SoulBounce.com just unveiled its “Hot 16: SoulBounce’s Best Albums of 2011” which gave ‘end of the year’ props to my …just visiting three EP as well as my brother Phonte’s Charity Starts At Home… one of my favorite people IN music Deborah Bond’s Madam Palindrome album… and the family affair album and DVD that featured +FE’s entire live collective The Foreign Exchange’s Dear Friends: An Evening With The Foreign Exchange.

Source: SoulBounce

We may live in a singles-driven, pick-what-songs-you-want-from-the-menu world now, but there’s nothing like buying an album and letting it play straight through. No skips. No pressing stop to listen to something else. Just letting it ride out and getting lost in the groove. That’s the sign of a good album, and 2011 had its fair share. That’s why narrowing down all of the albums that we had in heavy rotation at SBHQ was quite a task, but we whittled our collective favorites down to a Hot 16 to present SoulBounce’s Best Albums of 2011. We started out the year anticipating many of them, but a few snuck in to surprise us with just how undeniably great they were. We have high expectations for another banner year for progressive urban music ahead, but not before looking back on the exceptional year that was and our Hot 16 plus a long list of albums that deserve honorable mentions. Be sure to come back tomorrow to find out which one of these albums will receive our Album of the Year nod during our annual SoulBounce Honors. Read the full article

…just visiting three can ALSO be found twice on the “Hot 16: SoulBounce’s Best Songs of 2011” for “Playing Your Game, Baby” featuring Anthony David and “Marzipan” featuring Eric Roberson and Phonte. It also makes an appearance on the ‘Honorable Mention’ list for “Everything She Wants” featuring Phonte.

Source: SoulBounce

Oh 2011, where, oh where, did you go? It seems like just yesterday that we here at SBHQ were lamenting the slow start to the year and hoping that the remainder would make up for it. Well, we definitely weren’t disappointed with the vast majority of what we heard. These past 12 months have brought us new music from old faves and a slew of new faves to join them, and our list of SoulBunce’s Best Songs of 2011 reflects that. If you’ve been following SoulBounce this year, then some of these selections should be no-brainers, but there are few surprises to be had. 

In the past, each editor has posted their own year-end top 10 list of songs, but in an effort to streamline the process the staff of SoulBounce has combined all of our eclectic tastes together into one Hot 16. We may or may not have had a Love & Hip Hop style brawl to narrow this list down to just 16 songs, but not to worry because a list of honorable mentions is included as well. Without further delay, see what tunes made our Best Songs of 2011, and stay tuned for SoulBounce Honors 2011 where we’ll crown one of these as Song of the Year. Read the full article