Red Bull Music Academy Radio: Truth & Soul Label Special | @RBMA


Red Bull Music Academy Radio recently let go the Truth & Soul Label Special that features narration from Danny Akalepse and lot of great tunes. Danny breaks down the Truth & Soul’s sound, how it got to where it is, and then later on a lot more detail on the specific on the aesthetic of the music on the label. This is dope for an easy going Saturday morning. Enjoy, and check out the official page.

With all these people jumping the soul revivalist bandwagon lately, you can’t put a price on a water-proof institution such as Brooklyn’s label and production team Truth & Soul. Operating out of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the T&S story really got started when Phil Lehman left Desco Records to start his own imprint, Soul Fire, which he then handed over to Jeff Silverman and Leon Michels. After a brief period of revamping the label’s name and sonic aesthetics, Truth & Soul quickly established itself as a main catalyst for the revitalization of analogue soul vibes with up-to-date arrangements and spot-on songwriting. Besides signing new artists to their fledgling label, Jeff and Leon became household producers and songwriters in their own rights, working with the likes of Aloe Blacc, Iggy Pop, Amy Winehouse, and Adele. In order to facilitate all of that, Danny Akalepse joined the team as label manager in 2007. Since then, Truth & Soul have gained notoriety for shining a light on talent that has been overlooked for way too long: take Lee Fields’ pitch-perfect true school version of 70s soul, the boricua-meets-NYC salsa tinged funk from Bronx River Pkwy, and El Michels Affair’s psychedelic hip hop renditions. In 2012 T&S made another seminal discovery when they re-released Power Fuerza, an obscure 1971 crate digger classic by The Ghetto Brothers, a band comprised of a Bronx-based Latino gang who abandoned the thug life after hearing The Beatles (which is, brilliantly enough, precisely what Power Fuerza sounds like). Between unearthing lost classics to new versions of vintage sounds, Truth & Soul occupy a uniquely timeless zone all of their own.

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