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Recipe for win: timeless jazz standards + immediately recognizable hip-hop instrumentals + a coquettish singing voice reminiscent of a young Jill Scott. Just Go...A Mixtape is the dish and Philly songstress Shalonda the newest cook in the kitchen. Hard to believe the 7-song EP is her first project. It's a stunningly well done and unique mashup compilation that marries oft-covered staples like "God Bless the Child" and "Strangers in the Night" with the familiar tribal heartbeat of Kanye's "Love Lockdown" and the Jay-Z's rock hard "D.O.A.," respectively. "Fever," a long-standing personal favorite of mine, has been covered and re-imagined hundreds of times but never quite like this--riding over Kid Cudi's "Day and Night"--and even getting chopped and screwed in the last 30 seconds. And who would've known "Misty Blue" would work so well and be so hauntingly stellar over the sparse "Say You Will" instrumental? Who is this chick? Imaginatively weird bio on her site aside, she's a relative mystery but I did find her on Twitter. So just go download Just Go...A Mixtape, experience it in its entirety (runtime is less than half an hour total) and let her know what you think of it. Support new artists with an original take. I guarantee you've never heard these songs quite like this before.
http://soulbounce.com/soul/2009/10/just_go_download_shalondas_mixtape.php - Soul Bounce
Shalonda’s recently released Just Go…A Mixtape is one of the more interesting things to come through my inbox this year. Combing hip hop beats, jazz standards and the Philly native’s beautiful voice, it’s a wonderful example of a great idea with even better execution. Choices like combing Peggy Lee’s “Fever” with Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘n’ Nite” or Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” with Jay-Z’s “Death Of Autotune” seem interesting when read about on your computer screen, and amazing when you hear the results on your speakers. Even more impressive is the fact that Shalonda did the entire project from her bedroom on GarageBand.
The price of the album makes downloading it a no brainer; you can snag the mixtape, free of charge, at Shalonda’s Bandcamp page. You can also learn more about the young artist at her website and follow her on twitter. - Phrequency.com (Division of Philly.com)
While twiddling around google for work, I came across this album cover in the image search. I clicked on it [duhhh] and liked what I was led to. I came across familiar beats with powerful vocals. Shalonda's youthful voice is rife with depth and soul that can be showcased with the best of her Philly veterans and hold her own. The tracks on Just Go range from: “Say You Will” Kanye West meets “Misty Blue” as performed by Dorothy Moore to “Dey Know” Shawty Lo meets “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess. It's a real treat, take a listen and download HERE.
http://bamalovesoul.blogspot.com/2009/11/shalonda-just-go-mixtape.html - BamaLovesSoul.com
Confused? I was too, but after taking a listen I don’t care. This 7-track EP is a beautiful marriage of jazz standards with hip-hop beats … essential listening and FREE to boot (just click download below).
http://souluk1984.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/get-to-know-shalonda/ - SoulUK1984.com
Link to interview and guest dj set:http://truthseekersradio.org/archives/913 - 90.7 KPFK Los Angeles
Check out Philly native, Los Angeles transplant Shalonda crooning vintage songs like "Fever" by Peggy Sue over the hottest beats like Kid Cudis "Day N N... Very creative way to do a vocal mixtape. Singers should take notes! This may be her debut effort mixtape, but I guarantee it's not the first and last you hear from her. Download the entire mixtape here.
http://www.yearoftheblacksmith.com/profiles/blogs/shalonda-just-goa-mixtape - yearoftheblacksmith.com
Discography
Just Go...A Mixtape
Photos
Bio
Contrary to widespread belief, Shalonda isn't biologically a fish. She gets her fishy looks from the seven years she spent living in the belly of Elliot, a giant deep-water Song Trout. These incredible creatures are named for the haunting angelic tones produced when they try to breathe out of water. Folklore asserts that whenever the fish were caught they were always released because their song was so divine that no God-fearing waterman (or waterlady) ever dared to keep them.
Naturally, with not much else to do in the belly of a fish, Shalonda took to learning the intricacies of the trout's song, which she felt in vibrations, every time the fish was caught.
On the day that Elliot would die (of natural causes at the ripe old age of 110), he beached himself in North Philadelphia (don't ask) and gently vomited her up. Elliot's last, most beautiful song, is the song (in variations, of course) that Shalonda now shares in his honor.
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