Top10 New Sounds of 2012

7. Rapsody – The Idea of Beautiful

When I got the chance to review this album, I don’t think I’d been more excited about anything up until that point.

Truly, Rapsody is a voice and talent that is sorely missing in rap, a defiantly original and powerful voice in hip-hop that we haven’t had since the heroic debut of on Ms. Lauryn Hill. The Idea of Beautiful is full of more than just easy and intelligent flow, the music itself is first class brilliance. Truly, producer 9th Wonder and the entire Jamla family have created some powerful music. Rapsody is a star that seems to outshine most in rap this year (if not for the past ten years).

6. Tall Black Guy – Brazilian Chronicles

Literally every sound on this album was gorgeous. Taking samba and traditional Brasilian rhythms and turning them into something completely unrecognizable but still hopelessly beautiful. Track Lentamente Arraste, for instance, was so incredibly potent that I had to actually TELL him to just stop everything he was doing because what he did with the original track was just officially INCORRECT. Yeah, I kind of found myself always having this album on around me, just to be happy throughout the day [1].

You can get Brazilian Chronicles at Tall Black Guy’s Bandcamp page.

5. Sy Smith – Fast And Curious

I can’t claim to have been with Sy Smith since the beginning, but I was there for her Syberspace Social and knew then that she was going to be one of my favorite artists of all time. Her gorgeous vocal control and range mix perfectly with her audacious production — equal parts house and soul-infused R&B, hers is a sound that’s so completely unique, it’s a wonder more people aren’t aware of just how powerful a musician she is. Fast and Curious just cemented and made more permanent something I’ve already accepted in my life: Sy Smith is a stroke of elegance and genius that the world may not be quite ready for.