The Troublemaker: Charles Hamilton
The oversharing jack-of-all-trades is giving it away -- for now.
By Phoebe Reilly 01.18.09 4:54 PM
Usually when someone says, "Music should be as free as water," it's safe to assume they don't make music for a living (or pay for water). Charles Hamilton is one exception. Since he signed to Interscope nearly a year ago, the Harlem-bred, stylistically scattershot producer/MC/singer/blogger has put more than 70 tracks online gratis. Label honcho
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The Outsiders: Cut Off Your Hands
BIG IN '09: Scrappy Kiwi post-punk charmers aspire to more success, fewer broken bones. Watch two of their music videos!
By David Marchese 01.18.09 1:27 PM
[INSERT SHEEP-HUMPING JOKE HERE]: No band is an island. But according to Nick Johnston, singer for Auckland, New Zealand's Cut Off Your Hands, it helps to be from one. "Because the country is so isolated," explains the 24-year-old frontman, "our music ends up being very pure.
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The Ringleaders: The King Khan & BBQ Show
BIG IN '09: VIDEO! Watch the frenetic, flamboyant garage rockers give weird new meaning to the idea of crowd participation.
By Abigail Everdell 01.17.09 4:15 PM
Arish "King" Khan, 32, describes his current stagewear as "a mix between Cleopatra and Rick James." Just picture a long-limbed, beer-bellied, pencil-mustached Indian Canadian in sequin-belted hot pants, layers of chains, a pouffed black pageboy wig with a gold headband, foam genie shoes, and a gold lamé veil, duck-walking his guitar across the stage.
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Plies, 'Da REAList' (Big Gates/Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic)
Weezy: "What's a goon to a goblin?" Plies: "Ya moms!"
By Chris Ryan 01.16.09 6:02 PM
Known for his sparse, thug-and-R&B beats and filthy rasp, this Fort Myers, Florida native has established his own niche as a gangsta pinup with a fleeting street conscience. On the follow-up to his gold album Definition of Real, the beats are largely as punishingly blunt as the rhymes.
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Anthony Hamilton, 'The Point of It All' (So So Def/Zomba)
Churchy neo-soul crooner reaches back to press forward.
By David Peisner 01.16.09 5:41 PM
With his earthy pipes and native feel for classic soul, Anthony Hamilton rarely indulges in the studio wizardry or big-money cameos that spiff up, say, T-Pain records. The only track on his third album with a de rigueur rap feature is "Cool," but David Banner's drawling verse is tucked in among a jaunty acoustic guitar refrain and spry handclaps.
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Keyshia Cole, 'A Different Me' (Imani/Geffen)
Forget the gloss: BET reality star keeps ghetto integrity.
By Barry Walters 01.16.09 5:26 PM
Despite her third full-length's title, Keyshia Cole doesn't mess with the formula established on her previous platinum albums, and that's a blessing. Matching street beats to stringed-up balladry, she narrows the gap between classic and contemporary soul with lived-in love songs that sidestep filler.
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