Aloe Blacc

(image by B+ via stonesthrow.com)

The velvet-voiced, 27-year-old Aloe Blacc might remind listeners of R. Kelly on tracks like I'm Beautiful and "Long Time Coming" – both found on his debut album Shine Through – but songs like Busking, an a capella meditation on waiting for a bus, show that this Los Angeles-bred R&B singer has more on his mind than hiding in closets and being a flirt.

Born Nathaniel Hawkins in Santa Ana, California, Blacc was raised on a steady diet of salsa, merengue, soca and dancehall – in part due to his Panamanian roots. A trained musician who plays trumpet, guitar and piano and is engrossed in jazz, he broke onto the music scene as one half of hip hop duo Emanon. (His recent transition from rap to R&B isn't unheard of: fellow Stone's Throw Records soul artist Dudley Perkins previously rapped under the moniker Declaime.) Now a bilingual crooner and producer, Blacc proudly displays his Latino heritage on Shine Through with songs like "Mi Patria," a breezy ode to Panamá, and "Gente Ordinaria," a Spanish-language take on John Legend's Ordinary People.

The breathless Bailar is perhaps the most representative of his disparate influences and various talents – he sings, raps and plays majestic trumpet flourishes over a Latin-based rhythm. (Think Alicia Keys meets Jamie Lidell on a Caribbean beach.) With label-mates Madlib and Oh No contributing beats to Shine Through, the fusion is never nostalgic nor cheesy. Hesitant to categorize his eclectic style, Blacc offers the following label for his ambitious yet unpretentious vibe: "I guess Indie Soul is good for now."