One to Watch: Rochelle Jordan

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She might only have 32 followers on Spotify at the time of writing but the Toronto singer has two very decent RnB records up her sleeve. First up is the Illangelo (The WKND) produced track 'What The Fuss' and second is 'Follow Me'. Two late night records set to slow things right down

Kelela Hits Deep on 'The High'

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Los Angeles Kelela is prepping for two US Headline shows in NYC and LA later in the year. Today she dropped this futuristic dub via the medium of soundcloud and Twitter to further whet the appetite for a possible album later in the year.

Hip Hop's Riot Girl : LIZZO

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LIZZO, AKA Melissa Jefferson was raised in Minneapolis and heads up several hip hop acts such as Raise The Chalice and RIOT GRRRL.

2014 could just be her year.

Her debut album LizzoBangerz is a complete rap vintage. A dynamite debut & super statement record 'Bangerz' was produced by Ryan Olson with beats from fellow Minnesotan, Aaron Mader aka Lazerbeak.

Lyrically Lizzo tells the sort of stories that Sweet Tee and Monie Love were penning in the 90's. The classic influence from that era and more contemporary artists such as Missy Elliot and early Kanye West comes through in droves as Jeffersons delivery chops and changes from verse to chorus, with the beats occasionally taking the wheel too. Whilst Lizzo often fires out a sharp shooting style, she also knows how to drop to an aside, like stepping out of a scene to talk the audience, such as 47 seconds into Work Pt 2, where we step out to a gossipy phone call. Bangerz is not an aggressive record, it gets alongside the listener, draws us into her world and teaches something at the same time, the beats are exceptional - isn't this what all great rap albums do?

3 Essential tracks: W.E.R.K Pt 2, Cookies & Batches, Pants Vs Dress

There's also an excellent interview here worth checking out:
http://blog.thecurrent.org/2014/01/lizzo-on-the-party-rap-stereotype-feminism-and-her-favorite-grrrls/

Lizzo is featured in my 'Approved Music of 2014' playlist, please listen and subscribe (if you wanna)

Satin Beretta

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 2014 is still in it's infancy but one record that's already caught my attention is 'Got Me' from Jamaican rooted, Brooklyn born Satin Beretta.

Check the record out below. No release date on this yet but got a feeling that she will be an artist to watch this year. A big label deal could await..



Here's another record that she launched via facebook too

Right Thing: Rosie Lowe

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Music editors and industry shakers are currently compiling and indeed sweating over their Hot for 2014 lists including the much vaunted BBC 'sound of [insert year here]' poll. Whilst these lists tend to contain a bias of heavily funded major label artists, one artist getting my personal vote right now is Devonshire raised Rosie Lowe.

Produced by Kwes (Warp) and Dave Okumu of The Invisible (Ninja Tune), her debut EP presents some highly addictive moody, minimal RnB with some fairly straight up lyrics telling things as they appear. The EP includes this frankly stunning promotional video for Right Thing, which contains enough mystique to make us want to know and hear more.

Fans of Banks, Maya Jane Coles and Jessie Ware will enjoy this debut from the South Londoner, out Dec 2nd.