Aloe Blacc

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Aloe Blacc: 'I Didn't Have To Bend To The Will Of The Industry'


Aloe Blacc

Aloe Blacc never had to ''bend to the will'' of the music industry when he became a singer.

The 38-year-old musician - who embarked on a solo career in 2003 - has admitted when he emerged on the scene, aged 31, he didn't have to change himself or his music to suit the music business because he already had ''perspective''.

Speaking to thedrum.com about his career, the 'The Man' hitmaker said: ''I'm just glad I was in my 30s - I was 31 - when I had my first hit, so I didn't have to bend to the will of the industry. I was a man with a perspective already.''

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Aloe Blacc seen entering the iHeartRadio Music Festival held at T-Mobile Arena Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - Saturday 24th September 2016

Aloe Blacc
Aloe Blacc

From Adrien Brody To Patricia Arquette, The 8th Hollywood Domino Gala Brings Stars Together [Photos]


Adrien Brody Patricia Arquette Natasha Bedingfield Academy Of Motion Pictures And Sciences Aloe Blacc Amaury Nolasco Jimmy Jean-louis Kevin Jonas Paul Oakenfold

In 2008, Daya Fernandez thought of a fun little variation on the traditional game of dominos. Said game involves players using the pieces to make 'movie reels' - an idea that has certainly found a home with Hollywood's elite. Over the past eight years, a Hollywood Domino Gala has taken place in London, New York, the Cannes Film Festival, Puerto Rico, but the most important an prestigious event on the calendar takes place in in Los Angeles, on the Thursday before each year's Oscar ceremony.

Patricia Arquette at the 8th Annual Hollywood Domino Gala, in Los Angeles (Credit Michael Kovac - Getty Images)
Patricia Arquette at the 8th Annual Hollywood Domino Gala, in Los Angeles (Credit Michael Kovac - Getty Images)

With the help of Swiss watchmaker Bovet 1822, the 8th Hollywood Domino Gala & Tournament at the Sunset Tower Hotel on 19th February 2015. Every year, the Gala raises money for various charities, with this year the charity of choice was Artists for Peace and Justice - an organisation intent on supporting communities in poverty-stricken areas in Haiti. 

Continue reading: From Adrien Brody To Patricia Arquette, The 8th Hollywood Domino Gala Brings Stars Together [Photos]

Get On Up Review


Very Good

With an appropriately jarring sense of energy, this James Brown biopic acutely captures the Godfather of Soul's iconic musical talents, although the fragmented script undermines any emotional kick in his story. The film also struggles to build up momentum, because it continually leaps between various chapters in Brown's life. Which means that it never quite connects these disparate episodes into one coherent narrative. Even so, Chadwick Boseman delivers an electrically charged central performance.

Boseman plays James from the time he was 16, thrown into prison for stealing a suit in 1949, until his comeback in the 1990s. Raised in a brothel run by his Aunt Honey (Octavia Spencer) after his parents (Viola Davis and Lennie James) abandoned him, James is in prison when he meets visiting gospel singer Bobby Byrd (Nelsan Ellis), who takes him in on his release. Together they form The Famous Flames, gaining small-time success as James catches the eye of a manager (Dan Aykroyd), a record executive (Fred Melamed) and the public. A string of major hits followed in the 1950s and 60s, then James went solo in the 70s before the usual issues of fame caught up with him: money, drugs and guns. But he returned to the stage in the 1990s.

The film completely skips over his Hollywood years in the 80s, which wouldn't be a problem if the decade was so notably missing from the film. As the story skips back and forth through the years, the audience is forced to make sense of the disparate scenes, filling in several holes along the way. Aside from one rather surreal scene in a Southern Gospel church, there's never much of a sense of how Brown found his voice or developed his inimitable style. It also never quite captures his impact on the music industry as a whole.

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Various Artists - The Giver: Music Collection Album Review


As someone who's long been a fan of the book, to see 'The Giver' movie finally come to fruition has been quite the nostalgic trip. Headed and ended by OneRepublic and featuring rising stars such as Tori Kelly ('Silent'), Capital Cities ('One Minute More') and other solid up-and-comers in the music industry, 'The Giver: Music Collection' has a perfect mix of superstar power and the flair of still-indie but progressively more mainstream acts to inspire confidence in its pedigree. But is that confidence warranted?

The Giver: OST Music Collection Album Review

One Republic's first track 'Ordinary Human' has a pleasant synthetic backing and uplifting, optimistic lyrics that, with a certain "sci-fi" vibe, is reminiscent of Muse combined with the nouveau-disco feel common to contemporary popular music. 'One Minute More' plants the album more firmly in the territory of contemporary pop-rock with a light, airy and upbeat tone alongside, again, positive lyrics, and some interesting mid-paced synth. From there we go into the only female vocals on the album with Tori Kelly's 'Silent', which is a competent acoustic guitar song with a country twang. Where 'Silent' takes that distinct country flavor, 'Feel What's Good' by Jake Bugg brings in a dash of classic rock in some electric guitar. It's not strictly acoustic, of course, but it maintains a certain soulful element to its lyrics that resembles that of more acoustic and instrumental music. Bruno Major's 'Children' is more stripped down, its lyrics taking center-stage over a lightly strumming guitar.

Rixton's 'Whole', oddly enough, sounds more like a OneRepublic song than the actual OneRepublic. The music seems unnecessarily slow to the point of lethargy. However, Rixton give way to album highlight Aloe Blacc's 'Here Today'; the strong vibe of gospel and blues give it a certain dynamism and very inspirational quality. 'Shine My Way' by Sheppard has a lot of the same sound, and its more subdued lyrics carry all the richness that the swinging beat demands. The album departs with two more acoustic style songs - NEEDTOBREATHE's 'Difference' and OneRepublic's closer 'I Lived'. 'Difference' is slow and somber throughout, invoking the same vibe that made 'Children' work, while 'I Lived' picks up the pace around the time it gets to the bridge.

Continue reading: Various Artists - The Giver: Music Collection Album Review

Get On Up - Featurette


The stars of the upcoming James Brown biopic 'Get On Up', Viola Davis, Nelsan Ellis and Octavia Spencer, talk about the legendary musician alongside artists Ice Cube, Pharrell, Mick Jagger, Cee-Lo Green and Aloe Blacc in a short featurette ahead of the film's release on September 26th 2014.

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Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar


Aloe Blacc releases his single 'I Need A Dollar' on 1st May 2011 through Epic Records. This is the first single from Aloe's album 'Good Things' which will also find a UK release through Epic - in the states the album was released on the popular indie label Stones Throw.

Continue: Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar

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Aloe Blacc Movies

Get On Up Movie Review

Get On Up Movie Review

With an appropriately jarring sense of energy, this James Brown biopic acutely captures the Godfather...

Get On Up Trailer

Get On Up Trailer

The stars of the upcoming James Brown biopic 'Get On Up', Viola Davis, Nelsan Ellis...

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