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A Jesse Boykins’ Stocking Stuffer
Published by L. Michael Gipson on Friday, December 25, 2009 at 1:32 am.
Scrapping His Way To The Top
When Santa gives he just doesn’t stop. First, Bradd Marquis, then Erik Rico, and now Jesse Boykins III is giving up free covers and remix projects just in time for your Christmas coffee (or late night wrapping party!). The 23-year old rode into prominence with longingly sung electro-soul hits like “Tabloids” and “Pantyhose” from his critically acclaimed EP, Dopamine, and his first full-length project, The Beauty Created. The mentee of the legendary Bilal was featured on BET’s 106 & Park and nominated as Best New Artist at the 2009 SoulTracks Reader’s Choice Awards. Certainly on our Top Ten list for Best R&B Male Albums of 2009 (a lil’ teaser for a future post), The Beauty Created was already one of the most forward-thinking, progressive soul albums an under 25 artist has created in a decade, and that was before these eccentric hip hop meets spacey electronica remixes. Fifteen tracks gives Boykins a chance to be young, playful and innovative with his technologically advanced peers, such Young Turk producers as Applejac (Rogiers, Pharoah Sanders), Daru (Black Spade, Joy Jones), Machinedrum (Solange), Christian Rich (Clipse, Lil Kim), Ruckazoid (M.I.A., Thelophius London), Hasan Insane (Jay-Z) and MeLo-X. This genre blender may be too next level for the conventional, but for the open-minded this old man believes this youngstar is on to something, something beautiful.
