music – Reconnecting With R&B

Rising Star: VanJess

VanJess, comprised of Nigerian-American sisters Jessica and Ivana Nwokike, is the up and coming R&B dynamic duo. Growing up in Nigeria, the sisters participated in school plays and musicals and sang in their local church choir. At a young age they even began to write song. When the sisters moved to America, they continued their passion for music by creating a YouTube Page in 2009.

The duo used they’re YouTube page to create, define, and mold their own sound. While covering popular music, the sisters listened to other artists’ songs and figured out how their songs would best suit them. The duo grew up listening to a wide range of musicians and genres, but are heavily influenced by 90s R&B; however the duo credit their sound to the plethora of music knowledge they accumulated over the years. In addition to their musical knowledge, the Ivana and Jessica taught themselves to sing and play the piano and guitar, respectfully, by ear. Music is in their blood!

Over the years, their rise to YouTube stardom peaked the interest of artist J Cole, Ryan Seacrest, and Vibe and Essence Magazine. They’re first video went viral was their mash up of Thinking About You and Headlines. Vanjess’ YouTube popularity gave them opportunities to compete in NBC’s The Voice and VH1’s Make Or Break: The Linda Perry Project. While waiting for VanJess’ new EP to drop later this year, check out their SoundCloud Page and their debut album OO Till Escape, released in 2015, that charted on the iTunes top 10.

-Aferba Ashong

Rising Star: Durand Bernarr

Where Cleveland at! Durand Bernarr is a singer, songwriter, and background vocalist hailing from Cleveland, Ohio. Music was the center of Bernarr’s childhood as his mother was a professional music teacher and vocal coach, and his father as providing sound and tour production for industry heavyweights such as Jay Z, Adele, Jill Scott, Earth Wind and Fire, and the late Whitney Houston. Because of his parents Bernarr had the distinct opportunity to learn from and collaborate with legends such as Earth Wind and Fire, Chaka Khan, the Internet, and Maxwell.

Bernarr began is career on YouTube releasing covers of popular songs and releasing music of his own under the name AlcoholHarmony. Singer Erykah Badu discovered Bernarr when he sang a cover of her song. Upon hearing his version, Badu personally sought him out and invited him to sing the background vocals during her tour where he still with today.

Durand Bernarr is not yet signed to a major record label, but with a voice as smooth as butter and his amazing storytelling techniques, he is definitely one to watch. Sit back, relax, and let Bernarr serenade you with his Music! You will not be disappointed.

-Aferba Ashong

Andra Day

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Andra Day is a new R&B artists who got her start after being noticed by Stevie Wonders second wife, Kai Millard Morris. She is now signed to Warner Bros Records. Her first album was released in 2015 titled “Cheers to the Fall”. Lately Audra has been receiving a lot of attention. Many compare her to other female artists such as Adele, Erykah Badu, and Amy Winehouse. Andra has a very noticeable voice, and her style can be described as a mixture of Jazz, Soul, and R&B. Andra’s album was nominated for Best R&B Album and the album’s main single, “Rise Up”, was nominated for Best R&B Performance at the 2016 Grammy Awards.

I first noticed Audra Day when I heard her single “Rise Up”. I was immediately captivated by her voice, which is definitely unlike most voices you hear on the radio. I especially loved the lyrics of the song. I thought it was very inspirational. What I love most about an artist is when they can write music that can be enjoyed by anyone. When I first heard Andra, I was listening to one of my favorite radio stations Star 99.1, which is a contemporary Christian music radio station. Since then I have heard her music on other popular stations, but I love the fact that her music can be played on various stations to reach people which different music preferences.

William Singe

In today’s day and age covers are extremely common for popular songs. When concerned with popular music the cover can either be just as good as if not better then the original song. The thing that makes a great cover Is how creative the artist can get with it and put their own spin on it. William Singe is someone who does an amazing job with covers and putting his own R&B sound to all of his covers. Even some of the most unexpected songs like Taylor Swifts “Shake it Off”. In doing so, I find myself going to listen to some of his covers of popular music instead of going to the original song. Pretty much all of his covers have a great bass line and his vocal range is great, especially his use of the upper register. He also does quite a few covers where he will mix together older R&B songs with songs that are popular now. In his most recent cover with Alex Aiono where they mashed up “Black Beetles”, “Confessions” and “No problem” together. This makes for an overall fun song to listen to with a killer bass line and little bit of a throw back feel when confessions is brought into the mix.

Check out William Singe on YouTube:

And a lot of his music is also available on Spotify

Rising Star: Coline Creuzot

If you are like me, you not only enjoy a catchy chorus and a tight beat, but also a great voice with meaningful lyrics to compliment. Look no further, powerful singer songwriter Coline Creuzot, native of Houston, Texas, is your saving grace!

Coming from a musical family, from a young age Coline grew up with a burning desire to perform. By the age of ten she was writing songs and performing at local competitions. Upon graduating from Hampton University with a degree in Business Management, Coline moved back to her hometown t begin her music career. Right away she received success with her #1 single “Give-and-Take” produced by Happy Perez who worked with artists such as Janelle Monae, Frank Ocean, and Miguel. The success of her song landed her the opportunity to open up Drake, T-Pain, T.I., David Banner, and Keyshia Cole. She even appeared in her longtime friend Solange Knowles'”I Decided” music video as a background singer/dancer in 2008.

Her career continued to soar as she caught the eye of Sony ATV, formally known as EMI, Sony ATV signed her as songwriter in 2011. She released her first EP Acapella Now with Sony ATV in 2012 as is slated to release Timeless later this year.

Coline’s career continues to rise as she collaborates with Grammy nominated and award winning singers, songwriters, and producers. She is definitely one to watch! Check out her YouTube page and SoundCloud here!

-Aferba Ashong