This morning I got word that Alori Joh passed away and like most people who knew of her work or knew her personally, I’m speechless. The lovely songstress was known most for her connection to T.D.E., the collective that houses talent such as Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, SchoolBoy Q and Ab-Soul.

I met her at the 2DopeBoyz BBQ in L.A. and upon introduction I expressed how beautiful her music was. We interacted on Twitter about upcoming music. While discovering her music for the first time, I’d reached out to her and bigged her up on the “Brazil” record with D Tonez.

If you ask me, she was well on her way. I don’t get how such a beautiful soul could leave so mysteriously. If the cause of death below is true, my mind will be a scattered puzzle for a while.

More on the story HERE

So just to do a lil recap of the recently featured artists and their choice of topics to dwell on: Your girl’s favorite hue, Blu, talks about Jesus, MMG’s Stalley focuses on God & the Brew’s D. Bridge bridges the gap between Harlem & Heaven with his own rendition of A$AP Rocky’s “Demons.”

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One of my lil homies killed himself this weekend and it had me kinda f*d up. He was always walking round talking bout God and his goodness and then just like that he loses his mind and commits suicide. I want to believe that even though he took matters in his own hands, he is favored and spared by God. Only God can be that judge though.

I’ve got a tattoo on my right arm that is reminiscent of the infamous “The Godfather” font and logo. It’s remixed to read.” God The Father.” When I saw this song title, “God’s Child” and began to listen to it, it reminded me of the relationship that I have with the same guy Stalley’s talking about. If you didn’t know, there’s a big man upstairs who’s been looking out since day 1, despite our lack of faithfulness. If haven’t already, I encourage you get to know em. Even Blu knows who God’s son is!

It’s safe to say on this Sunday morning that we could all use a lil bit of Jesus, whether it be a scripture or even some sort of divine intervention. At least I could but would that be enough?

Blu, the LA-based rapper, taps into his spiritual realm and crowns Jesus as the focus of his latest project entitled, “Jesus” and the featured visual is reminiscent of a scene out the ’70s. It’s not as “Jesus Walks” as I expected, but I can appreciate Jesus in hip-hop.

If you’re curious, Blu’s Jesus EP can be purchased off of iTunes

Love is Love, Up is Up, Hell is Hell, Up and Up, Reppin What?

Don Trip has proven to be one of the South’s best kept secrets. While he continues to deliver with the energy of a freshmen emcee, the maturity of the subject matter in his music puts him in a separate lane.

He begins the track making reference to his fight for parental rights, and proceeds with making a toast to never give up or never let go!

Shouts out to @SpittyWill of DirtyGloveBastard.net for the assist.

Rockie Fresh is one of the newer artists hailing from Chicago. With less than three years in the game, he has already established a presence in hip-hop that seems to only be getting stronger. If you’re an early adopter, you’ve checked Fresh out at SXSW and AC3 and can vouch that homie has been putting in work.

The Midwest emcee teams up with his partner from DC, Phil Ade, whom has contributed on joint records in the past. This specific collaboration is off of Rockie’s most recent project, “Driving 88.” On “Where I Wanna Be,” the two go back and forth about being at peace with their decision to follow their aspirations. This ain’t no Donnell Jones record!

Although, D’Angelo has been seen on the scene recently, Frank Ocean provides us with his own definition of voodoo.
Oh, so you thought they stopped making baby-making music when you made yours? Not quite and in fact, we need more of this type of love-making music. Overall, we need love and thanks to Frank, there is a soundtrack!

Mr. Peter Parker and DJ Whoo Kid have joined forces to produce for some and introduce to others, “FRATRAP.” Mac Miller is a perfect addition to the ensemble. While Jay-Z was so adamant about bringing death to auto-tune, Mac is more focused on the emcee. Don’t spoil your dinner, but get a taste of what’s more to come!

This Tuesday, President Obama proceeded to address the nation through his State of the Union speech for the fourth time since he’s been elected. As always, everyone from around the world checked in to see what issues he and his administration will be prioritizing in the near future. However, this year’s speech is a little more important than the last, given the fact that this could be Obama’s last opportunity, as president, to make an impact that would satisfy constituents.

The Washington Post created the featured infographic identifying the amount of time the president spent talking about a specific issue in comparison to the last few speeches.

Did President Obama leave out an issue that was important to you?

Shouts out to @ArcaneofTCS for sending over the very inspiring bootleg artwork to he and his partner, Young Focus’s new collaborative project, “Paranormal Karaoke” which is set to be released on the 1st of February. The duo has come along away from their Sex and Pencil Shavings days. While their music has definitely matured, it’s safe to say they haven’t…which is what makes the Cranberry Show the indigestible group that they are! See below for their newest single release, “Traffic Lights.”

Avery Smith and Draelon Burns – tastemakers in Milwaukee, have come together to produce the #DravoCypher series, an a capella mash-up hosted by Martin 2 Cool. Shouts out to @Champ5Mic of KUSH Ent. It’s actually interesting how much buzz this production is creating online, specifically Twitter.

Most known for their high-energy, pause-filled sets of punchline delivery, the Milwaukee talent featured on the past and current installment are some of the best in the city. There are even a few new faces that broke exclusively in these series! Who do you think repped the city the best? You be the judge!

[1st Installment]

Etta James, the powerful voice behind the timeless classic, “At Last” has lost her battle with leukemia this morning. In 2010, it was first announced that the singer had been diagnosed with dementia and leukemia.

She was portrayed by Beyonce Knowles in the film, Cadillac Records, which was based on the rise and fall of her record label, Chess. However, I remember her for lashing out at Beyonce because she [Beyonce] was asked to sing, “At Last” for President Obama at his Inaugural Ball, a tantrum of which was attributed to her Alzheimer’s disease that she acquired in 2008. Ms. James was discovered by Johnny Otis, who died three days ago at age 90. Time is winding up!

A million?! That’s a lot of ballpoint pens, huh?!

JSonline has the full story HERE!

Janelle Monae speaks on her recent performance for the 44th president at a fundraiser that took place a month back at the University of Illinois, Chicago. As a young voter, she was very clear about continuing to support him in November. In the featured excerpt, Janelle highlights some of Obama’s statistics during his 4-year tenure as Commander in Chief:

“I was deeply honored to be invited by the President to perform at the rally in Chicago at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was an amazing feeling to be amongst so many people, young and old, black, white, red, disabled, all united, eager to help support a man who has ended the war in Iraq, gotten rid of ‘don’t ask don’t tell’- allowing anyone to serve this country regardless of who you love, made sure women were not paid less than men merely because they are women, doubled Pell grants, given 2.5 million young people health insurance, and has created a law that recognizes that crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race or disability aren’t just any crime- they’re hate crimes that deserve justice. These are all things he said he’d do before he was elected and did them. There are more important accomplishments that can be added to this list. I strongly believe our nation should continue upon this path, bringing justice to all and change where needed. President Obama remains the candidate of hope and change, and he will continue to move our country forward, bringing even more change if re-elected.” – Janelle Monàe

Janelle Monae sure is, but are you sold on Barack Obama’s candidacy representing hope & change?

An old classmate recently leaked a home video from 1990 of The Throne’s Kanye West reciting an MLK-dedicated verse from a poem entitled, “His Name Means Love.”

Read more: HERE

The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was a teacher and a leader, something we are still lacking in our communities. Every year this day passes, we are reminded of what we should require from our figureheads in positions of leadership.

In honor of MLK day, Saigon goes in on specific preachers in organizations/churches whose primary focus is profiting as opposed to prophet-ing.

However, I do understand the need for church members to pay for their membership [tithing]. Whether you believe it or not, church is a business that should flourish like everything else, but we adopt the “It’s God’s house, let him pay the bill” mentality. Some of these dudes are preaching what they aren’t living so don’t get got in the giving!

While on set for Snoop’s GGN, I bumped into one of the funniest female comics in the country, Luenell. You may know her name from various urban films such as “Think Like A Man,” “35 & Ticking” or even Katt Williams’ “American Hustle” DVD. If you’ve ever seen her perform, you’re not going to be caught off guard when you check out the featured video. As we continue to get the perspectives of stakeholders and tastemakers in the entertainment community, don’t hesitate to let us know who you will be going for this November.

Here’s another dope artist to add 2 the collection. Pun intended! The Chicago native, @ADD2theMC just recently released a new visual and it’s deeper than rap. We’ve come along way from the cotton fields or have we? You’d think we were still in them if you knew the alarming statistics that describes the African-American presence in prison. #Add2That

If you’re familiar with comedian Reginald Ballard and his intrusive character from Martin, you already know he’s gonna find his way into your space this year. He’s in the featured video discussing his desire to vote this upcoming election and he’s not going to let transportation be a setback!

Remember Ted Williams, the guy with the amazing voice that ended up homeless until he was discovered via viral video outlets? Well, he’s doing better than a lot of us and he’s quick to attribute all of his success and sobriety to God.

I, myself, am glad this turned out to be positive. Several rumors of him falling back into his old ways began surfacing as soon as he started getting cleaned up and recruited. Currently, the voice of Ted Williams can be heard in Kraft food commercials and he’s joined NECN as the official voice of the New England cable channel, working out of his at-home studio in Dublin, Ohio.