Young Jeezy! Jazmine Sullivan! Jennifer Hudson!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Seeing as we've all been complaining about the state of the UK chart for a while now, it's probably time to spotlight some of the tracks which should by all rights be livening it up.

First, this is my favourite hip-hop joint of the year, 'Put On' by Young Jeezy ft. Kanye West. It does this weird thing of marrying two templates which would seem to be in opposition - triumphalist horns + cold, steely synths - and allies them to a menacing piano line. YJ is on top form, A++ vegetable metaphors in the second verse ("They know I got that broccoli, so I keep that glock on me"), and then Kanye's guest spot is just...wow. It shouldn't work (Autotune gimmick wheeled out again, whinge about fame continued) but holy shit, it does - you feel Kanye twisting and turning, his voice buckling beneath the imaginary cross he has to bear (oh yes the Jesus complex is present and correct), and it's all the more effective for being shadowboxing.

Also, the video is amazing.

Next, one of my favourite recent discoveries - an R&B singer called Jazmine Sullivan with an absolutely incredible voice, a powerful soul alto which keeps you hanging on her every word. Lauryn Hill is probably the most obvious comparison, though she rivals Mary J in terms of sheer raw emotion; the single 'Need U Bad' is a real slow burn but it's the middle eight which hit me first, and still gets me every time - astonishing stuff.

Last, the new single from Dreamgirls star, thorn in Beyoncé's side and all-round fabulous woman Jennifer Hudson, 'Spotlight'. I've had this for a while but it only really clicked three days ago, and since then I haven't been able to get it out of my head; it's like 'Bleeding Love' in that the first time you hear it you think "oh, OK" because J-Hud doesn't overwhelm you immediately, and the production is only lightly modish; but eventually you realise that it doesn't need to be all ~LOOK AT ME~ because the songcraft is so perfect - the emotional conflict in the lyrics, the tension as the narrator's caught between doubt and strength - and because, like Leona, J-Hud's secret gift as a singer isn't melismaniac belting (though she can do that too! oh yes!) but her sense of restraint. She looks great in the video, too, though the really blatant Campari (!) product placement is a bit lolz.

I'm going to do an audio post of these too...