Exclusive to Centric TV Soul Sessions, DJ Dave Brown of Solar Radio delivers a one-hour tribute podcast of favorite Michael Jackson jams from all of his iconic albums. The standouts, however, are Brown’s interviews with Marshall Thompson of the Chi-Lites (who shares his earliest memories and intimate stories of MJ), James Ingram (who delivers the behind the scenes info on PYT and an unreleased Katrina tribute song), and a Q&A with the patriarch of the Jackson clan himself, Joe Jackson.  Enjoy the songs, the memories, and the intimate stories of the King of Pop that you can only hear right here on Soul Sessions.

Hear Centric’s SoulSessions represented every Monday morning at 10am EST on The Dave Brown Radio Show on www.SolarRadio.com.

MJ Remembrance

L. Michael Gipson’s Podcast

http://www.vimeo.com/12793410

N’Dambi’s 2009 release, Pink Elephant, has demonstrated some serious staying power in 2010. With stand-out performances on BET’s The Mo’ Nique Show and infectious radio hits like “Can’t Hardly Wait,” N’Dambi’s not playing. Continuing her impressive run, the Dallas amazon drops another single and video with the radio-ready “What It Takes.”  The Alex Magana directed shoot does a superb job of translating N’Dambi’s relationship survival anthem with sweet vignettes of a woman helping her man (and their relationship) weather various storms, big and small. With grooves this catchy and visuals this inviting, N’Dambi’s once again proves she’s got what it takes.

It’s been a while since there’s been a young saxophonist we could really sink into like Mike Phillips and Joshua Redman. Twenty-something smooth jazz sax man, Eric Darius, may change all that. The business grad turned musician/composer/producer has been mentored by the legendary Dave Koz, worked with a who’s who of soul, and has already topped the Billboard Contemporary Jazz charts. Darius is looking to repeat that #1 with On A Mission, his fifth full-length project in six years. Darius’s latest effort features Rick Braun and Natalie “The Floacist” Stewart and is helmed by producers Rex Rideout, Micah Otano, Chris Andrew, James Lloyd and Rohan Reid. While the project is largely originals, Darius does try his hand at Herbie Hancock’s “Butterfly” with delicious results.

To share a sample of the youngblood’s latest mission, Darius is treating Centric fans to his lead single, “On Your Way To The Top (feat. The Floacist),” —a title that aptly describes his skyrocketing career.

On A Mission available June 29th

PLAY – On Your Way To The Top

http://www.vimeo.com/11861661

Dynamic duo David Banner and 9th Wonder are back with fresh new single, “Slow Down” from their forthcoming effort, Death of A Pop Star. The track features R&B newcomer, Heather Victoria, who also doubles as Banner’s leading lady in the video.

Always a thought-provoking figure, Banner’s in a different place as an artist these days. “At some point the artist shall be held accountable to his or her self,” says the rapper. “This is me understanding that and doing something about it.”

David Banner and 9th Wonder’s Death Of A Pop Star will be released this summer via David Banner’s Big Face Ent.

Five years have passed since the death of Soul and Hip-Hop Producer J Dilla. In the time since his passing, there have been many posthumous releases and fitting tributes to his legacy from Erykah Badu, and most recently, The Roots (Dilla Joints). Joining the fray is Blue Note’s current “it” man—experimental jazz pianist Robert Glasper, with the release of “Dilla*Shine.” Featuring vocalist Zynzelay, drummer Chris Dave, and saxophonist Casey Benjamin; the song merges jazz, hip hop and plenty of soul ala Guru. For the touching backstory of the song check out Zynzelay’s Facebook page.

01 Dilla_Shine

Kelly Rowland has been on her solo music grind. First with the release of David Guetta’s 2009 international club hit,”When Love Takes Over” and now with video releases for “Commander,” the Dr. Luke produced single “Rose Colored Glasses,” and the Afrobeat meets electro-pop “Everywhere You Go (featuring Africa United),” Rowland is setting up her Sept. 14th release of Kelly Rowland in a big way. The animated video for “Everywhere You Go” directed by Andrew Wessels and animated by Niceworks is a load of kinetic fun, and is very much in keeping with Rowland’s adventurous collaborative spirit showcased on the forthcoming release.

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Gabourey “Precious” Sidibe’s mother  Alice Tan Ridley, has been singing in New York City subways and parks for more than 20 years, performing timeless blues and gospel style songs reminiscent of Ann Nesby, KoKo Taylor and Sharon Jones. Ridley,58, auditioned for America’s Got Talent and blew them away with a rousing rendition of  Etta James’ “At Last.” The performance earned Ridley a standing ovation and a chance to go all the way on the nationally televised talent show. Check out the clip and see just how much talent runs in the blood. Maybe Ridley can be this year’s Susan Boyle?

There’s no official word as to why, but Maxwell has reportedly canceled the second leg of his highly successful tour with Jill Scott and Erykah Badu. The rumor mill is already in full force, with Media Takeout and several other bossip sites placing the blame on Maxwell’s shoulders.  Supposedly Maxwell was confronted by Scott and Badu for some apparent divo behavior. No statements (or Tweets ) have come from Maxwell, Scott, or Badu’s camp thus far. Not to mention, Maxwell’s website shows the tour dates still in effect. His withdrawl from the June 18th Washington, DC show has already begun to make noise. If this is all true, where are his handlers with explanations and the tour promoters with confirmations—and a plan B for ticketholders?

http://www.vimeo.com/12370329

The Grammy-award nominated, multi-platinum Kentucky rap collective, Nappy Roots of “Po Folks” fame, is back with a new album, Pursuit of Nappyness, and their latest single “Ride.” The fun, yet conscious album sports production by Atlanta’s Phive Starr, Cloud 9, Q Smith, Sol Messiah, and J’Kob Washington. The quintet’s project is a top-notch follow-up to their free download mixtape, Nappy University, featuring Goapele and Jeff Johnson. If you’ve been missing some Southern-fried alternative rap, download Nappy University, and check out the bouncy Pursuit of Nappyness.

Every artist has a bad night, but few do so in front of a nationally televised audience. At game four of the NBA National Championships, Anita Baker stylized the National Anthem beyond recognition, wavering in and out of tune, and closed with a strangled ending that bordered on tragedy. The anthem suffered greatly in the hands of one of the most respected R&B talents in the world. Within nano-seconds Twitter was exploding with venom far worse than anything the NY Daily News could have written (try performance comparisons to a “dying cat”). Hopefully, Baker will recover from this unfortunate blip, ’cause it was one she certainly didn’t need with a new album dropping this year. Here’s hoping a fresh single sung on the talk show circuit can destroy any memory of this moment. Remember Musiq Soulchild’s National Anthem fiasco a few years back? We didn’t think so. See what a great follow-up single can do?