We are just a few short weeks from the end of 2020, what a year right? It felt as if this year was filled with a ton of heartbreaks, but if this year taught me anything, it taught me that we our resilient. Human impact is important, not just for us, but for our environment and how we handle or day to day business. Though this year may have not gone the way we planned, we made the most of it. 

Music in 2020

The music industry faced a tough road this year too. Covid took away many of the venues and festivals that we would attend in normal circumstances. Yet, despite the inconveniences, many artists found new platforms to share their music. From the Verzuz battles, to the many Tik Tok challenges, artist have been able to communicate with their fans on an intimate level.  As great as these new innovations are, artists still need your support.

St. Louis Returns to R&B

I wanted to take this week to focus on a genre that has been rising back to the top. For the last few years on the St. Louis music scene I have been noticing the resurgence of R&B. There are several artist contributing to this renaissance, and I want to shed a light on a few. 

Blacluve

Blacluve pronounced (Black Love), is a collective made up of the two lead singers JLR aka BruvahLee, and MK (Ms. Kriss).  Rhashad (Nerdee), Teddy Vee, James Daugherty of Cambroook Productions, and DJ Reminisce make up the production and creative components of the group. The Blacluve collective formed out of the lack of substance they felt was missing from R&B, that boom clack soul

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BlacLuve’s  first project, “Blacluve” focused on that organic sound from the 90’s, bringing that raw soul we have come to love from that era. On their most recent project “Blacluve, Vol 2.” they have focused on creating more of those harmonizing love songs we crave, and I suggest you check out their lead single “Vibrate” posted above.


Mar Q

Mar Q

Mar-Q is another rising talent coming from the St. Louis region. His EP “Welcome” released back in 2019 is how I got familiar with this young artist. I began vibin’ to his catchy single “4 Dollaz” were he talks about being down on his luck, and I have been following him ever since.

His latest single “Nobody” is another catchy song and shows that Mar-Q has some staying power. With stellar production and a solid team backing him, I can see Mar-Q  contending with the likes of the Chris Browns, and Ushers of the world


Be.Be

My final pick of the week is an artist by the name of Be.Be. When I saw her visuals for her song “I Wantcha”, I thought to myself, I know how it feels to fall down skating. Back to the subject though, it was Be. Be’s voice that really caught my attention. She has a powerful voice that will pull you in and that is why I think Be.Be is a force to be reckoned with. Be. Be’s latest song “Hotseat” is another one of my favorites, dealing with her man’s infidelity, this song is sure to be an anthem for the ladies.  

Well, this is it for this week, I will try to spotlight some more artist in the coming weeks. Until then you can stream my playlist on Spotify.


DeWarren Smith