J Music

“Special Delivery” – Bridget Kelly

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As I was in the midst of my daily hour and a half commute home from work, I was pulled away from my daydream as “Special Delivery” began to play on Power 105. It is not often you hear a female R&B record on the radio these days, ESPECIALLY if it doesn’t feature a rapper. (You should hear the passion I sing “Titanium” with simply because I am starved for a power ballad on the radio.)

Anyway, thought I would share!

Bridget debuted the song at the Essence Music Festival this summer.

Bridget recently stopped by Sway in the Morning to chat about Luke James, love, and the “Special Delivery” single. She seems like a down-to-earth, cool girl!

For the full interview click here.

Check out Bridget’s website here.

Watch her AMAZING cover of “Thinking About Forever” (originally Bridget’s single written by Frank Ocean) here.

J Music: Fela: Rhythms of Desire – The Inspiration

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This weekend I traveled down to Philly for The Inspiration Fall 2012 Show in collaboration with African Rythms, Fela: Rhythms of Desire.

The Inspiration is a co-ed a cappella singing group founded in 1989 for students of the University of Pennsylvania. It serves as a musical outlet for individuals with a desire to celebrate thelegacy of the music of theAfrican Diaspora. 

I believe the Inspiration is among the top groups on campus, but I may be bias as I am a proud Inspiration alum!  Don’t just take my word for it, check out a few performances below and judge for yourself. ‘89 #iSing

“Hold On” by Moses Hogan

“Take Care” by Drake Ft. Rihanna [Influenced by Gil Scott-Heron]

Forgive the commentary I was on double duty (proud alum & videographer)!

The set list also included “Stay” by Elle Varner, “No Letting Go” by Wayne Wonder, “Party” by Beyonce, and “Kiss” by Prince. More videos coming soon!

Find more about the group, music, and booking information here.

J Music: “We Get By”- Jojo

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Not my favorite track from Jojo, but it is great to hear something new from her.  This is the single she released this week that will be featured on her upcoming mixtape entitled, Agápe (Greek word meaning “Spiritual Love”).

Fresh off announcing her new mixtape Agápē, JoJo debuts the first single “We Get By.” The 21-year-old singer vibes out on the funky jam, which she recorded with a group of her friends known as The Backpackkids (Austin Brown, Scott Bruzenak, and Tommy Parker), who all got together to create what they call “genre-less music.”

“We get by, we get high ’cause tomorrow’s goodbye,” sings JoJo, who remainsoptimistic in spite of the obstacles she faces. “I know it will be OK. I believe in myself.”

Agápē, described as a “labor of love from the heart without limits or boundaries,” is set for release on December 20. (Rap-Up)

J Music: Unplugged with Dondria

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From her days of just being a YouTube star, I have always believed in Dondria’s talent.   I was really excited to see where her gift would take her as she was one of the guinea pigs for the “YouTube to Signed Artist” formula.

Dondria released her debut album, Dondria vs. Phatfffat, in the summer of 2010.  Although the lead single was able to get national attention, the album did not have the fanfare SoSo Def had hoped and went on to debut at #43 on the Billboard charts.

Despite her luke warm reception, Dondria is still recording and has plans to release a sophomore album. On November 10 she decided to do an “Uplugged” session accompanied by famed producer Bryan-Michael Cox to create some buzz surrounding her first single, “Little Things.”

You can listen to her new single, “Little Things” at the 25:00 mark. [Note: Clearly a bit unpolished, but appreciate the idea of what it will be!]  She also performed “Love” by Keyshia Cole and her hit,  “You’re the One” (21:07).

Watch the video for “You’re the One” below.

For more information about Dondria click here.

Follow Dondria on Twitter here.

J Music: “I Miss You” (Beyoncé Cover) – Janay

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I started recording this cover on a trial version of a program thinking I had plenty of time to finish the cover.  Needless to say, I ended up not having enough time to re-record as I would have liked, but I still wanted to share my imperfection with the world!

One of my favorite songs off 4.

*As I have somewhat of an unspoken law to never cover a Beyoncé song, I am counting this as a Frank Ocean cover.