While you’ll certainly come across more than your fair share of Michael Jackson references on this site, you’ll also find me giving props to a great deal of artists and bands that fall just under the commercial radar these days, like Mike Doughty, El DeBarge, and Ray LaMontagne and Me’shell Ndegeocello, just to name a few. For nearly a decade and a half now, I’ve checked for Rahsaan Patterson. He is, quite simply put, the most underrated male R&B singer making music today. While we’re waiting for his sixth album, Bleuphoria, to come out in May, you might wanna check out some of the music on Rah’s Soundcloud page. For fans, it serves as a way to tide us over until the album release. For newbies, it serves as a way to get familiar with a man who sounds like the musical love child of Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan.
Right now, I’m checking for the haunting “Hollywood Suicide Clinic” as well as his covers of The Crusaders’ “Street Life” and Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out”. The songs are downloadable, and if you’re checking Rahsaan out for the first time and like what you hear, I strongly suggest that you make your way over to your local record store or click over to Amazon or iTunes and get your mitts on some of his earlier work. You won’t be disappointed.