Featured Artists

Miguel

Miguel released his debut album, All I Want is You in late 2010. It was preceded by the first single of the same name, which featured rapper J. Cole. The song was a success on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, reaching number seven. However, the album did not benefit from this success, debuting at 109 on the Billboard 200. His next single "Sure Thing" was a bigger success, peaking at number one on the R&B chart. The sustained popularity of the song was able to push its parent album to a new peak of number 37 in mid-2011. At the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards, he won the award for Best New Artist. Miguel was featured on rapper Wale's single, "Lotus Flower Bomb" at the end of 2011. The song also peaked at number one on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart.

Deon Young

It's rare to find a young songwriter who can successfully transition from behind-the-scenes player to major label headliner, but with the release of R&B newcomer Deon Young's impressive 2011 mixtape, For the Love, the 19-year-old rapper-turned-singer-songwriter proved he has the goods to command the spotlight. For the Love is a seductive collection of midtempo R&B/hip-hop jams, including the popular underground favorite, "Just Another Love Song," which finds Deon Young playing with lyrics by everyone from Usher and Drake to Rihanna and R. Kelly over the addictive beat for Rick Ross' 2010 hit "Aston Martin Music." "I called my first mixtape For the Love because I really love music, not the fame or the girls," Young explains. "I put out For the Love on currenthiphop.com and datpiff.com in September 2011 and the buzz grew fast," he recalls. "Hip-Hop Weekly magazine featured me in its 'Next to Blow' column, I traveled to radio stations across the country--and all of this happened without a video or viral content. It was a great reaction."

Leah LaBelle

One night several years ago, Leah Labelle heard that one of her favorite bands, N.E.R.D., was playing a special show in her hometown of Seattle. An admirer of its lead singer Pharrell Williams, Labelle was not about to let not having a ticket stop her from meeting him. She sweet-talked her way into a backstage meet-and-greet, and when Williams appeared, marched up to him and said, "I'm a singer and I just want to tell you that I'm a huge fan and you're going to produce my album one day."

Marcus Canty

Something about Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed" struck Marcus Canty at 11 years old. Where basketball shorts and Kobe Bryant once held a special place, Stevie's Motown groove stepped in.

"At first I liked music, then it grew into love," he says with a laugh. "Singing just grabbed me. I started singing gospel music, but Stevie Wonder really drew me in. Then once I got a little bass in my voice, I started going into Luther Vandross' music too."

For the 21 year-old who won the hearts of America on Fox's "X Factor" talent show, it appears music loves him back.

Ryan Leslie

Born in Washington, DC and raised in 8 cities across 2 continents, Ryan Leslie was a senior at Harvard by the age of 19. He spent the last seven years producing records for a myriad of artists and releasing 2 award-winning albums of his own. Ryan Leslie's live show is explosive, channeling of the energy of a young James Brown mixed with the swagger of a modern day Marvin Gaye. Fusing thick analogue synths, heavy drums and lush vocal harmonies, he performs songs that he really loves, stories told in a way only he can tell them.

Jitterbugs

Jitterbugs is a retro-style music class for children ages newborn to five years and their adult. Jitterbugs has been hailed by parents as "the best class in the city" and "an absolute joy of a class." It was named in New York Magazine's Best of New York 2011 issue and has been featured in Time Out New York Kids, the New York Times, the Brooklyn Paper and Mommy Poppins.

Jitterbugs classes feature classic kids music and familiar tunes from the 1920s through the 1970s. Created by educator, musician and mom, Karen Kalafatas (Karen "K"), Jitterbugs develops your child's life-long love of music through a toe-tapping, hand-clapping experience each week, and leaves you feeling like a kid all over again.

Michael Fremer

Michael Fremer is the editor of Analogplanet.com a new vinyl-centric website that incorporates the content musicangle.com his former music review website. He's also senior contributing editor at Stereophile magazine and contributing editor at Home Theater magazine.

He's produced and hosted two vinyl related DVDs: "21st Century Vinyl: Michael Fremer's Practical Guide to Turntable Set-up," and "It's a Vinyl World, After All." Fremer has presented his Turntable Set-Up Seminar to appreciative audiences around the world.

He's also been on MTV, The Today Show, CNN, and hundreds of other radio and television shows throughout the United States, talking about the high-end audio listening experience and the ongoing, unlikely resurgence of LP vinyl records.