January 14, 2024:
DADDY B. NICE’S 17th Annual BEST OF 2023 SOUTHERN SOUL MUSIC AWARDS.
WINNERS are posted at the end of each list of finalists.
Best Mid-Tempo Song (The Sweet Spot of Southern Soul)
Best Southern Soul Club Song (Fast Tempo)
Best Southern Soul Ballad (Slow Tempo)
Best Southern Soul Song by a Longtime Veteran
Best Southern Soul Female Vocalist
Best Southern Soul Male Vocalist
Best Southern Soul Debut
Best Southern Soul Collaboration
Best Out-Of-Left-Field Song
Best Chitlin’ Circuit Blues Song
Best Southern Soul Cover Song
Best Southern Soul Production
Best Southern Soul Album
Winners in all categories will be permanently memorialized in Daddy B. Nice’s Comprehensive Index.
Best Mid-Tempo Song
(The Sweet Spot of Southern Soul)
Finalists:
“Southern Man” —–Cecily Wilborn (w/ West Love)
“Take You Down Thru There” —- J-Wonn
“Big Fine Slim Fine” —- Royal D
“Grown Man (I Need Somebody)” —- King George (w/CharMeka Joquelle)
“Part Time Lover” —- Lady Redtopp
“I Found Love” —- Jeter Jones
“Party For A Moment” —- T.K. Soul
“Night Time” —- King George
“Southern Soul Sunday —- M. Cally
“Talk My Shit” —- Jay Morris Group
“Just A Man” —- Volton Wright
“Do You Wanna Go?” —- Tucka
Best Mid-Tempo Song (The Sweet Spot of Southern Soul)
Sweet spot indeed… Two songs made your jaw drop and your body curl in pleasure each time you heard them, and King George was “him”.
“Grown Man (Say She Need Somebody)” —- King George w/ CharMeka Joquelle
“Night Time” —- King George
Listen to King George and CharMeka Joquelle singing “Grown Man” on YouTube.
Listen to King George singing “Night Time” on YouTube.
Buy the “Grown Man” and “Night Time” singles at Apple.
See King George The New Generation.
Best Club Song (Fast Tempo)
Finalists:
“Get It! Get It! Pt.2” —- Ms. Jody
“Just Like That” —- L.J. Echols
“Bayou Classy Lady” —- Ciddy Boi P feat. Keyun & Zydeco Masters
“Trail Ride” —- Lady Redtopp
“Got My Whiskey” —- DJ Sean Dolby feat. Nelson Curry
“Lil’ Weight Don’t Bother Me” —- King George
“Do The Trucker Slide” —- Arthur Young feat. Ms. Ty
“Party People” —- Tucka
“Cowgirl” —- Mz Brown Suga feat. LaRon Reaves
“Back It Up (Remix)” —- Nellie “Tiger” Travis (w/ Erealist)
“Work It” —- West Love
“Auntie Outside Tonight” —- Mike Clark Jr.
“Just Like That” (DJ Callie Remix) —-LaMarr Deuce Lubin
“Smoke Slide” —- Mr. Smoke
Best Club Song:
She must have been destined to sing this song from the time she was a little girl…And she got it from her Momma.
“Trail Ride” —– Lady Redtopp (w/ Bri Rocket)
Listen to Lady Redtopp & Bri Rocket singing “Trail Ride” on YouTube.
Buy Lady Redtopp’s “Trail Ride” The Single at Apple.
See Lady Redtopp’s artist guide.
Best Ballad (Slow Tempo)
Finalists:
“Smiling And Crying” —- Bigg Robb
“U-Turn” —- P2K DaDiddy feat. King George
“If Heaven Had A Phone” —- Adrian Bagher
“Do You Wanna Go?” —- Tucka
“Highway 55” —- Sir Charles Jones
“Amen & Hallelujah” —- Avail Hollywood
“When I Stop Loving You” —- William Bell
“When She’s Had Enough” —- Lady Q
“I Love It Here” —- Jay Morris Group
“I Wanna Slow Dance” —- Dee Dee Simon
“Drink My Liquor” —- Big Mel
“Take Heed” —- Young Guy
“Shot of Moonshine” —- Marcellus The Singer
Best Southern Soul Ballad:
“I may not be the finest of your ladies / And I’ve got a little stomach from these babies…”
“Real Real Woman” —– J’Cenae
Listen to J’Cenae singing “Real Real Woman” on YouTube.
Buy J’Cenae’s “Real Real Woman” single at Apple.
See J’Cenae The New Generation.
Best Female Vocalist Nominees
Finalists:
West Love —- “The Mac” (w/ King George), “Southern Man” (w/ Cecily Wilborn)
Vickie Baker —- “Chicken & Cheeks”
Lady Q —- “When She’s Had Enough”
J’Cenae —- “Real Real Woman”
Ms. Jody —- “Get It Get It Pt 2”
Carolyn Staten —- “Let’s Chill”
Dee Dee Simon —- “I Wanna Slow Dance”
Lady Redtopp —- “Part Time Lover,” “Trail Ride”
Stephanie McDee —- “Boy You Got It”
Evette Busby —- “Mr. Big Stuff”
“Get Some Other Girl To Do It” —- Karen Wolfe
“Here I Stand” —- Nellie “Tiger” Travis
Best Female Southern Soul Vocalist:
In a great year for new divas, Lady Redtopp was the brashest, the toughest and the funniest.
Lady Redtopp —- “Mississippi Soul Girl,” “Part Time Lover,” “Trail Ride” (w/ Bri Rocket)”
Listen to Lady Redtopp singing “Mississippi Soul Girl” on YouTube.“
Buy Lady Redtopp’s “Mississippi Soul Girl,” “Trail Ride” and “Part Time Lover” at Apple.
See Daddy B. Nice’s guide to Lady Redtopp.
Best Male Vocalist Nominees
Finalists:
“Got My Whiskey” —- Nelson Curry
“What It Is About You” —- T.K. Soul
M. Cally —- “Southern Soul Sunday”
Mike Clark Jr. —- “Auntie Outside Tonight”
Sir Charles Jones —- “Highway 55”
Miron Simpson —- “Mark You Off”
King George —- “Night Time,” “Grown Man”
Young Guy —- “Take Heed”
Jeter Jones —- “I Found Love,” “I’ll Take You There”
Avail Hollywood —- “Hallelujah & Amen”
Tucka —- “Do You Wanna Go”
Arthur Young —- “Talk To Me”
Narvel Echols —- “Top Of The Line”
Big Mel —- “Drink My Liquor”
Magic One —- “Super Fine”
Jay Morris Group —- “Talk My Shit”
P2K DaDiddy —- “U-Turn”
Best Male Southern Soul Vocalist:
This was a toss-up between the great King George and a gifted vocalist practically no one has yet heard of—Miron Simpson. Naturally, I went with the dark horse and the “underground record” of the year.
Miron Simpson —– “Mark You Off”
Listen to Miron Simpson singing “Mark You Off” on YouTube.
Buy Miron Simpson’s single “Mark You Off” at Apple.
Best Song By Longtime Veteran Nominees
Finalists
“Blues Man” —- Stan Mosley
“Highway 55” —- Sir Charles Jones
“Nana Pie” —- Chris Ivy
“Woman In Love” —- David Brinston
“When I Stop Loving You” —- William Bell
“Smiling And Crying” —- Bigg Robb
“You Played Too Long” —- Terry Wright
“She’s The One Who Do It For Me” —- Wendell B
“Here I Stand” —- Nellie “Tiger” Travis
“One Monkey Can Stop A Show” —- Bobby Rush
“Day Drinking” —- Vick Allen
“Party For A Moment” —- T.K. Soul
Best Southern Soul Song By Longtime Veteran:
“Pulled over… To gain my composure…What have I to live for?…” No one’s ever bared his soul like this in a song before—and made it work.
Sir Charles Jones —– “Highway 55”
Listen to Sir Charles Jones singing “Highway 55” on YouTube.
Buy Sir Charles Jones’ “Highway 55 (The Single)”.
See Sir Charles Jones The New Generation.
Best Debut Nominees
Finalists:
Cecily Wilborn —- “Southern Man” (w/ West Love)
Frank Johnson —- “Hate On Me”
Bre Wooten —- “Woman In The Middle,” “That Thang I Like”
M. Cally —- “Brown Liquor,” “Southern Soul Man”
Boss Lady —- “Who The Hell Do You Think I Am”
Lady Redtopp —- “Part Time Lover,” “Trail Ride”
Mr. House —- “Southern Soul Man”
Miron Simpson —- “Mark You Off”
Queen Denae —- “Come Get Yo Shit,” “Bring Your Own Bottle”
Big Mel —-“Take My Time” (w/ Ms. Jody), “Drink My Liquor”
Southern Soul Cadillac Cho —-“Ride Out”
Mike Clark Jr. —- “Auntie Outside Tonight”
Meeka Meeka —- “Do It Right”
Tyronica Rawls (BadGir) —- “Steppin’ Out” (w/ King George)
Young Guy —- “Take Heed”
Best Southern Soul Debut:
Two new artists stood above the rest via their diversity, resulting in (A Tie! Between…)
M. Cally —- “Southern Soul Sunday” & “Brown Liquor”
Listen to M. Cally singing “Southern Soul Sunday” on YouTube.
Buy M. Cally’s “Southern Soul Sunday” & “Brown Liquor” at Apple.
See Daddy B. Nice’s new guide to M. Cally.
and…
Lady Redtopp —- “Part Time Lover” & “Trail Ride”
Listen to Lady Redtopp singing “Part Time Lover” on YouTube.
Buy Lady Redtopp’s “Part Time Lover” & “Trail Ride” at Apple.
See Daddy B. Nice’s new guide to Lady Redtopp.
Best Collaboration Nominees
Finalists:
“U-Turn” —- P2K DaDiddy & King George
“Daisy Dukes & Cowboy Boots” —- M. Cally & Jeter Jones
“Messy” —- Coldrank & King George
“Gotta Do Right” —- P2K & FPJ
“Country Boys” —- Al Davis, Jeter Jones & Ty Juan
“Take My Time” —- Big Mel & Ms. Jody
“Cowgirl Trailride” —- S. Dott & Tonio Armani
“Moving At Your Speed” —- J’Cenae & J-Wonn
“Grown Man” —-King George & CharMeka Joquelle
“The Mac” —- West Love & King George
“Got My Whiskey” —- Sean Dolby & Nelson Curry
“Southern Man” —- Cecily Wilborn & West Love
“Steppin'” Out” —- Tyronica Rawls (Badgir) & King George
Best Collaboration:
“He got a smooth walk / He kinda growl when he talk…” Impactful as it was late in 2022, Cecily Wilborn’s anthem took off like a second-stage rocket with this timely 2023 pairing.
“Southern Man” —– Cecily Wilborn & West Love
Listen to Cecily Wilborn & West Love singing “Southern Man” on YouTube.
Buy Cecily Wilborn’s single “Southern Man” featuring West Love.
Best Out-Of-Left-Field Song Nominees
Finalists:
“Hate On Me” —- Frank Johnson
“Keep On Rollin’ (Female Version)” —- Kam Tunechi
“Free” —- Jeter Jones
“DIP” —- Cuznjed & Koray Broussard
“I’m Packing My Clothes” —- O.C Soul
“Mark You Off” —- Miron Simpson
“Down In The Woods” —- Unkle Eddie
“Good Ole Loving” —- Mr. Nelson
“Groove Together (Slide)” —- Married Couple Of Southern Soul (Uncle Gymini & Lady Jacquelyn)
“Auntie Outside Tonight” —- Mike Clark Jr.
Best Out-Of-Left-Field Song:
In a year filled with outstanding debuts, Mike Clark Jr. tackled “Auntie Outside” with the triumphant praise of a preacher rousing a congregation.
Mike Clark Jr. —– “Auntie Outside Tonight”
Listen to Mike Clark Jr. singing “Auntie Outside Tonight” on YouTube.
Buy Mike Clark Jr.’s “Auntie Outside Tonight” single at Apple.
See Daddy B. Nice’s new guide to Macon, Georgia’s Mike Clark Jr.
Best Chitlin’ Circuit Blues Song Nominees
Finalists:
“Get Some Other Girl To Do It” —- Karen Wolfe
“Nana Pie” —- Chris Ivy
“Top Of The Line” —- Narvel Echols
“Trail Ride” —- Lady Redtopp (w/ Bri Rocket)
“Talk To Me” —- Arthur Young
“Brown Liquor” —- M. Cally
“Take Heed” —- Young Guy
“I Still Love You” —- Ms. Jody
“Southern Soul Sunday” —- M. Cally
“Lil’ Weight Don’t Bother Me” —- King George
“Mark You Off” —- Miron Simpson
“I Need Me A Drink” —- Ju Evans
“Southern Soul Man” —- Mr. House
Best Chitlin’ Circuit Blues Song:
With lyrics steeped in Deep South culture, this searingly-sung street hymn by an unknown artist quietly amassed four million YouTube views in the latter half of 2023.
Young Guy —– “Take Heed (The Same Thing It Took To Get Her…)”
Listen to Young Guy singing “Take Heed” on YouTube.
Buy Young Guy’s “Take Heed” single at Apple.
Best Cover Song Nominees
Finalists:
“Mississippi Boy” —- Mr. House
“Mississippi Girl” —- Bre Wooten
“Mississippi Soul Girl” —- Lady Redtopp
“Got My Whiskey” —- Sean Dolby & Nelson Curry
“Boy You Got It” —- Stephanie McDee
“Keep On Rollin’ (Female Version) (Dirty) —- Kam Tunechi
“Mr. Big Stuff” —- Evette Busby
“It’s Dat Juicy” —-Tasha Mac (w/ Jeter Jones)
“Back It Up (Remix)” —- Nellie “Tiger” Travis
“Love You Down” —- J-Wonn (w/ Melvin Riley)
Best Southern Soul Cover Song:
Sean Dolby, who updated Lynn White’s “Take Your Time” for Joe Nice’s #1 Single of 2021, returned with a fresh take on the legendary Mel Waiters’ “Got My Whiskey” with 2018’s “Best Male Vocalist” Nelson Curry.
DJ Sean Dolby & Nelson Curry —– “Got My Whiskey”
Listen to Nelson Curry singing “Got My Whiskey” on YouTube.
Buy “Got My Whiskey” single at Apple.
See Nelson Curry 21st Century.
Best-Produced Song
Finalists:
“Blues Man” —- Stan Mosley
“Mr. Big Stuff” —- Evette Busby
“Grown Man” —- King George & CharMeka Joquelle
“Highway 55” —- Sir Charles Jones
“When I Stop Loving You” —- William Bell
“U-Turn” —- P2K DaDiddy & King George
“Party For A Moment —- T.K. Soul
“Cowgirl Trailride” —- S. Dott & Tonio Armani
“Got My Whiskey” —- Sean Dolby & Nelson Curry
“Southern Soul Sunday” —- M. Cally
“Cowgirl” —- Mz Brown Suga
Best Southern Soul Production:
Runner-Up in the “Best Collaboration” category, “U-Turn” was a masterpiece of production, its majestic and reverberating chords etched permanently in the consciousness of the 2023 fan base.
P2K DaDiddy & King George —– “U-Turn” (produced by Kang803)
Listen to P2K & King George singing “U-Turn” on YouTube.
Best Album Nominees
Finalists:
Sir Charles Jones —- My Life’s Testimony
Jeter Jones —- Sugar Hill Highway 84
O.B. Buchana —- Diddie Wah Diddie (EP)
Narvel Echols —- For The Ladies
J-Wonn —- The Foundation
Stan Mosley —- No Soul, No Blues
Charles Wilson —- Return Of The Mississippi Boy
Magic One —- Magic Show 3
Jaye Hammer —- Be Happy
William Bell —- One Step Closer To Home
Mz Connie —- Round 2 @ 5723 (EP)
Bigg Robb —- Vintage
Vick Allen —- Back 2 The Basics (EP)
Joe Nice/Sean Dolby —- I’m The Rapper, He’s The DJ (EP)
Unkle Phunk —- Love Making Blues
Mr. Smoke —- Still Smokin’
Jeter Jones —- Mufassa II
Ms. Jody —- A Night To Remember
Marcellus The Singer —- Music Therapy
Adrian Bagher —- ISM
Arthur Young —- Country Boy Music: Trailride Edition
T.K. Soul —- Southern Soul OG
Tucka —- The Guy Your Man Can’t Stand
Jay Morris Group —- Tell My Story
Southern Soul Producers Edition Compilation Album —- The Untouchables
Bobby Rush —- All My Love For You
Best Southern Soul Album:
“I don’t know how many more CD’s I got left in me,” said Jeter after backing up the bounteous 16-track SUGAR HILL HIGHWAY 84 with the fourteen-track MUFASSA II.
Jeter Jones —– Sugar Hill Highway 84/Mufassa II
Buy Jeter Jones’ Sugar Hill Highway 84 and
Mufassa II at Apple.
See Jeter Jones — The New Generation.
January 1, 2024
2023: THE YEAR IN SOUTHERN SOUL
Two questions preoccupy my end-of-year thoughts. 1/ How famous is King George, really? And…2/ What happens to southern soul music if someone becomes so famous, so dominant (say, like Elvis bringing the black sound and style of rhythm and blues into early rock and roll in the late 1950’s) that he or she transcends chitlin’ circuit-based southern soul?
In spite of the Deep South being the birthplace of nearly all American popular music, contemporary southern soul has long been marginalized as a kind of “local” music, not ready commercially or technically for the “prime time” of the national scene, with occasional exceptions elbowing their way onto the national best-selling charts. Now comes the phenomenon of King George. How famous is he? Fame implies that a person has transcended the boundaries of his or her chosen field. I was trolling through a college football-recruiting podcast chat thread recently when I came upon this post:
Minister Philly: “Ohhh, I said ‘King George’ but I meant King Joseph.”
For those who don’t follow college football, King Joseph was a much sought-after linebacker recruit. But the fact that King George was thrown into the post by mistake astounded me, as did the fact that the poster assumed that King George was a name that everyone reading the post would recognize not as a football player but as a well-known performer.
And consider this. In the summer of 2023, in only his sophomore year as a southern soul singer and with only one album-length, solo collection under his recording belt, King George hung out with the likes of Erykah Badu and Snoop Dogg, the latter even reportedly considering signing him to the hiphop label Death Row Records he had bought from Suge Knight in 2022. (FYI, it didn’t get done but not for reasons having to do with King George.) And meanwhile, King George became the “must-see,” indispensable headliner on the Blues Is Alright Tour on every darned tour stop, be it the East Coast, West Coast, the North or the South. 2023 proved King George is a generational talent and the biggest thing to happen to southern soul since Johnnie Taylor.
Southern soul advocates can already see where I’m going with this. Will King George drag the rest of southern soul music along with him like a bride with a long-trained wedding gown, reflecting the comforting glow of his fame over the entire genre as Bob Marley did for reggae in the 80’s and 90’s? The comparison is apt because George’s vocals, like Marley’s, are incomparable in their tone and ability to communicate, and George operates in that mid-tempo “sweet spot of southern soul” (to use a Daddy B. Nice phrase) just as Bob Marley used to do in reggae.
One thing we do know. King George dominated 2023 just as he dominated 2022. Not only was he not a flash in the pan; his 2023 recordings (“Night Time,” “Grown Man,” “Messy,” “U-Turn,” “Lil’ Weight” etc.) were of the same rarefied quality (songwriting, vocalizing, producing) that catapulted him to the top of the southern soul charts in 2022. His collaborations with colleagues were the most coveted projects in the genre. P2K DaDiddy’s “U-Turn,” for instance, changed the trajectory of his entire career, lifting him to an entirely new “pay-grade”. And scores of singers piggy-backed on King George’s songs, recording covers and tributes and parodies and posting them on YouTube.
Meanwhile, for longtime southern soul veterans and prognosticators in particular, 2023 was a year of sheer chaos, illustrating the old adage, You can’t expect something to grow and then be sorry you can’t control it. The workings of the southern soul industry had been changing for years but 2023 seemed to mark a definitive end to the “old” era.
I remember opening my post office box and being surprised I had received an actual CD in a brown mailer (Ecko Records’ “Blues Mix 34: Sensational Southern Soul”). It was the first physical piece of southern soul product I’d received since “Da Legend of Sweet Jeter Jones” a year earlier. Back in the day, I’d get a couple of CD’s a week—and from a much smaller pool of active recording artists. I still have two huge chests of drawers in a back bedroom stuffed with nothing but return-addressed mailers I used to save in case I ever wanted to visit.
In a recent “News & Notes” I complained about another seismic shift in the way things are done: songwriters and producers self-promoting with intrusive “bumps” in the middle of the masters of their songs. That is the direct result of the demise of small indie labels, once the backbone of southern soul distribution, a good portion of which were owned by artists, just as they could be today. The indies sent out bio’s, liner notes and credits. Songwriters and producers (two-thirds of the triumvirate necessary for a hit record) were given their due. Now at best we have a Tower of Babel of social media postings, mostly visual. Amateur hour.
Not only are the old ways becoming extinct. The “old guard” itself has changed. There are a few exceptions. Sir Charles Jones still resides on three Daddy B. Nice Top 100 charts representing successive eras in contemporary southern soul, but Bobby Rush does not; he’s now a nationally-recognized blues artist and no longer qualifies as a practicing southern soul artist. O.B. Buchana, who spans two generations and two charts, occupies a similar yet different kind of no-man’s-land, no longer recording with Ecko or recording much of anything, but still singing what the fans want to hear. That would be his original classic, “Let’s Get Drunk”.
Ten and twenty years ago, there was a set group of artists and it didn’t change much from year to year. It was difficult to break into this insular world of southern soul, but once you did, you were in. You had a long-term lease. Nowadays—and especially in 2023—it’s as if a giant fist swept across the surface of the industry and sent a tableful of fine china flying across the room. All that is gone, and it’s almost easier to be an unknown breaking into southern soul than it is to be a veteran trying to hang in there and retain relevancy. In this sense current southern soul music recalls the insane, tumultuous, and predatory creativity of early rock and roll.
YouTube has been such a game-changer and a veritable playground for the chaos that now characterizes southern soul. I remember when MTV transitioned from 24/7 music videos. Awful. And yet, another generation later, we have MTV music videos to the zillionth degree in YouTube, where once you start playing your favorite southern soul songs your algorithms feed you a never-ending diet of southern soul in the style you prefer. And on this platform you have dozens upon dozens of aspiring southern soul artists a month and hundreds upon hundreds of newcomers a year.
In spite of the demise of the old ways of doing things, however, the music lives on—indeed prospers as it hasn’t since the heyday of Stax and Hi and Malaco, with old stars passing through one set of turnstiles and promising newcomers coming through another. In 2023 we said good-bye to the magnificent Wendell B, the legendary Love Doctor and the beloved Billy “Soul” Bonds while welcoming the inspiring and talented M. Cally, Lady Redtopp, Big Mel, Mike Clark Jr., Cecily Wilborn, Young Guy, Queen Denae and Miron Simpson amongst many, many more. Life is a wheel of change turning inexorably and southern soul mirrors life.
—Daddy B. Nice
January 1, 2024
Top 25 Southern Soul Singles Of 2023
1.
“Night Time” by King George
2.
“Grown Man (I Need Somebody)” by King George feat. CharMeka Joquelle
3.
“Trail Ride” by Lady Redtopp feat. Bri Rocket
4.
“Part Time Lover” by Lady Redtopp
5.
“Real Real Woman” by J’Cenae
6.
“Southern Man” by Cecily Wilborn feat. West Love
7.
“Mark You Off” by Miron Simpson
8.
“Highway 55” by Sir Charles Jones
9.
“U’Turn” by P2K Dadiddy feat. King George
10.
“Auntie Outside Tonight” by Mike Clark Jr.
11.
“Southern Soul Sunday” by M. Cally
12.
“Brown Liquor” by M. Cally
13.
“Cowgirl Trailride” by S. Dott feat. Tonio Armani
14.
“I Found Love” by Jeter Jones
15.
“I Wanna Slow Dance” by Dee Dee Simon
16.
“Got My Whiskey” by Nelson Curry feat. DJ Sean Dolby
17.
“Big Fine Slim Fine” by Royal D
18.
“Take Heed (The Same Thing..)” by Young Guy
19.
“Cowgirl” by Mz. Brown Suga feat. Thrilla
20.
“Party For A Moment (Forget Your Problems)” by T.K. Soul
21.
“When She’s Had Enough” by Lady Q
22.
“Take You Down Thru There” by J-Wonn
23.
“Dip” by Cuznjed feat. Koray Broussard
24.
“Nana Pie” by Chris Ivy
25.
“Shot Of Moonshine” by Marcellus The Singer