Erykah Badu’s new mixtape ‘But You Caint Use My Phone’ may or may not be a placeholder until a ‘real’ album is ready, her relentless thirst to push the edge makes it no small deal regardless.

With the release of their inspirational first album ‘Abundance’, the soul-funk-rock jam band the Nth Power has been a triumphant musical story so far.

‘Innervisions’ arrived on Aug. 3, 1973 amidst an almost-unfathomable run of important recordings from Stevie Wonder, but it may well be his best.

Here is a sneak peek of a track from the great lost Isley Brothers album, ‘Wild In Woodstock: The Isley Brothers Live At Bearsville Sound Studio 1980.’ It’s a funky, uptempo number called “Here We Go Again.”

Lost R&B legend Carl Hall gives each performance a gospel-infused, four-octave charge. And yet he somehow remains stubbornly obscure.

Bluey’s new tune “Saints and Sinners” doesn’t get the point across from the lyrics alone: the music delivers, too.

When Steve Cropper finally got a chance to work with Percy Sledge, he did everything he could to make it happen — regardless of the cost.

Here’s an exclusive stream of Josh Hoyer and the Shadowboxers’ “Over The City”, a deeply soulful, poignant observation of the people that society forgot.

‘First Ya Gotta Shake the Gate’ includes 33 songs, both mirroring Funkadelic’s 33 years away and creating an almost exhaustively comprehensive return.

With D’Angelo’s pertinent message, color-blurring harmonics and a total lack of slickness, ‘Black Messiah’ is a worthy successor to ‘Voodoo.’