A solid video for the next single off Eminem's multi-platinum-selling album, Recovery. Shady and Weezy take on the always-relevant issue of bullying, and the imagery goes pretty well with the content. I wish there was a little more storyline, and a little less of Em in the booth or just standing there looking angry/tough. Still, a great song and one of the best showings by possibly the best rapper of our generation.
A reminder that Kanye puts on G.O.O.D. Fridays for free to keep his fans happy. People still disrespected him by leaking and sharing unfinished tracks after he publicly asked them not to. In light of how generous he's been for putting out stellar tracks for free, legal download, I have to agree he's right to draw the line when it comes to spreading rough, incomplete cuts from his next album.
It's the same reason why Dr. Dre was so pissed when "Under Pressure" (which was hardly half done) leaked in June. The harsh reality is that while it did have enough substance to give us a sense of what to expect from Detox, it was still so raw that it exposed Dre to unfair criticism from marks and naysayers just waiting for a chance to lambaste him for building false hype around his music. It wasn't done yet! Give the artists a chance to put out what they intended to, then you can talk all the shit you want. But at least appreciate the process, people! So many songs, albums, and mixtapes hit the blogs daily, often with the acknowledgement or even approval of the artists nowadays. They know their shit is getting leaked, and that's why I don't have any issues with upping and sharing on this blog. But if you step into the artists' shoes, they're just trying to balance this out by safeguarding what little material they can. In the internet age where few things are sacred, at least leave the half-baked snippets and reference tracks alone.
For this reason, I won't be upping any of the leaked Kanye tracks from this week. Sorry, but not really.
// N.E.R.D. - Hypnotize You (Prod. by Daft Punk) //
You'd think that a collaboration between two of the most prolific production camps on the planet would produce something with a little more oomph... kinda underwhelming, if you ask me.
While MMA may be missing the talented and very entertaining Genki Sudo, the world of J-Pop seems have a new star on the horizon. If not that, the retired grappling ace is at least making his mark in the viral video game with his original "World Order" music video. The video premiered last December, but its popularity still seems to be on the rise.
With the song now catching on in North America, Sudo was smart to film a new version of the video in New York City. It's a treat to watch, and the song is actually pretty catchy! I love the expressions of the random people who have no idea who he is or what's behind the choreographed dance routines.
It's really too bad he retired so early (at only 29 years old!), but it's nice to see his talents and colourful personality haven't gone to waste after all.
gonna try using soundcloud for previews/downloads from now on. seems more reliable =)
// Bruno Mars - Grenade //
Does anyone really care that the dude got busted with cocaine? I mean it could've been worse, couldn't it? Character judgements aside, no one can knock the man for his tunes and his butter-smooth vocals. This is easy-listening personafied. I think of Bruno Mars as kind of like Ne-yo: nothing he does will make you stand up and pay attention, but his sound is consistently better than the next guy. It pays to be really solid, it seems. Look for Doo-Wops & Hooligans to leak any day now.
// Quadron - Baby Be Mine (MJ Cover) //
Dutch duo Quadron released a classy little album earlier this year, and it seems they've been getting a little blog love lately. It takes a significant departure from the original to score a winner when you're covering The King of Pop, but Quadron's downtempo take on "Baby Be Mine" accomplishes just that. This one's definitely a gem.
// Kanye West f. RZA, Jay-Z, Pusha T, Swizz Beatz & Cyhi The Prynce - So Appalled //
Just like the main tagline says, you know this shit is fuckin ridiculous. I'm usually wary of marathon songs that are this long for no reason. After all, not every rap joint is meant to be a Whoa! Remix. Thankfully, this is 7-minutes of greatness I don't mind putting on repeat. After a just-alright effort with "Lord Lord Lord", Mr. West kills G.O.O.D. Friday once again. Let's just hope he gives Uncle Charlie Wilson a rest for the next few weeks... I can't help but feel that dude only made the track b/c John Legend was busy or something.
Ladies and Gents, this is what a really, really expensive speaker looks like.
Custom-made by UK-based company Living Voice, the Vox Olympian speakers sell for roughly $330,000 per pair. The hand-made speakers take 1400 man-hours to make, and each speaker tips the scales at 120 kg.
I have no idea what makes these speakers that much better than my $500 Razer/THX system (which is pretty nice by computer speaker standards), but I bet these things would blow my socks off. The Vox Olympian speakers are actually made for superyachts and other living spaces that I reasonably don't expect to ever occupy legally. Dare to dream...
show me a man who has $400,000 to spend on speakers, and I'll show you a man who has won at life. period.
It's been almost 10 years since Miri Ben-Ari's "hip-hop classics" performance blew the roof off the famed Apollo Theatre. Later named an "Apollo Legend," Ben-Ari went on to tour with Kanye West, and she also appeared on numerous artists' tracks throughout the early and mid-2000's. While her striking beauty and musicianship would seem to be a formula for success, the world was never quite ready for a hip-hop violinist. I personally hope to see her make it to headliner status, but I'm prepared to replay this grainy footage over and over. Yeah, it's a new-generation classic... and it's the first of many best-evers to grace this blog.
Is it just me, or is there a trend towards long, drawn-out songs right now? If you're going to push 5 minutes or longer, your song had better be fuckin awesome or at least not repetitive. This song is lacking in awesome, and despite my most sincere attempts, I've been unable to focus on the song because it's just so damn boring.
Listening to Diddy's lazy (and not to mention played-out) auto-tuned verses is so agonizing, my brain refuses to commit more than 30 consecutive seconds of attention juice to it. I get halfway into Wayne's totally unnecessary spoken word intro, and before I know, it I'm spacing out, reminiscing about the time a wasp flew up my pants and stung me mercilessly. To put it into perspective, my brain subconsciously decided that a phobia-inducing memory is somehow more pleasant than paying attention to "Shades" long enough to form an opinion about it. Yeah, that bad.
The lone bright spot - and even this is a stretch - is JT's hushed rap verse near the end of the 6-minute snoozefest. The guy's still got the magic, and to stand out on a track as fromage as this is much proof as he'll ever need.
Yeah, I'll take off my shades for you, Diddy. But I'm putting on ear muffs instead.
He's one-part pop music almanac, one part mash-up genius. He puts on the some of the craziest dance parties on the planet. He does it all with a laptop (or two) covered in plastic wrap.
If you're not familiar with Girl Talk, you have no idea what you're missing out on.
Check out this behind the scenes look at his '09 NYE Show in Chicago. It's only available for free for a few more days, so do yourself a favour and check it out while it's still up!
// Kanye West f. Pusha T - Runaway (Noise Vocal Sample Edit) //
The "CDQ" version released on Monday just didn't feel complete (or polished). This mix by unknown(?) remixer Tois de Noise(DL here) does a good job at capturing a little more of the original performance's energy. The main difference being the inclusion of the Rick James samples. I hope 'Ye finishes it himself - It's too good not to perfect.
// Chiddy Bang - The Good Life (Co-prod. Pharrell) //
Fresh off the Swelly Express and looking forward to The Preview, the Philly alt-hip-hop duo had a dream come true when they recently got Pharrell behind the boards. Skateboard P's fingerprints are all over this one, with his signature superclean percussion-first stylings in full effect. This is tight.
Off his forthcoming album, Mr. I, the soul crooner taps the reclusive Lauryn Hill for a soul-warming rendition of Kurt Bacharach's classic ballad. This is more news-worthy because it really, REALLY reminds us how sorely Lauryn Hill is missed. Hopefully her recent gig at Rock The Bells signifies her commitment to resurrecting her career.
// Big Boi f. Andre 3000 & Sleepy Brown - Lookin' 4 Ya (Jedi RMX) //
The best song not to make it to Big Boi's latest standout album was his collaboration with long-time running mates Andre 3000 and Sleepy Brown. The remix is pretty much the same track, but each Outkast member taking an extra verse. I'll pretty much ignore the original and listen to this instead.
After spending the last few years locked in a bitter dispute with her record label, JoJo is back and ready to finally release her 3rd album under Interscope. The R&B singer goes grown and sexy on "In The Dark", the lead single from her mixtape Can't Take That Away From Me. This one definitely surprised me. Check the video too!
I haven't been too crazy about Rihanna since... anything after "If It's Lovin That You Want" (yeah it's been that long). But I have to give respect where it's due. Haters gonna hate, but RiRi has six #1 pop records to her name. I have no doubts that she's going to murder the clubs with her foray into electro-pop anthems. Hey, she might not be in my iPod, but she could be in yours ;)
Kanye has boldly delivered on his promise to give us a new single every Friday for the past 5 weeks. Can he make it all the way to Christmas? It'll be tough, but he's absolutely killin it right now.
Kanye announced he would use his MTV VMA slot to debut the song he wrote for Taylor Swift. He felt bad about it the whole run-in at last year's show and wanted to make amends (at least in song form). Taylor swift, too, announced she would perform a song about the incident.
So what happened?
Swift chose the low road and barely eeked out her shot at Kanye. I actually like her, but the intro to her song was distasteful. On the night that he apologizes, she uses the opportunity to garner more sympathy votes? Meanwhile, K. West torn the house down in fine style. He apologized to the world, and managed to save face by putting on another career-defining performance. Ho hum.
Wisdom gleaned: never confuse charisma for douchebaggery.
All commercials should be as awesome as this. Hell, it even made me want to buy something from Dior Homme.
Why is this music related? Because Muse is the shit, and they were perfect for this piece. It's always nice to see the under-appreciated get some shine.
I'm rediscovering my love for Ms. Bareilles, so here's her take on Beyonce's hit track, "Single Ladies." I'll resist the urge to gush about how awesome she is... :)
2007 was a magical year for Sara Bareilles. Her first major-label release, Little Voice, was a pop triumph. It produced one of the year's most recognizable songs ("Love Song"), which helped propel the singer to new heights. "Love Song" went 3x platinum as a single, and Little Voice earned a Gold certification (500,000+ sold). Not everyone knows about her, but they really should. Sara Bareilles is a treasure, and I'm incredibly happy to treat my ears to Kaleidoscope Heart.
It didn't take long for me to recognize (and welcome) Bareilles' soul/pop stylings and not-so-little voice. She once described her music as "stompy, piano-based pop rock," which I think is a perfect summation. The punchiness of each song differentiates her from her peers and seems, thus far, to be a winning formula for her. Although the new material sounds like what she was putting out 3 or 4 years ago, it's still a lot better and genuine than most of what you'll hear on the radio these days.
The album's first single, "King of Anything", finds Bareilles in familiar territory. In the same vein as "Love Song," it's plain to see the song is destined to be featured in commercials and TV shows. Singable, clapable, snapable... the song is just generally addictive. It reminds me of Michael Buble's "Haven't Met You Yet," which isn't a bad thing considering the latter is Buble's most successful single on the Billboard charts to date.
I would normally list which tracks stand out, but I'll make things simple and just say: listen to the whole thing, from start to finish. Upon the first few listens, I haven't identified any "Between The Lines" or "Gravity"-calibre songs, but "Breathe Again" and "Send Me The Moon" certainly tug on a few heartstrings. I could see myself warming up to them very quickly.
The summary: Just like Little Voices, Kaleidoscope Heart is a staple in your iTunes library. Period. By the time 2010 is done, I will be likely be ranking this up in the Top 5 or 10 albums of the year. While she doesn't break the mould or set any trends, Sara Bareilles is easily one of the most authentic artists in a pop music crowd where most performers are about as deep as a Mr. Turtle Pool. She makes music for life. She makes music that is easy to identify with and is wholly satisfying - so long as you have a heart that beats. In short, she makes music that you should want to listen to
