Latest Release
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- JUN 21, 2024
- 4 Songs
- Born Sinner (Deluxe Version) · 2013
- GO:OD AM · 2015
- AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP · 2015
- All I Want Is You · 2010
- War & Leisure · 2017
- Kaleidoscope Dream · 2012
- Kids In Love · 2018
- All I Want Is You · 2010
- Wildheart (Deluxe) · 2015
- All I Want Is You · 2010
Essential Albums
- With fizzled record deals and forced image makeovers in his past, a frustrated Miguel Jontel Pimentel took control of his career and creativity on Kaleidoscope Dream. As a result, his second album not only sounded utterly singular—a swirling, moody mix of hip-hop, rock, and psychedelic soul—but it also placed the Southern Californian singer in a vanguard of new artists redefining the idea of the male R&B star (see also Frank Ocean, the Weeknd). Though just as sex-obsessed as the smooth lovermen who came before him, Miguel here projects a far more fractured and colourful view of romance tinted by deep self-reflection, hallucinogenic augmentation, and spiritual yearning. All of which tracks for a guy who grew up idolizing artsy types like Prince, Bowie, and Hendrix, but whose voice happens to sound like crushed velvet. To that last point, there’s “Adorn,” a tribute to wholehearted love that evokes Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” and shows just how sweet a Miguel album of simple, throwback R&B would be. But Kaleidoscope Dream is not that album—and it’s better for it. The next song, “Don’t Look Back,” lays shuffling ’60s pop over throbbing electro-house as Miguel warns a partner to run before the moon turns him into a womanizing beast. And then comes “Use Me,” where, over a plush blanket of grinding guitar, he cops to being nervous in bed. Whether he’s likening coitus to ballet (“Arch & Point”) or vamping with Alicia Keys over a tumbling drum loop (“Where’s the Fun in Forever”), Miguel proves himself a thrillingly unpredictable host. It’s no wonder this breakthrough LP led to sonic trysts with artists as wide-ranging as Kendrick Lamar, the Chemical Brothers, and Beyoncé.
- 2023
- 2022
- 2022
- 2021
Artist Playlists
- The Angeleno filters R&B through a trippy lens.
Live Albums
Compilations
More To Hear
- Thanks to social media, Miguel’s “Sure Thing” got a second wind.
- The latest tunes making waves, plus cover stars Diplo & Miguel.
- The artist joins Nadeska to talk about 'Art Dealer Chic 4.'
- The "Body" hitmakers get in the mix.
- The marketing magnate shuffles his iPhone's music library.
- Music from Jeezy, Miguel, and A Tribe Called Quest.
More To See
About Miguel
Miguel’s sound evolves every time he encounters a new way to express love—and as one of pop’s friskiest experimentalists, that means his career is a study in subverting the very notion of a conventional R&B star. The singer/songwriter born Miguel Jontel Pimentel (Los Angeles, 1985) was drawn to music’s insider/outsiders from the beginning, mimicking the moves of Michael Jackson at family gatherings at age three, and later drawing both artistic and sartorial inspiration from the likes of David Bowie, Prince, and Jimi Hendrix. So when it came time for his 2010 debut, All I Want Is You, Miguel flouted tradition by moving elegantly, sexily, both within and beyond his assigned genre. In back-to-back tracks, he slid from boom-bap soul to vulnerable a cappella to uptempo electro-funk. His confidence found composure on 2012’s Kaleidoscope Dream, which sounds as Technicolor and wondrous as the title suggests. Single “Adorn” merged timeless soul and modern production as seamlessly as it did deep love and physical longing, while songs like “P**** Is Mine” flipped expectations by casting Miguel as one of his partner’s many lovers, begging for validation. On 2015’s Wildheart, he dove deeper into psych rock, incorporating his own guitar and a Lenny Kravitz cameo into raw, grinding cuts that also supported Kurupt rapping and Miguel singing in Spanish. By 2017’s War & Leisure, he seemed to be flitting across genres just to prove he could: The sunny, pop-adjacent “Pineapple Skies” fit him just as snugly as the trippy, Travis Scott-assisted “Sky Walker.” That latter track seems to best capture the man as he coos out lyrical flexes both winkingly self-aware and genuinely braggy. Chameleon though he may be, Miguel is always Miguel—humorous, smart, and full of passion—no matter the setting.
- HOMETOWN
- Los Angeles, CA, United States
- BORN
- October 23, 1985
- GENRE
- R&B/Soul