Magic One (New Album Alert!)

Daddy B. Nice's #22 ranked Southern Soul Artist



Portrait of Magic One (New Album Alert!) by Daddy B. Nice
 


"High Heels & Jeans (Remix) feat. Various Artists "

Magic One (New Album Alert!)

May 25, 2023:

NEW ALBUM ALERT!

Buy Magic One's new MAGIC SHOW IV album at Apple.

MAGIC SHOW IV TRACK LIST:

1.
Stepping And Swinging


2
Thanging

3
Mine

4
When You're Wrong

5
Your Love

6
I Want You

7
Cheating On Me

8
Whole Lotta Love

9
I Love It

10
Like I'm Rich

Daddy B. Nice notes:

In 2022 I wrote that "in roughly five years Magic One's recorded two stellar albums with nary a weak track". Since then, Magic Shows III and IV have been a bit of a drop-off. Without sacrificing any of Magic One's capable vocalizing, the sets have been thinner on material. To wit, Magic Show IV has nothing to compare with "The Baddest," "Nose Wide Open" or "High Heels & Jeans".

The first track to catch my attention was the lead-off tune, "Stepping And Swinging," with its easy-to-like "stepping" beat and groove. Magic One released "Mine" as the album's first official single. It has some durable qualities, but neither "Mine" or "Stepping And Swinging" is a bonafide hit single. Magic Show IV works better as an album-length musical tapestry. Tunes like "Your Love," "Whole Lotta Love" and "I Want You" signal a stylistic drift towards straight R&B and away from those grittier southern soul anthems of yesteryear. After repeated listens, however, two tracks stand out: The first is "When You're Wrong", with a vaguely familiar hook that will attract and confound fans as to its source. "Cheating On Me," mixes Magic One's aural swagger with an accomplished instrumental track swirling in synthesizer washes. It has the substance and execution to become Magic Show IV's elusive hit.


Listen to all the tracks from Magic One's MAGIC SHOW IV on YouTube.

Listen to all the tracks from Magic One's new MAGIC SHOW 3 album at Spotify.

Sample/Buy Magic One's new MAGIC SHOW 3 album at Apple.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide



April 1, 2023:

NEW ALBUM ALERT!

Sample/Buy Magic One's new MAGIC SHOW 3 album at Apple.

MAGIC SHOW TRACK LIST:


1
Imma Say You

2
Henpecked

3
Sumn Gotta Shake feat. Lacee

4
Make Up

5
Super Fine

6
Like I Do

7
Pride Vs Love

8
Spiderweb

9
Lovin Me

10
Do Yo Thang

11. Like I Do (Remix) feat. Cupid

Daddy B. Nice notes:

Ease into "Magic Show 3" with "Super Fine". The comfortable groove and hiphop-inflected vocal recalls Magic One's "The Baddest" and more generally and umbilically Magic Shows 1 & 2.

Similarly, "Henpecked" is this album's nod to "Nose Wide Open". Mid-tempo, melodic, with good bass. Pussy-whipped but happy narrator. (Note that Magic One also drops "The Baddest" as a hint in "Super Fine".)

One red flag , "Spiderweb" has more elements of hiphop than southern soul, which may deter some fans, especially the old-school-inclined. But "Lovin Me," another border-crossing tune, is a resounding success, with the acapella-like vocal upfront and center in a tasteful, pared-down production. It's a keeper, and marks fertile ground for Magic One in the future.

Guest artists include Lacee, who segues into a verse of "Sumn Gotta Shake" and sticks around to duet with One (pronounced "Juan") for the remainder of the track. Cupid shows up later in a duet with Magic One on a remix of "Like I Do".

Listen to all the tracks from Magic One's new MAGIC SHOW 3 album at Spotify.

Sample/Buy Magic One's new MAGIC SHOW 3 album at Apple.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide


See the chart.

Listen to Magic One & Friends singing "High Heels And Jeans (Remix)" on YouTube.

August 15, 2022:

Daddy B. Nice's Profile

The first thing you need to know about Magic One is that "One" is pronounced differently in the southern black vernacular, where it sounds like "Juan". Thus, when Magic One refers to himself---or other southern soul artists refer to Magic One---they don't say "Magic 'wun'," the way people in the North or on the Coasts would pronounce "one". They say "Magic Juan," which sounds like "wuuaaannnn," merely a microcosm of a linguistic culture that baffles even sophisticated, non-southern African-Americans with family ties in the South. It's a heating-up and liquification of English, disbursed in drawls---the language as syrup. For example, listen to Wendell B and Avail Hollywood separately address Magic One ("Hey Juuuaannnnn") in the multi-artist masterpiece "High Heels And Jeans (Remix)".

So if a southern friend (verbally) recommends "Magic Juan," don't google "Magic Juan". You'll find a New York/New Jersey, merengue-hiphop artist of Dominican parentage of the same name. And if you google "Magic One," thinking you're doing the right thing, you won't have much more success. Instead, you'll find professional magicians marketing their magic shows, making Magic One---whether purposefully or not---one of the most publicity-shy and inaccessible artists in southern soul, not only hiding behind a mysterious, nearly search-engine-proof pseudonym but one which 90% of Americans wouldn't understand even when spoken!

But that's not to say Magic One hasn't made his presence felt. His most popular song on YouTube is "The Baddest," with three and a half million views. followed by "High Heels And Jeans (The Remix)" with Wendell B, Vick Allen, L.J. Echols & Avail Hollywood, with over a million views.

Which brings me to the second thing you need to know about Magic One. He's one of the most musically-gifted singer/songwriters in southern soul, able to create up-front grooves combined with panoramic sounds. In roughly five years he's recorded two stellar albums with nary a weak track. Magic One has a knack for chording, melody, tempo and arranging, and he doesn't hesitate to bring in first-rate producers such as T.K. Soul (who was the first to tout him), Beat Flippa and Ronald "Slack" Jefferson.

You never get tired of the best Magic One songs. You can hear them again and again. "The Baddest". "It's The Weekend". "High Heels And Jeans"---both versions. And the latest.... "Nose Wide Open," produced by "Slack".

Listen to Magic One singing "Nose Wide Open" on YouTube.

What a song! Not because of the lyrics, which are great (see "Tidbits" below for more on "nose wide open" as a meme)---it could have any words. But...Musically---Lennon/McCartney-has-nothin'-on-it musically. In "Nose Wide Open" and his earlier career classics Magic One finds that legendary "sweet spot" of southern soul---mid-tempo, modest, heartfelt and effective. And One's vocals---at one with the rest---are as transparent as glass. You barely think of them except at thankfully rare moments such as the ending of "Nose Wide Open," when One lets out an hyperbolic phrase to close and you think, "Wow, that guy really is a singer. That song really was sung." Because "Nose Wide Open" passes so effortlessly you never even thought about the singing of it.

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For Magic One's discography, album alerts, YouTube pages and more, scroll down this page. To automatically link to Magic One's charted radio singles, awards, CD's and other citations on the website, go to "Magic One" in Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index.
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--Daddy B. Nice


About Magic One (New Album Alert!)

Magic One is the performance name of Duane Harris. Magic One's southern soul debut occured in 2015 with the release of the singles "It's The Weekend" and "One On One/I Can Do Magic" on T.K. Soul's Soulful Records. The latter was soon forgotten, but "It's The Weekend" became a mainstay of the stations of the Deep South, charting on Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 Singles in July of 2017.

Capitalizing on the smooth tempo of "It's The Weekend," Magic One released the single "The Baddest" (also on T.K. Soul's Soulful Records) in 2017, incorporating a "stepping" beat that proved immensely popular with the fans. Another equally successful single followed: "High Heels And Jeans". The melodic and buoyant ballad was the first to be marketed under Magic One's own private label (Magic One).

Soon after, Magic One recorded a spectacular remix of "High Heels And Jeans" which brought in waves of new fans and came in for special mention in Daddy B. Nice's year-end review:

Daddy B. Nice Announces THE WINNERS of the 2018 (12th Annual) SOUTHERN SOUL MUSIC AWARDS.

Best Collaboration

Nominees:

"Call On Me"-----Sir Charles Jones, Calvin Richardson & Omar Cunningham
"High Heels & Jeans (Remix)"----Magic One feat. Wendell B, Vick Allen, L.J. Echols & Avail Hollywood
"Let Me Take Care Of You" (Highway Heavy)----Adrian Bagher & Cold Drank
"Cheating In The Next Room"----Beatrice feat. Rhomey
"Can't Nobody"----Audi Yo feat. Tucka
"Soul Brothers Moonshine"----P2K, Sir Charles Jones, Jeter Jones
"Feel Me"----J-Wonn feat. Keith Sweat
"Whipped Again"----O.B. Buchana & Pokey Bear
"Born Alabama"----Big "Ro" Williams, Sir Charles Jones & Mose Stovall
"Somebody Get This Fool (Remix)"----Jeter Jones, Vick Allen
"Come Ride With Me"----Adrian Bagher, Tyree Neal, Johnny James

Best Collaboration: "High Heels & Jeans (Remix)" by Magic One feat. Wendell B, Vick Allen, L.J. Echols & Avail Hollywood

Listen to Magic One, Wendell B, Vick Allen, L.J. Echols & Avail Hollywood singing "High Heels & Jeans (Remix)" on YouTube.



Magic One would return the favor to Wendell B in 2019 by joining him and others on Wendell's "Still Learning 'Bout Love".

But in the meantime---2018---Magic One had released his first full-length album, THE MAGIC SHOW, drawing together his seminal hits "The Baddest," "It's The Weekend" and "High Heels & Jeans" and more.

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January 6, 2018:

New Album Alert!


Buy Magic One's new debut album THE MAGIC SHOW at Apple.

THE MAGIC SHOW TRACK LIST:


1. It's the Weekend

2. All I Wanna Do

3. One on One

4. All of Me

5. High Heels & Jeans

6. Sexy Ain't Got No Age

7. Mary Jane

8. Loving 4 the Both of Us

9. Fool 4 U (feat. Ricky White)

10. The Baddest

11. Anytime

12. They Want It All (feat. Tha Don)

13. High Heels & Jeans (Remix) [feat. Avail Hollywood, Wendell B, Vick Allen & LJ Echols]

Daddy B. Nice notes:

Like more than a few fans, I didn't really sit up and take notice of Magic One until he recorded the remix of "High Heels & Jeans" with Wendell B, Vick Allen, L.J. Echols and Avail Hollywood. Before that, Magic One had been known as one of the more promising young artists recording at T.K. Soul's Productions, with a couple of singles to his credit.

In the aftermath "High Heels Remix," however, at least one of those singles, "It's The Weekend," sounds fabulous: a smooth-as-smooth, beat-wise slow-mo. Two other singles, the enticing "The Baddest" and the ballad "Loving 4 The Both of Us," sound pretty good too. In fact, these four tracks alone make THE MAGIC SHOW a keeper.

One amusing side note. On the remix of "High Heels" you'll hear Wendell and Avail pronouncing "Magic One" as "Magic Juan". That's the southern accent, which to a Northerner (who bites down on the word "one" like tearing off a chunk of beef jerky) makes it sound Hispanic. And the funny thing about that is there really is another Magic "Juan," a Hispanic singer, and he also has music videos on YouTube.

Listen to Magic One singing "It's The Weekend" on YouTube.

Listen to Magic One, Wendell B, Vick Allen, L.J. Echols and Avail Hollywood singing "High Heels And Jeans" on YouTube.

Buy Magic One's new debut album THE MAGIC SHOW or download mp3's at Apple.
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New singles "Party" (2019) and "Nose Wide Open" (2020) culminated in Magic One's second long-play set, The Magic Show II in 2020.



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November 28, 2020:

NEW ALBUM ALERT!:

Buy Magic One's THE MAGIC SHOW II album at Amazon.

THE MAGIC SHOW II TRACK LIST:

1 Still Got It

2
Nose Wide Open

3
Trust You

4
Turn It Up

5
99 Problems (feat. Fat Daddy)

6
It's Yours (feat. Crystal Thomas)

7
Party

8
Miserable

9
Sunday Evening

10
Mind Made Up

11
Lil Mama

12
Doing Wrong

13
Good 2 Me

14
Should've Known Better (feat. Kiko & Rodnae)

15
Nana

16
Thank You

17
Better

Daddy B. Nice notes:

Charting at #3 in Top 10 Singles for September 2020, your Daddy B Nice felt it necessary to reassure folks "Nose Wide Open" by Magic One was "not a cocaine song". That was before I realized "nose wide open" was a new expression along the lines of "sidepiece"---a southern soul, chitlin' circuit meme. This was confirmed when another new song named "Nose Wide Open," this one by Beat Flippa, Benito (the youngster who recorded "Guademala") and Lady Q, hit the airwaves. Being a country boy, I imagined a bull's nostrils, specifically the way they quiver and flare when they're engaged and excited (as do the cow's). And it turns out I was close. The term "nose wide open" refers to someone, most usually a male, who is completely smitten by a female.

"Nose Wide Open" isn't the only song from THE MAGIC SHOW II with a doppelganger. "99 Problems" (featuring Fat Daddy), recalls Adrian Bagher's first hit single, "Around The Corner," which most fans know by its chorus refrain of "99 Problems." Both "Nose Wide Open" and "99 Problems," by the way, are produced by Beat Flippa and also appear on his new album, P.O.T.Y.

THE MAGIC SHOW II makes it clear that Magic One will not be satisfied with a "one-and-done" career. If the half a million YouTubers who viewed Magic One's collaboration with Wendell B and other southern soul stars on his remix of "High Heels & Jeans" weren't ample evidence of One's (pronounced "Juan's") ambition to be the best, this set makes it official. Tunes like "It's Yours" (featuring Crystal Thomas) and "Mind Made Up" establish the singer/songwriter as one of the most serious contenders to come out of southern soul music's new generation.

Listen to all the tracks from Magic One's new THE MAGIC SHOW II on YouTube.

Buy Magic One's new THE MAGIC SHOW II album at Amazon.

Listen to Magic One's MAGIC SHOW II at Spotify.

Buy Magic One's MAGIC SHOW II at Apple.

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Daddy B. Nice notes:

Scroll down to "Tidbits #2" for more on "Nose Wide Open".


Tidbits

August 14, 2022

1.

Magic One on YouTube:



Listen to Magic One and Crystal Thomas singing "It's Yours" on YouTube.

Listen to Magic One singing "It's The Weekend" on YouTube.

Listen to Magic One, Wendell B, Vick Allen, L.J. Echols & Avail Hollywood singing"High Heels And Jeans (Remix)" on YouTube.

Listen to Magic One singing "The Baddest" on YouTube.

Listen to Magic One singing "Nose Wide Open" on YouTube.

Listen to Magic One and Crystal Thomas singing "It's Yours" on YouTube.

Listen to Magic One singing "Party" on YouTube.

Listen to Magic One singing "Trust You" on YouTube.

Listen to Magic One singing "Sexy Ain't Got No Age" on YouTube.


August 13, 2022

2.

2 "Nose Wide Open's" in 2020

In 2020's "Year In Review" Daddy B. Nice wrote:


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...And like any other genre riding the headwinds of wider popularity, southern soul added a new meme to its celebrated list: "my sidepiece," "sugar shack," "twerk," "hole in the wall," "rocking the boat," "stand up in it," etc. The new term was "Nose Wide Open." (Imagine a bull's flaring nostrils). It meant to be totally "smitten" by a loved one. The new meme figured in not one but two popular singles in 2020.

In the Slack-produced song, Magic One sang, "You got my nose wide open/I think you know it/You can have anything you want from me/I can't control it."

And in the Beat Flippa-produced song, Benito sang, "You got my nose wide open/I never felt like this before/You got my nose wide open/I can't take this shit no more."

To which Lady Q responded: "Now you say/That I got your nose wide open/But you got mine wide open too/And you know we can work this thing out/Don't throw it away."

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DBN notes (8-14-22): Since that write-up I've encountered "nose wide open" in other songs, some going back many years, as was the case with a Willie Clayton song going back to the aughts.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide


Honorary "B" Side

"The Baddest"




5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 
Sample or Buy High Heels & Jeans (Remix) feat. Various Artists   by  Magic One (New Album Alert!)
High Heels & Jeans (Remix) feat. Various Artists


CD: The Magic Show
Label: Magic One

Sample or Buy
The Magic Show


5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 
Sample or Buy The Baddest by  Magic One (New Album Alert!)
The Baddest


CD: The Magic Show
Label: Magic One

Sample or Buy
The Magic Show


5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 
Sample or Buy High Heels & Jeans by  Magic One (New Album Alert!)
High Heels & Jeans


CD: The Magic Show
Label: Magic One

Sample or Buy
The Magic Show


5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 
Sample or Buy It's The Weekend by  Magic One (New Album Alert!)
It's The Weekend


CD: The Magic Show
Label: Magic One

Sample or Buy
The Magic Show


5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 
Sample or Buy Loving For The Both Of Us by  Magic One (New Album Alert!)
Loving For The Both Of Us


CD: The Magic Show
Label: Magic One

Sample or Buy
The Magic Show


5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 
Sample or Buy Nose Wide Open by  Magic One (New Album Alert!)
Nose Wide Open


CD: The Magic Show II

Sample or Buy
Magic Show II


5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars 
Sample or Buy Sexy Ain't Got No Age by  Magic One (New Album Alert!)
Sexy Ain't Got No Age


CD: The Magic Show
Label: Magic One

Sample or Buy
The Magic Show


4 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars 
Sample or Buy 99 Problems (feat. Fat Daddy) by  Magic One (New Album Alert!)
99 Problems (feat. Fat Daddy)


CD: The Magic Show II

Sample or Buy
Magic Show II


4 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars 
Sample or Buy It's Yours (feat. Crystal Thomas) by  Magic One (New Album Alert!)
It's Yours (feat. Crystal Thomas)


CD: The Magic Show II

Sample or Buy
Magic Show II


4 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars 
Sample or Buy Mind Made Up by  Magic One (New Album Alert!)
Mind Made Up


CD: The Magic Show II

Sample or Buy
Magic Show II


4 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars 
Sample or Buy Stepping And Swinging by  Magic One (New Album Alert!)
Stepping And Swinging


CD: Magic Show IV
Label: Solid Soul Music Group

Sample or Buy
Magic Show IV





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