D'Angelo Emerges from Self-Imposed 15-year Sabbatical to Unleash Black Messiah & "Sugah Daddy" (Red Bull Music/RCA)

"Black Messiah is a Hell of a name for an album. It can easily be misunderstood. Many will think it's about religion. Some will jump to the conclusion that I'm calling myself a Black Messiah," illusive Neo-Soul/Funk singer D'Angelo explained in a statement at his Sunday night Red Bull Music Academy & Afropunk-hosted listening party. "For me, the title is about all of us. It's about the world. It's about an idea we can all aspire to. We should all aspire to be a Black Messiah... Black Messiah is not one man. It's a feeling that, collectively, we are all that leader," he powerfully continued. Black Messiah, once tentatively titled "James River," has been in-the-works for nearly 15 years; imminent release details suddenly began to trickle out over the course of this past weekend. While a brief 16-second Black Messiah teaser trailer first surfaced Friday afternoon, 1,000 downloads of piano-laden comeback single "Sugah Daddy" became available as part of Red Bull Music's 20 Before 15 series at 3:00am Sunday morning. Seemingly referring to the fact that D'Angelo and prouder-buddy ?uestlove have continually teased the completion of his third album since around 2011-12, okayplayer lamented: "For all those nonbelievers, here's 15 years of "I told ya so" rolled into one of the finest (and fawnkiest) sonic specimens you'll come across for ages." Following D'Aneglo's triumphant return to form at Bonaroo 2012, ?uestlove told Rolling Stone, "he's about to take a radical 180 turn with this record," upon citing recently discovered Classic Rock luminaries David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Captain Beefheart, and Frank Zappa as influences.

okayplayer Editor-In-Chief, Eddie "STATS"' listening party track-by-track review seems to allude to the fact that tracks #1-5 of the 12-track affair are all single contenders; while "Side B is truly the b-sides. Where the former is composer off all single-status cuts, the flip is made up of deeper and somewhat darker cuts." Its cast of characters includes Q-Tip and Funkadelic member Kendra Foster, who both contributed lyrics, as well as longtime collaborator Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, bassist Pino Palladino, and drummer James Gadson, according to a leaked lyric sheet after said Red Bull Music Academy listening party, Black Messiah saw a no frills, virtually promotion-less Beyoncé-style digital release at the stroke of 12 midnight Monday morning, while a CD/2LP release is rumored for next week (maybe even as early as Tuesday 12/16). But for those awaiting Black Messiah's digital release, not unlike myself, the full 12-track album, once referred to as "the black version of [The Beach Boys'] SMiLE," is now available for your listening pleasure on streaming platform, Spotify. "I never made a purchase off iTunes, but tonight I'll be purchasing that D'Angelo Black Messiah. Brown Sugar and VOODOO made me who I am," rapper @ActionBronson affectionately proclaimed upon his purchase.

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of

All-around Breakdown: Sean Martin Discusses Debut Instrumental EP Introducing The Magician As No More Magic (Residual Effects)

Sean Martin is a multi-versed musician, producer, and tattooer hailing from Connecticut. As a guitarist, song-writer, and/or producer he has worked with a variety of well-known artists including Hatebreed, Cold Cave, Wear Your Wounds, Umbra Vitae, Twitching Tongues, Cage, Kid Cudi, House of Blow, Head Automatica, XO Skeletons, Jet Fueled Horses, Handsome Boy Modeling School, and more. His versatility and flexibility within music allows him to blur the lines in-between the confines of Hardcore, Electronic, Metal, and Hip-Hop. Martin is, also, a skilled tattooer at Brass City Tattoo located in Oakville, Connecticut promoting the traditional approach to the craft. Founded by Martin himself between 2020-22, No More Magic combines ominous melodies with downtempo beats to create a dizzying dream-like atmosphere. Paying homage to the golden era of Hip-Hop while forging ahead down its own dark road. For fans of Portishead, Massive Attack, and DJ Shadow. No More Magic's Introducing The

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