Last week, I was in the car listening to the radio –I hardly ever listen to the radio, if I have a choice – and on 94.5 FM, they were playing a song called “Day N Nite” by Kid Cudi. I’ve been listening to Kid Cudi for the past several months and since Kid Cudi is relatively a newcomer, I was kind of shocked when I heard his song on the radio, especially since it’s off of his mix tape “A Kid Named Cudi.” This made me think about all the new artists that I feel are bringing something new to the music scene.
Wale
I’ve known about Wale since early 2008. Wale’s a rapper from Washington D.C. and he’s a breath of fresh air and bringing his own perspective to the hip-hop game. In June 2008, he released a free mix tape on the Internet called, “The Mixtape About Nothing” which used bits and pieces of “Seinfield” dialogue to base his songs around and anyone who’s a “Seinfield” fan knows it’s “the show about nothing.” He also recently released a video for his song “Nike Boots.”
Download Wale’s “The Mixtape About Nothing” here and visit elitaste.com to find out more on Wale.
B.o.B.
B.o.B is a guitar-playing, rapper from Georgia. He was recently featured on T.I.’s album, “Paper Trail” on “On Top of the World.” He’s very reminiscent of Andre 3000 from Outkast in lyrical content and he occasionally sings. B.o.B is socially conscious, but he doesn’t let it bog down his music.
Check out B.o.B.’s Myspace page here.
Ryan Leslie
Ryan Leslie is a singer/songwriter/producer whose biggest achievement, so far, is discovering Bad Boy singer, Cassie. Leslie has a keen ear for music and pens quality pop records. One of my favorite songs by Leslie is “How It Was Supposed To Be” that he recently released a video for. Leslie’s first album, “Just Right” was shelved in the U.S., but his new disc, self-titled “Ryan Leslie,” is set to release Feb. 10.
Check out Ryan Leslie’s youtube channel, RyanLeslieTV, here.