Get To Know: Mayer Hawthorne

Who: Mayer Hawthorne

From: Ann Arbor, MI

Why You Should Know Them: Because he's had no formal training, but sings like a soul pro.

Stones Throw Records is a predominantly Hip-Hop label, specializing in "indie" acts like Madlib, Percee P and the label head, Peanut Butter Wolf. Somehow, a soul drenched whiteboy from the outskirts of Detroit made his way there. His name is Mayer Hawthorne and his sound is reminiscent of the soul samples you hear on Hip-Hop tracks from producers like 9th Wonder and the late J Dilla. His sound is an amalgam of the best memories of real Soul music hugged by the present-day electro-Hip-Hop soul-sampled production that has defined the indie rap scene. The combination is a total marriage in the package of a man that could pass for an English professor. How's that for a winning combination?

Why Buying The Deluxe Edition Of Beyonce's "4" Album Is Worth It

 

By now, thanks to us, you've heard Beyonce's "4" album in it's entirety, but it's Target that got the honors of exclusively offering the album's deluxe edition (out tomorrow). With six extra tracks, three of which are remixes to the already severely sound-layered "Run The World (Girls)," fans get the opportunity to get more bang for the buck. And in Bey's case, it's well worth it.

There's no denying that "4" starts off slow, quite literally. There's four back-to-back ballads that alternate feelings between being madly in love in an us-against-the-world​ kind of way that's made for movies ("1+1") and being angrily resentful of a no-good no-name-mentioned man that certainly didn't deserve the little bit of time you gave him ("Best Thing I Never Had"). Thankfully, "Party" featuring Andre 3000 and a term-coining Kanye West ("swagu" seems here to stay, folks) enters the playlist next, but despite it's early '90s groove, it's mid-tempo barely makes you break a sweat. And so, you find yourself back at square one, with more ballads, some that channel the '60s Supremes ("Rather Die Young") and others that are overwrought with regret and hopes for redemption ("Start Over").

David Banner Goes Commercial... Literally

 

Madison Avenue is no stranger to collaborating hip-hop artists, but they're usually just licensing a a hit song or using an up and coming band as brand ambassadors. However, superproducer/MC David Banner has recently teamed with ad agencies that rep Gatorade and Gillette to craft music especially for their campaigns.

Groove recently caught up the Mississippi native to talk about working with brands, maintaining artistic credibility and getting "Footloose."

Groove: Are you all surprised by these brands that are interested in working with you?

David Banner: Not at all. I think I’m more surprised that I couldn’t do a lot of the same things and be this creative in hip-hop and R&B. I’m not surprised that brands are very interested in my music – I’ve always been doing music at this level and quality. I knew if I got the opportunity for people to hear my music, that they would love it.

Jolie: 'Salt' Part II?

 

This would be a sequel worth watching. I hope.

Angelina Jolie might reprise her role as Evelyn Salt. (Yes, she did indeed have a first name).

"Angelina Jolie wants to play Evelyn Salt again in a sequel to 2010's 'Salt,' TheWrap has confirmed.

"Kurt Wimmer, who wrote the original movie, is onboard for the second, also at Columbia.


"Phillip Noyce directed the thriller.

"The main character, a CIA agent who is accused of being a Russian spy, originally was written as a man. Jolie, however, carried the role credibly, carrying the Sony thriller to $293.5 million in global box office receipts."

'X Men: First Class' Opens

 

"X Men: First Class" opens today and the reviews appear to be stuck on the same speed, albeit revving between faster and fun to just one notch below an entire downshift. They all just feel ... pretty good.

Here's a nice instillation -- I'm trusting this middle of the line take from the NY Times' Manohla Dargis:

"With its spy-on-spy globetrotting, old-fashioned villains, flirty but prematurely swinging minis and fan-boy bits (look for an eye-blink-fast tribute to "Basic Instinct" and a cameo from the cult actor Michael Ironside), the whole enterprise has an agreeable lightness, no small thing, given its rapidly moving parts."

I don't have it in me to get super angry about movies these days. For example, the idea that the "Pirates" movie is absolutely soul crushing doesn't really surprise me. I'm not going into the thing thinking it's going to change my life or even offer me some escape. I mean, what were people expecting? Are these sequels based on a series of pirates movies directed by Ingmar Bergman? What?

Anyway ... I need another anger inducing "Inception" to throw me into a tizzy.