"Everyone Prays in the End"

Despite being incredibly unassuming, if Sam Smith wanted to make a Gospel album, he'd have people lining up to buy the album. Many times before he's shown a deeply soulful side, but he took it to another level on Pray. With the backing of a church choir, he literally took everyone to church.

On the track he leverages the common theme of relying on religion in a time of need. On first listen there was something different about the track that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Maybe it was the seemingly out of place "huh? vocal sample throughout? Maybe it was the percussion heavy bridge? Whatever it was, it led me to dig deeper. Needless to say, I almost lost my sh*t when I found out Timbaland chipped in on the production. It's obviously a great move for Sam given the track record Timbo has with countless artists. It's the second single off Sam's upcoming The Thrill of It All album that will be dropping on November 3rd. Go ahead and pre-order/pre-save the album while checking out the list of tour dates for Summer 2018. Let's just say, it won't be a matter of if I'll be seeing Sam in concert, it'll be when and where...#TheThrillOfItAll



Sam Smith - Pray (prod by Jimmy Napes & Timbaland)

"I Think You Could Be, the Making of Me"

Not to take anything away from Sam Smith or Disclosure for their accomplishments as artists, but Jimmy Napes deserves a great deal of credit for their success. Having listened to a few solo tracks by Jimmy, I now have a better understanding of why Sam brought Jimmy up on stage to accept Grammy awards. Not everyone has a producer that deserves the mic at The Grammys, but Jimmy Napes sure did.

After listening to his newest song below, it's easier to quantify how influential he has been on other peoples' music. Great hooks, swanky deep house vibes and just enough harmony to get everyone singing along. The Making of Me checks all those boxes and will serve as the title track for his four song The Making of Me EP that is scheduled to hit e-stores on March 8th. If you take anything away from this post, it should be the impact that solid production has on making talented artists into industry leading artists that win Grammys...#TheMakingOfMe

Jimmy Napes - The Making of Me

Full Round of Applause, Give it Up for Jimmy Napes

If you've been following this blog for longer than a week, you've probably become aware of my appreciation for the talented individuals in music that exist behind the scenes and never get the credit they deserve for the value they add to music becoming successful. I'm talking about both producers, who make instrumentals catchy enough for the listener to give the artists a chance, and song writers who craft those perfect hooks and bridges that allow those vocalists to shine for three to four minutes at a time. The most recent example of a song writer coming to the forefront to make a name for himself is Jimmy Napes. He's been a driving force behind a lot of the music that well-known superstars like Disclosure, Sam Smith and Mary J Blige have released.

With the help of one half of Disclosure (Howard Lawrence), Jimmy came through with a lead single off his upcoming The Making of Me EP. Give it Up is every bit as bubbly, funky and easy-listening as you'd hope. The track fits tempo-wise with a lot of new Disclosure and MJB songs that have been released lately. A great comp would be MJB's new track Follow, which has a subtly funky bassline that is a bit more uptempo, but has a mellow house feel to it. Don't sleep on the vocals either, Jimmy isn't your average ghostwriter as he proves below that he can carry a track by himself...#GiveItUp

Jimmy Napes - Give It Up (prod by Howard Lawrence of Disclosure)

Mary J Blige & Disclosure Make Classy Music Together

Classy musicians make classy music together. I can't think of a better word to describe both Mary J Blige and Disclosure than classy. Mary J has been executing ballads for damn near two decades, while Disclosure has been providing deep house anthems for swanky clubs over the past few years.

We've already witnessed two collaborations between the two talents in the form of F For You and Right Now. Follow seems to be more similar to F For You in that there's a palpable amount of funk to compliment the groovy bassline. If you're looking for a good reason to purchase Mary J's upcoming album The London Sessions, you'll find all that you need below...#Follow

Mary J Blige feat Disclosure - Follow

"Let's Unwind Together"

Time for a little grown-folks funk to get the week headed in the right direction. Although the name value of the artists featured in the track below may suggests that the song is epic, it's more of an easy-listening, electro-funk effort. The combination of Sam Smith vocals, Disclosure's electronic influence and Nile Rodgers (of Daft Punk)'s shot of funk give the track has a lot of traction. It may not be as awesome as Latch, but it's a still a pretty noteworthy collabo...#Together

Sam Smith x Nile Rodgers x Disclosure x Jimmy Napes - Together