Melanie Fiona

Melanie Fiona is a new singer signed to Jay-Z’s new label, ROC Nation, joining Mickey Factz and Wale as recent signees. The young songstress was born in Toronto to Guyanese parents who raised her in Canada and Guyana listening to Sam Cooke, Bob Marley, The Drifters, and a lot of “old soul music”. Today she cites Lauryn Hill, India Arie, and Amy Winehouse as influences in her music. VIBE magazine featured her as one of the NEXT artists in their April issue and Kanye West picked her up to open for him on the European leg of his “Glow In The Dark” tour. Fiona has also shared the stage with Akon, Lupe Fiasco, and Keyshia Cole.

The lead track off of her debut album, The Bridge, to hit the airwaves, “Give It To Me Right”, samples the iconic 1968 hit from The Zombies, “Time of the Season.” The  single has the industry abuzz with veterans like Busta Rhymes, Raekwon, and Talib Kweli remixing the song. She earned rave reviews from the artist showcase ROC Nation held for her at the Canal Room in SoHo back in February. One attendee commented, “When Miss Fiona hit the stage she had everyone’s attention, especially since she had a full band. Now that’s major for someone so new.”

Melanie Fiona

Her goal with music and her album is to bridge the gap between ethnicities, genders, and age groups in which she achieves by sampling soulful sounds and writing lyrics that speak to this generation. Fiona is currently living out of her suitcase promoting the new album and will be lighting up stages this summer. If you can, check her out at the Essence Music Festival, July 3-5 in New Orleans alongside Anita Baker, Beyonce, Ne-Yo, and many others.

“Dinah Washington,” mixed media, Sophisticated Ladies — The Great Women of Jazz, Dutton Children’s Books, 2006 by Martin French

With respects to Bessie Smith, Sarah Vaughn, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Lady Billy Holiday and all the other amazing ladies of Jazz, today we highlight Dinah Washington.

Although she was known as the “Queen of the Blues,” Dinah Washington did it all! Blues, jazz, R&B—she even covered country songs. She became one of the most influential vocalists of the twentieth century, credited as a major influence on Aretha Franklin.

Dinah began recording in 1943 for Keynote Records and released “Evil Gal Blues,” which became her first hit. She then switched to Chicago-based Mercury Records and from 1948 to 1955, she had many hits on the newly named “R&B” charts, including “Am I Asking Too Much”, “Baby, Get Lost,” “Trouble in Mind“, “”I Won’t Cry Anymore”, “TV is The Thing This Year”, “Teach Me Tonight” and a cover of country crooner Hank Williams’s “Cold, Cold Heart”. In 1958 she made a well-received appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival and the following year, she won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance for “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes.”

Washington was married seven times in the states, with an eighth wedding in Stockholm, Sweden, and divorced six times while having many lovers, including Quincy Jones!

In his 2001 biography Q, Quincy said this about Dinah’s style:

“She could take the melody in her hand, hold it like an egg, crack it open, fry it, let it sizzle, reconstruct it, put the egg back in the box and back in the refrigerator and you would’ve still understood every single syllable.”

There were rumors that the glamorous Dinah wore mink in all weathers and one that she carried two .45-caliber pistols with her. She had a reputation of being demanding but many found her loving, funny, generous and forgiving.

More on the life of Dinah Washington after the jump, including video clips from an amazing BBC film about the singer, with an appearance by Amy Winehouse!

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I grew up in a pan-Africanist house listening to Arabic and African music, and naturally music from the West Indies… As a result, my music is as different as my upbringing; it’s unique and I’ll continue to make music that can’t fit into a box because I can’t fit into a box. -Empire Isis

Empire Isis is a Canadian self-proclaimed gangtress of British and Moroccan descent. Truly a woman of the world, she grew up across the globe in places such as Canada, the UK and Morocco. This cultural diversity is apparent in her music, branded as World Pop, but of course très á la Isis.

An avid traveler, at the age of 16, she bicycled through 7 countries from Panama to Mexico picking up the pulsing rhythms of Central America. She also got further acquainted with Dancehall and Reggae vibes while filming a documentary about an isolated group of strict Rastafarians, the Bobo Shanti of Jamaica. Fire ignited, she discovered her true calling and sought out to make conscious urban music. And that, she did.

She received 11 Award Nominations for her debut LP “Sound Trumpets” in 2008, several accolades such as Best New International Artist of Canada at the SOBA awards, Best International Artist at 2008’s Underground Urban Music Awards in NYC among others, and her songs have been featured on various shows such as MTV’s The Hills. Her sophomore album “Brand New Style”, released in January 2009 and recorded between Montreal, Kingston, Tel Aviv and New York, could be described as feel good, with deep, oftentimes militant messages, which in all her musical prowess, do not weigh down the tracks. Impassioned, energetic and simply genuine, Empire Isis’ brand new style is here to stay.

Below: Empire ISIS - Get Up On It featured on MTV’s The Hills:

More, including a Q&A with Empire Isis, after the jump!

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Amy Winehouse is on the road to self-destruction (some could argue that she’s already reached her destination) and, sadly—because of this—her Ska EP has fallen very low under the radar.

With absolutely no fanfare, her 2 Tone-inspired 7″EP entitled, Amy Winehouse: The Ska EP is 4 tracks of Amy interpreting Ska classics that you may or may not have heard first from listening to British ska legends, The Specials.

Here are the covers:

A1. Monkey Man (Toots & The Maytals)
A2. Hey Little Rich Girl (The Specials)
B1. You’re Wondering Now (Andy & Joe)
B2. Cupid (Sam Cooke)

My short review is this: Her song choice is fun, her vocals are strong and I don’t believe anyone has ever done a ska version of Cupid by Sam Cooke (my favorite of the 4). This EP is worth listening to.

Click on the image above to download the 4 track EP and share your thoughts below!

Amy Winehouse has just released a new video for the Just Friends track off of the Back to Black Album. Ms. Winehouse has been in the press a lot lately, for all the wrong reasons, so it’s refreshing to see something new related to her music. She’s so talented, I love her voice, I only hope she can get back on track.

via Around The Way Girls

I love eyeliner. Love it with a capital L-O-V-E. And I’ve always loved that vintage 60’s Twiggy look, also rocked by Amy Winehouse, Lilly Allen and my beloved Estelle. Whilst i find dear Wino’s a little too dramatic, i too love mine thick and in ya face!

Find out how i get my look after the cut!

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As it was said in last week’s We Got the Beat highlighting UK songstress, Duffy, maybe it’s something in that UK water that has them “…churning out talented ladies left, right and center…” cause today, we have yet another UK songstress to tell you about:

Her name is Adele. She’s fresh and soulful and is already creating a huge buzz. This soul singing newcomer is the first recipient of the Brit Awards Critics’ Choice, which was given to artists who at the time had yet to release an album. Adele has also been hailed by the British press as “the new Amy Winehouse” and, hence, together with Duffy and a few other rising stars of 2007-8, as one of the so-called “New Amys”.

Adele singing Chasing Pavements Live:

Adele says of herself, “I’m a soul singer and I love writing soul, pop and jazz tunes, some acoustic stuff and some really big ballads,” and when asked how she felt about the gossip and criticism about her weight, Adele told The Times, “I’ve always been a size 16-18, and been fine with it. I would only lose weight if it affected my health or sex life.”

The song “Daydreamer,”off Adele’s full-length debut, 19, is about her bi ex-boyfriend running away with another man and as scandalous as that sounds, the track is beautiful and very moving.

Download “Daydreamer” HERE and check out more of her on the official Adele MySpace page.

Today marks the US release of English newcomer Duffy’s Rockferry. I don’t know what’s going on in the UK right now - maybe something in the water - but they are churning out talented ladies left, right and center. Duffy’s raspy voice takes me back to the hey-day of Motown. I’m sure tons of comparisons will be made with La Winehouse but rest assured, Duffy has a sound that is all her own. Her debut CD, Rockferry drops today and if you’re in NYC it’s your lucky day because she’s doing an acoustic in-store performance at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square. Check here for details on attending the show. Also be sure to befriend her on myspace.

Duffy’s official video for Mercy:

Duffy in the studio:

Check out some of today’s other releases:
Bad Manners, Walking In The Sunshine: The Best of Bad Manners (ska)
Aphex Twin, Classics (electronica)
Motörhead, The Early Years: Bio + Songs + Photo Gallery (rock)
Foxy Brown, Brooklyn’s Don Diva (rap)
Herbie Hancock, Late Night Jazz Favorites (jazz)
Indigo Girls, Rites of Passage (rock)
Iron Maiden, Somewhere Back In Time: The Best of 1980-1989 (rock)

The December issue of Rolling Stone Magazine highlights 3 female musicians in their “Ten Artists to Watch” article that you definitely need to know about.The first artist featured is a very talented lady that people have been buzzing about for while now, Santogold. I introuduced M.I.S.S. Crew readers to Brooklyn’s Santogold earlier this year on the blog, and she has continued to make noise since performing all over the US and abroad.The two other birdies featured are in the same league as Lilly Allen and Amy Winehouse. Not only do they both hail from England, they both have a unique sound that will soon make them a househould name in the states.Meet EstelleMeet Kate NashAll three of these ladies are dropping albums in 2008 and hopefully will be touring in town near you too!

Amy Winehouse came out with her first album “Frank” in 2003 but she’s really starting to make waves with the release of her second album “Back to Black.” She’s from the UK, she’s a jazz and soul singer and I can’t stop listening to her cd’s. Her voice has so much depth and it’s really great to hear music that sounds really old-school (think 60s girl groups) with a young, feminine perspective. In a time when lots of young women singers do more stripping and gyrating than singing, it’s refreshing to see someone like Amy Winehouse, someone with true talent and something to say, get her shine. If you haven’t heard about her yet, keep your ears to the streets cause the streets are talking!!