Just rub some of that on your cut ...

Aloe Blacc - One Inna
Aloe Blacc - Untitled II
Aloe Blacc - Dance for Life

Some of you may recognize this name as the vocal half of the He's-the-deejay-I'm-the-rapper duo of Emanon. Some of you even know his name from a couple of 12" he recently released, one of a cover of John Legend's "Ordinary People" (in Spanish!!) and another one in promotion for his upcoming album "Shine Through." There is barely any rapping on this album (which is on Stones Throw, July 11) though, so don't expect any Emanon type cuts. Think Gwen Stefani solo, not Dave Matthews. "One Inna" is a soft soul song produced by Madlib. "Untitled II" is a Latin dance monster. "Dance for Life" is the broken-beat, catchy single.

This album should put Aloe (pronounced ELL-oh) on the map as a serious singer and musician in a more conventional-unconventional sense, if you know what I mean. Queen Latifah steez. Look for this to have some indie mass appeal (i.e. a post on Music for Robots and maybe a review at Pitchfork).

I met this guy once (real chill), and it was surprising to see that this Latin-soul singer/rapper had a posse about nine or ten deep. I mean, seriously who's heard of Emanon outside of college radio nerd circles? It wasn't Snoop Dogg entourage big, but it had me thinking that I should have a posse.