TAG: john legend

Mar01

John Legend & The Roots Perform Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark” (Video)

There’s plenty of love for Bruce Springsteen at URB HQ (except for the time I tried to play the entire three-CD Live 1975-85 boxset in the office. That got ugly). The problem is, The Boss doesn’t exactly fit into the whole emerging underground independent techno/hip-hop/indie thing we like to slang around here. So call it a nice crossover that The Roots, fronted by John Legend, performed Springsteen’s mega-hit “Dancing In The Dark” on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. There’s really nothing these guys could cover that wouldn’t sound great.

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Oct12

The Roots Plan “Concept Album” For Holiday Release

When hip-hop mainstays The Roots became the house band for Jimmy Fallon‘s late night TV show in 2009, it was a safe bet that the bands recorded output would slow down. But that assumption was proven false when the group released 2010′s How I Got Over, and quickly followed it up with Wake Up!, a collection of classic soul covers recorded with John Legend that same year.

Now, ?uestlove and Co. are preparing to release their 13th proper studio album, Undun, on Dec. 6 on Def Jam. Details are slim so far. The only thing known is that Undun will be a “concept album” and is widely rumored to include a guest spot by post-dubstepper James Blake. …MORE

Apr05

Magnetic Man Interview

If dubstep has an all-star group, Magnetic Man is it. Its two most visible faces are superstar producers Skream and Benga, and its anchor is, arguably, one of the genre’s creators, Artwork. His 2002 track “Red” helped lead garage into the kinds of womp-womp basslines that would define dubstep. And, most importantly to Magnetic Man, it was at his own Croydon, England record store and studio, Big Apple Records, that he first met then-teenage Skream and Benga.

The three have enjoyed nearly a decade (and more, for Artwork) of solo success, but over the past couple years, they’ve quickly amassed legions of fans together. Magnetic Man shows are completely live, and psychedelic while still crowd-pleasing, full of singalong vocals over stuttering synth lines.

On the strength of their festival and club following, it was a major label who approached them to produce a proper debut album, due out for digital release in the states on April 12 and physically in stores on May 10. Full of guest cameos by the likes of stars like Katy B. and John Legend, it’s poised to take dubstep even further into the mainstream. URB chatted reached Artwork by phone at his Croydon studio for the rundown. …MORE

Jan04

Kanye West ft. John Legend – “Eyes Closed” (Stream) (MP3)

If there’s a special place in hell for folks who drown leaked MP3s in tags, then Mixtape Invasion just went to the front of the line for the incesent tagging laid on top of this leaked Kanye West track, presumably a cut from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy that didn’t quiet make the cut for the album or the G.O.O.D. Friday online releases. The cut, which features John Legend, sounds rather unfinished, but given the slew of Yeezy material we’ve received over the past six months, you had to figure we’d be scraping the barrel by this point.

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Nov23

Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Review)

Kanye West

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Released by Roc-a-Fella / Def Jam


My relationship with this man and his music has been one of love and hate. It seems that within the past couple years, my sentiments have slid further and further in the direction of the latter. It's ironic that Kanye's very (rare) artistic trait of unabashed self-expression is the very same trait that caused me to begin to lose interest in his work, not to mention respect for him as a person.
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