On Tuesday, July 21, the Sambuca Jazz Cafe in Atlanta hosted BMI’s
Ladies Night Out which featured three up and coming crooners—Sammy,
Kevin Cossom and Unique. Rapper Yung Joc emceed during the evening and
kept everyone amused, particularly when he discovered that one of the
microphones had Auto-Tune capability and proceeded to serenade the
front row 808’s & Heartbreak style.
As
entertaining as Joc was, the singers were the real stars of the night.
Although the sets were brief (two to three songs each), each artist did
their best to leave a lasting impression. Let’s see how they measured
up.
Unique–
Brooklyn native and Def Jam artist, Unique was the first to perform and
though he didn’t look the part with his shoulder length press and punk
rock clothing, the New Yorker was fairly impressive vocally. His skills
were evident on the song “Radio” and with a little sprucing up Def Jam
could have yet another R&B sensation on their hands. RO Grade: B-
Kevin Cossom-
Hailing from Orlando, Fla., Kevin Cossom was the second act and he
significantly raised the bar. Cossom had the crowd eating out of his
hands from the jump after passing out copies of his EP and being
accompanied by legendary vocal coach, Doc Holiday. Doc’s influence was
evident as KC resembled a 10-year veteran on stage, even taking time to
interact with the audience between songs. RO Grade: B+
Sammie-
Last to the stage was a true R&B vet, Sammie (featured on Soulja
Boy’s “Kiss Me Thru the Phone). Obviously attempting to separate
himself from his success as a teenager by in essence re-introducing
himself to the public, the now 22-year-old showed fantastic vocal range
and the audience cheered through a set of four songs that included the
buttery smooth “Slow.” RO Grade: A-
–a. hugh leonard III
