ANTONIO RAMSEY ENTERTAINER. SINGER. BEAST “Hip-Hop, smoothed out on the R&B tip.” Does the phrase sound familiar? It should, as it not only flowed through our speakers melodically in one of the most popular B-boy songs of the nineties, but became the anchor of the New Jack Swing template of the same decade. It becomes even more fitting when describing the sound of new coming vocal paramount, Antonio Ramsey. Though the pulse and beats of Miami bass music were the soundtrack of his developmental years, the South Florida native found himself donning bandanas and hi-tech boots and emulating the sounds of Jodeci, Tyrese, Carl Thomas and H-Town, knowing that he belonged on stage, mic in hand, all eyes on him. Now, a resident of the city of angels Los Angeles CA, the striking, 6-foot tall baritone infuses his boy-next-door charm with panty-dropping prose to help foster the rebirth of music that rocks the soul and sends chills up the spine. “The music I recall as “good music” felt like something. Whether you felt love, pain or pleasure, if you closed your eyes, it ultimately just felt real,” he explains. “My music comes in to give real men today another voice. It shows women that we’re vulnerable and imperfect, but we’re also strong, confident and sometimes just arrogant, but . Usher’s keeping it alive, John Legend is a part of it and Luke James is planting his feet in it. I’m just up to bat next, and I’m here to Hank Aaron this thing,” he continues. As Ramsey gears up to release his debut project, he’s more than certain that the cliche flash and fervor that supersedes sound today will have to take a backseat to his vocal delivery - full with raw riffs and flawless falsetto. In tracks like “One Heart” and “What We Gon’ Do”, the ballader loses himself in unabashed emotion and melody so listeners can find themselves entranced. Totted as “Next”, “New” and “On Deck To Win” by lifestyle publications and blogs including upscale, UPTOWN, KONTROL, BE Magazine, Stuff Fly People Like and Singersroom, Antonio Ramsey’s musical amalgam of R&B, jazz and hip-hop is cued up and ready for rotation. Walls, boundaries and boxes don’t stand a chance if attempting to stop this show. He’s got a groove thang, a funky swang and he’s only just begun. -Satchel B. Jester