Comin' from Where I'm From by Anthony Hamilton

Pros: Some amazing arrangements, songwriting, and vocal performance...
Cons: A few forgettable tracks, but the good far outweighs the bad...

The act of loving music requires one to shed their safety net and occasionally step into the abyss. If you cannot open your mind to this idea, you will never learn or grow as a true musical enthusiast. Of course that line above is all well and ...

Pros: Vivid storytelling and great vocals add up to a stellar debut for this R&B singer/songwriter.
Cons: Not one.

Modern R&B music is, in a lot of cases, really floss. What was once called “soul” music occasionally seems to have absolutely no connection to the soul at all. As modern R&B has become “R. Kelly-fied” in the past decade or so, it has also ...

Pros: intimate, potent, and hypnotic; performed to perfection
Cons: perhaps not as immediate as some would require

The danger in writing about the best music of 2003 before 2003 is actually over is, of course, that you'll always run the risk of neglecting some of 2003's best music until you're well into '04 or '05. I should have realized this; i should also have ...

Pros: production is nearly flawless, magical voice, intelligence, consistency
Cons: um...yeah....I'll get back to you

Word-of-mouth is steadily becoming one of the main ways people are becoming aware of new releases. While the perpetual promo receivers (Britney, Justin, Beyonce) are holding their ground and doing what you expect, there's much more releases who don't get ...

Pros: Soulful, poignant, humorous in just the right spots.
Cons: No cons whatsoever!

"I like Beyonce. But R&B for the most part is all but dead today." Those are the (paraphrased) words of my friend Jasmine from a conversation we had a while ago. I found myself nodding in agreement. Because while current R&B is not ...

Pros: Excellent vocals; mostly great production; excellent songwriting; simple yet profound
Cons: Only 12 songs; a couple more up-tempo cuts would’ve been nice

The Main Idea: Every once in awhile, there is an artist that comes along and may have just a few seconds of airtime, but in that time, they make an impression on you that sticks with you and helps you sense that they have true talent and they ...

Pros: Anthony Hamilton is a real singer with real lyrics that people can relate to.
Cons: Not enough people know about Anthony Hamilton because his music isn't pushed like it should.

I imagined Anthony Hamilton as a soldier of a war of music trying fighting to bring back a sound that hasn't been present in the music industry today. But what I got from what I heard from this young fella, is a sound of old school Al Green type ...