DJ Relentless Speaks About Music

DJ Relentless Speaks About Music Normally here on Urban FLRT, I only talk about singles and remixes But today I want to tell you about an entire album that should be in your collection. My start as a DJ was back in 1980 with my uncle, Herbert King at WMNF 88.5 in Tampa when I was 12 years old. We did an R&B/Jazz show. I guess you could say that my love for Jazz started there. I had already been raised on R&B. And although I sometimes wished that my uncle would have played more R&B, I got a real education where the two met in the middle. In those days, artists like Herbie Hancock, Gil Scott-Heron and Grover Washington Jr. enjoyed spots on the R&B Charts as well as the Jazz charts.

Well, today that tradition continues with Mr. Jeff Bradshaw’s second album, “Bone Appetit, Vol. 1 (Main Course)”. Released at the beginning of April, the first single is a cover of Janet Jackson’s “Got Til It’s Gone”. Now, I know what you are thinking…..”a Jazz Trumpet version of such a big hit?” Put your prejudice aside because with the vocals of Marsha Ambrosius and the flow of Twyse you would swear you were listening to the latest revised jam.

But the exciting thing is that the whole album is filled with sweet gems like “So Thankful” featuring Coko and “Til Tomorrow” featuring Raheem DeVaughn. If you are an R&B lover you may just forget this is a Jazz album. Even Jill Scott recommended it on her facebook and twitter account.

Now…one of the duo(s) that I have kinda grown tired of is Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull. Yes, I know that it worked so well for “On The Floor”, but when I heard “Dance Again” I thought “enough is enough”. But I heard a remix that really turned me out! Chus Iberican has made a version that I am gonna play N&R (nightly and regardless). First, he dropped Pitbull’s vocals. Thank God! He’s on too many records these days. And then he used the percussion from Armand Van Helden’s “You Don’t Know Me”. It’s a very basic mix, but it has the right energy. Love it!

For some reason for the past few weeks I have been getting a lot of requests for “Dance For You” by Beyonce. I shrugged them off because as far as I knew the song was a downtempo R&B ballad. Finally, I looked on YouTube and found the Jersey Club MIx. I have two problems with this version. First it starts off with a recording of some rude girl saying something about cursing out the DJ if he ain’t playing your song. And my other problem is that it’s only about 2 minutes long. The production on it is actually very Baltimore. There’s nothing club about it.

I was looking through some of the new releases in my digital pool. I saw this title by Purple Velvet, but thought that it couldn’t be the song I was thinking of. “For The Love Of You” by the Isley Brothers is one of my favorites. I knew that Whitney Houston had done a cover, but was unware of any others. So, I clicked the track to listen to it and was pleasantly surprised to find a filtered downtempo House track that sampled the original Ron Isley vocal. I really enjoyed it and then went looking for any other House covers. Then I found the best remix cover ever! D’Moov featuring Nicole Henry have three different remixes by David Harness, Frankie Feliciano & Doruk Ozlen.

I always get excited about a new MJ White track and I was very happy to hear that he had recorded a re-write of the Michael Jackson classic, “Rock With You”. And as always, he does not disappoint. If you are in need of a smooth production with silky vocals, “I Wanna Rock U” by Mojito featuring MJ White on Sugar Groove Records is the track for you!

Another trend in my pool these days seems to be remixing 90’s college radio tracks. DJ’s From Mars’ remix of “Creep” by Radiohead and “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette come to mind. And then there are remixes of some unlikely tracks like DJ Kue’s “Red Solo Cup” by Toby Keith or the Elektro Katz’ “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne. I would have never thought these song would be something that a DJ or remixer would even consider. But believe it or not…..I actually enjoyed all of these tracks.

And let’s give a big hand to Miss Katy Perry for breaking the record with seven singles to chart off one album. A few months ago she broke Michael Jackson’s record of five singles from his “Bad” album. And now with “Part Of Me” hitting the top of the Dance charts, she has definitely shattered that record. I guess you can say she is the new “Queen Of Pop”.

And last but not least, let’s talk about Nicki Minaj’s “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded”. In the tradition of Lady GaGa’s “Fame Monster” album, this is the new way to breathe life an album that had peaked and was falling down the charts. Record some new singles and add remixed material then repackage it as new. Nicki’s involvement with Madonna, David Guetta and Afrojack definitely played a huge part in buiding her brand. That being said….the standouts on the new album are “Whip It”, “Beez In The Trap” and “Pound The Alarm”. As soon as the album dropped, these tracks began showing up on my request sheets. My favorite is “Pound The Alarm”. “Whip It” would be great if it stuck to te beats used to get into and out of the track. The production on the track seems too busy and loud. The simplicity of the opening and closing beats would have worked better under her vocals.