mixtape maestro (2.0)

Even if Jazmine Sullivan‘s 2008 debut, the Gold-selling and Grammy-nominated Fearless, wasn’t littered with strong, neo-classic entries like The Best Lauryn Hill Song Not Recorded By Lauryn Hill first single “Need U Bad” or the melodramatic Broadway-soul ballads “Bust Your Windows” and “Lions, Tigers & Bears”, the newcomer was destined to be a standout anyway, her throaty and rasp-tinged alto offering a pleasant throwback to the similarly distinctive-toned R&B divas of yester-decade (Toni Braxton, Anita Baker, the aforementioned Hill) and an appreciated change of pace from the high-pitched, caterwauling sirens that surround her these days.

On new single “Holding You Down (Goin’ In Circles)”, the first taste of her upcoming sophomore collection Love Me Back, Sullivan further proves why she’s needed now, reminding one of the pleasures of ’90′s R&B as she strains her deep, husky pipes in the frustration of unrequited passion (“Its a shame that you don’t care enough to even give me half the love I give to you/ I live for you baby”) to an ever-evolving smorgasbord of that era’s best-of urban contemporary sounds (the latest nostalgia-fueled production from Missy Elliott).

Can (relatively) slow-burning hip hop-soul joints like these please start making a comeback into radio playlists? There’s only so much fist-pumping one can do in a day.

Hear the Fat Joe-aided remix of the track, as well as the Stonebridge Club edit of her Daft Punk-sampling “Dream Big” (hey, fist-pumpers can still be good…on occasion), below.

Love Me Back drops September 28th.

DL: Jazmine Sullivan featuring Fat Joe “Holding You Down (Goin’ In Circles) (Remix)” (alt)

BONUS DL: Jazmine Sullivan “Dream Big (Stonebridge Club Remix)” (alt)

Jack Splash has quietly made a name for himself over the past few years in his roles as singer, rapper, songwriter and producer.

Besides drawing raving acclaim for his contributions to Plantlife, a wildly entertaining, three-albums-deep funk outfit based out of L.A., he’s also hooked up some of the brightest talents in modern-day R&B (Alicia Keys, R. Kelly, John Legend, Raheem DeVaughn, Solange, Estelle, Jennifer Hudson, Jazmine Sullivan) with these amazingly lush sounds and classic-tinged romantic scripts steeped in the always-rewarding luster of yesteryear soul (credits include throwback-seasoned singles like Keys’ “Teenage Love Affair”, Legend’s “P.D.A.” and Solange’s “T.O.N.Y.”).

This year has the potential to be Jack’s true breakout year though, thanks to the premiere of his much-delayed solo debut, Technology And Love Might Save It All. But just in case you’re still not yet completely sold on why it should be a necessity for you to circle the May release date of the project (or, hell, are still scratching your head trying to figure out who dude is), we’ve gathered three previously unleashed cuts for your listening pleasure below. Promises you’ll be an instant fan after hearing them:

“I Could Have Loved You” featuring Missy Elliott & Jazmine Sullivan

-leaked to high praise last summer, this infectious four-on-the-floor delight finds the ladies and Splash in the midst of a flirtatious stand-off. “I could have loved you,” they tease in a buttery smoove R&B hook, but because they’re both already attached, they can only offer a naughty twirl on the dancefloor. With their mates nowhere in sight though, Jack isn’t fully convinced they’re telling the truth, inquiring in his best Prince voice, “If you gotta man at home/ Why you got them high heels on?”.

DL: “I Could Have Loved You” (alt)

“Ringtone” featuring R. Kelly & T-Pain

-here, Splash is once again on the prowl (“Baby I just wanna get with you/ In a most familiar way/ I don’t wanna cause a spectacle/ I just had to stop and say…”) and being flanked by a supporting cast of A-listers (T-Pain drops a rap verse, an Auto-Tuned Kellz provides the chorus); but the track’s most noteworthy element is it’s oddly meshed groove, a surprisingly effective combination of synth-R&B quirk and acoustic guitar sunniness

DL: “Ringtone” (alt)

“.38 Special” featuring Cee-Lo

-Splash’s latest leakage, from the forthcoming mixtape King of The Beats (due this week), re-teams him with The Heart Attack partner Cee-Lo, for an exquisite dishing of needly guitar funk, golden age mic braggadocio (“I ain’t talkin’ bout a gun/ My .38 special, I spit from my tongue…”) and the kind of soul-stirring Gnarls Barkley-ish hooks Cee handles so well.

DL: “.38 Special” (alt)

Sample some of Splash’s other creations via the widget below; pick up his last mixtape, Heir To The Throne, here.

In it’s original context, Wale‘s Tribe Called Quest “Award Tour”-referencing “World Tour” manages to be a better-than-average banger, with producers Cool & Dre spinning a triumphant, modern blaxploitation beat that’s every bit as energetic as Wale’s excited rhymes about the ups and downs of being an on-the-come-up rap star. A perfect choice for a single, everything about it bristles with a “you WILL like me” infectious hunger similar to Kanye West’s early output, and having Jazmine Sullivan around doing the soul-diva hook-chick thing makes for a nice cherry on top (even if she is a bit under-utilized here).

But we would be lying if we didn’t admit to digging this slickly polished Urban Noize remix a little more. Their decision to once again thaw out The Whispers’ “And The Best Goes On” as a backing sample choice is a brilliant move, the song’s feel-good ’80′s R&B-funk a nice compliment to the globe-trotting lifestyle Wale is going on about (And don’t worry, you’re not alone if you’re moved to dorkily chant “Welcome To Miami” at least once when listening to it).

Pick up the MP3 below, as well as Urban Noize’s remix to the R. Kelly/ Keri Hilson duet, “Number One”.

Wale’s debut Attention: Deficit is now set for a November 3rd release.

DL: “World Tour (Urban Noize Remix)” (alt)

DL: “Number One (Urban Noize Remix)” (alt)

So what in the hell is really going on with Missy?

From ’96 to ’06, the rapper/ singer/ songwriter/ producer/ “hee-hee”-ist was the life of the (hip hop) party, consistently freaking our inner-spirits with her seemingly endless gifts of visually-stunning music videos, amazing lead singles, WTF rap lines (Who could forget “Beep beep/ Who got the keys to the jeep?/ Vrooooom…”?) and nonsensical mouth-noised catchphrases. But not since the manic electro-hop romp “Lose Control” has Elliott given us anything truly noteworthy.

Yeah, those two singles from the Step Up 2 soundtrack were okay, in a watered-down-”Work It” sorta way, but the sporadic guest raps and leaked future album material she’s been serving the past few years have felt increasingly uninspired, too focused on lame references to her booty jiggle and not attentive enough to the “next level” ish that’s so sick it would leave our mouths dry and our brains a pile a mush.

Our concerns are further heightened with her most recent leakage, “Rather”, a fairly ordinary R&B ballad (!!) in which she urges a boyfriend to stay at home with her and watch a DVD instead of going out doing all kinds of debaucherous things with his friends (?????).

It’s not necessarily a bad record, rocking a fine acoustic guitar groove and highlighting her still-buttery smoove singing voice, but it’s definitely better fitted for protogees Tweet (what ever happened to her?) or Jazmine Sullivan, not for the “Supa Dupa Fly” rap diva who has kept us waiting for a bonafide Y4K club-rocker for far too long.

While we’re just gonna go ahead and assume that this is a late-in-the-tracklisting album cut and not the first taste of a maturing Missy preparing some sort of Mary J Blige-like full-on R&B album, we still must vocalize our pleas: for the sake of female rap, Miss “Misdemeanor” PLEASE give us something new (and hip hop!!) that’ll rock our collective socks off.

DL: “Rather” (alt)

With Jazmine Sullivan’s “Lions, Tigers and Bears” finally being pushed as an official single (giving more and more a chance to witness it’s magnificence), odds are tons of remixes and remakes of it will be hitting our ears soon. Joining the expected onslaught early is this pseudo-cover from Rock City, a hip hop/ R&B/ reggae duo signed to Akon’s label, who take “Lions” in a rather interesting direction.

Avoiding the predictable “let’s just gender-swap the lyrics” move, RC do away with the song’s love theme altogether, instead choosing to focus their lyrical aim on the real-life nightmares of their Saint Thomas ghettos origin and how growing up amidst the constant threat of violence has shaped them into the hardened young men they are today (Revised chorus: “I’m not scared of lions and tigers and bears/ Cause I came from the jungle too/ I’m not scared of gunshots, although that seems rare/ It’s a sound that I’m used to…”).

Nowhere near as stellar as the original, but a nicely done re-do nonetheless.

DL: “Lions, Tigers and Bears (Jazmine Sullivan ‘Freestyle’ Cover)” (alt)

It’s nice to see newcomer Jazmine Sullivan‘s name in the running for the Best New Artist Grammy prize, even if her chances of winning seem slim at best (her contenders include more widely-known figures Duffy, Adele and the Jonas Brothers). Still, if she at least gets a chance to bless the stage sometime during the ceremony, she’ll be smart to perform her debut album highlight “Lions, Tigers & Bears”, a magnificent gem of a record that’s sure to prove to the so-far uninitiated why she’s the talk of the modern R&B town.

Now “Bears” is one of those great urban finds that would do better without any hip hop interference at all, but to think it would go untouched in this era of everybody jumping on the hottest cut around would be foolish. So while it’s not exactly surprising to have Fabolous committing an introductory sixteen on this remix, it is a bit shocking to see how decent of a “collaboration” it is.

His casual flow delicately bobbing along to “LT&B”‘s operatic tip-toe, Fabolous admits to fully understanding Jazmine’s philophobic caution (“Niggas be lyin’ tigers and bears”), but he alleviates her “ice grills and jealous stares” with the comforting promise that she needn’t ever worry about the love they share (“No need to question love/ I can just tell it’s there/ ‘Cause when it’s meant to be/ You’ll know eventually”).

Far better than anything Ja Rule and Ashanti ever came up with in their “rap thug-meets-R&B PYT” heyday.

DL: “Lions, Tigers & Bears (Remix)” (alt)

As a bonus, snatch up the dancehall remix of Sullivan’s current hit “Bust Your Windows” produced by Tony Kelly and featuring Ce’Cile below:

DL: “Bust Your Windows (Tony Kelly Dancehall Remix)” (alt)

Just when you thought all those “ella”‘s and “ey”‘s would finally be put to rest, R&B’s go-to hitmaker The-Dream is all set to bombard us with another couple season’s worth of those brilliantly dumb ad-libs as he puts the final touches on his December-set sophomore collection, Love vs. Money. In preparing us for that new release, Dream has embedded himself in two current female-led smash hits, offering them an alternate perspective in that charmingly quirky lil’ chipmunk stutter he calls a singing voice.

First up, “T-Shirt”, that very Rihanna-esque number that Rihanna had no part in (though singer Shontelle does share the “Umbrella” pop-bot’s Barbadian roots). Unfortunately avoiding the would-be entertaining scenario of Dream following Shontelle’s lead and wrapping his lonely self in a pair of his absent lover’s crusty panties instead of going out with the fellas, he goes the predictable (and far less gag-inducing) route, tying into her “pity party of one” lament by sharing long-distance blue-balled woes (“Girl I miss ya/ Can’t wait to kiss ya…/ I’m ‘gon work you out as soon as I get home”) while whimpering over the picture texts she sent of her adorning his tee.

For “Bust Your Windows”, Jazmine Sullivan’s dark and lovely strings-laced ode in which she tries to alleviate her anger over a cheating beau by smashing his precious car to bits (basically the BET version of “Before He Cheats”), Mr. “Radio Killa” does opt on injecting some of the humor he evaded on the “T-Shirt” redux. Here, he’s left sore not because she dipped out on him, but because of what she did to his ride, squeaking “Now it’s in the shop for the next two weeks/ By then you won’t even remember why you’re mad at me”. But the LOL-ness doesn’t end there; after calling her out for not being sure in her infidelity claims (he rewrites the script with her never physically catching him in the act, but instead falling for her jealous pals’ non-fictitious recanting), he proceeds in making her feel even more impish by pointing out that she foolishly shattered the passenger side window rather than the driver’s and now must bear the wintry elements everytime she hops inside: “Now you lookin’ silly in the car.” HA!!!

With that classic second entry, perhaps Dream shouldn’t even bother releasing a new album, and instead spend the rest of his career focused on making other folks’ jams 10X more hilarious.

DL: “T-Shirt (Remix)” (YFH)

DL: “Bust Your Windows (Remix)” (YFH)

Even if all Jazmine Sullivan did was drop a series of wordless ad-libs all over “Need You Bad”‘s tumbling reggae lilt, it would still rank as a top-notch R&B jam (It’s that damn good!!!). But we’re still grateful for this remix which throws T.I. in the loop and gets Missy an extended hype-(wo)man cameo to needlessly encourage the ladies to participate in the song’s catchy call-and-response bridge.

“Like my heartbeat/ She keepin’ me alive/ Savin’ me from my demise/ Separate from me a day and I’d-a died,” relates TI in a fitting slow-flow verse that also finds him flirting with a little patois inflection. It’s a nice bonus to a 2008 favorite that’s got plenty of folks justifiably pre-hyping Jazmine as the nu-soul diva to watch out for. Jennifer Hudson better hurry up with that album, cause homegirl is threatening to steal her thunder.

DL: “Need You Bad (Remix)” (YFH)

Peep her performing the song live for Seventeen Magazine below:

Jazmine Sullivan might have re-acquainted listeners with what “real” R&B/ soul music should sound like on her outstanding debut single, “Need U Bad”, yet a cautious embracing of her would be understandable. How many times have we been blown away by a R&B newcomer in recent years, only to end up disappointed because the album that followed didn’t live up to all that early “genre-rescuing” hype. Well get ready to become excited all over again because based on the sound of recent leaks making the blog rounds, Miss Sullivan is definitely looking to become the urban world’s new TRUTH!!

From it’s opening moments, the epic “Lions and Tigers” announces itself as a clear-cut classic. Atop some gorgeously plucked orchestration, Sullivan erupts like an emotion-filled volcano, relating her wariness of opening her heart to someone new.

When it comes to wildlife’s most vicious of creatures or having to perform in front of the Queen, Sullivan isn’t at all shook, but plant love in front of her and she instantly re-coils. “Am I the only who thinks it’s an impossible task?/ Why it don’t last?/ Is that too much to ask?/ Why do we love love, when love seems to hate us?” she powerfully belts away, the sour experiences of previous romances leaving her enormously terrified of ever going down that road again (“I can cross mountains/ Swim cross the seas/ But the most frightening thing is you and me”).

As the arrangement builds and builds to breathtakingly plush peaks, a break from her pessimism begins to peak through, the classic line of “It’s better to love than not to love at all” and the promise of new “sweet memories” pushing her into considering the welcoming of amour back into her life. But after that brief flirtation, she just as soon retracts to her original cowered position on the subject, the thought of leaving herself vulnerable to heartache once more seeming just too difficult a task to follow through on.

Like “Need U Bad” (but to the tenth power), Sullivan’s performance here is so raw, so internally exposing, that you’re moved to pause the song mid-way through just to give yourself a temporary break from all it’s emotional heft.

The next time you hear somebody say they don’t make R&B like they used to, put this on and show them that there’s still hope…and it’s name is Jazmine Sullivan.

DL: “Lions and Tigers” (YFH)

Slathered in passionate soul pleading from a heartsick female perspective and solid production that fluidly weaves from a sticky Jamaican groove into classic R&B flourishes, “I Need You Bad” would make anyone pause on first listen: Could Lauryn Hill finally be giving us what we’ve long anticipated? The reclusive Fugee-ette has nothing do with the cut, but up-and-coming Philly songbird Jazmine Sullivan should take the case of mistaken identity as a huge compliment to her more-than-worthwhile talents.

Sullivan (whose mini-resume boasts background vocals on Fantasia’s “Free Yourself” and co-songwriting credits on Christina Milian’s “Say I”) makes an extraordinary introductory splash on “I Need You Bad”, a reggae-tinged soul satisfier (surprisingly produced by Missy Elliott!!) in which she is broken with despair without her boo by her side. Admitting fault in breaking things off with him to foolishly search for “what was right before my eyes”, Jaz spends the entire record begging for a second chance, her near-hoarse warbles crackling with edge-of-sanity desperation.

Any lesser singer would make a hook that shamelessly declares “Boy I need you bad as a heartbeat/ Bad like the food I eat” sound whiny or make a call-and-response bridge in which she requests ad-lib assistance from fellow women fighting for their own respective reconciliations appear hopelessly corny; thankfully, Sullivan is a mighty impressive vocalist, armed with thick, grit-fringed chops that help instill a necessary air of realism into the record. Her performance is so convincing, that it’s kind of embarrassing to be a witness to the intimate, “lowest of low” episode she’s swamped in; at the same time, though, her tear-stained implorations are so magnetically raw, you can’t easily tear your ears away.

DL: “I Need You Bad” (YFH)