Georgia Anne Muldrow shares new atmospheric funk in the form of her latest single “Unforgettable.” The hard-slapping beat, synthesizers that twitch and do runs plus Muldrow’s voice that fades into the sonic landscape is perfect car music. There is a sunny visualizer to accompany the track she wrote, produced and performed. She says, 

“I made the song ‘Unforgettable’ with the hope that people can make themselves unforgettable in a positive way. People can hype themselves up in the mirror. Dance and decorate themselves in such a way that they feel that they have that kind of impact on their communities and their families. It’s like a mantra for your own selves: You are unforgettable.”

Muldrow is asking rappers, singers, poets and beatboxers to add their vocals to “Unforgettable” and whichever ones she likes she will post to her Instagram. Participants are to story or post video of their submissions and hastag #VWETOIII and tag @Georgia.Muldrow and @Foreseenent who will re-story their entries. VWETOIII is the third release in her series of abstract hip-hop beats. The album will be released May 21st through FORESEEN Entertainment in partnership with Muldrow’s Epistrophik Peach Sound imprint. The cover art was created by Cape Town artist Breeze Yoko. On March 25th she along with some other black creatives launched an online auction for one NFT of the album and its artwork. The auction is available via OpenSea and Rarible. The bidding will stop on March 21st when the music is released and %50 of the proceeds will be donated to Critical Resistance. 

 

 

 

VWETOIII Tracklisting

1. Old Jack Swing 
2. Synthmania Rock
3. Ayun Vegas ft. Ayun Bassa
4. Passin Ooout!
5. Slave Revoltalleway Boom
6. Unforgettable
7. Throwback Baps
8. Slow Drag
9. Shana’s Back! ft Shana Jensen
10. Mufaro’s Garden
11. Love Call Groove
12. Ghostride
13. Boom Bap Is My Homegirl
14. Action Groove
15. Grungepiece
16. Afro AF
17. Yoself

Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” marked his move into a new sound with his Future Sound album. His previous album, Lite Me Up, set upon a core of R&B and jazz thanks to the influence of his friend Quincy Jones. In his quest for a new direction his much younger manager approached producer Bill Laswell to write a new song for Hancock. The two eventually met and Bill Laswell took Hancock to a New York City nightclub to see hip-hop pioneers Afrika Bambaataa and Grand Mixer DXT perform DJ sets. 

This inspiration led to Hancock, Laswell, DXT and synthesizer player Michael Beinhorn recording “Rockit”  in multiple studios at different locations before finishing it. The name of the song came from a sample of Bambaataa’s hit single “Planet Rock.” The results were a hard-hitting funk and hip-hop hybrid matched with an equally innovative video. The vision of Hancock playing keyboards surrounded by robotic mannequins was a defining moment of the MTV era. He had an epic performance of “Rockit” at the 1985 Grammys with Stevie Wonder, Thomas Dolby and Howard Jones. 

“Rockit” was one of the earliest examples of a high-profile hip-hop collaboration. Hancock’s single came out in 1983 one year before Chaka Khan’s “I Feel For You” which was another great partnership that found her singing with an intro by rapper Melle Mel. Future Shock was a hit and most critics understood the new direction. The title came from a Curtis Mayfield composition he also covered for the project. The video for “Rockit” won five MTV awards, two Billboard Video Music Awards and the song won the Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. Hancock proved to be forward-thinking like his mentor Miles Davis who also acknowledged hip-hop by working with producer Easy Mo Bee. Hancock’s last album was The Imagine Project from 2010. His forthcoming album will pair him with rap music again in addition to jazz and R&b. Terrace Martin is producing the album and there will be appearances from Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Wayne Shorter, Snoop Dogg, Zakir Hussein, Kendrick Lamar, Kamasi Washington and Lionel Loueke. 

Bruno Mars announces a collab album with Anderson Paak titled 'Silk Sonic' with special guest Bootsy Collins. First single drops March 5th. pic.twitter.com/K3HQ5RuSJK

— Elite Media Group (@TheEliteMedia_) February 26, 2021

Bruno Mars and anderson.paak are collaborating on an album they call An Evening With Silk Sonic. Their first song as Silk Sonic will come out on March 5th. Mars’ most recent album was his 2016 24K Magic. Paak’s Ventura came out in 2019 and he just gave a Grubhub-sponsored concert now archived on YouTube. Paak and Mars toured together in 2017 and that year they worked with Disclosure on Nile Rodgers on new music. There is no release date for the full Silk Sonic album yet. 

Free Nationals: Indigenous To The Funk is a documentary about the Los Angeles band. The group’s story is told by them, Shafiq Husayn, Om’Mas Keith, Thundercat and anderson.paak. Last year they released their first album after building their name on L.A.’s underground scene and then working with the late Mac Miller. The average fan was introduced to them as paak’s band. In the documentary, each member gets a chance to be heard and they talk about the rigors of being a band/family. A little bit of the creative process is uncovered and they talk about the influence of Los Angeles on the way they make a mood.