1) Lenny Kravitz is releasing two albums in 2008. His first release “It’s Time For A Love Revolution,” is expected to drop in February. The second release, “Funk” has long been anticipated by uber obsessed fervent Lenny Kravitz fans such as me. Back in 2002 Lenny announced his next album was going to be “Funk,” but instead of releasing “Funk” he released “Baptism.” “Baptism” was a pretty good album, but I wanted “Funk.” Once both albums are released, I will have all nine Lenny Kravitz studio albums and “VICTORY WILL BE MINE :^D!!!”

2) Martin Luther (McCoy) will hopefully be releasing “Serial Thriller” or at least songs from it. Martin can thrill me anytime he wants with his music . His voice is so beautiful. I would pay him to sing the phone book to me. In terms of live performance, he and his band are on fiyah! Martin is staring in the recently released film, “Across The Universe.” Promotion for the film has given him mainstream exposure on such shows as Good Morning America and Oprah. Watching him perform on Oprah, I was so excited for him. Like other musicians, I am sure he has worked plenty hard to get to where he is in his career. Hopefully all the exposure he has received from being a part of “Across The Universe” takes his career even higher.

3) Raheem DeVaughn is going to release “Love Behind The Melody” on November 27, 2007. I became a huge fan of Raheem with his last album, “The Love Experience” and his mixtapes. Hopefully I will finally get a chance to experience Raheem live.

4) Van Hunt will release his third album, “Popular” in January 2008. I am a fan of Van’s first two albums, and hopefully with the release of his third album, he will fully experience what being “Popular” is all about.

5) Hopefully the following artists will release new material in 2008;

Anthony Hamilton, Gnarls Barkley, Dozie, Kelis, Corinne Bailey Rae, Maxwell, Jimi Hendrix…hey if Maxwell can release new material, anything is possible.

1. Anthony Hamilton – Ain’t Nobody Worryin’
2. Bob Marley and the Wailers – Legend
3. Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere
4. Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced
5. Jimi Hendrix – Axis: Bold As Love
6. Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland
7. Jimi Hendrix – First Rays Of The New Rising Sun
8. Lenny Kravitz – 5
9. Lenny Kravitz – Are You Gonna Go My Way
10. Lenny Kravitz – Lenny
11. Lenny Kravitz – Let Love Rule
12. Lenny Kravitz – Mama Said
13. Lionel Richie – The Definitive Collection
14. Martin Luther – Rebel Soul Music
15. Michael Jackson – History: Book I and II
16. Prince – The Very Best Of
17. Raheem DeVaughn – The Love Experience
18. Sade – The Best Of Sade
19. Stevie Wonder – Song Review : A Greatest Hits Collection
20. Van Hunt – Van Hunt

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If I got lucky, these ten honorable mentions would be on it too.

1. Anthony Hamilton – Comin’ From Where I’m From
2. Carlos Santana – Shaman
3. Coldplay – A Rush Of Blood To The Head
4. Corinne Bailey Rae – Corinne Bailey Rae
5. Ricky Martin – Ricky Martin
6. Seal – Best : 1999 – 2004
7. The Beatles – 1
8. Tony Toni Tone – House Of Music
9. Usher – Confessions
10. Van Hunt – On The Jungle Floor

     Now that I am much older, my lyrics are representative of nature. There is always some reference to the Sun, moon, stars, clouds…air…etcetera in my songs. At times I get tired of my nature themed lyrics because they are so different from what is being heard today in “mainstreamland.” My songwriting seems like it came out of the sixties mainly due to my internalization of Jimi Hendrix and early Lenny Kravitz songs. Even the spirit of The Beatles and Janis Joplin can be felt in my writing…talk about being born too late. I have tried to write more up-to-date, contemporary songs, but it’s not my throwback style.

     I’m the type of person who likes to take pictures of the outdoors because it gives me a chance to, if even temporarily, get away from it all and visually get lost in the scenery. I have a very vivid imagination, so for me a great song needs to take me there, wherever there is. I tend to visualize songs I hear, so much so that I have created several video concepts for them.

     From listening to countless songs over my lifetime, there have been many songs I wish I had written. Songs of that nature seem to sum me up, and say what I would or should have said. Great lyrics can be used as an anthem, a personal motto, and even to fill in the blank when one word just won’t do. Who knows; maybe one day my nature themed lyrics will change the world.

Being that I am so dependent on my car for transportation, I need continuous uninterrupted music to get me through stop and go. While in my car, I like that I am able to play my custom Mp3 mixes and fulfill my musical cravings at will. Conversely I find relying solely on local radio leaves me bored and at the mercy of corporate sponsors.

When I was much younger (during the late 80s and 90s), I would listen to whatever was playing on the radio because I actually liked the content. Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer, Bad Boy, Death Row, Cash Money, No Limit…I was into it because it was what all my peers were into. But in 1999 I experienced Jimi Hendrix and was never quite the same. With my new craving for Hendrix and all things that rock, I began exploring the radio airwaves in search of something new, something more than just hip hop and R&B.

Like many people, I think the music I grew up on is way better than what today’s kids are exposed to. My local San Francisco Bay Area ghetto, hyphy, yellow bus madness dominating the hip hop and R&B stations no longer does it for me. I’m too old for all of that. Perhaps if I were younger I would “ghost ride the whip,” wear my “stunna shades at night,” and have my “chicken noodle soup with a soda on the side.”

I love rock. I love pop, R&B, reggae, and on and on. However if I depended on what my local radio stations served, like a TV dinner…(you know; no thought, no creativity…pre-packaged to go), I would never taste Latin rock, British pop, Ska punk, and oh and most importantly…Van Hunt (sorry, I couldn’t resist…I’m an eVANgelist).

“Down Here in Hell” it’s a thousand degrees On The Jungle Floor. So hot, San Francisco’s fog tried to save the day in “Her December.” The roof was on fire, red red trucks raced across town. Too late, Van burned the house down.

San Francisco open your Golden Gate for a new sensational movement is sailing through over night. Sailing towards daylight, through chords and tabs, a man named Van jams a sound that’s so good it’s bad. They say Truth hurts, but it feels so right especially when joined by the two keys of Libby Nation in this 7 Nation Army’s electric fight. Orion paint the sounds of your galaxy through the cosmic “Out of the Sky” rhythmic movements your drum makes. Duchess of Funk “If I Take You Home (Upon…)” will you guide the way to funky town one stroke at a time through delusional kaleidoscopic rifting prints drawn by a man named Paisley driven by the thunderous roar of Tracy’s earth stomping, bellowing sound.

“What Can I Say,” this man named Van Hunt or is it Van Damn is “Out of the Sky.” Music so “Precious” it’s more than a rhythmic “Highlight.” Mesmerizing eradiations of funk were released through the foggy ‘Frisco night, leaving a familiar glow…a touch…the taste, the taste, the taste of a yearning and trembling desire for more. “Seconds of Pleasure” don’t leave “Animosity” in a “Man’s World.” Under the “Hot Stage Lights” the 7 Nation Army led by Van took you “Higher” than a “Daredevil, Baby” “At the End of a Slow Dance” on this outrageous, industry shattering “Ride, Ride, Ride.”

Whether he be a “Priest or Police” “No Sense of Crime” should warrant any “Suspicion” of Van’s musical ambition. “The Thrill of This Love” he has for well defined, well penned, well crafted tunes fills the “Hole in My Heart” music’s latest “Mean Sleep” has put over me.

Who will love Van in winter? It’s too early to say. He’s like a “Hidden Charm” waiting for an “Intro,” an “Interlude” to take his omnipotent place above the chaos and irrational of the music world today.

Van thank you for holding my hand. “Your Love” for your fans shows true “Character.” “The Night is Young” and I can’t help “Being a Girl.” All that’s left is “Dust” and I am blown away over the edge.

“Hello, Goodbye”

Shalondra