Raised in the projects of Chicago's South Side, the young R. Kelly displayed an uncanny natural aptitude for the piano, and cut his teeth as a performer by playing a portable electric keyboard and singing with his homies out on ...

It's quite easy to place Roberta Flack near the top of the pile of singer/songwriters who changed the course of pop music, not only soul music, during the '70s. She was fortunate enough to deliver the velvet-smooth ballad "The First ...

Atlantic Starr's Ultimate Collection lives up to its name, gathering hits that span the group's two-decade existence. From early singles such as "Stand Up," "When Love Calls," and "Touch a Four Leaf Clover" to their later hits like "Always," "My ...

That's Nas' ex-wife Kelis' wedding dress on the cover: she's a fellow recording artist, the two have a kid together, and she wasn't consulted about the album cover or the album itself. Life Is Good is that kind of album, ...

LIFE AFTER DEATH was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. "Hypnotize" was nominated for a 1988 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. "Mo Money Mo Problems" was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best ...

It is impossible to overrate Otis Redding. This Rhino compilation, while in no way comprehensive, is nonetheless an outstanding sampler of songs by one of soul music's all-time titans. There's not a dud among these 16 songs, and some, like ...

Personnel: James Brown (vocals). Track Listing: I Got You; Get Up; I Got the Feelin'; Mother Popcorn, Pt. 1; Give It Up or Turnit a Loose; Make It Funky, Pt. 1; Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, Pt. 1; Think; ...

The fact that Alice Cooper and Slash make guest appearances on THE GREAT MILENKO should be your first clue that we're not talking high art here. Insane Clown Posse are masters of the cheap laugh; the Howard Sterns of modern ...

This generous two-disc compilation does an excellent job oftracing soul legend Marvin Gaye's career. It moves from hisearliest, most pop-oriented recordings ("How Sweet It Is", "I'll Be Doggone") to his famed duets with Tammi Terrell ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real ...

Recorded between 1956 & 1967. Includes liner notes by Fred Bronson. This is a superb single-disc distillation of the Platters' biggest hits, with all 15 of their first Top Forty hits, an astonishing run that went from 1955's "Only You (And ...

With few viable alternatives, this can be considered the ultimate O'Jays collection only by default, as it focuses exclusively on recordings from the years 1972-1975, cutting off some reasonable and sometimes very well-known singles from before and after that time ...

Be assured that the title here is not remotely hyperbolic; in fact, it's hard to imagine a better single disc Supremes greatest hits collection. Every Supremes song you could conceivably want is here in chronological order, beginning with their first ...

There's probably a better way to celebrate "35 years of soul." This Greatest Hits, oddly enough, is a compacted edition (not advertised as such, for obvious reasons) of another Greatest Hits title released roughly seven years prior. It is that ...

Black Radio is the first standalone recording by the electric Robert Glasper Experiment. Glasper's keyboards are augmented by saxophonist/vocoderist Casey Benjamin, bassist Derrick Hodge, and drummer Chris Dave. The album title is firmly aimed at its subjects. The band constantly ...

THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL won the 1999 Grammy Award for Album Of The Year and Best R&B Album. Lauryn Hill won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" was nominated for ...

"Guilty Conscience" was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance By Duo Or Group. "Forgot About Dre" won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group. DR. DRE 2001 was nominated for the ...

THE SLIM SHADY LP won the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. "My Name Is" was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. You'll need a well-developed sense of humor to fully appreciate the debut of ...

Unfortunately, Atlantic's A Donny Hathaway Collection, one of the few career retrospectives available (and basically the only one in print), isn't quite definitive; it presents a version of Hathaway's career inordinately focused on his commercially successful duets with Roberta Flack, ...

Additional personnel includes: Bobby Martin, Bert DeCoteaux, Teddy Randazzo (arrangers); James Mack (arranger, piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano); Norman Harris, Bobby Eli, Roland Chambers, Byron Gregory, Ira Siegel, Keith Henderson, Danny Leake (guitar); Chris Cioe (saxophone); Ron Kersey, Theodis Rodgers ...

This is an Enhanced audio CD which contains regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files including the video for "California Love." ALL EYEZ ON ME was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. "California Love," featuring Dr. Dre ...

Track Listing: Chronic, The; Fuck Wit Dre Day; Let Me Ride; Day the Niggaz Took Over, The; Nuthin' But a "G" Thang; Deeez Nuuuts; Lil' Ghetto Boy; Nigga Witta Gun, A; Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat; $20 Sack Pyramid, The; Lyrical Gangbang; High Powered; ...

ME AGAINST THE WORLD was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. "Dear Mama" was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance. Forget everything you've heard and assumed about rapper/actor 2Pac and think only of his music, which has ...

Old friends/'70s country superstars Waylon Jennings, Mel Tillis, Bobby Bare and Jerry Reed decided to rally against the tide of late-'90s pretty boys cluttering up the charts and radio waves. They enlisted the songwriting talents of old buddy Shel Silverstein ...

Spanning the band's early-'70s genesis as an unhinged funk congregation and their later resurgence with urbane R&B balladry and synth-inflected disco, The Very Best of Kool & the Gang may not be a unified collection, but it is the first ...

The fantastic batch of Gaye's early-'60s pop-soul singles, including "Stubborn Kind of Fellow," "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and his duets with Tammi Terrell ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough"), is alone worth the price of the ...