Raphael Saadiq

Do yourself a favor. Go out and get these 2 albums. Or stay in, I don't care. "The Way I See It" or "Stone Rollin'" by Raphael Saadiq. Real music is making a comeback.

My brother sends me new music on a regular basis. I try to do the same. Two Christmas's ago, he got me XM radio as a present. If you have it you know what I mean when I say that it's the gift that keeps on giving. These last few weeks I've been listening a lot to the 70's channel. "70's on 7". It it's been nice listening to some old music that for whatever reason, hasn't really been on my playlists. So this weekend, my brother sends me 2 tracks from a group he heard at Coachella. He was also is very adamant that I proceed to download and listen to it right away. So I do. At first I didn't really get a good listen, as the little one was crying upstairs. But I listened to it again, and wow! It blew my head off. It's a recreation of the sounds of the 60's and 70's, Soul and R&B. This album is truly something right out of Mo-Town, and it's hard to believe that it's from this time. It reminds me of Marvin Gaye, or Stevie Wonder. It's quite a change from his previous work in Tony Tony Tone, and Lucy Pearl. Typical R&B that came out of the 90's. But now after some years producing and working on songs with other artists, he answers to his calling. This dude is definitely in the wrong era, but we should all be glad that he's not.

The first album (The Way I See It) was made in 2008, and then now there's (Stone Rollin') that came out this year. What makes these albums so incredible is how genuine it is. Here's a bunch of musicians that really jam together, in the studio, making good sounds and not worrying about the production. Just making cool tunes for people of all ages to groove too. Even the fact that they use the instruments from that era, it gives it that full soul. It's just so fresh! I haven't heard something like this in a long time. I have high hopes for the future of music, if people like Raphael and his band are putting these sweet sounds out there.

This is the video for the song 100 Yard Dash from "The Way I See It"