Kiah Victoria - "Lover's Anthem"

It's Valentine's Day, one of my absolute favorite holidays, and as expected there are a bunch of new tracks and projects releasing today to join in on the love parade. It is my job to find and showcase the best of the indie group and I am of the mind that I am very good at what I do.

Kiah Victoria kicks off today's posts with "Lover's Anthem." It's a minimalist rhythm based track that really shines with Kiah's silky smooth harmonies. She's masterful at that and it's propelling her into superstardom. As a matter of fact, she's currently vying for an mtvU Woodie Award. Please listen to this track and support her by voting. It's free and you'll score good karma and she's dope as all hell!

Anyway, jump into the track and free download below. Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

XOXO,

Rox

Click Here to Download

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.

Kiah Victoria - "Rooftop" Music Video

This talent moves me ... to tears even. I'm just in awe at how "free of..." Kiah Victoria is. She's the proof that the world is far more beautiful when you open yourself up to receive it and it's truly amazing and inspiring what she can do. Less than 24 hours away from the release of her debut EP 'Look Up,' Kiah Victoria releases this stunning audio/visual experience titled "Rooftop." It's unlike anything I've heard in a long time. When I tell you this girl is GONE, I mean she is moving at the speed of light.

The songwriting and composition on this song are borderline Classical. For me, it's very rare in popular music to hear work this complex on a technical level but so easily accessible on an emotional level. "Rooftop" whispers sweet nothings to the soul.

This is the lover's song of summer. Hearing is believing so click the play button and let Kiah Victoria take you away.

Kiah Victoria - "Thinkin Bout You" Music Video (Cover)

image via artist's website

The last two weeks have been overloaded with talk of Frank Ocean. Between his "announcement" and the release of 'Channel Orange' there was more than enough ammo for fanboys/girls and haters alike. During that span, and given the amount of music I search for and listen to daily, I've heard TONS of covers of the ubiquitous "Thinkin Bout You." Let alone that this song released almost a year ago.

Many of the covers are very good. None of them were as good as this. Not Yuna. Not Karina Pasian. Not Braelyn. Not Tori Kelly. Not n'an nudda soul. NONE. Again, many are really good and most of them are over 500k views on YouTube. What Kiah Victoria has done is on another level, however. She has taken ownership of this song. Move over Frank Ocean. You wrote a great song for Kiah.

This is what inspires me to do what I do. I aspire daily to have this level of mastery here on this blog.

 The entire production is other worldly. The restructuring, composition, harmonies, timing ... all impeccable. I'm entirely entranced by this version and instead of heading to bed for the night, I'm looping this song and dreaming of another time and place. It's 1:30 am at the time of this writing and I should be in REM sleep already!

Kiah Victoria's ability to strip this song down and build it up again into this stunning arrangement is nothing short of amazing. She did something very different while maintaining the quiet, melody and simplicity of the original song. Sink your teeth into this and fall in love with Kiah. I know I did....

www.kiahvictoria.com

Kiah on Twitter