Rhoda Morgan first came to attention as a contestant on the second season of Pop Idol, the British version of the program known in the States as American Idol. After the show finished in December of 2003, Morgan moved to New York City to begin working on her music career. Lots of names are dropped by her and others about influences or comparisons (e.g. Christina Aguilera, Nelly Furtado), but the key name is producer Timbaland.
She lists him as an influence and even if she didn’t, I would have still heard it. Timba has a special sound that is a part of hip-hop, but is still in a world of its own (I’ve been listening to Tim’s production of Justin Timberlake’s “My Love” quite a bit during the last few weeks). Morgan does most of the production on her debut album and it’s a bit hip-hop, a bit electronica, a bit dance pop — but all in a manner such as Timbaland might empty. It would hard to prove it, beyond the evidence of my own ears, but I don’t feel she achieves the fatness of sound that a Timba would, but points for trying.
Here are the first two tracks off From Brixton to Brooklyn, songs which I felt were most successful. “He Say She Say,” featuring rapper Jersey, has a spacey quality backed by a stuttering beat, while “Rescue Me” sounds like it samples Sting’s damn lute album, although with a start/stop quality that threatens to teeter over at any second, but never does.
Rhoda Morgan – He Say She Say (ft. Jersey) — BUY
Rhoda Morgan – Rescue Me — BUY
One Response
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Gareth Says:
I like the ambience feel to “He Say She Say” it’s also pretty catchy. Thanks for sharing it with us!