February 4, 2021

Resist

This February, in honour of #blackhistorymonth we're sharing themed weekly playlists that highlight and celebrate black power, excellence, and artistry. Music binds, educates, and inspires. So we encourage you, wherever and whoever you are, to open your ears and listen to the stories of the trailblazers that came before us, the voices of the present, and the ones to come. Our first playlist of the series features songs of resistance to the racial, social and economic inequality of black people, hopeful transmissions, and anthems of empowerment. 

 

Vintage Playlist Updated 02/04/2021

This week’s edition of #vintageplaylist pays homage to the music of Janet Jackson as her album, Control, celebrates its 35th anniversary.

January 15, 2021

Diamond In The Rough Live: The Mary J Blige Session

Celebrating Mary J. Blige's 50th birthday with a few classic #MJB tunes

Step In The Arena turns 30

Regarded by some as one of the greatest Hip Hop albums of all time, Gang Starr's second studio album, Step In The Arena, celebrates it's 30th anniversary. Released on January 15th, 1991; Step In The Arena is an album that must be heard! To celebrate the milestone, I dug in the archives and blew the dust off this classic edition of Diamond in The Rough Diamond In The Rough: The Gang Starr Session is now streaming on SoundCloud

October 20, 2020

The Diamond In The Rough: The New Jack Swing Session Redux

New Jack Swing fuses the rhythms, samples, and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop with the urban contemporary sound of R&B. The new jack swing style developed as many previous music styles did, by combining elements of older styles with newer sensibilities. It used R&B style vocals sung over hip hop and dance-pop style influenced instrumentation. The sound of new jack swing comes from the hip hop "swing" beats created by drum machine, and hardware samplers, which were popular during the Golden Age of Hip Hop, with contemporary R&B style singing. psychology pays homage to #newjackswing with this special edition of Diamond In The Rough