Now that I’m done with school and probably taking Spring semester off it’s time to get back to what’s important – the music of course. The Internet has been buzzing with Maxwell releasing the first official single for his upcoming summer release ‘Black’Summers’night. Pretty Wings is available on iTunes and
Amazon and the video [via Honey Soul] premiered on BET this week. Tavis Smiley had the great honor to interview Prince this week and if you missed it part 1 and part 2 are available online. The Foreign Exchange dropped the video for Take Off Your Blues last week with Darien Brockington. And congrats are in order for Jill Scott and her fiance Lil John Roberts who are celebrating the birth of their baby boy Jeff Hamilton Roberts.

On to this week’s mix we have Erykah Badu’s Vibrate On which is from the Girlfriends soundtrack. The ever missing D’Angelo is present along with Jaguar Wright, Peter Hadar, Eric Benet, Sarah White and more. If you have checked out PPP’s new release Abundance please do – you’ll be glad you did. Until next week… Enjoy!

1. No More – J*Davey
2. Jonz In My Bonz – D’Angelo
3. More Than Friends – Estelle
4. Free – Jaguar Wright
5. Vibrate On – Erykah Badu
6. Purple Pills (Sleeping Pills Remix) – Peter Hadar
7. Something to Behold – The Foreign Exchange ft Darien Brockington
8. Weekend Girl – Eric Benet
9. Now / At The Party – Maxwell
10. American Pimp – PPP
11. Hiding Blind (Altered Natives Remix) – Sarah White
12. Gary Song – Alice Smith
13. A Long Walk – Jill Scott

Got a request? Send them to sels [at] essencegrooves.com

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Well after an unexpected hiatus due to technical difficulties we’re back. A lot of new things are coming soon so keep an eye out. This week we’re starting out with Monica’s Still Standing, a song that has been on point for me lately. Be on the look out for a review of Jazmine Sullivan’s debut Fearless soon, along with reviews for Ayah and Jimmie Reign, who are a couple new artists to look out for. Both of these talented ladies have mixtapes available.  And if you haven’t checked out Anthony David yet you need to. Spittin’ Game is just one of my favorites on his cd Acey Duecy. This year has been good for R&B/Soul music and I’ll break down more highlights of my favorites as we get closer to the end of 2008.

1. Still Standing – Monica ft Ludacris – MySpace
2. Bust Your Windows – Jazmine Sullivan – Amazon | iTunes
3. Shoo Fly – Syleena Johnson – MySpace
4. Mary’s Joint – Mary J. Blige – Amazon | iTunes
5. Fallen – Ayah –  MySpace | Site
6. It Must Be Magic – Teena Marie – Amazon | iTunes
7. Spittin Game – Anthony David – Amazon | iTunes
8. Dream – Alice Smith – Amazon | iTunes
9. Be The One – Jimmie Reign – MySpace
10. I Need You – Alicia Keys – Amazon | iTunes
11. I Like It – Debarge – Amazon | iTunes
12. Burnin – Rahsaan Patterson – Amazon | iTunes
13. Do I Do – Stevie Wonder – Amazon | iTunes
14. Come Over Remix – Estelle ft Sean Paul – Amazon | iTunes

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Sometimes you just have to let go. It’s been hectic for me the past couple of weeks and as my life changes so do things around here. Switching to Tuesdays for new podcasts and hopefully it’ll stay that way *fingers crossed*.

Raphael Saadiq’s new album was just released today and it was worth the wait. If the thought of another Ne-Yo cd coming out makes you cringe then pick up Raphael Saadiq’s The Way I See It instead. Hidden Beach artist Tony Rich is back with new music as well as Solange. All I can say is at least she isn’t a Beyonce clone and I’m glad she came out with something different. There are a few songs on Sol-Angel and The Hadley St. Dreams (and why that title?) that are nice, Sandcastle Disco grew on me mainly because this is the version with Q-Tip on it. Robin Thicke graced us with his Magic and Something Else is scheduled to be released on 9/30.

I love Teena Marie, I grew up listening to her and Where’s California has to be my favorite song. I remember looking for this song for years on something other than vinyl and finally found it a few years ago. Bah Samba remade Portuguese Love and while that isn’t a song I would think should be remade but with the UK’s Alice Russell on vocals they did it justice and then some.

The Playlist:

1. Back In Love – Estelle
2. My Pride – Algebra Blessett
3. Never Give You Up – Raphael Saadiq ft Stevie Wonder & CJ
4. Sweet On You – Hil St. Soul
5. Truth – Dwele
6. Part The Waves – The Tony Rich Project
7. Let Go – Lalah Hathaway
8. Sandcastle Disco – Solange ft Q-Tip
9. You Know I’m No Good – Amy Winehouse
10. Magic – Robin Thicke
11. Lucky Day – Faith Evans
12. Portuguese Love – Bah Samba ft Alice Russell
13. BraveBird – Amel Larrieux
14. I Miss You – Darien Brockington
15. Where’s California – Teena Marie

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The Playlist:

1. Syleena Johnson – Baby I’m Scared of You
2. Al Green ft Corinne Bailey Rae – Take Your Time
3. Corinne Bailey Rae – Enchantment
4. Raheem DeVaughn – Butterflies
5. Lizz Wright – My Heart
6. Rose Royce – Wishing On A Star
7. Jill Scott – I Keep
8. Maxwell – Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder)
9. Teena Marie – If I Were A Bell
10. Teedra Moses – For A Lifetime
11. Erykah Badu – Didn’t Cha Know
12. Rahsaan Patterson – Loving You
13. Peter Hadar – Painted
14. Estelle – No Substitute Love
15. Alice Smith – Desert Song
16. Lina – Walk Away
17. Eric Roberson – We Can’t Pretend
18. D’Angelo – Me And Those Dreaming Eyes
19. Platinum Pied Pipers ft Zeno – Fever

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The Playlist:

1. Free – Deniece Williams
2. Me – Erykah Badu
3. Deep In Love – Peter Hadar
4. I’m Cheatin’ – Dwele
5. Been In Love – Eric Roberson featuring Phonte
6. Whatever I Gotta Do – Rogiers
7. Take My Time – 4hero featuring Jack Davey
8. Wreckless Love – Alicia Keys
9. Pretty Please (Love Me) – Estelle featuring Cee-Lo
10. Ain’t It Good – Emmanuel
11. Yearning For Your Love – The Gap Band
12. What Were We Thinking – Joss Stone
13. Mo Better – Raheem DeVaughn
14. Stop Breaking My Heart – Rahsaan Patterson
15. I Tried – Ledisi
16. Take Your Time – The S.O.S. Band
17. Rock With U – Janet Jackson
18. Can I Keep U? – Algebra Blessett
19. It Is True – Syleena Johnson
20. I Can’t Help It – Michael Jackson

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