if you do especially if you're a true soul.

It's hard to believe that such a talent was not signed to a label up until last month thanks to Giant Step that has all changed. You can listen to a couple of his tracks through mp3.com (click on his picture above to go to the site).   

The album is slated for a spring release so I urge you to get a copy of this disc I guarantee you that it's money well spent. A most definite TYD Pick here  

TD. 

 

 

 

If you haven't heard of her then you will (trust me you will). N'Dambi is a  young lady who hails from the same town as Erykah Babu (Dallas, TX) and who also started out with Erykah as her back-up vocalist (she's the one with the huge afro as you might tell). N’Dambi has carved herself a piece of the neo-soul pie gaining valuable experience touring with her which played a pivotal role in all of Erykah’s recordings to date, she did vocal production work on all of her sets as well as co-wrote 'Hey Sugah' on her most recent release "Mama's Gun". 

In 1999 she released her debut album 'Little Lost Girl Blues ' a sensuous and wonderfully produced body of work that to me was the stand-out album for the year. Songs such as 'See you in my dreams ', 'Soul from the Abyss ', 'Rain ' and 'The Sunshine ' are just a few of the tracks that made noise in the underground circuit but again felt no love on mainstream radio (for the life of me I don't understand why) and with this set she adds even more fuel to the fire with future classics like 'Day Dreamer ', 'Do Mat Mare Ray ', 'Call Me ', 'Bitter Bitter Blue ', and 'Crazy World ' which only goes to show the true testaments of just how talented this young author/business woman/producer/mother/singer and songwriter extraordinaire really is. 

I urge anyone with a pulse who loves good soul music to go and get this album really terrific stuff from start to finish (really - no joke!)

TD 

    

 

 

4 Shades consists of newcomers Caesar Riley, Fred "Beach" Frazier, Willie "Zookie" Cannon and Darryl Cannon four young men that hail from the Camilla Georgia area and all of whom met while attending high school. 

Signed to Evander Holyfields 'Orpheus' Record label the lads have some up and coming producers working with them - the likes of Jazdin Reddy, The Characters, Steve Rhythm, Shannon "Fat Shan" Houchins, No I'd and veteran producer Felton Pilate were all on hand for their debut self-titled set. 

The lead off single 'Crave ' is getting respectable airplay throughout the country and the lads look poised to shape up into the likes of another 'Boyz to Men' (of whom they have drawn comparisons to). The album as a whole is filled with too many ballads for my liking but for those of you who like the tear jerkers then this album is for you. Available in record stores now.

TD