This week’s edition of ‘The Best You Never Heard’ serves up tracks from the likes of Fantasia, FDM, Mashonda and the Southern Hummingbird Tweet. You can drop me your suggestions for future installments at sam@thatgrapejuice.net

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Fantasia – Two Weeks Notice

Though the success story from Fantasia’s underrated self-titled sophomore effort was undeniably ‘When I See You’, the album definitely boasted several equally as solid tracks. One of the standouts IMO is ‘Two Weeks Notice’. With its clever word-play, as well as Fantasia’s stellar vocal delivery, this stands as one of my favourite R&B songs from the last few years.

Listen: Two Weeks Notice

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FDM – Playground

Lifted from Tweet’s sophomore LP ‘It’s Me Again’, ‘Taxi’ serves as a reminder of the Southern Hummingbird’s oft under-appreciated appeal. In an industry filled with gimmicks and microwaveable hits, the soulful ‘Taxi’ highlights that there is still good music and genuine talent out there.

Listen: Taxi

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Your thoughts: Hit(s) or Miss(es)?

Check out this video preview of Mariah Carey recording her confirmed next single ‘Bye Bye’:

At this rate, much of Mariah Carey’s ‘E=MC²’ album will have been heard before it drops. I can’t complain though, the more I hear of the album, the more amped I get for its release. Reiterating what I said yesterday, the ballads really do seem like they’ll be the saving grace of this album. ‘E=MC²’ drops April 15th.

Any thoughts?

Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, songstress Estelle expressed her views on what she described as the blindness to black talent here in the UK. Taking aim at some of the artists at the forefront of the ‘White Soul Invasion’, the 28 year old singer, whose song ‘American Boy’ is currently #1 on the Official Singles Chart, laments on the lack of press attention paid to black singers over here:

Singling out Adele and Duffy, who she knocked off the number one spot at the weekend, she says:

“I’m not mad at them, but I’m wondering – how the hell is there not a single black person in the press singing soul? Adele ain’t soul. She sounds like she heard some Aretha records once, and she’s got a deeper voice – that don’t mean she’s soul. That don’t mean nothing to me in the grand scheme of my life as a black person. As a songwriter, I get what they do. As a black person, I’m like: you’re telling me this is my music? Fuck that!” {Continue reading…}

Granted I feel music is one of the few ‘universals’ that exist today, I definitely see where Estelle is coming from – especially as a black person who lives here in the UK.

Your thoughts?

The full version of Michelle Williams’ new single ‘We Break The Dawn’ made its debut on People.com earlier today. Set to be the first release from Williams’ forthcoming LP ‘Unexpected’ (due August), the Synth-heavy track sees the former Destiny’s Child member embrace a more Pop/Dance/International sound – something we can expect to hear more of on the album as well. I’m loving the fact that Michelle wasn’t afraid to step outside of her comfort zone and try something new, as the results are evidently fantastic. A solid cut, that should (and most likely will) have many anticipating more of what Michelle has on offer. I really feel as though Michelle has a great chance of hitting it big (solo) this time around. As I’m sure most of you all know, we will be interviewing Michelle very soon. Click here to submit any questions you may have for her.

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Sean Levert, brother of the late Gerald Levert and son of Eddie Levert Sr of The O’Jays, died late last night:

Levert, 39, died at 11:57 p.m. at Lutheran Hospital after being transported to the facility from the Cuyahoga County Jail – where he was serving time for not paying child support. Sean Levert had gone to the jail infirmary complaining he was sick.

It was in November that Sean Levert started singing again. He talked with NewsChannel5 about finishing a project — bringing the group back together — that his brother started.

Gerald Levert died Nov. 10, 2006. He was found dead in his bed at his Newbury home. {Source}

One has to really feel for Levert’s father Eddie, who has lost two sons in such a short space of time. Condolences to the Levert family.

Your thoughts?

After 50 Cent’s loss in the high-profile September 11th album showdown with rapper Kanye West last year, much, if not all, promotion surrounding his ‘Curtis’ LP ground to a halt. In a recent interview with MTV, the G-Unit leader spoke candidly on the album and what went wrong:

“It was a blockbuster that I lit, and it didn’t explode. I felt like it should have went a lot further than the results I received … Publicly, I feel that 50 Cent fans don’t believe it was a dud. It did have ‘I Get Money,’ it did have ‘Ayo Technology,’ ‘I’ll Still Kill,’ ‘Follow My Lead’ with Robin Thicke. These records were hit records, but the timing they came out was wrong. If the first record you heard off Curtis was ‘I Get Money,’ it would have shifted more millions in sales.”

Granted 50 can be overly egotistical a lot of the time, I actually agree with some of what he’s saying. While I don’t look at ‘Curtis’ as any kind of ‘blockbuster’, I do feel things may have gone differently had the single choices been better. I guess he won’t be so fast as to run his mouth next time around…then again, it is 50.

Your thoughts?

Definitely one of the 90’s best R&B/Hip-Hop collaborations IMO. Watching this back kinda makes Foxy’s current predicament (still incarcerated) all the more annoying; such a talent wasting away. Here’s hoping she sorts herself out and gets back to what made her who she is: the music.

Your thoughts?

“They said I couldn’t do it solo!” Kudos to Kelly, she did great.

What do you think of the performance?

This is more like it! I’m really feeling this Jermaine Dupri produced cut. Mariah definitely seems more comfortable in the studio than she does on stage, as the vocals here are near-flawless. As at now, all signs are pointing toward the ballads on the album being the standouts. Much ado has also been made about another ballad on the record called ‘Bye Bye’. I’m actually starting to feel a little more optimistic about this new album.

Your thoughts?