N’Dambi
Sunday, November 28th, 2004 by Paul Irishneo-soul // contemporary r&b
N’Dambi got started as vocalist with the big afro, backing up the soul siren Erykah Badu. Her solo albums sound like what you’d expect from Sunshine Anderson, India.Arie, The Princesses Nubiens, or Erykah — laid back grooves with an upright bass, a scatting vocal line, and a head-nodding chorus. “Call Me” snuck itself in my head after listening to my man Maze’s radioshow. It’s a standard song structure, but it’s got definite head-nod appeal. Her gentle voice injects subtle but solid emotion that gets right down to the soul of it. It’s a red-light drizzly night outside, but you’re in where the vibe is swingin’.
Icy spicy quiet sizzlin’. You know this song. At least, you’ve heard it sampled before. Bahamadia, the philly princess, emerged as the protege of Gang Starr’s Guru, and dropped this single on the hip hop world. I picked up this remix from Jazzanova’s new 
Funky sample heaven. C-Mon and Kypski is a 
Fresh rhythm. Pounding slow dropped-out grooves. His sound has a good amount of reggae influence. This is hip-hop everyone can love, if they do love real hip-hop. Perfect to get yo’ 
Hailing from the Big Dada imprint of Ninja Tune, Ty is a new and powerful force in hip-hop. His beats meld together some of England’s best musical export (Downtempo) with the upbeat feeling of east-coast hip-hop. A very accomplished rapper and beat constructor. My favorite MC from across the lake, Roots Manuva, lends his lyrics to this “refix”.