R&B / Soul

On February 5th, XO/Republic will be releasing a career spanning album from The Weeknd pulling together a collection of his biggest songs from the last ten years.

Throughout their career, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings remained in high demand both publicly and privately to recreate and often re-imagine songs by other artists. More often than not, these covers were recorded by request ' commissioned for placement in movies, television programs, tribute albums, or for samples. This album compiles some of their most popular as well as never-before-heard renditions.Though the band has mostly built their career on a prolific catalog of originals, these forays into other artists' compositions lay bare their gift for arrangement and the unmatched studio prowess that earned them their reputation as The Baddest Band in the Land.

Clear Vinyl. Marking his first full-length album in six years, Five-Time GRAMMY Award nominee and diamond-selling performer, actor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Robin Thicke makes a return in 2021 with the long awaited new album, "On Earth, and in Heaven." Setting the stage for the record, the scorching single "That's What Love Can Do," ignited this new flame and hit #1 on the Urban A.C. charts. The second single, "Forever Mine," garnered high praise from Vibe, and has already amassed over 2 million Spotify streams and counting. Presenting the same bold, bright, and boisterous R&B that turned him into a household name, he ascends to new heights on his eighth full-length album.

The Chi-Lites' third album, "(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People", finds the group tapping into the social consciousness movement of the early '70s, presumably influenced by contemporaries like Sly & the Family Stone and fellow Chicagoan Curtis Mayfield. They had one of sweetest voices in soul music with Eugene Record, but their 1971 release showed a different side of the band, both in terms of lyrical content and production on tracks like "We Are Neighbors". Ironically, the biggest single on the album was "Have You Seen Her?", a sweet soul ballad which topped the R&B charts. "(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People" was the best album the Chi-Lites ever released, and it's finally coming back to vinyl for the first time in decades. The music sounds better than ever on this 180gram audiophile-grade vinyl pressing, mastered from original analog tapes.

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Bruno Mars commemorates the 10th anniversary of his milestone solo debut, Doo-Wops and Hooligans. The album spawned a string of blockbuster hit singles and companion videos, including Just The Way You Are, Grenade, The Lazy Song, Talking to the Moon, Marry You, and Count On Me.

Beyond the timeless classic hits such as "Respect," "A Natural Woman," "Chain Of Fools," "Think," "Daydreaming" and "Freeway Of Love" among the dozens of chart-topping records that have established her as a cultural icon, Aretha Franklin's catalog of over forty albums in forms listeners of her unmatched, unparalleled artistry as an interpreter of song, bar none. Her elevation to 'royal' status is indeed not just a function of her hit making ability but of her unique inventiveness as a musician who fuses art and soul seamlessly. Indeed, it's often been said that Aretha could take 'happy birthday' and turn it into a veritable opus and while those who know her will testify to her culinary skills in the kitchen, it is her mastery as a musical chef that is evident on each and every one of those forty-plus albums, many of which have achieved gold and platinum status.

Thundercat is set to release his new album It Is What It Is on Brainfeeder Records on April 3, 2020, and shares the first music; 'Black Qualls (featuring Steve Lacy and Steve Arrington). The album, produced by Flying Lotus and Thundercat, features musical contributions from Ty Dolla $ign, Childish Gambino, Lil B, Kamasi Washington, Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington, BADBADNOTGOOD, Louis Cole and Zack Fox. It Is What It Is follows his game-changing third album Drunk (2017). That record completed his transition from virtuoso bassist to bonafide star and cemented his reputation as a unique voice that transcends genre. 'This album is about love, loss, life and the ups and downs that come with that,' Bruner says. 'It's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but at different points in life you come across places that you don't necessarily understand' some things just aren't meant to be understood.'

From the first second of Kandace Springs' new album — as those warm, hand-plucked bass notes fill the air — you know you've arrived at something different. And once she starts singing, well, it's pretty clear The Women Who Raised Me exists apart from the normal rules that govern space, time, and talent. While 2018's Indigo LP found the Nashville singer-pianist using modern production to bend sound into new genre forms in collaboration with Karriem Riggins, this set adheres sonically to jazz while Springs travels back and forth across a near-century of music. While the feel is as rich and complex as our host's voice, the concept is simple. Springs covers the women who inspired her while she was growing up, putting her own spin on songs associated with a dozen of the greatest female vocalists of all-time: Ella Fitzgerald, Roberta Flack, Astrud Gilberto, Lauryn Hill, Billie Holiday, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Carmen McRae, Bonnie Raitt, Sade, Nina Simone, and Dusty Springfield.

Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter, Jessie Reyez will unveil her debut album Before Love Came To Kill Us on March 27th.   The album includes the RIAA Gold-certified single "Imported" with 6LACK and capitalizes on the release of the acclaimed Kiddo and Being Human in Public EPs which have garnered more than 750 million combined global streams to date.   The Toronto-born, Colombian-bred powerhouse has racked up award nominations and wins including  Juno Awards (Breakthrough Artist winner), MTV Video Music Awards, BET Awards, iHeart Radio Music Awards and more.   She's also flexed her songwriting prowess on records for other artists including Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa's  "One Kiss", Calvin Harris & Sam Smith "Promises", Normani's "Slow Down" and more.    Her list of collaborators include Eminem, Daniel Caesar, 6LACK, Kehlani, Karol G, Tainy, Pink $weats and more.

Enhanced with PlayARt - Augmented Reality

Craft Recordings is thrilled to announce the release of a vinyl box set celebrating one of music’s greatest gospel and soul groups, The Staple Singers. Set for a December 6th release date, Come Go With Me: The Stax Collection presents all of the group’s studio albums released on the iconic Memphis label, spanning 1968–1974, and features the Staples’ biggest hits, including “I’ll Take You There,” “Respect Yourself” and “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me).” The six studio albums were cut from the original analog masters by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl. The final, seventh disc offers rarities, non-album singles and several live recordings from the legendary 1972 Wattstax music festival. The seven discs come in heavyweight 180-gram vinylpressed at Memphis Record Pressing. Housed in a slipcase, the collection also includes a deluxe booklet with archival photos and new liner notes from American music specialist and curator Levon Williams (formerly of the Stax Museum and the National Museum of African American Music), and folklorist, ethnomusicologist and writer Dr. Langston Wilkins. The complete collection will also be released digitally, and the six studio albums will be available in hi-res 24-bit/192 kHz and 24-bit/96 kHz formats for the first time.

Charged up by gospel grandiosity, sun-kissed island grooves, and R&B soul, Nicole Bus wields such a voice. An empathetic writer, powerhouse vocalist, talented multi-instrumentalist, and impassioned performer, the Dutch-born multicultural songstress delivers a striking signature style on her 2019 debut for Roc Nation. It paved the way for her debut album, KAIROS, which Nicole co-executive-produced and co-produced along with Needlz who produced the entire album.

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2XLP

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RED/BLACK SWIRL

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CLEAR VINYL

Double vinyl LP pressing. 2019 release from the British indie and folk rock singer/songwriter and record producer. Kiwanuka was produced by Danger Mouse and Inflo, who previously worked with Kiwanuka on Love & Hate. "The last album came from an introspective place and felt like therapy, I guess," Kiwanuka said in a statement. "This one is more about feeling comfortable in who I am and asking what I want to say. Like, how could I be bold and challenge myself and the listener? It is about self-acceptance in a more triumphant rather than melancholy way. It's an album that explores what it means to be a human being today." He has been nominated for numerous honors, including the Brit Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, Mercury Prize, BBC Music Awards. In January 2012, he won the BBC's Sound of 2012.

2019 release, the much-anticipated major label debut album from the R&B artist. Writing candidly about anxiety, depression, self-awareness and self-love, he seeks to turn around the ugliness and loneliness that can limit peoples' growth at every strata of society. Surfacing also finds him collaborating with the aptly titled production and writing team known as The Gifted (James Bairian/Louis Castle) and other production from Toulouse, KillaGraham, Christoph Andersson, Heavy Mellow, Tim Randolph, Scott Hoffman, and R. LUM. R himself.

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DELUXE

The sequel to Pastor Barrett's landmark 1971 masterpiece Like A Ship..., Do Not Pass Me By finds the young Chicago preacher and his Youth for Christ Choir continuing their genre-bending spiritual journey. Heavy drums, soaring falsettos, euphoric tambourines, sharp horns, and Barrett's unwavering devotion dance around a 40-piece choir, working together to form sanctified slab of gospel funk. Pressed in a minuscule quantity in 1973, Do Not Pass Me By was sold primarily from the pulpit of Barrett's Mt. Zion Baptist Church, disappearing into Chicago's south side for 45 years before Numero's excavation. The ten-song album has been remastered, it's generic album cover updated to match Barrett's vision. On the back of the jacket, he insisted on the following words: "After listening to this album you will be glad that you did not pass it by!"

Vinyl LP pressing. Five decades after she became a '60s icon with the timeless pop hits "The First Cut Is The Deepest" and "Angel Of The Morning" on Rolling Stones manager Andrew Oldham's ultra-hip Immediate label, soul singer P.P. Arnold returns with a double-album of stunning new material featuring contributions from, among others, Paul Weller, Ocean Colour Scene's Steve Cradock, The Specials and P.P's songwriter son, Kodzo. Titled The New Adventures Of... P.P. Arnold, the album crowns an extraordinary career that has seen the singer back Ike & Tina Turner as one of The Ikettes, record with Mick Jagger, the Small Faces, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Barry Gibb and Primal Scream, and provide her distinctive backing vocals for Billy Ocean, Peter Gabriel, the KLF, Paul Weller and, most recently, Roger Waters.

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Buoyed by the smashing success of his recent trio of EPs – The Monologue, The Paradox and The Boy Who Cried Freedom – Nigerian-born British singer-songwriter Jacob Banks released his eagerly awaited full album debut, Village, on Interscope Records. Jacob’s powerful vocals and genre-bending style quickly received widespread praise everywhere from Billboard, The FADER, Complex, Interview, PAPER and NYLON, and TIME Magazine. This fall Jacob will embark on the Village worldwide tour.

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Vinyl LP pressing. There is desperation and urgency in Fantastic Negrito's new album Please Don't Be Dead. The record sees the Devil around the corner, and each song is a plea to make you aware of what's waiting for you. The artist is screaming at you because he knows what comes next. The album art features a real life photograph of Fantastic Negrito waking up from a three week coma. His body is shattered, his eyes are staring past you. They're staring at the darkness that awaits. But with his new album we hear the voice of an artist who put that darkness in the rearview. Now he's asking America to do the same.

Joey Dosik honed his craft as part of a burgeoning Los Angeles scene that reinvents classic popular music to thrive in the present tense. With Inside Voice, Dosik delivers a level of depth rarely achieved in a debut, and the result is an instant classic by any standard. It’s brimming with emotions that linger and hum. It’s catchy as hell and can haunt you for days. You can take a casual listen or spend hours on repeat. Either way, Inside Voice will get you, because Joey Dosik writes human music for human beings. And boy does he write the hell out of it. Title track “Inside Voice” builds gradually into 1970s-style soul, as Dosik’s remarkable vocal range hovers over a sparse arrangement. It’s quiet but — in keeping with the song’s concept, which Dosik describes as “deep, sexual, but also kind of silly”— it’s also a thrilling, intimate moment. “Take Mine” plays with negative space and a repetitive, gut-punching melody; what feels like a love song is actually a plea for unity against the turbulent backdrop of present-day politics. Throughout, Dosik does a remarkable job of honoring and evolving classic sounds, letting his uncanny gift for songwriting guide the way.