Erykah Badu

Gwendolyn Collins. Born just across the river from New York City in the Garden State of New Jersey, Gwendolyn Collins was blessed with the gift of singing from her biological mother that was nurtured and matured by her adoptive parents. Gwendolyn has been singing since she was able to talk and at an early age began performing with the Church choir where her Father is a Deacon and later with the chorus in high school. It wasn’t until Gwendolyn moved to Maryland, just outside of the United States Capital, Washington, DC that that she began performing, writing, and recording music that would attract fans of all music genres.

The Flaming Lips' first release for the label will be a project that's shaping up to be one of the most talked-about releases of the year: THE FLAMING LIPS AND HEADY FWENDS. In between one-off shows scattered around the world over the past several months The Flaming Lips still found time to record a series of unique and experimental sessions for an album featuring a diverse cross-section of heavy friends from every corner of the musical cosmos.

With the experimental warmth of '60s French films and the pizzicato flavor of horizontal hip-hop, Simon Green's Bonobo project established the welcome niche of a pretension-free, post-party intellectual chillout. An almost silent figure among Ibizian romanticists, Green began in Brighton, debuting in 1999 with a track on Tru Thoughts Recordings' When Shapes Join Together compilation. Though tempted by offers from Mute and XL after the official issue of "The Scuba EP" and the "Terrapin" single, Green stuck with Tru Thoughts for the acclaimed debut LP Animal Magic.

Best by Far, Omar's fifth album, trailed This Is Not a Love Song by four years and duly pleased the majority of his fan base by merely existing. It's another eclectic set that dips into a number of styles of the time – flashes of garage, broken beat, club-oriented soul-pop, and easy listening are present, but it's an Omar album through and though, just as much as any of its predecessors. There are a few moments when the album falters in its lack of focus, as if Omar is trying to make up for lost time by throwing everything into the pot, but at least 30 minutes here stand up well next to his previous best work. [Note: Depending on the territory of release, the album varies in its bonus remixes, and – bizarrely – the cover of William DeVaughn's "Be Thankful for What You've Got" may feature either Angie Stone or Erykah Badu.]