“Ya hotter than a New York summer in a Spike Lee movie…”
R&B for me has been a genre that I have loved and built upon since my youth but music nowadays has locked love that away for me. With artists like Frank Ocean and The Weeknd making their way onto the scene a couple years ago, what was considered R&B for me changed. I’ve always been into alternative music that kind of breaks outside of our traditional genre’s sort of like what the aforementioned artists have created, but y’all.. lawd.. Jesse Boykins III has switched it up for me completely.
With his soulful and serene voice, coming in with powerful and well-timed, immaculately formed runs that just about take his already amazing lyrics to an entire ‘nother level.. It’s a wonder why I haven’t stumbled on to his work earlier in life. This Brooklyn based brother, hailing from from the Chi has been creating EP’s since way back in ‘08. The Beauty Created,my favorite to be exact consist of cult favs like “Amorous” and “Come to My Room” - which shows his first trip and nomination at the 2010 Soul Train Awards He has also covered “Prototype” by the great Andre 3000 and turned it into a mini-movie which you can watch (and fall in love with) here.
Jesse’s music sets the tone for this trippy-dippy yet soulful listening experience that I have yet to see, especially as of late. With his influences listed from men such as D’Angelo & Maxwell (two of my favorite R&B artists, ever), it’s a no brain-er that he’s been on heavy, heavy rotation. There’s something about the vibe of his music that takes me somewhere; somewhere that burns incense, and has me feelin’ like I should be rockin’ waist-beads and anklet’s and have my hair picked out while dancing in the meadows — and I mean this in the sincerest way possible— his music is truly, hauntingly and deeply beautiful. Timeless, is the best way to describe the feel created from him and his all black band of brothas, it’s no secret that this man has soul but he demonstrates, so skillfully you would think it’s effortless, how the music he creates permeates the shell of how R&B is culturally considered and creates it’s own lane, without ever straying too far from it’s true home.
On my favorite song, “Come to my Room”, we hear an innocent plea of Jesse coaxing his will-be suitor to simply, come to his room. The grounded sense of his lyrics will have you thinking it’s an easy going kind of song till you catch a moment, where you gotta run it back like “oh shit, this dude is smoothhhhhh.” And that is what I love most about Boykins, you get these easy going tracks with what seem to be elementary musings of love, till he bellows a, “You willl seeeeee, lyingggggg nexttttttttttttt to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ohhhhhhhhh!” and you’re left floored. Breathless. Astounded.
Look, I may have gotten a little excited in this post, but I’m telling you, Jesse Boykins is a name you’ll want to remember and these albums will be played for a very long time, some of these tracks have even made my infamous “Wedding Songs” playlist, next to hits by Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke and Stevie Wonder. So, with all of that being said, Jesse Boykins’ career seems to be booming and I am glad to see the recognition he is getting is more than well deserved. Keep an eye out for his Love Apparatus LP which is set to drop some time this year. There’s nothing that touches the soul and helps maintain balance than some damn good R&B song. Nothing like it and Jesse Boykins’ love movement is making sure we don’t miss a beat — Literally.
xo,
Hoda.
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