I saw James perform last year at BB Kings Club NYC and this woman lights up the room like any other artist twice her size. She’s one of those voices where after hearing one song of hers you’re a fan for life. Imagine watching her belt out such deep lyrics live.

Her 2009 album Let’s Do It Again although a covers-only album, saw her recreate past hits like produced “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” and “I’d Rather Be With You”.  Her debut album A Change Is Gonna Come introduced James as a voice to watch, although she never caught much mainstream attention. Since her last studio album she’s been performing live as well as finding time to create new material like new single “Tell Me You Love Me”. Like many of her other songs its easy to listen to the words and relate. She really has a way of making you feel exactly where she’s coming from with her words.

To my surprise a video was shot and released. Unless you follow Leela James and her career its easy to carry on without hearing much about her or her talent. However she’s one R&B/Soul voice you can’t let slip under the radar. Check her video for “Tell Me You Love Me“.

Song: “I Belong To You” (1998)

Album: 5 (Virgin)

Lenny has been pretty quiet on the music scene lately. Its been a couple since we’ve heard new music from the rocker. He was last seen staring alongside Mo’Nique and Gaborie Sidibie in last year’s Precious. Wheather new music is in the works or not, his catalog of past hits are still as fresh as when they were first created.

Other than “Fly Away” and “American Woman” amongst countless other Lenny Kravitz records, my absolute favorite song of his is “I Belong To You” from 1998′s 5. Listening to the song and getting lost in Lenny’s rhythemic trance its almost as if he’s singing directly to you. The melody is simple and repititive, which are the types that sometimes produces the best song.

Check the vid here.

Besides Hip-Hop and R&B, Dance is one of my favorite genres of music. The combination of R&B and Dance with Kelis as the Master of Ceremonies seems like a hit in the making. Knight also makes his music video debut at the end.

Watch Kelis’ official video for “Acapella” here.

Monica Still Standing J Records

It’s been 4 years since we last heard from Monica musically. Since her 2006 album The Makings Of Me she’s since had two children, a cameo in 2006′s ATL and lended her vocal chops to other artists. Monica is known for her immense soulful sound. The release of her sophomore album The Boy Is Mine had many comparing her talents to that of Brandy’s, when the two ladies were at the height of their popularity. Monica was recently featured on Keyshia Cole’s “Trust” and it good to see that she’s still got it. The lead single “Everything To Me” which features a sample of Deniece Williams’ “Silly” had everyone anticipating the now released Still Standing. Monica couldn’t have come back at a better time when so many of her R&B counterparts are all copying each other so much that they’re looking, sounding and dressing the same.

Justin Bieber My World 2.0 Island Def Jam

After the initial release of Justin’s 2009 EP My World, the platinum selling teen was still a virtual unknown to the masses, but clearly had the appeal to capture the attention of audiences. After winning singing competitions in his local Ontario, he began posting videos on YouTube he caught the attention of a former So So Def executive who got him an audition with Usher. Both Usher and L.A. Reid was impressed and immediately signed him to Island/Def Jam. His debut was re-released today as My World 2.0. The rest is history…literally. I really don’t know much else about the guy except that everywhere he performs there’s an army of young girls who’s screams over power his singing.

Attorney Generals from 13 different states have filed proceedings right after the bill has been signed by the President to stop the reform. According to the President the bill was definitely needed saying ”The bill I’m signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for and marched for and hungered to see”. So what exactly does this new healthcare bill mean? Here are the highlights:

Cost: $940bn over 10 years; would reduce deficit by $143b

Coverage: Expanded to 32m currently uninsured Americans

Medicare: Prescription drug coverage gap closed; affected over-65 receive rebate and discount on brand name drugs

Medicaid: Expanded to include families under 65 with gross income of up to 133% of federal poverty level and childless adults

Insurance reforms: Insurers can no longer deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions

Insurance exchanges: Uninsured and self-employed able to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges

Subsidies: Low-income individuals and families wanting to purchase own health insurance eligible for subsidies

Individual Mandate: Those not covered by Medicaid or Medicare must be insured or face fine

High-cost insurance: Employers offering workers pricier plans subject to tax on excess premium

Although the bill will be costly in the long run for some of us, knowing that those who desperately need healthcare who otherwise would not have been able to afford it is much more important and worth the sacrifice.

His collaboration with Kelis, “Acapella” will be featured on her upcoming album Flesh Tone. It will be the first album for the “Milkshake” divorcee since 2006’s Kelis Was Here. In addition to Kelis, Guetta has projects in the works with Shakira, Ashanti and most recently Estelle’s “Freak”. The song which samples Soul II Soul’s “Keep On Movin’” is featured on her upcoming album All Of Me and the video has premiered on both her website and BET’s 106 & Park.

Haven’t heard a David Guetta track I disliked, so the fusion between House music and R&B/Pop (which is already wildly popular in the UK) will be a nice addition to American radio.

Read my detailed interview with him here:

The long-standing debate over secular versus sacred music and what’s considered acceptable in the church still continues.  Morton is no stranger to this topic because he once faced rejection from the church community over his decision to make the music he enjoyed. The child of gospel music royalty, the Grammy-winning producer, singer-songwriter talks about not limiting his music to one genre, his new album and why he wants his legacy to be about freedom.

For people who aren’t familiar with P.J. Morton, can you give a brief background on your songwriting and production credits?

Well I started in Gospel music when I was 15 and I started to write more and more Gospel music. When I went to College is when I got my mainstream break working with India.Arie on her second record Voyage To India in which I won a Grammy for the album. Then I transitioned and started to work with Jermaine Dupri with Monica, Jagged Edge, LL Cool J. after I worked with J.D. I worked with Musiq Soulchild, Ruben Studdard, Mary Mary. So I had my hands in a few different things over the years.

Which song brought you your first Grammy?

The Voyage To India album and I wrote and produced a song on there called “Interested”.

You also come from a Gospel Music family. Would you say you were thrust into this genre or did you genuinely have a desire to follow in your father’s footsteps and start there?

I always felt lead to talk about love and things outside of just Gospel music. I always felt like Gospel music was somewhat limited, although I did write that music as well, I felt like it was what was around me initially.

And then you eventually transitioned into Jazz and Soul?

Yea more once I left home really.

Who are some artists you listened to growing up that influenced your appreciation for music and songwriting?

Stevie Wonder was a huge influence for me. My mother put me on to the Beatles as a kid, they were a huge influence for me as a songwriter. James Taylor was also a huge influence. Bernie Hathaway.

It’s cool that your mom introduced you to other types of artists outside of Gospel.

What’s cool about my family is that there was always a balance there. For my mother is was always about understanding who she was. The Beatles were popular when she was in college. She would tell me all the stories about when they first came to America and what not. It was never a strict household. 

Tell me a little about your Freestyle Nation.

Freestyle Nation is my first group that I started while I was at Moorehouse [College] and I kind of wanted it to be like Mint Condition but wanted it to focus more on songs that were playing at that point. In the beginning it started as an underground phenomenon, because we would travel all around. We would go to cities and we would never sell CDs but people would know the songs. People were burning them a lot because they couldn’t get the music but we wanted them to have it somehow.

So you currently have 2 solo projects, 1 live album and the album with Freestyle Nation under your belt. How would you describe your music?

Yea 4 albums and I have a 5^th coming out in April. I call it Soulful-Pop music. I wanted to be Soulful and touch people in their heart. And I wanted it to be Pop in the sense that I didn’t want to be limited to one group of people or age group. I wanted to be popular amongst all people and I wanted to be able to relate to all different kinds of people. It’s definitely an ode to the past with a lot of live instrumentation.

Why do you think your debut album Emotions was such a great success? 

You know what with that record I didn’t have any preconceived notions. I just was making music that I wanted to make. I wasn’t thinking about the radio and the party element I was just making the music that I felt and the album unselfishly. I didn’t really make it for the people and ultimately I think that translated and it was just a pure genuine thing. And I’m sure that’s why Emotions connected with so many people.

Did you work on that album between other projects that you were doing for other artists or did you have the time to dedicate 100% to it?

I remember I was on tour with Erykah Badu for about 1 ½ – 2 years and as soon as I got off I had spent a lot of money [laughs]. I wanted to just focus on that record. I may have written the song for India during that time I can’t remember, but it was mostly focused on my record.

 You also recently authored your first book. Who was your target audience?

 It’s called Why Can’t I Sing About Love  and I guess the target audience would be anybody whose ever asked that question or have been questioned about the age old argument about secular versus sacred music. It’s an argument that people have had for years and years from the Al Greens and Aretha Franklins or anybody that has ever had that conversation or have been asked that question because I finally deals with the issue head-on.

 You had it pretty easy though because your family was pretty open and didn’t confine you to strictly Gospel music. Did you get any backlash from those outside your family for the type of music you’ve been creating?

 The flack came from my dad’s congregation and from basically over a whole conference of churches. So I got a lot of flack from people outside of the household. As supportive as my parents were, I don’t think they expected me to be an artist doing more than just Gospel. So it was a shock to them initially, but I always had their support. It was just the people outside of home that were telling me what I should and shouldn’t be doing.

 Let’s talk about the new album. What’s the title and has it been completed?

The record is complete and ready to go. Its called Walk Alone  and I’m still talking about love and life and still trying to inspire people in their lives. It’s a very musical record. I still have the live strings and the horns. I want it to be clear that I’m a musician. I have a feature with Tweet on there. It’s a Reggae song I did which will probably be the next single and I’m excited about that. We’re shooting the video next week or next month for that song. Tweet is still sounding incredible. She’s been low key lately but still killing it. She’s working on a record as well. I also have a bonus track on there with my father. The song is “Let Go Let God” that I won Song Of The Year for a couple years ago which is on there as well. The album, I’m ready to put it out there.

It sounds like the album is similar to your previous albums with the live instruments and such. Have you grown musically with this new album?

Yea it’s always stretching the creative boundaries. I’d say something that’s different from my previous records is that I do have some more beats combined with live stuff; kinda like Stevie Wonder meets Kanye. Some songs I don’t have live drums, but I’ll have programmed drums on top of the live instruments on some of the songs which is something I’ve done previously. I’m always trying new things and I’ve never done a Reggae song before so that’s a different element.

Tell me about Song Of Solomon and why it was created.  

I created my label S.O.S.  for people like me who when people would tell me when I’d go to labels like a Gospel or Christian label and they would tell me “this isn’t a Gospel record” and then I’d go to the mainstream labels and they’re like “this isn’t Trey Songz or R&B enough”. So there was a lane which I didn’t have an outlet for which is why I turned in work and independently did so much for so long. So I joined forces with Koch which is E-1 now to create my label to support God and who have integrity and would have a sense of morals for their music and how they talk about things. It’s just for those artists to have an outlet.

You’ve been compared to so many notable and respected artists in recent interviews who’ve all made a great impact in music. What do you hope your impact will be?

Freedom is huge for me. Even in what I talk about and how I claim to be a Christian and how I talk about love. I want my legacy to be that. I want people to understand that you can be free to talk about real things. Just because you believe in God doesn’t mean you have to say his name in every single song that you have. You can talk about real things and about the real life that you live. Of course I want to be looked at like I look at my mentors; the Stevies and the Donnies and what not. Music is always first for and always has been. I want to sell as many records as I can but not at the expense of me compromising my music. I don’t want people to ever think I had to comprise the music.

The single can be downloaded here. I’m curious to see if Thank Me Later will out-sell Wayne’s Tha Carter III.

Like Sade other artists from the past are making a return to the music scene with new albums. Former Hole lead singer Courtney Love is joining the comeback trail with her new album titled Nobody’s Daughter tentatively scheduled for an April release. The album will be released alongside her band Hole on Mercury Records. New single “Skinny Little Bitch” drops today and will be available digitally on March 18^th although several sites including Love’s www.nobodysdaughter.com has the single for free download.

Next up is the once widely popular r&b quartet Dru Hill.  Jazz, Nokio, Sisqo and new member Tao have been doing promotional tours including an upcoming performance at the legendary Apollo Theatre on March 31st to promote Indrupendence, their new album set to come out in the coming months. Sisqo has been in and out of the blogosphere with his own controversies, but the guys are putting the negativity aside to return with hit-worthy music. New single and video for “Love MD” is out and you couldn’t even tell they have a new member in the group. There haven’t been much groups doing a lot in music recently, so the guys may have a shot of recapturing their old fan’s attention and grabbing some new one’s along the way.

E-V-E released “Tambourine” 2 years ago, but the album has been shelved. Everyone including myself was left hanging without any explanations or future release date. Eve recently told a local NY newspaper “unfortunately I’m caught up in a whole music label situation”. Matters have seemingly been resolved because she now has a new album and new label to call home. Flirt is scheduled for a summer release on Geffen Records and hopefully things will go as planned this time around. Because so much time has passed since her shelved album Here I Am some of the tracks have been re-recorded and will be featured on the Flirt. The change in name has been described as a change in Eve’s current state of mind. Earlier this year a Salaam Reemi produced track “Me N My (Up In The Club)” has been released, as for now Eve is currently featured on the remix to Ludacris’ “My Chick Bad”.

She’s currently scheduled to be featured on VH1’s You Oughta Know series starting on April 5^th. In addition to the release of her own music she’s also penned hits for other artists including Miley Cyrus (“Start All Over”), Jordin Sparks (“Don’t Let It Go To Your Head”) and Selena Gomez (“As A Blonde”); amongst other titles.

I’ve been a fan of Fefe’s (for more reasons than one) since her debut album Fefe Dobson. She’s a very edgy artist who hasn’t fallen prey to the typical blueprint others usually follow to increase and maintain large album sales. She does it for the sheer enjoyment of music. These artists typically don’t get as much airtime as their auto tune, bodysuit-wearing counterparts, but their loyal fans like myself still appreciate them for appreciating the art. Stay tuned for more updates on Ms. Dobson!