Welcome to You Know I Got Soul, the Top 5 Dead or Alive for AllHipHop Alternatives, where we give artists a chance to list their Top 5 favorites outside of the realm of Hip-Hop. You never know what your favorite artist is listening to. Our special guest is B.o.B.Bobby Ray Simmons aka B.o.B has been keeping busy lately. Apart from his recent
signing to T.I.’s Grand Hustle Records, he’s been doing his best to
perfect his upcoming album, The Adventures of B.o.B. So what seems to
inspire B.o.B. in a time where many are uninspired? He’s doing his best
to bring the more eclectic side of Hip-Hop to light, and he spoke on
five of his favorite artists to AllHipHop Alternatives to shed a bit of light on
where he gets some of his influences.1. Bjork – I love Bjork. She
is simultaneously in another dimension and another level of awareness
along with me and many other people. I can share her understanding and
taste in music. I saw her new video “Wanderlust” [off of 2007’s
Volta] and it is just trippy.
2. Coldplay – I’m a huge Coldplay
fan. I went to one of their concerts. I don’t know, maybe it’s
the standard but you don’t usually hear of an artist going to another
artist’s concert, but I went and it was dope. The reason why I’m
such a huge Coldplay fan is because very rarely do I hear something
and I am like “Yeah, this is the sh*t.” I heard “Green Eyes”
and all that stuff before many years earlier, but I was so young I couldn’t
appreciate it. Anyway, I was burning one day and heard “Fix You”
[off of 2005’s X&Y] and was just like “Yup.” Every song on
the album immediately became my favorite and it didn’t have to grow
on me, it was instant.
3. Keane – They’re from the
UK, and I’m a huge Keane fan. I listen to them a lot. They’re kinda
like Coldplay, in the same realm of things. I found about them and a
lot of other artists on Pandora, because I just turn it on and let it
play.
4. Raphael
Saadiq
– He’s dope. He was actually the singer from Tony! Toni!Toné! and he just dropped an album [2008’s The Way I See It], so
I just went and bought that. He’s going back to Motown with this one,
and he kept it pretty consistent with the genre and the sound. I mean
it really sounds like Motown.
5. Green Day – They’re very
aware of the social archetypes and structures that we live and die by,
which is expressed in their music, especially with their [album] title,
American Idiot. Immediately, I thought, “Oh that definitely describes
the American mind state.” You can’t talk about each individual,
but for the masses, they are just really lost in the realm of society,
fame and pop culture. Everybody flocks to what’s in and popular. It’s
such a pointless focus when you look at the entire world and what’s
going on around us, and a lot of their music talks about that. B.o.B’s album The Adventures of B.o.B. hits stores this summer.**To get the latest AllHipHop Alternatives Features, follow us on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/AHHalternatives**
