Baiyu - "This Feeling"

New month, new music from Baiyu. The streak continues with "This Feeling" and oh, what a feeling it is! The Chinese-American soul singer absolutely crushes this one with a breathy performance that puts me in the mind of Phil Collins' classic "Take Me Home" with it's rhythmic lead line. The big kick of the bass drum is driven by the sweeping pads and just takes off with the chorus.

"This Feeling" is the much more pleasant upside to the previous release, "Mourning Hangover." After the pain of heartbreak, we get to experience the joy of new love. Another fantastic lyric from Baiyu and soaring production.

Get the stream and download below and mark your calendars for June 1st...

Baiyu - "Cold Hearted"

Success isn't easy. It takes a largely selfish type of commitment that most people can't handle. Just think about the most successful people in any craft. They all were/are deeply committed to their craft. Whether it be art, or sports or fashion, the most successful of the bunch generally sacrifice many other things to give the proper time and energy to honing their skills.

Likely, the most challenging thing to balance with success is love. Relationships are difficult enough on their own but that difficulty is multiplied many times over when coupled with ambition. Love and success often become adversaries in competition for attention.

Baiyu tackles this theme in her new monthly release "Cold Hearted." Easily one of the most personable and genuine people I've ever met, Baiyu quips, "A lot of times people are intrigued by my lightheartedness despite everything I've been tasked and blessed with in life. At the same time, somehow I feel very closed in and hardened when it comes to love." 

Check the stream and free download below. Happy Monday!

Baiyu - "Surface"

It's crazy how this year is flying by. It's March already! As promised, a new month means new music from Baiyu.

This time we're hit with a rhythm heavy uptempo track called "Surface." A tribal feeling poetic song produced by Polo Crew about finding one's way through trials and tribulations (whatever they may be) to the truth. Navigating the darkness to find glory in the light.

As usual, Baiyu completely aces it and adds another significant ribbon to her already heavily decorated rack. She's lookin' like the Champ out here for 2013!

This is my favorite release so far. I feel like this could have been slotted in her last album 'Hunter' which I do not remove from my car, by the way. I feel like she could have easily switched "Surface" with "Lost in Lisbon." It's a really strong track and while I love pretty much everything that she touches, I'm really motivated by her uptempo work.

Get into the free stream and download below...  

Baiyu - "Mourning Hangover"

At this point, Baiyu is just not playing fair. This 2nd release in her 2013 series of monthly releases called "Mourning Hangover" is SO EFFIN' FLY! I happened to be up last night when the track hit YouTube and I was swept off of my feet at first listen. Her work with producer KQuick is always epic.

February is here which means we can expect a LOT of songs about love and relationships as everyone gears up for Valentine's Day. Many of them will stink. (You won't hear about those from me.) Some of them will be really good. Others still are this level of dope.

One of the greatest elements of Baiyu's songwriting is her mastery of metaphors. In style and approach, "Mourning Hangover" reminds me of "Mind Freak" from her latest album 'Hunter.' Brilliant writing that marries two separate themes with wordplay.

She's got another hit on her hands with this one! Check it out....

Top 5 Indie R&B Singles of 2012

5. Jaiden - "Melody" feat. Yummy Bingham

This song just feels so good to me. It's so much fun and the vocal performances are really cool. Jaiden is an extremely talented musician and his song writing ability is top notch as well. "Melody" released at the top of 2012 and I remember it being a great start to my year. Thank you Jaiden and Yummy for setting the tone early.  



4. Baiyu - "Make Believe" feat. Paul Kim

Singer, songwriter, model, Harvard grad, tech guru, video editor, CW's The Next contestant and all around bad ass Baiyu had a very big year. The amount of quality work she turned out in 2012 was absolutely amazing. Of the singles released throughout the year, "Make Believe" was my favorite. This girl is so dope! 



3. Bad Rabbits - "We Can Roll"

I lost my mind the first time I heard this song. It's loud, funky and so very different. Bad Rabbits completely killed it with this track. Their on tour starting in February and I will be stopping in to get a dose of this live. I'm going to need somebody to come with me... to pick me up after I pass out. This track is so ridiculous.



2. Kiah Victoria - "Thinkin' About You"

This song is much better than a number 2 slot, but since it's a cover I'm going to slot it here. I have the utmost respect for Kiah Victoria's ability though. This is Frank Ocean's HUGE single from Channel Orange but Kiah makes it entirely her own. I maintain that she did it much better than Frank. Fight me.



1. Cocoa Sarai - "Raining in my Room"

I had heard this song many times before but it transformed for me one night at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia. Cocoa Sarai spoke about the inspiration for the song when she wrote it and how it took on a different life after the death of her mother. The performance that ensued completely destroyed me. I was reminded of a very difficult time in my life and I spent the next few minutes sobbing like a baby.

After her set, I went back stage, still sobbing, and I thanked her. The thank you was for reminding me of how important music is to my life. This is my R&B indie single of the year. Thanks again, Cocoa.

Baiyu - "Again"

Happy new year! 2013 is here and an entire world of opportunity awaits. As usual, you can expect me to be here curating the soundtrack to your highs and lows throughout the year.

To kick things off in top form, I have new music from one of my absolute favorite artists, Baiyu. "Again" is the first single released outside of her last project "Hunter." Baiyu is always working and evolving her sound and she's promised that we will get to watch the process more closely this year. How so, you ask? She'll be releasing a new song ever month.

Hell yeah!

Check out the free stream and download of the fantastic new track below.

Baiyu - 'Hunter'

Primal. That is how I'd sum up this 3rd effort from Chinese born Soul singer Baiyu.

'Hunter' is a large departure from the wildly successful 'Fan Fair.' It's far more ambitious and incredibly bold. On this release, you really experience Baiyu pushing herself and the envelope from the album's open to its almost too brief close. Producer KQuick handles a large chunk of the album's production and he and Baiyu did a phenomenal job of keeping the main theme tied in across the whole project. Listeners truly get the feeling of being barefoot and sexy in the jungle.

'Fan Fair' was Baiyu's "testing the waters" release, 'Hunter' is the "I've arrived" release. The clear concept, stellar production and strong features all contribute to the brilliant flow of the album. I was all in from the opening 8 bars but "Make Believe" featuring American Idol season six contestant Paul Kim was my instant repeat track. While her duet with Boss star Rotimi is doing insane numbers around the web, "Make Believe" is the stronger offering in my book. There's a heft to it and striking melody/harmony component that is unmatched on the project. The rest of the album is a great blend of up and down tempo tracks.

The only gripe I had with the album was with some of the mixes. The sonic balance was off at times. A minor thing on an album good in a major way. Baiyu truly nailed the performances and writing for 'Hunter.' You already know this is Rox Fontaine approved or else you wouldn't be reading this.

Free stream and download link below and a brief recap of her album release party down bottom. Enjoy!

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Baiyu's album release party was held at Custo Barcelona in SOHO. The store was packed from wall to wall with tastemakers from all corners of the entertainment industry and I was fortunate enough to be on the scene taking in the sights and sounds. The event was hosted by Power 105.1 late night hostess Cherry Martinez and DJ Boof of The Wendy Williams Show. Sponsors included Vitamin Water, Ty Ku and Sprayground among a host of others. Check out these select photos from the night....

Baiyu making her entrance.

Par-City and Baiyu

Baiyu blows a kiss to ThisIs50's Jack Thriller.

DJ Boof and Baiyu give a B-Boy stance.

Spag-Lo (c.) and friends.

 Kelly Harper

Cherry Martinez and Baiyu

Glamo

Baiyu - "Take a Number" Music Video

image via www.baiyuonline.com

It's been a minute since we last got a visual from Baiyu. We've seen that she's deliberate and calculated in her career moves and it has definitely paid off for her. Her FreEP "Fan Fair" was downloaded a phenomenal 200k+ times! That just goes to show you that working a project for it's full lifespan makes all the difference in the world.

"Take a Number" is Baiyu's club anthem for all the girls with scores of lame suitors. The video does not feature Fred the Godson, who's featured on the album version. Either way, Baiyu is a super dope vocalist that stands on her own and I definitely see a breakout on the horizon. If you haven't downloaded "Fan Fair" already, hit the stream/download link below to get yourself up to speed. Enjoy....