The irrepressible Tiombe Lockhart delivers a sweet refashion of Jacob Miller’s classic reggae track “Baby I Love You So” over a King Tubby instrumental. If you’re cool, you know that you’ve just hit the reggae covers jackpot; and Ms. Lockhart does not disappoint. Tiombe’s “Augustus and Me” EP is available now.
Tiombe Lockhart – BabyTiombe Lockhart 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.4
J. Lo’s Mary Jane Girls-sampling “I’m Real”remix crushed the summer of 2001 (no. 2’s in the air if you were there too.) sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. As part of a recent covers series, Waxpoetics connects NYC singer Kendra Morris and That Handsome Devil frontman Godforbid to “I’m Real” casting them in the roles of J. Lo and Millennial hip hop hot hand Ja Rule (Murda). The result is a buttery A+ great rework of a great song.
Kendra Morris – I’m Real (Feat. Godforbid) (Jennifer Lopez)Kendra Morris (Facebook)
Rating 8.3
OK, b3sci Grown & Sexy Crew; we’ve got a new R&B jawn we think you’re really going like (we do!). Coming to us via Atlanta, vocal trio Metropolis dial up the spirit of classic soul (including numerous “Listen Baby”s) balanced with more modern nods to Hip Hop & R&B rhythms (that beat is bangin). The group’s lead single “One 4 U”, excerpted here from their upcoming Resurrection LP, is as smooth and silky as a summer Sunday afternoon and a sound that you should certainly get with.
Metropolis – One 4 UMetropolis 
Rating 8.0
Ursher puts on for all the babymakers out there in b3sciverse on the unreleased loosie “Sunshine”. Usher’s pretty upfront with it, he’s cleared out his evening for all the sexy ladies in his area, he’s throwing on that Quiet Storm (can you guess the classic slow jam “Sunshine” samples?) and closing the door cause its about to be a late night. Ursh.
Usher (Facebook)
Rating 8.4
Zach Sewall, one of half of the excellent No Diavolo, releases as Grave Goods new track “Motorcycle Heathen”. A sharp blend of creaky 60’s-esque organ noodling, churning deep-in-the-mix melodies, and more modern urban-inspired rhythms, (we can get behind most tracks that sample handgun noises.) the feel of “MH” is squarely hypnotic (and awesome).
Grave Goods – Motorcycle Heathen (Feat. Home Covers)Grave Goods 
(Twitter)
Rating 8.4
Safely returned to the mid-August L.A. swelter, we took to the airwaves of Virgin Mobile Live on Friday to recap last weekend’s Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival in San Francisco. The beautiful cloudy chill of Golden Gate Park played gracious host to an immaculate lineup of artists from all eras and most genres past, present, and future. Check out our recap below featuring music from some of our favorite Outside Lands artists as well as an interview we did backstage on Saturday with New York band Caveman.
SETLIST
Little Stevie Wonder – Fingertips (Part 2) [extended edit]
Tame Impala – Lucidity
MICS UP: Metallica – For Whom The Bell Tolls
Portugal. The Man – So American
Birdy – People Help the People (Cherry Ghost Cover)
Foo Fighters – Big Me
MICS UP: *Bruce Rave w/ Raves Fave
*Bloc Party – Team A
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)
Caveman – Thankful
INTERVIEW w/ Caveman backstage at Outside Lands, SF 2012
Big Boi & Theophilus London – She Said OK (Feat. & Tre Luce) [Clean]
Click here for more coverage on Outside Lands 2012.
Outside Lands 
(Official)
We’re fans of Ryan Leslie over here at b3sci. The R&B singer/songwriter-turned-rapper, his forthcoming record Les Is More will be a rap album, links up here with The Chef for the Sunday-afternoon-in-the-park-with-your-girl sounds of new track “Live Good”.
Ryan Leslie 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.3
Check out the latest release from songstress SZA; the relaxed soulful track “Country”, excerpted from her upcoming “See.Sza.Run” EP. Into it.
SZA (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.2
Grammy-nominated songwriter (John Legend’s “Save Room” “PDA” & “Heaven”, Fantasia, Ledisi) Jessy Wilson fires an emphatic sortee of her own with new single “Heartbreaker”. The classic soul-driven driven song gets the requisite updating in the rhythm track and arrangement to make it palatable to R&B radio but the melodies, hook & feel are all deep in the pocket of the best minor-keyed lovelorn soul.
Jessy Wilson – HeartbreakerJessy Wilson (Facebook)
Rating 8.3
The French Express winning streak continues with the soulful sounds of “If U Got It” of New York artist Chris Malinchak. “If U Got It” comes nicely equipped with all the right upgrades and accouchements to ride out deep into the late summer.
Chris Malinchak (Facebook)
Rating 8.0
Liam Bailey, whom you may know from his collaborations with Chase & Status or Delilah or from reading B3SCI (Bailey is our man), puts on offer new single “Please Love Me”. The cooled-out almost doo-wop-y (the harmonies on the track are really nice) song has a neat half-time feel and some perfectly-replicated great classic soul warm guitar tones. If that sounds like something that might pique your interest, (if it’s not then maybe we should reconsider being friends) you’ll want to hit that play button right now.
Liam Bailey 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.5
“Let The World See The Light” is something special by budding songstress Mahalia. The young writer sings like it’s something she’s known more than anyone else her whole life. Preview the track below and check out the new Head Space EP.
Mahalia – Let The World See The LightMahalia (Bandcamp)
Rating 8.3
