BILAL

A LOVE SURREAL

PRESS KIT

Bilal Bio

Somehow in our hunger for perfection it’s become difficult for music to just be. And so when

Bilal began making A Love Surreal (his latest-and fourth cd over all) the acclaimed Grammy

nominated vocalist/songwriter /producer knew where he needed to go. “I’ve always wanted to

make music that is so basic and simple that it can be recreated every time. Something simple

like a jazz standard. On this album I let go of a lot of shit for the first time and that opened my

eyes up to a lot of more stuff. It was a real complete thought.”

A soulful rumination on love’s varying rhythms Bilal describes A Love Surreal as a “musical art

gallery.” As the title might suggest the cd is a reference to the father of Surrealism Salvador

Dali. Although Bilal is quick to point out that he isn’t “a painting connoisseur” he loves Dali’s

work. And has long been intrigued by the possibilities of fusing art and music. “When I was

younger and living in New York City I became friends with a young artist who was making a

living off his art. He considered himself a musician and playing guitar would get him thinking

about painting. Through him I saw how I could make music out of something visual and vice

versa. I was beginning to think in a bigger picture and so, when I went into A Love Surreal I was

no longer just looking at things as being “just” a singer. I really put something into it.”

A Love Surreal found Bilal taking on the self -described role as “complete brain master.” In

actuality he produced or co produced a majority of the cd. “I built a big landscape and put it all

together when I got into the studio. I’d come up with an initial shape of a song on my laptop

and take it to the studio and instead of keeping a lot of the electronic stuff I’d teach it to my

band and then we’d expand from that. I’d lay down ideas, little words, mumbles and then we’d

sketch out the rest of the lyrics.” Creating the cd took about a year and Bilal cites the fast pace

and forward movement as a reason why “everything come out naturally.”

The first single, “Back To Love”, takes listeners on a journey through the trials and tribulations

of a relationship. Self produced, the smooth meandering of Bilal’s vocals, along with the

instrumentation, paints the picture of a couple navigating falling in and out of love. “It’s about

getting back to the one. The initial passion and spark, the fire. In everything and at different

times we all find ourselves at that place where we need to reaffirm things.”

“Butterfly” reteams Bilal and his old friend Robert Glasper; it is the third time these innovative

artists have joined forces. “Robert and I went to college together but “Butterfly” is the first time

we did, like, a little duet. No drums, no nothing; just piano, vocal and a little keyboards.”

Featuring KING, an all girl R&B trio from Minneapolis, “Right at the Core“ is knee deep in a

sensual, aloof sound that brings to mind Prince circa 1999. “’The Core’” is an interesting song

because there’s not a real lead vocal, it’s almost a choral type of vibe.”

“West Side Girl” undulates with a mysterious groove reminiscent of Sly Stone’s “Family Affair.”

The song was recorded with a crew of friends including Sa-Ra's Shafiq Husayn and up and

coming jazz bassist Steven “Thunder Cat” Bruner, who Bilal compares to the late Jaco

Pastorious.

Born in Philadelphia Bilal Oliver is a schooled musician and dynamic live performer whose

artistry draws from jazz, soul, and hip-hop. With fans that includes Eryka Badu, Janelle Monae,

Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammed and featured spots with, among others, Jay-Z, Beyonce,

Diddy and Common, Bilal made his major label debut with 2001’s First Born Second. The cd sold

over 300, 000 copies and announced that Bilal was an artist to watch. Bilal’s sophomore

recording Love For Sale leaked to the internet before its official release and would enjoy over

half a million downloads. 2010 saw Air Tight’s Revenge, which yielded the Grammy nominated

“Little Ones”.

Ask Bilal how he sees A Love Surreal and he replies without hesitation. “I’ve always had a lot of

information about what it is that I wanted to do but sometimes it would come off as obscure.

This time I think I’ve set out what I meant to do.” Simple enough, right?

BILAL PRESENTS FIRST SINGLE, “BACK TO LOVE”

FROM FORTHCOMING ALBUM A LOVE SURREAL

December 11, 2012: New York, NY: Critically acclaimed musician, Bilal is once again ready to set the music world ablaze with “Back To Love”, the first single from his highly anticipated album, A Love Surreal. “Back To Love”, which exclusively premiered on ESSENCE.com at 10 AM EST, will be available for purchase starting December 11th, on iTunes and will once again give fans a glimpse of Bilal’s unique ability to reinterpret jazz, soul, and funk for today’s audience.

“Back To Love,” takes listeners on a journey through the trials and tribulations of a relationship. The smooth meandering of Bilal’s vocals, along with the instrumentation, paints the picture of a couple navigating falling in and out of love. Throughout the song, Bilal, talks about the importance of rekindling that lost love and bringing a relationship back to what is most important. “Back To Love” serves as the first offering from his forthcoming studio album, A Love Surreal, set for release February 26, 2013 on eOne Music. The album, which Bilal calls an audio art gallery or musical museum, was inspired by the surrealist paintings of Salvador Dali. Overall, the goal of the album was to create music that mirrored Dali’s art with instruments as well as discuss the many facets of love. To properly execute his vision, Bilal sought famed photographer Marc Baptiste to shoot the album packaging. A Love Surreal will feature appearances from Robert Glasper & musical trio, KING. Never one to disappoint, Bilal is set to present a musical experience with A Love Surreal that is sure to be talked about as well as praised for many years to come. Bilal is currently on a tour across the US in promotion of his new album. The tour will hit many of the US’s major cities. For a complete list of tour dates as well as updates on what Bilal has coming up please visit: http://www.facebook.com/OfficialBilalPage

https://twitter.com/Bilal

http://www.facebook.com/OfficialBilalPage

###

Tour Dates: Dec 13 2720 Cherokee St Louis, MO

Dec 14 The Shrine Chicago, IL

Dec 15 The Jazz Kitchen Indianapolis, IN

Dec 16 Jazz and Jokes Nashville, TN

Dec 18 Littlefield Brooklyn, NY

Feb 12 Highline Ballroom New York, NY

Feb 13 World Cafe Live Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA

Feb 15 Baltimore Soundstage Baltimore, MD

To Purchase Bilal’s New Single “Back To Love”: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/back-to-love-single/id583390354?ls=1 About Entertainment One: Entertainment One Ltd. (LSE:ETO) is a leading international entertainment company that specializes in the acquisition, production and distribution of film and television content. The company’s comprehensive network extends around the globe including Canada, the US, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Benelux, France, Germany, Scandinavia, South Africa and South Korea. Through established Entertainment and Distribution divisions, the company provides extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production, family programming and merchandising and licensing. Its current rights library is exploited across all media formats and includes more than 24,000 film and television titles, 2,700 hours of television programming and 45,000 music tracks.

For Press Inquiries Please Contact: Maggie Faircloth The Purple Agency Maggie@thepurpleagency.com 757-636-3528 Savoy Jefferson The Purple Agency savoy@thepurpleagency.com 920.471.2340 Giovanna Melchiorre Entertainment One Music gmelchiorre@entonegroup.com 516.484.1000 x 279

The Reviews Of A Love Surreal

NPR

"...Bilal is a philosopher who uses music to explore and share an ever-unfolding vision of the

universe."

http://www.npr.org/2013/02/17/172110416/first-listen-bilal-a-love-surreal

THE NEW YORK TIMES

"His voice needs no studio aid; it’s a full-fledged soul baritone extending toward a supple

falsetto.....With lush, glimmering keyboards and electronics, lean indie-rock guitars or Robert

Glasper’s limpid jazz piano the songs tease and insinuate. Their meanderings lead somewhere." http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/arts/music/albums-from-bilal-the-stark-reality-and-holly-

williams.html?pagewanted=all

USA TODAY “The Philadelphia soul man has been one of the most respected, if enigmatic, voices in R&B”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/02/25/bilal-mavericks-ivan-and-alyosha-listen-up/1947213/

PEOPLE “On cuts like “Butterfly” soaring on his falsetto and Robert Glasper’s piano, he continues to

spread his artistic wings.”

SPIN "With sober timing, then, Bilal's fourth album arrives in the wake of ORANGE's year-end-poll

sweep. If that cresting wave carries more interest his way, then all power to the collective good.

But despite its hammy title, A Love Surreal shows the folly of blind Ocean Fever. Call Bilal the

Frank who's always been here."

http://www.spin.com/reviews/bilal-a-love-surreal-eone

PASTE MAGAZINE “For the first time in his career, Bilal no longer sounds like an artist with entirely too much to

prove; he’s just a great singer, backed by great players he puts to good use on a set of sticky,

deceptively inventive songs. The low stakes become him.”

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2013/02/bilal-a-love-surreal.html

PITCHFORK "… one of its joys is watching Bilal warp his voice into improbable shapes…"

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17816-bilal-a-love-surreal/

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES “It might finally be his time to shine.”

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-et-ms-album-review-bilals-a-love-surreal-

20130225,0,7703906.story

BILLBOARD "…Bilal lays out an organic yet psychedelic mosaic of sound and

words as he explores the ins and outs of romance"

DAYTROTTER

"Bilal's version of soul music is exceptionally delicious."

http://www.daytrotter.com/#!/concert/bilal/20056411-37383590

BOSTON GLOBE “This bracingly good disc marks the reemergence of one of the most overlooked R&B artists of

the last decade”

http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2013/02/26/review-bilal-love-

surreal/YHKGpvVZqqV95JuhGotswI/story.html

February 26, 2013

Bilal, A Love Surreal

R&B

* * * * stars out of four

For the past dozen years, the Philadelphia soul man has been one of the

most respected, if enigmatic, voices in R&B. With his soulfully funky

fourth studio album, which traces the arc of a relationship, it's time that

the mainstream paid way more attention. -- Steve Jones

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/02/25/bilal-mavericks-ivan-and-alyosha-listen-up/1947213/

February 29, 2013

February 22, 2013

Bilal

‘A LOVE SURREAL’ Now that R&B is rediscovering its experimental fringe, with songwriters like Frank Ocean, Miguel and the Weeknd, the time may be opportune for Bilal, a songwriter from Philadelphia who has been on that fringe since the neosoul boom of the 1990s, when he began extrapolating from Stevie Wonder and Prince. His voice needs no studio aid; it’s a full-fledged soul baritone extending toward a supple falsetto. “A Love Surreal” (eOne) is a cycle of slow-burning songs about love — from infatuation and romance through estrangement, loneliness and renewal, from seduction and longing to philosophical serenity. With lush, glimmering keyboards and electronics, lean indie-rock guitars or Robert Glasper’s limpid jazz piano the songs tease and insinuate. Their meanderings lead somewhere.

Read Review At: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/arts/music/albums-from-bilal-the-stark-reality-

and-holly-williams.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

February 25, 2013

Frank Ocean resurrected R&B last year. Or reinvented it. Or just rescued it. At least,

that's the way many critics saw it. But while his channel ORANGE — an excellent

record, of course — catalyzed interest in the genre, the frenzy of genuflecting that

followed cast a sour light on his immediate predecessors and peers, a.k.a., those artists

who had been releasing fine R&B records for years (if not decades), and whose brows

likely furrowed quizzically when they learned that their chosen genre had been

moribund all along.

With sober timing, then, Bilal's fourth album arrives in the wake of ORANGE's year-end-

poll sweep. If that cresting wave carries more interest his way, then all power to the

collective good. But despite its hammy title, A Love Surreal shows the folly of blind

Ocean Fever. Call Bilal the Frank who's always been here.

Read More At: http://www.spin.com/reviews/bilal-a-love-surreal-eone

March 6, 2013

A Love Surreal is only the third studio album Bilal has managed in 12 years, a

remarkable fact that testifies to a career marked primarily by speed bumps and

absences. These days, he's known more as a guest or hired session gun than a solo

artist and A Love Surreal feels very much like the personal project of someone who has

embraced the ability to make music away from commercial expectations: jazzy, muted,

idiosyncratic, and completely without high-profile guests (unless you count young jazz

iconoclast Robert Glasper as such). A Love Surreal breathes some of the same insular

oxygen as Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything?, another effort by someone who had

figured out that he wasn't ever going to be a marquee star, and, with a shrug, closed his

studio door to the outside world.

Recorded in live, spontaneous-sounding takes, A Love Surreal is a long, liquid suite,

shifting through long instrumental sections during which Bilal is doing nothing but

crooning wordlessly, doubling and tripling his voice into freely rippling layers. That

doesn't mean it's boring or static. The mix is filled with tiny surprising sounds-- a high,

pulsing keyboard whines in your head on "Winning Hand"; dusty, boxy drum

programming throughout that recalls the napkin-doodle electronics taking up the back

half of Shuggie Otis' Inspiration Information. There are guitars everywhere-- acoustic

and sun-dappled on "Lost for Now", electric and bluesy on "Astray", stabbing Steve

Cropper leads on "Winning Hand". naturally to smaller-scale, more granular moments

like these, which make A Love Surreal mandatory headphone listening.

Read More At: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17816-bilal-a-love-surreal/

February 27, 2013

Released a full nine years after his 2001 debut album 1st Born Second—a trying period

defined by a failed battle with his label to release what would have been his second

album—Bilal’s 2010 record Airtight’s Revenge captured the neo-soul singer on the

edge. With no career left to lose, Bilal unleashed a splatter of raw emotions, weighing in

on big themes of relationships, religion and identity as if each song had to stand as his

final thoughts on the matter. Unnervingly tense, it was the work of an artist who was no

longer taking anything for granted.

His follow-up represents a necessary leveling out. Trading the burning existential

concerns of its predecessor for a narrower focus on matters of the heart, A Love Surreal

is the singer’s mellowest, most unhurried album by a distance, yet it’s no less

compelling for that lighter touch. Bilal was always the most jazz-indebted of the first-

generation neo-soul singers, and he makes those roots clear throughout the record,

throwing his whole body into the chilling torch song “Slipping Away” and showcasing his

upper register on “Butterfly,” a supple, elegant duet with pianist Robert Glasper. The two

longtime collaborators could probably make a marvelous traditional jazz record

someday, but for now, Bilal is too interested in exploring the fringe applications of jazz

to commit himself to the genre exclusively. He recycles Biggie’s “Party and Bullshit”

chant on the seedy jam “Climbing,” lets his libido drift à la Prince on “West Side Girl,”

and channels a more strung-out strain of funk on “Astray.”

Read More At: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2013/02/bilal-a-love-surreal.html

March 16, 2013

The interviews & features

April 1, 2013

February 13, 201

February/March 2013 Issue

March 16, 2013

March 27, 2013

Read More At: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bilals-career-is-right-on-track-with-a-love-surreal-

20130327

February 17, 2013

First Listen: Bilal, 'A Love Surreal'

"Funk is fun, and it's a state of mind," George Clinton once said. "But it's also all the

ramifications of that state of mind." With this observation, one of funk's inventors sought

to free the style from any constraints. Funk is lowdown music, designed for dancing,

with a heavy bottom and a crazy streak; but an exceptional artist can also make funk

that's quiet, beautiful, a real head trip. What makes music funky isn't necessarily a

monster bassline. It's the spaciousness the sound creates, the hint of wildness luring

even the prettiest melodies and arrangements into unexplored corners of

consciousness.

Bilal Oliver's music is funky like that. The Philadelphia-born artist, a key collaborator in

the progressive Soulquarians community with edge-walking artists like Robert Glasper

and The Roots, specializes in lush, trippy songs best enjoyed on a lazy afternoon. Bilal

can play the standard soulful stereotypes, crooning like a loveman or shouting

heavenward as his longtime band puts down a danceable beat. But he prefers to go

inside, exploring the contours of intense emotions with patience and psychedelic insight.

Read More At: http://www.npr.org/2013/02/17/172110416/first-listen-bilal-a-love-surreal

February 25, 2013

Bilal's New A Love Surreal Was Inspired By Salvador Dali

Even though Bilal Sayeed Oliver -- that's Bilal, to his fans -- has a new album, A Love Surreal, ready for fans to consume, he is still hounded by that one question: Will Love for Sale ever get the proper release it deserves?

"Well, I don't know," Oliver says. "I would like for it to, but it's a lot of stuff mixed up into

that whole record - you know, Interscope and everything. I was also signed to a

publishing company, so it's just a lot of hands mixed into that."

For fans of the 33-year-old, Philadelphia-born, Brooklyn-based soul crooner, Love for

Sale is considered his masterpiece, albeit an unfinished masterpiece that never got a

proper release since most of the music was leaked and bootlegged during production.

Guess we need to go back a bit on how this began.

Fresh off his acclaimed 2001 debut 1st Born Second, Bilal headed back in the studio to

work on a sophomore effort. While the first album featured some A-list producers -- Dr.

Dre, ?uestlove, Dre and Vidal, Raphael Saadiq, the late J Dilla -- Bilal wanted to be

more hands-on with in the production side of things.

Read More At: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2013/02/bilals_love_surreal.php

January 31, 2013

Bilal – The Best of R&B 2013

There was a time when it looked like a cadre of "neo-soul" singers would lay waste to

R&B, reclaiming the space for the experimental soul of the 1970s. The Roots' ?uestlove

was fond of the Star Wars metaphor in the late '90s, telling many eager ears that Lauryn

Hill was Princess Leia, D'Angelo was Luke Skywalker, etc.; he imagined this group of

artists taking rhythm and blues back from the Dark Side. Instead, we got Rihanna. But

Philly's Bilal fit in there somewhere in 2001 with his celebrated semi-underground

debut, 1st Born Second. Interscope shelved the follow-up, Love for Sale, supposedly

because it leaked onto the Internet. His indie-label follow-up, Airtight's Revenge (2010),

made for a cool comeback. Late February brings A Love Surreal, the soulman's Dalí-

inspired collection of melodic space-blues. The record imagines an alternative to the

neo-soul future of R&B that's more exciting than any Star Wars: Episode

VIImetaphor. M.M.L.

Read More At: http://www.spin.com/articles/best-rb-2013-dawn-richard-alunageorge?slide=11

February 26, 2013

Bilal's 25 Favorite Albums

Bilal has touched tracks for everyone from Ghostface Killah to Erykah Badu over his

13-year career. His work with Common on songs like "The 6th Sense" and "It's Your

World" established him as a key complement to many of rap's elite, and he'd go on to

providing vocals for Jay-Z, Clipse, and others.

The singer-songwriter has also released a heap of noteworthy solo material. First

came his debut, 1st Born Second, in 2001. He followed up with 2006's Love for

Sale and 2010's Airtight's Revenge. Today, the 33-year old drops his latest project, A

Love Surreal, featuring the single "Back to Love." It's a jazzy, up-beat throwback to a

snappier age of vocals and instrumentation.

It's no wonder, then, that many of Bilal's most cherished albums are decades old and

from a wide array genres. Bilal spoke to Complex about his all time favorites—with

influences from the range of Miles Davis to the storytelling of Steely Dan. These

are Bilal's 25 Favorite Albums.

Read More At: http://www.complex.com/music/2013/02/bilals-25-favorite-albums/

December 28, 2012

Coffee Talk Video: Bilal on His Upcoming Album & Understanding Love

It's been over a decade since Neo-soul singer Bilal first hit the music scene and blessed us with songs like "Soul Sista" and "Is This Love." The Philadelphia native is now preparing to release his fourth studio album and he stopped by ESSENCE.com to talk about his creative process and inspiration for his new project. He describes A Love Surreal, which drops on February 12, as a visual art piece. "We wanted to create something that you could listen to but actually see things visually," he said. Check out the video above to find out what fascinates him most about love and why he says Valentine's Day week is the perfect time of the album's release.

Read More At: http://www.essence.com/2012/12/28/coffee-talk-video-bilal-his-upcoming-album-

understanding-love/

January 8, 2013

V! Premiere Bilal “Back To Love” (Video)

From his upcoming album A love Surreal, crooner Bilal searches for that

four letter word in his latest visuals for “Back To Love.” Look out for the

project to be released on Feb. 26.

View The Video: http://www.vibe.com/article/v-premiere-bilal-back-love-video

February 26, 2013

Bilal Drops ‘A Love Surreal’ With Making-Of Video

Philadelphia native Bilal Oliver grew up on church gospel while also grooving to John

Coltrane and Steely Dan. Throughout his decade-plus career—which includes the critically

acclaimed discs 1st Born Second (2001) and Airtight’s Revenge (2011)—he’s consistently taken

chances, whether rocking the mic or taking it to the stage. A Love Surreal (out tomorrow) is

already being hailed as masterpiece by fans. Named in honor of surrealist painter Salvador Dalí,

Bilal proves himself a true artist.

Bilal shares a few choice words with EBONY.com on Stevie Wonder, 2006’s unreleased Love

for Sale, the new album and more.

On Making A Love Surreal:

“For this project, there wasn’t a big process of getting together a bunch of producers, because

me and Steve McKie pretty much did the whole record ourselves—aside from one other track I

did with Shafiq Husayn (‘West Side Girl’) from the Sa-Ra Creative Partners. Everything is

experimentation. One of the things I got from jazz is, there are no wrong notes. It’s just the way

you view it. You just keep moving forward in the flow, and if you keep your eyes open, you can

see the beauty”.

Read More At: http://www.ebony.com/entertainment-culture/bilal-drops-a-love-surreal-with-making-of-

video#ixzz2PH9WHJUN

March 11, 2013

Q&A: BILAL

Grammy nominated singer/songwriter, Bilal, has just released his fourth studio album, A

Love Surreal. After several years of working mainly in collaborations and after a

devastating album leaking, leading to the failed release of his 2006 work, Bilal is back

with some surrealist sounds and some awesome new ink as well.

INKED: Over the years, your music has been qualified as a lot of different genres such

as neo-soul, funk, R&B, hip-hop, and more. How would you personally describe your

sound?

BILAL: I just do music, you know? I leave it up to the listener to categorize it. The only

thing I won't allow the listener to categorize me as is "neo" [soul]. I try to think about it as

something with all different genres in it. So I don't really give it one name.

Read More At: http://www.inkedmag.com/music/q-bilal/

February 27, 2013

Music News Exclusives: Bilal – In Da Club With Prince

Clip: The soul singer recalls a funny encounter with the music icon. Season

2013 (02/27/2013)

Watch Video At: http://www.bet.com/video/musicnews/2013/bilal-in-da-club-with-prince.html

April 23, 2013

R&B Singer Bilal on Working With J Dilla & Finding “Dirt” in Vintage

Instruments

The vocalist also shares how jazz and finding love influenced new album 'A

Love Surreal'

Watch Video At: http://www.fuse.tv/videos/2013/04/bilal-interview-j-dilla

March 12, 2013

Bilal – The Modern Soul

We recently caught up with an O.G. in realm of rhythm and blues. Bilal Sayeed Oliver,

better known as Bilal is one of the silent kings when talking neo-Soul, R&B, and funk. A

project that would forever imprint his legacy took place 12 years ago he released his

first album, First Born Second that featured contributions from Dr Dre, Soulquarians,

and the even the late great J Dilla. The project wasn't a commercial triumph, however it

received positive acclaim from music critics from all around and praise from his peers

such as The Roots, Common and Erykah Badu. We revisit his roots and talk about his

latest project he's that's a little more acoustic and warmer from working closely with his

entire band. A Love Surreal is out now through eOne Entertainment.

Read More At: http://hypetrak.com/2013/03/bilal-the-modern-soul/

March 13, 2013

Singer Bilal Is Not A Fan Of The Term ‘Neo-Soul’

Philly-based soul singer Bilal is a veteran artist who’s collaborated with musicians and

emcees from multiple genres. His singing credits range from guest work with John

Legend to collaborations with Jay-Z and Bad Boy honcho Diddy.

A Love Surreal, Bilal’s fourth album, and his first under the E1 Music imprint, has been

getting positiveresponses from multiple music outlets. It’s something he takes in stride.

Between the late 90′s and early 2000′s, Bilal began receiving mainstream buzz, when

the term ‘Neo-Soul’ became a popular way to describe artists like Erykah Badu, Musiq

Soulchild, and Jill Scott, who were versatile enough to sing about sex, drugs and love,

but weren’t defined by any of the above.

“It’s wack,” said Bilal when asked if he was a fan of the term “neo-soul.” He points out

that British singers like Adele and the late Amy Winehouse are known for a style that

some may find similar to neo-soul, yet they tend to not carry that title.

Read More At: http://thegrio.com/2013/03/13/singer-bilal-is-not-a-fan-of-the-term-neo-soul/#51164788

March 4, 2013

In House With Bilal

In the past year or so, interest in alternative R&B has skyrocketed. Maybe Bilal was just ahead of his time. Because while critical acclaim has never been hard to come by for the Philadelphia-bred crooner, he's spent a bulk of his career -- now spanning more than a decade -- flying under the radar of the populace. A few things may have contributed to that. The singer largely fell off the scene after his 2001 debut 1st Born Second -- which featured production from both Dr. Dre ("Fast Lane") and J. Dilla ("Reminisce") -- was met with nearly universal praise. Then there was drama with Interscope, who shelved his second LP, Love for Sale, when Bilal's vision didn't match that of the storied label. And of course there's his own musical ambitions, which have always seemed to be left of center. Whatever the case, Bilal has and always will command a certain amount of respect in serious music circles. The guy has collaborated with everyone from Beyonce to Diddy to Erykah Badu to Robert Glasper, showing that despite his artistic proclivities, his repertoire is vast. Read More At: http://www.theboombox.com/photos/in-house-with-bilal/5670965/

February 6, 2013

Bilal: Seducing The Extistential Crisis

Listen To More At: http://www.daytrotter.com/#!/concert/bilal/20056411-37383590

March 21, 2013

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE// Bilal Releases

11 Minute Short For “West Side Girl”

Bilal the actor? Looks like the soul crooner is flexing his acting chops in an 11-minute

short film for his new single “West Side Girl.” Directed by Lee Davis, the video follows

up “Back to Love, and is the latest release off his album, A Love Surreal.

Read More At: http://blogs.centrictv.com/music/soulsessions/?p=29148