#TopTenThursday 10 Potentially AWESOME Greatest Hits Albums : IMO

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Alicia Keys, Alicia Keys Greatest Hits, beyonce, Beyonce Greatest Hits, Black Eyed Peas, Black Eyed Peas Greatest Hits, Coldplay, Coldplay Greatest Hits, Justin Timberlake, Justin Timberlake Greatest Hits, Kanye West, Kanye West Greatest Hits, rihanna, Rihanna Greatest Hits, T.I., T.I. Greatest hits, The Black Keys, The Black Keys Greatest Hits, Usher, Usher Greatest Hits

With iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and all the other music-tech birthed in the digital age, the “Greatest Hits Album” has become a lot less important and a lot less frequent. This doesn’t mean that Greatest Hits albums aren’t sometimes surprisingly enjoyable. No Doubt‘s “The Singles 1992-2003” remains one of my favorite albums of all time, and last year I was really surprised that The Killers‘ “Direct Hits” compilation was so flawless as a full album. With the right sequencing and tone, a Hits album can potentially be a better album than that artists’ Best album. Most importantly though, a Greatest Hits provides a sort of cliff notes for anybody interested in an artist, but not interested enough to buy their whole discography.

To kick off a weekly feature I hope to continue, #TopTenThursday, I wanted to rank the Top 10 Artists whose material would make awesome Greatest Hits albums. And with the releases from P!nk, Eminem, Britney Spears and Kelly Clarkson it’s become clear that the Greatest Hits album doesn’t signal the end of a career anymore. None of the 10 artists listed are ones that I consider to be OVER, they just have great music that should be collected and celebrated.

 

10. The Black Keys.

Though Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have reached a mainstream success the past few years, their early work remains unheard of. The duo should go the OutKast route, whose 2003 “Big Boi and Dre present… OutKast” was put out for those new fans who thought “Stankonia” (their 4th album) was their debut. The Keys should do something similar and familiarize the world with their incredibly soulful early work.

 

9. T.I.

Somewhere between arrest 4 and 6 (but who’s counting?), I lost interest in T.I. although there was a time when I was a big big fan. As it often happens with artists, his music started becoming a little repetitve to me, but he still managed to collect hits here and there. With 8 studio albums behind him, and one slated to be released this year, Mr. Harris clearly has enough material to put together a solid and diverse “Hits” album to celebrate his career in the Hip Hop game.

 

8. Black Eyed Peas.

Let’s be real. The Black Eyed Peas are a huge group domestically and even bigger when you look at their international success, but they aren’t necessarily the most respected group out there. The foursome haven’t released a song in about 3 years, and their relevancy might have dipped since the major success of 2009’s “The E.N.D.”. A Greatest Hits would place all of their insanely catchy and addictive tracks on one album, and show the evolution of the group from “conscious” rappers to EDM hitmakers. This set could also include some of the group member’ solo work (since it doesn’t look like Fergie will ever release another solo LP). The hits might be the end of what BEP’s have turned into, and give them the freedom to recreate the band once again.

 

7. Kanye West. 

I almost didn’t include Kanye here, because he seems like the type of artist that would be repelled by the idea of putting out a compilation. But the dude has the hits to fill out a phenomenal Hits album. From his uptempo and fun records like “Golddigger” and “Good Life”, to the more emotional “Heartless” and “Jesus Walks”, and the socially conscious “All of the Lights” and “All Falls Down” – the set would show the masses that their IS talent behind the arrogant bravado that the media loves to focus on to make him a villain.

 

6. Alicia Keys.

Alicia keys comes out every few years with a new album, she manages to score at least one hit single, she tours, and than most people forget about her. This is mostly because her last few albums have all sounded the same and she needs a drastic style change. While she figures out where she wants to take her talents, it makes sense to come with a Hits compilation. Keys does have amazing songs in her 13 year career. Hits like “If I Ain’t Got You”, “Fallin” and “No One” are so timeless that the compilation should play pretty nicely. And her fan base (that has trended to an older crowd) would definitely scoop it up.

 

5. Coldplay.

These guys are actually the act that inspired this post as I was listening to “Ghost Stories”, their fairly decent if a little boring 6th album. I started thinking about their previous 5 albums (“Viva La Vida” IMO is easily their best album), their career and their breakthrough singles, and their discography would sound great mashed up together. Singles like “Yellow”, “Paradise”, “Fix You”, “In my Place” would flow nicely into the more uptempo tracks like “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” and “Speed of Sound”. I definitely think this needs to happen as their next release.

 

4. Justin Timberlake.

With only 3 solo albums under his belt (4 depending on what you consider that 2 part “20/20 Experience” mess) it might seem a little premature for the former N Sync’er to release a Hits compilation, but if his 2013 MTV VMA performance is any indication – he has the hits, and people are definitely here for them still. It wouldn’t be hard to package his big hits like “Sexyback” “Rock Your Body” and “Suit and Tie” along side some new or unreleased tracks (“Boutique in Heaven”, “Pose”, “Worthy Of” being some great unreleased cuts I know of). And I’m sure it would sell, it’s Timberlake after all.

 

3. Beyonce.

Last year I planned post something on Youtube about how I felt King Bey should release a Greatest Hits album. This was when the Beyhive was antsy and confused about the lack of new music, but than we got the surprise “BEYONCE” visual album,  and all was well in the world.  However a massive hits collection is inevitable, with her being such the Icon she is and having so many memorable hits like “Irreplaceable”, “Single Ladies”, “Halo”, “Crazy in Love” and now “Drunk in Love”. It’ll be one of those albums filled with so many memories and emotions, and definitely one that will make you dance.

 

2. Usher.

It’s amazing that a Hits album has never dawned on Usher, who has had a very successful 21 year career which includes record breaking sales and hit after hit (or like he said in “What Happened to You” – “seven Grammy’s, sold out concerts, DAMN I been working hard!”). For a while he was clearly the King of the Urban R&B genre, but competition and a quick and controversial marriage and divorce kind of tainted his image. He’s still been able to make hits from time to time, but his chart dominance took a slight dip and he’s become so underrated. His Hits album would be a great way to get people to understand how underrated this amazing talent is, and that he once owned Radio and TV with hits like “U Got It Bad”, “YEAH”, “Nice and Slow” and “U Remind Me” just to name a few. A Hits album might actually be a better idea than releasing his upcoming 7th album.

 

1. Rihanna.

In a very short time, Rihanna has collected so many big hits that it wouldn’t be difficult to create an amazing Greatest Hits album. And the best thing about Rihanna’s hits (including record breaking 13 #1 Hot 100 Hits) is that her music is so diverse. Her Hits album would jump from Dance hits like “We Found Love”, “Don’t Stop the Music” and “S&M”, to the Reggae/Dancehall tinged tracks “Rude Boy”, “Pon de Replay” and “What’s My Name”, on to her Hip Hop leaning hits and collabs like “Run this Town” by Jay-Z and “Live Your Life” by T.I. There’s even the softer Pop ballads like “Stay” and “Take a Bow” which would make the album perfectly balanced and fun. Rihanna is currently (allegedly) working on new material for her 8th release coming this Fall I’m assuming, (she posted a picture from the studio recently with the hashtag #R8) but a Hits album following that release would be perfect timing.

#TopTwentyFiveTuesday “…of Twenty Fourteen” : MYFAVORITES

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Alicia Keys, Andre 3000, Andre Benjamin, Babyface, beyonce, Black Keys, Calvin Harris, Christian Falk, Christina Aguilera, Coldplay, Drake, Duke Dumont, Jax Jones, Jessie J, Jhene Aiko, Justin Timberlake, K Michelle, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, MIA, Music 2014, Ola Salo, OutKast, Pharrell Williams, rihanna, Robyn, Royksopp, Shakira, Songs 2014, St Vincent, Tamar Braxton, The Black Keys, Toni Braxton, Toni Braxton and Babyface, Top 25 Music 2014, Top 25 Songs of 2014, Top Music 2014, Top Songs of 2014, Whitney Houston

#TopTenThursday didn’t really happen, but that IS a weekly thing I want to keep going on this here blog. But, in the effort of trying to keep this blog active, I’m going to add another weekly list – TopTwentyFiveTuesday, or maybe this will monthly, we’ll see. (Mind you, BOTH the TopTenThursday and TopTwentyFiveTuesday won’t be exclusive to Music)

This post is to make up for two things actually, the #TopTenThursday thing AND the post I planned on making about my favorite music of 2014 so far. I could have easily posted something quick and easy at the end of June, the official halfway mark of the year, but I have downloaded so much music that I haven’t gotten a chance to listen to yet. I wanted to give those albums (Agust Alsina, The 1975, Beck, Jack White,  et. al.) a fair listen and have a broader, more researched list of my favorite albums of 2014. Unfortunately I still have a bunch of albums in my iTunes that have zero plays… and it’s damn near August already. SO – instead of doing that (it’ll just have to wait until the end of the year) I’m just going to post the songs that I’ve been obsessed with this year. Some new, some old, all great.

And here we go…

25. Toni Braxton & Babyface “Roller Coaster”

Their “Love, Marriage & Divorce” album is really good, and this opening track is one of the stand outs.

 

24. Shakira featuring Rihanna “Can’t Remember to Forget You”

Sexy video. Fun song. And… well, RIHANNA!!!

 

23. Robin Thicke featuring Tamar Braxton “For the Rest of My Life Part 2”

 

22. M.I.A. “Bad Girls”

I was obsessed with this song my last month in New York City. Nice flow.

 

21. Pharrell Williams featuring Alicia Keys “Know Who You Are”

My absolute favorite from Pharrell’s “GIRL” album.

 

20. Jessie J “Thunder”

 

19. Justin Timberlake “Not a Bad Thing”

This is such a cute little Pop song, don’t “fuck around” and sleep on it.

 

18. The Black Keys “Waiting on Words”

Black Keys’ “Turn Blue” is an excellent album, and this has become my favorite.

 

17. Calvin Harris “Summer”

 

16. Christian Falk featuring Robyn and Ola Salo “Dream On”

I OWNED Robyn’s self titled 2008 album, but somehow never paid attention to this. I really got into it this Spring as I was easing back into the Bay Area life.

 

15. Drake “Connect”

 

14. K. Michelle “Can’t Raise a Man”

Great great song with a strong message that ladies NEED to pay attention to.

 

13. St. Vincent “Digital Witness”

Randomly saw St. Vincent on “Saturday Night Live” this Spring, and I fell in love with this quirky (and seemingly Prince-inspired) track. YAAAH!

 

12. Andre 3000 & Beyonce “Back to Black”

I was late to the party on this one, but this Amy Winehouse remake is so weird and strange – right up my alley.

 

11. Kanye West “Hold My Liquor”

 

10. Jhene Aiko “The Worst”

Thank the BET Awards for this, I seriously had never heard the song before the show. Really addictive song.

 

9. Coldplay “Midnight”

Just one word : AMAZING!  (it reminds me of How To Dress Well though)

 

8. Jessie J “Sexy Lady”

Probably the most FUN song I’ve discovered this year, this girl is so terribly underrated and under-promoted. This song could be HUGE, but oh well.

 

7. Robyn & Royksopp “Monument”

Robyn and Royksopp’s collaboration album has highs and few lows, but this opening track is just EPIC!! Amazingly textured and one of the best aural experiences of the year. (It’s just a tad long, but worth it when you get to that Saxophone effect)

 

6. Beyonce featuring Drake “Mine”

I always find myself coming back to this beautifully complex track.

 

5. Duke Dumont featuring Jax Jones “I Got U”

I heard this on some random commercial and just had to have it. The steel drums, the low-key House bump and the Whitney Houston sample just make this one of the best FEELING songs I’ve gotten into this year.

 

4. Mariah Carey “Make It Look Good”

 

3. A Great Big World featuring Christina Aguilera “Say Something”

Can’t even explain why I love this song, it’s so simple but makes such an emotional impact. Great stuff.

 

2. Mariah Carey “Faded”

This song is so sad, but the groove of it and Mariah’s vocals make it very addicting for me.

 

1. Coldplay “Magic”

Everything about this song is on point, the lyricism, the production and even Chris’ vocals are … well, they fit the song and mood.

Top 10 MTV VMA Performances : MYFAVORITES

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Alicia Keys, beyonce, Diddy, IMO, Jamiroquai, Janet Jackson, Kanye West, Madonna, Michael Jackson, MTV VMA, MTV VMA Best Performances, Red Hot Chili Peppers, RHCP

The MTV VMA‘s are airing this weekend (more on that later), and the list of performers this year are surprisingly un-impressive. And there are a few things that will happen at the Awards that I don’t agree with and thus I won’t be watching.

However, the VMA’s have given us music lovers some very memorable and iconic performances in it’s 27 years of broadcasting. Here are my personal favorites of all-time, the ones that have been the most memorable after all these years.

10. Kanye West“Runaway” (2010)

Seems like Kanye is always performing to redeem himself after a controversy the year before. His debut of “Love Lockdown” at 2008’s ceremony came after he went on a tirade in 2007 for not winning Video of the Year. This performance came after the Taylor Swift incident in 2009. The lyrical content (“i always find something wrong, you been putting up with my shit for way too long.” “let’s have a toast to the assholes”) worked because of the controversy, but the great thing about this performance is his use of the space. It’s very artistic in it’s simplicity, and the shocking red he wears in front of the mostly white backdrop also works so well in a really strange way.

9. Janet Jackson“That’s The Way Love Goes/If” (1993)

Her 1993 Album “janet.” brought out the sexy side of Ms. Jackson If Ya Nasty and it was only appropriate for her to bring that sexiness out on stage. And she definitely brought it with this mini-medley of her two huge MTV hits that year. Her choreography was on point, going from sexy to high energy and intricacy. And if she was lipping, well she did a clever job because the vocals aren’t exactly like the album recordings, so props for that. Easily one of her best performances, and one that most Pop chicks should study.

8. Alicia Keys“No One/Freedom” (2007)

Britney got all the attention that year for her ultimate-hot-mess of a performance of “Gimme More”, but Alicia emerged as the true artist that year and she gave one of her best live performances. She debuted the monster hit single “No One, and it was obviously a song at the time she was really into because it’s clear she put her heart into the performance. Than she switched things up and did a short cover of George Michael’s classic “Freedom 90”, and it felt like a big party. One of the few performances where Alicia seemed to be genuinely having fun.

7. Jamiroquai“Virtual Insanity” (1997)

Jay Kay and crew hit MTV big time with their video “Virtual Insanity” (which ended up taking home best Video of the Year), the video was such a hit because people wondered what effect was used to get his sort of “treadmill” room to operate. And the best thing about this performance is he (tried at least) brought that effect to life. In his music, you can tell he’s a soulful cat who commits 110% to every line he sings and when he performs it’s the same, and evident in this clip. He’s just so entertaining to watch.

6. Beyonce“Baby Boy/Crazy In Love” (2003)

For her debut VMA performance (belive it or not, Destiny’s Child never had proper VMA stage time), Bey pulled out all the tricks. From being lowered upside down from the ceiling, to the Rockette style “uh-oh”dance, this performance was wall to wall energy. And she sang live and danced her heart out, she was really trying to impress on her first time and it’s safe to say she did (from the looks of that Standing O).

5. Diddy“Bad Boy For Life/ I Need A Girl/ Pass The Courvoisier” (2002)

Talk about everything but the kitchen sink. Diddy spent a lot of time and money on this extravagant performance in 2002. He had just come off a summer of hits from his Remix album and this was a good medley of a few of those club bangers. He brought out Usher, Pharrell, Busta Rhymes and Ginuwine… as well as a troupe of dancers, weird acrobatics, explosions, glass shattering and pretty much every thing you can think of that would fit on the stage safely. Still, without the bells and whistles this was a really impressive performance from him. His dancing was on point (well), and it was just a good time on stage in general. We can look past his obvious lipping right!?

4. Madonna“Like A Virgin” (1984)

This is probably the most memorable performance of the VMA’s of All-Time for several reasons. This was the first annual presentation of the awards, and one of the first times Madonna did a big performance of her uber-hit “Like a Virgin”. No, it really isn’t the most impressive work from an artist on the stage, but the shock value of this sexually charged “bride” rolling around on the ground was actually quite taboo at the time. It became a bit of a controversy, and this might be what started Madonna’s envelope-pushing.

3. Red Hot Chili Peppers“Give It Away” (1991)

For me personally, this is one that sticks out when I think of great VMA performances but maybe not to other people. The Peppers performed their big MTV hit “Give It Away”, and in true to Rock Star form they decided to break the rules.Well, I’m sure these people were hand selected but this was the first time (and I think only time since) that I’ve seen a band and their fans on stage together rocking out to a song. It’s just the type of energy you’d expect from the young MTV, you watched it and wanted to be on the stage with them. And Flea rocking out in his tightie-whities has become sort of an iconic image (remember their appearance on “The Simpsons”!)

2. Madonna“Vogue” (1990)

Madonna is literally the Queen and King of MTV at this point, so it figures she’d have more than one performance on this list. In 1990, this was her second year in a row performing, and this was coming off one of the biggest most successful years in her career. This performance was highly anticipated, and people just didn’t know what she was gonna do, but knew she’d do something crazy. The result is a very well executed 18th Century inspired performance of her hit “Vogue”. Though she was lipping, the performance is one of the most entertaining and engaging performances. And only Madonna could do something like this and make it work.

1. Michael Jackson Tribute Performance (2009)

The Grammy’s did a tribute, BET Awards had a tribute two years in a row, and pretty much EVERY Award show that year had a Tribute to King of Pop Michael Jackson after his surprising death. The MTV VMA’s were the only ones who really got it right, and rightfully so. MTV and Michael Jackson basically made each other, so they would know the appropriate way to tribute his talents. Mainly focusing on dance, many a famous choreographer (including Wade Robson, Tyce Diorio and Laurie Ann Gibson) donned Iconic MJ wear and tore the place up with their moves.

The icing on the cake was sister Janet Jackson coming out to the surprise of everyone and killed it. A really loving tribute, and it really did show why he was such an Icon and such an Influence to the whole MTV generation.

Top 25 Kanye West Productions : MYFAVORITES

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Alicia Keys, Brandy, Common, Dilated Peoples, Drake, Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, John Legend, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, MyFavorites, Nas, Scarface, T.I., Talib Kweli, The Game, Top 25 Kanye West Productions, Watch The Throne Week

It’s “Watch The Throne” week, online in stores and on my blog. Today charting the essential Kanye West productions. I took note of him as a producer probably around the same time as everybody else, around 2001 when he blessed Jay Z with some soulful tracks for his classic “The Blueprint” album. West quickly became one of my favorite producers, and since than he’s contributed a wide array of excellent tracks to an eleclectic bunch of artists. I decided to exclude any of Kanye’s solo songs to file down the list some., even though those are some of his best this list still shows off how great he is. His versatility, ability to take a sample and make it something totally different, and his growth show he’s possibly the best at what he does. Here we go.

25. Jay Z “Young Forever” (Feat. Mr Hudson)

> The third in a tri-fecta of Hip Hop meets Pop singles from “Blueprint 3”, paying a nice homage to the classic “Forever Young” by Alphaville, Kanye flips the track with hard hitting electro beats to make the sound more current and something that everybody could love.

24. Lil Wayne “Let the Beat Build”

> A track that’s completely self explanatory thanks to the title. The complexities including the soul sample and some playful 808 beats help to make it a moody and fun track, and a standout on a very solid album.

23. Common “Go” (Feat. John Mayer)

> The first single from a very winning combination. Common and Kanye would go on to produce other excellent music together, but this was a statement and a preview of Common’s breezy yet radio accessible tracks.

22. Dilated Peoples “This Way” (Feat. Kanye West)

> A strong message is delivered over this hype, hard and dense track that you can also get your dance on to. Another case of Kanye being able to create something that’s 100% Hip Hop but can be enjoyed by the masses thanks to it’s chant-y hook.

21. Brandy “Talk About Our Love” (Feat. Kanye West)

> A bit of an off-kilter R&B track, with exagerrated background vocal play and stuttering rhythms. Easily one of Brandy’s best songs (and she has a bunch), and a flawless production that’s both mellow and danceable.

20. Jay Z “Encore”

> After “The Blueprint” you might have thought Kanye and Jay were “soul’d” out, but Kanye brings such an energy to this Stadium song. The crowd chants, the horn samples, and the intensity of the verses and hook. Amazing on first listen, and still holds up to this day.

19. Common “Drivin Me Wild” (Feat. Lily Allen)

> Kanye goes a little POP on this single, but doesn’t lose his Hip Hop edge or his style. Using a Chaka Khan sample, he merges Hip Hop with Brit-Pop and it results in something really fun and funky.

18. Alicia Keys “You Don’t Know My Name”

> Proving he’s not just a Hip Hop guy, Kanye teams with Alicia Keys to deliver a perfect 70’s Soul record that could have been a hit in that decade. Though it offers a “rock” that brings it to the contemporary age, it’s smooth and gets even better during Alicia’s “sugar and cream” breakdown.

17. The Game “Wouldn’t Get Far” (Feat. Kanye West)

> Kanye transforms Creative Source’s slow jam “I’d Find You Anywhere” into a club-banger. The song was also sampled on another beautiful Jadakiss track “By Your Side”, but Kanye shows his mastery of manipulation here and chops up random bits of the song giving one of his best uptempo’s.

16. Jay Z “Run This Town” (Feat. Kanye West & Rihanna)

> While being a song that’s catchy and danceable, this Jay Z anthem is also very dark and intense. A harder edged production from West, that even Rihanna’s pop vocals can’t soften up.

15. Talib Kweli “Get By”

> At times Kanye can put too much in the pot (see “Jesus Walks”), and this Talib production is no different. There’s the Nina Simone sample, there’s heavy drums and harsh piano plucking. Still, even though it  can come off cluttered at times, it’s a really strong standout track in his discography because of the ambition.

14. Ludacris “Stand Up” (Feat. Shawna)

> The song and it’s title called for a serious club banger, and surprisingly Kanye plays it a little more subtle and subdued. Yet while scaling back a bit, he still manages to get the job done of getting people on the floor with this addictive and undeniable dance cut.

13. Common “The People”

> Playing like the “light hearted, neo soul” cousin to “Finding Forever” cut “Southside”, this single from Common’s “Finding Forever” was perfect for the artist it was made for. Undeniably a more underground Hip Hop track, but the overall vibe is so earthy and tailored for Common’s style.

12. Nas “Still Dreaming” (Feat. Kanye West & Chrisette Michelle)

> Like one of Kanye’s own best tracks “Late”, this Nas “Hip Hop Is Dead” cut wins because of the ambient feel of it. It’s extremely mellow, but there’s a layer of seriousness to the track that helps bring out Nas’ lyricism.

11. Drake “Find Your Love”

> While this track has some harsh and hard hitting loops, it still remains a really sweet and pleasant work. It’s one of his tracks that are really so versatile that you could imagine anyone from a rapper, a pop singer or an R&B crooner attacking it.

10. Jay Z “Brooklyn Go Hard” (Feat. Santigold)

> A relatively simple track actually. Aside from the Santigold loop and eery background sounds, it’s a basic Hip Hop number for the clubs but still somehow stands out amongst his other productions. When you can do something basic and have it be better than most of the overproduced junk out there, you are doing something right.

9. Common “Testify”

> Common let’s the story unfold here like a great story teller, and Kanye gives him the perfect score to do it over. It’s mysterious, it’s intense and dramatic, and the Honey Cone sample is perfectly placed to add the emotion in correct spots.

8. John Legend “Heaven”

> At the same time being the perfect soul single for Legend, “Heaven” is breezy and beautiful and good enough for many a R&B legend to tackle. Again Kanye still manages to make the sound fresh and contemporary without losing that old school feel.

7. Talib Kweli “Good to You”

> A classic Kanye track, it was one of those singles that was popular for real Hip Hop heads at the time. It’s a rapid fire Hip Hop cut that hardly ever slows down until it gets the wonderfully placed title/hook portion.

6. Scarface “Guess Who’s Back” (Feat. Jay Z & Beanie Sigel)

> An oft-mentioned early Kanye production that nearly 10 years later still stands out as one of his best. It has a genuine underground Hip Hop feel, mixed with the smooth soul samples West became known for at the time.

5. T.I. “Swagga Like Us” (Feat. Jay Z, Kanye West & Lil Wayne)

> Similar to “Brooklyn Go Hard” in it’s sampling of Alternative chicks (this time pulling from M.I.A.’s hit “Paper Planes”), there’s nothing simple or basic about this track. It was designed to be as Epic as the All-Star roster of Rap Kings featured, and the track definitley fulfilled that design. With it’s heavy electro-swells and stuttering beats it was perfectly forward thinking and iconic for the group to attack.

4. Janet Jackson “I Want You”

> When approached with the task of working with one of Pop’s biggest Queens, Kanye does a great job of taking her out of her element but at the same time keeping the vibe in her lane. This R&B meets Pop meets Hip Hop track stands out because of all the crazy drum beats Kanye uses in the background, but stays really sweet and simple to match Jackson’s vocals.

3. Common “Southside” (Feat. Kanye West)

> Kanye has proven he’s versatile and can go from Hip Hop to R&B to POP and back again. Here Common and Kanye flow over very aggressive Hip Hop beats in the verses, but than the hook softens the track up so much. It’s like a bi-polar track, but it all manages to flow so perfectly.

2. Talib Kweli “In The Mood” (Feat. Kanye West & Roy Ayers)

> Amazing, Kanye further proves his genius here by basically giving Talib a contemporary and urban take on Acid Jazz, without changing it too much to lose the smooth vibe. This is serious lounge music, but there’s that underlying beat for the Hip Hop heads.

1. Jay Z “Takeover”

> Hip Hop meets The Doors, I mean do you really need to say anything else. The audacity to imagine this weird mash-up is enough, but West actually showed he has the skills to make it work. After watching so many producers of the past experiment with the rap/rock merger and fail, this flawless and seamless cut proved to many that Kanye had the goods to last a while.

So that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. He has so many amazing productions, and it was a little difficult ranking these (and excluding others). I think this list does show an overall picture of his artistry. Here’s to more years of his genius.

>2011 Grammys Update!

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Adam Levine, Alicia Keys, Arcade Fire, Aretha Franklin, Avett Brothers, Award Show Review, B.o.B., Black Keys, Bruno Mars, Cee-Lo Green, CeeLo Green, Christina Aguilera, Danger Mouse, Dr. Dre, Drake, Eminem, Esperanza Spalding, Florence & The Machine, Florence and The Machine, Florence Welch, Grammys, Herbie Hancock, India.Arie, Jaden Smith, Janelle Monae, Jay-Z, Jeff Beck, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Konono No 1, Lady Antebellum, Lady GaGa, Martina McBride, Mick Jagger, Miranda Lambert, Mumford & Sons, Mumford and Sons, Oumou Sangare, p!nk, pink, Raphael Saadiq, rihanna, Seal, Skylar Grey, Solomon Burke, Swizz Beatz, The Black Keys, The Roots, Usher, Yolanda Adams

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What a night! The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards presented this past Sunday was actually quite entertaining, and even if it was less about handing out awards and more about performances it worked a lot better than telecasts of the past. There were some surprising high points, and some over-hyped low points but overall it was a great night for music. As far as the winners, I actually predicted a good amount of the major winners so let’s go through that now.

Even though I predicted Eminem would win (as did most people, who seem very surprised that he only got 2 wins of 10 nominations) Album of the Year, my “should win” choice Arcade Fire took home Grammy gold. And I couldn’t be more happy because of what I wrote about them possibly winning “It would be nice if the Grammy’s showed they could be ahead of the curve for once, awarding an Indie act would do that. Arcade Fire have continued to be one of the most critically acclaimed act of the Indie scene, which is quickly beginning to surface on the mainstream.”

For Record and Song of the Year I was on point with my guess that Lady Antebellum‘s “Need You Now” would sweep. “It’s really a great, simple, catchy and relatable song. It would deserve any prize it got.”

I accurately predicted both Pop Vocal Performance prizes based off Grammy voters favoritism, with Bruno Mars winning the Male prize “With 6 nominations already, it seems the Grammy voters are falling for Bruno Mars fast, so he’ll probably get this one.” and Lady GaGa winning the Female one “The Grammy voters are obviously in love with Lady GaGa so she’ll probably take it, and why not, her vocals on “Bad Romance” were some of the high points of the song.“. I was also correct with Lady GaGa’s other win for Pop Vocal Album.

One Pop category I was floored that I was incorrect in predicting. I would have bet money that Lady GaGa and Beyonce would have won Pop Collaboration for “Telephone”, but I didn’t trust my first mind when looking at the nominees. I was going to mention the calvalcade of stars that won for Herbie Hancock‘s “Imagine”, he had the help of  Jeff Beck, Pink, Seal, India.Arie as well as Konono No 1, & Oumou Sangare. A remake of a classic Beatles song with previous Grammy winners, what was I thinking not mentioning this, it’s obviously a Grammy winner just on paper.

Though it was an easy call, I got R&B Album correct which went to John Legend and The Roots for “Wake Up!” “However individually John Legend and The Roots have won a few Grammys already, teaming up looks like a winning idea.” Another easy call came from the Rap Album which went to Eminem “Eminem definitely, even though his was the lesser album of them all, with his track record there’s no way he  could lose this one this year.”

Surprisingly I got a few of the Rap categories wrong, but I was so pleased that I was correct in guessing Jay-Z and Alicia Keys‘ “Empire State of Mind” would triumph in Rap/Sung Collaboration, they also won Rap Song which made me very happy because of this comment I made “this future classic instantly captured the hearts of people in every city and became Jay’s biggest hit and first #1 single.” Still I was off with Rap Solo Performance, awarded to Eminem’s “Not Afraid”. Nicki Minaj didn’t get Grammy gold as I predicted for Rap Duo or Group Performance, Jay-Z also grabbed that one for “On To The Next One” (which… I mean I’m happy he won, but Swizz Beatz hype-man status on the song doesn’t seem to qualify for Group performance to me).

Even though Arcade Fire won the Album of the Year prize, that didn’t translate to any wins in their category of Alternative Album which surprisingly went to The Black Keys, the duo also won for Rock Performance Duo or Group. Both of those awards I predicted Arcade Fire would win, but I did say if Kings of Leon didn’t win the latter award it “would leave the race open to the Black Keys, Arcade Fire and Muse… The Black Keys’ song was an underground and commercial favorite“.

I think everybody was shocked at Esperanza Spalding winning for Best New Artist, I was happy to see her name since I’ve been somewhat familiar with her for the past year or so. I was surprised she was even nominated, and I was sure the prize would go to Mumford & Sons. I figured Drake or Justin Bieber were the back up winners but I never though Esperanza, a little-known Jazz artist, would pull the upset. I’m really happy she did though, I like hard-working artists who aren’t in the mainstream picking up top prizes.

Overall, I felt like most of the winners were well-deserved. As I mentioned before Arcade Fire winning the top prize of Album of the Year looks good for the Grammy’s, showing you don’t have to have massive album sales or media attention to win awards. I think the winner I was most happy with was Danger Mouse finally winning Producer of the Year. His output the previous year wasn’t as high a volume as the other nominees, but obviously voters recognize his genius.

I was also really pleased with the telecast. In typical award fashion, it went a little over-long, but overall some really great and diverse performances took place. Going into the show, the most buzzed about performances were that of Mick Jagger taking the Grammy stage for the first time to tribute Solomon Burke , Barbara Streisand‘s (pretty boring) performance of “Evergreen” and ofcourse Lady GaGa’s performance, debuting her new record-breaking single “Born This Way”.

Though she sounded great and showed loads of energy during the performance, her red carpet entrance in an Egg was actually more exciting, creative and unique. Katy Perry did an impressive job doing “Not Like The Movies” and “Teenage Dream”. She’s not known for her voice, but she sounded great during both numbers and even her stage presence took a step up. Rihanna and Drake’s performance of “What’s My Name?” was a little unnecessary (she wasn’t nominated for the song) but she’s showing some improvement in her live performances, and she danced alot which isn’t typically what she’s famous for on stage.

Arcade Fire’s second performance, “Ready to Start”, was much better than their first seizure inducing rendition of “Month of May”. Lady Antebellum, Muse, Avett Brothers and Miranda Lambert were all passable. Justin Bieber’s performance was a little over the top and when Jaden Smith joined him it felt like The Kid’s Choice Awards and not the most respected Music awards show, and Usher should just lipsync any future performance of “OMG” because with the choreography it’s obvious he can’t sing at the same time. And when Eminem, Rihanna, Adam Levine and Dr. Dre all took the stage, it was newcomer Skylar Grey who stole the performance by just singing the hook of Dre’s new hit “I Need a Doctor”.

And ofcourse there was the mess of a Aretha Franklin tribute with chronic over-singers Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Hudson, along with Yolanda Adams, Martina McBride and Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine. You kind of knew what to expect here, but I think the biggest problem was the ladies voices were not compatible at all. And Florence Welch and Martina McBride really seemed out of place, not great, but somehow better than the Michael Jackson tribute last year which was just painfully boring.

Here are my Top 5 performances of the evening.

1. Mumford & Sons “The Cave”. They were just the first part of a trio of performances followed by The Avett Brothers and Legend Bob Dylan. However their short time on the stage was easily the most exciting during the whole show. They sounded great, the song was good, their band was in perfect sync with each other. The best thing about it was they, moreso than any other performer, actually seemed really excited to be performing there. You could feel so much love coming from their performance.

2. B.o.B., Bruno Mars & Janelle Monae “Nothin’ On You/Grenade/Cold War”. The newbies of the evening really showed why they deserved to be there. B.o.B. started with a beautifully stripped down version of “Nothin’ on You” with Bruno and Janelle providing wonderful backing harmonies. Bruno Mars was full of confidence with his Doo-Wop version of his recent hit “Grenade”. Though he was pitchy towards the end, overall his performance showed great promise. And with “Cold War” Janelle Monae rocked the house, hopefully that performance will get her the exposure she deserves.

3. Cee-Lo Green “Forget You”. Not exactly sure why Gwyneth Paltrow was chosen as his duet partner here, but his whole performance was just a great show. His over the top feathered outfit, the Muppet band and the Muppet back up singers and their choreographed steps. And even though I’m still perplexed, Gwyneth sounded really good just lacking in stage presence.

4. Mick Jagger “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”. Hard to believe, but this is his first ever Grammy performance, and he chose to use his debut appearance to tribute one of his inspirations Solomon Burke. If you’re a Stones fan you realize they started out all those years ago playing the early Blues and Rock and Roll sounds they loved and he seemed like a little kid on stage just enjoying singing probably one of his all time favorite songs. I didn’t quite understand why he kept pushing Raphael Saadiq around on stage (was he mad he was trying to hog some spotlight, or is this some kind of Blues thing I just don’t get), but it was an impressive performance.

5. Katy Perry “Not Like the Movies/Teenage Dream”. This is a performance that won’t really be remembered, as it wasn’t anything too groundbreaking or new. She just sounded great, she stepped up her game a lot for The Grammys. And the wedding footage is also adorable.

>2011 Grammy Nominations — Winner Predictions!

Tags

Adam Lambert, Alicia Keys, Arcade Fire, B.o.B., beatles, beyonce, Black Keys, Broken Bells, Bruno Mars, Danger Mouse, Dr. Luke, Drake, Elton John, Eminem, Fantasia, Glee, Grammy Predictions, Grammys, Jay-Z, John Legend, John Mayer, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Kings of Leon, Lady Antebellum, Lady GaGa, Leon Russell, Ludacris, Maroon 5, Michael Buble, Michael Jackson, Miranda Lambert, Mumford & Sons, Mumford and Sons, Muse, Neil Young, Nicki Minaj, Norah Jones, Paul McCartney, RedOne, rihanna, The Beatles, The Black Keys, The Roots, The Smeezingtons, Train

>This Sunday night, The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards will take place. And who’s going to emerge the big winner is anybody’s guess. In fact, the nominees are spread so evenly there might not be any clear winner  — Although I’m looking at Eminem and Lady Antebellum to come out on top.

What we do know right now is who’s performing, and with Mick Jagger, Barbra Streisand & Bob Dylan taking the stage, it looks like the history of Popular Music might be a focal point. Still there are those current acts to look forward to, Lady GaGa who is set to perform her newest single live for the first time. Rihanna and Drake are set to perform together, as well as Eminem and Dr. Dre and of course Justin Bieber will be there for the little girls watching.  And get your ears ready for the Over-Sing-Fest of Jennifer Hudson and Christina Aguilera doing an Aretha Franklin tribute. We can probably expect minimal mentions of the late Teena Marie, and a bunch of overrated artists performing their overrated songs.

As I do every year, I’m gonna take a stab at predicting these quite odd Grammy’s. (I’m late!)

Record of the Year.
B.o.B. & Bruno Mars, Nothin’ on You
Eminem & Rihanna, Love the Way You Lie
Cee-Lo Green, F**k You
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, Empire State of Mind
Lady Antebellum, Need You Now

Looks like the domestic abuse anthem is the favorite, so that’s one for Eminem. He will probably pick up alot of awards Grammy night, and this song was really popular. However in a race dominated by Hip Hop acts, Lady Antebellum also has a really great shot at picking this one up, and their song was also a pretty big hit for a Country group. It’s a toss up, but I think Lady Antebellum might just come out on top here.

Will Win: Lady Antebellum.
Should Win: Jay-Z. Empire State of Mind instantly captured the hearts of people in every city and became Jay’s biggest hit and first #1 single. He won’t have many chances to win for this song, but this future classic deserves to get a Top 4 Honor.

Album of the Year.
Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
Eminem, Recovery
Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
Lady GaGa, The Fame Monster
Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

A slightly better race than last year, save for the GaGa EP being nominated. The ones I think should be taken off the list are probably the ones that have the biggest shot. Lady GaGa and Eminem. Still, Arcade Fire and Lady Antebellum have an equally good chance. The only drawback with Arcade Fire is that Indie acts hardly ever win this award. Country acts rarely do either, but Taylor Swift pulled the surprise win last year. It’s really between Eminem and Lady Antebellum, and Eminem is the one who’s been in the industry the longest so he might get the “legend” win here.

Will Win: Eminem
Should Win: Arcade Fire. It would be nice if the Grammy’s showed they could be ahead of the curve for once, awarding an Indie act would do that. Arcade Fire have continued to be one of the most critically acclaimed act of the Indie scene, which is quickly beginning to surface on the mainstream.

Song of the Year.
Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs, Beg Steal or Borrow
Cee-Lo Green, F**k You
Miranda Lambert, The House That Built Me
Eminem & Rihanna, Love the Way You Lie
Lady Antebellum, Need You Now

This is a race between the country songs, with both Miranda Lambert and Lady Antebellum coming out in front. Both of their nominated songs are lyrically deserving of the title, however Lady Antebellum probably has the edge because the message in “Need You Now” is more universal, and the song is also a little more Pop-leaning. If the two country acts cancel each other out, Eminem might get yet another win.

Will Win: Lady Antebellum.
Should: Lady Antebellum. It’s really a great, simple, catchy and relateable song. It would deserve any prize it got.

New Artist.
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence and the Machine
Mumford and Sons
Esperanza Spalding

Drake might seem like the favorite here, but this race will probably result in a big surprise. And I feel like Mumford & Sons will take the trophy. It was a surprise this 4 piece band was even nominated, but along with a critically hailed album and the buzz from their live shows, they might just take the crown. Drake and Bieber are fall backs if not enough voters know who Mumford & Sons are. Still I feel they might pull the upset here.

Will Win: Mumford & Sons.
Should Win: Drake.

Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Sara Bareilles, King of Anything
Beyonce, Halo (live)
Norah Jones, Chasing Pirates
Lady GaGa, Bad Romance
Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

The Grammy voters are obviously in love with Lady GaGa so she’ll probably take it, and why not, her vocals on “Bad Romance” were some of the high points of the song. This could be an interesting race though because Norah Jones is another Grammy favorite, and Katy Perry has a good chance of being the winning underdog.GaGa and her song were staples of last year though so she should probably get it.

Will Win: Lady GaGa.
Should Win: Lady GaGa.


Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Michael Buble, Haven’t Met You Yet
Michael Jackson, This Is It
Adam Lambert, Whataya Want From Me
Bruno Mars, Just the Way You Are
John Mayer, Half of My Heart

With 6 nominations already, it seems the Grammy voters are falling for Bruno Mars fast, so he’ll probably get this one. Even though Adam Lambert is the one that truly deserves it. Michael Jackson might get the sympathy votes however, but who knew “This is It” was even a song. John Mayer has also been a Grammy favorite in the past, but that was before the serial-celeb dating and questionable public comments. Michael Buble had a hit with “Haven’t Met You Yet”, and since he’s up against Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow in the other category he’s nominated for, he might get this one. This is actually a hard race to predict.

Will: Bruno Mars.
Should: Adam Lambert.

Group Pop Vocal Performance.
Glee Cast, Don’t Stop Believin’
Maroon 5, Misery
Paramore, The Only Exception
Sade, Babyfather
Train, Hey, Soul Sister (live)

Will the love for the TV show “Glee” translate over to the Grammy’s? It looks like highly possible. The biggest competition comes from Train with their huge hit single “Hey, Soul Sister”, and maybe since it’s actual music insiders voting they’ll go with the well respected band as opposed to the manufactured television show cast.

Will: Glee Cast.
Should: Maroon 5.

Pop Vocal Collaboration.
B.o.B., Hayley Williams & Eminem, Airplanes Part II
Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare, Imagine
Elton John & Leon Russell, If It Wasn’t for Bad
Lady GaGa & Beyonce, Telephone
Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg, California Gurls

Seems like GaGa and Beyonce are the favorites in this race, there is a question mark though. You have Elton John there with Leon Russell, and since Katy might not grab too many of the awards she’s up for she might take this one. Also the Eminem connection might help B.o.B. Still, Lady GaGa and Beyonce are obvious Grammy favorites so I think this win is a bit of a sure thing.

Will: Lady GaGa & Beyonce.
Should: Lady GaGa & Beyonce.

Pop Vocal Album.
Justin Bieber, My World 2.0
Susan Boyle, I Dreamed a Dream
Lady GaGa, The Fame Monster
John Mayer, Battle Studies
Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

Even though it’s only 8 tracks it’s up for Lady GaGa is up frikkin ALBUM OF THE YEAR!! It’s gotta win this one if they thought highly enough to nominate it for the top prize. Slight competition may come from John Mayer and Katy Perry, but Lady GaGa is on fire and I don’t think either of them have enough power to take her down here.

Will Win.: Lady GaGa.
Should Win: Katy Perry.

Solo Rock Performance.
Eric Clapton, Run Back to Your Side
John Mayer, Crossroads
Paul McCartney, Helter Skelter
Robert Plant, Silver Rider
Neil Young, Angry World

This is the battle of the old fogeys versus John Mayer. All the four guys are legends, so Mayer can basically kiss his chances goodbye. The two favorites being Neil Young and Paul McCartney. With Beatle mania happening again this year, and this performance coming from the nationally televised concert special, McCartney has a good chance of taking it. Still Neil Young is the only nominee here (besides Mayer) nominated for his entire album this year. If he doesn’t win this one, he’ll take Rock Album. Which will than leave it open for Paul.

Will: Paul McCartney.
Should: Paul McCartney.

Group Rock Performance.
Arcade Fire, Ready To Start
Jeff Beck & Joss Stone, I Put a Spell on You
The Black Keys, Tighten Up
Kings of Leon, Radioactive
Muse, Resistance

Kings of Leon had the best vocal of the nominated song, and they should win. Doing so great last year might hurt them this year. Which would leave the race open to the Black Keys, Arcade Fire and Muse. Muse had the biggest hit single with their nominated single, The Black Keys’ song was an underground and commercial favorite, and Arcade Fire seems to be the Grammy favorite of the three. I think Muse’s hit-factor might give them this win.

Will Win: Muse.
Should Win: Kings of Leon.

Alternative Album.
Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
Band of Horses, Infinite Arms
The Black Keys, Brothers
Broken Bells, Broken Bells
Vampire Weekend, Contra

This one obviously goes to Arcade Fire, who have won this award with every previous album. Now that they are also up for the big Album prize, it’s a no-brainer they will take this one again.

Will Win: Arcade Fire.
Should Win: Broken Bells.

R&B Album.
Raheem DeVaughn, The Love & War Masterpiece
Fantasia, Back to Me
Jaheim, Another Round
John Legend & The Roots, Wake Up!
Monica, Still Standing

Another very easy race, John Legend & The Roots pulled together an organic and instantly classic album by paying homage to the songs and album of R&B’s greatest era. Slight competition comes from the sympathy vote which might go to Fantasia. However individually John Legend and The Roots have won a few Grammys already, teaming up looks like a winning idea.

Will Win: John Legend & The Roots.
Should Win: John Legend & The Roots.

Solo Rap Performance.
Drake, Over
Eminem, Not Afraid
Ludacris, How Low
T.I., I’m Back
Kanye West, Power

Eminem may just sweep all the Rap categories, but I don’t think after such a critically acclaimed album on their brain that the Grammy voters will skip a chance to give Kanye an award this year. Drake also has a chance here, but I think it’s definitely between Em and Kanye. And since Eminem has so many chances to win this year, Kanye will probably get it.

Will Win: Kanye West.
Should Win: Kanye West.

Duo or Group Rap Performance.
Big Boi, Bosko, Cutty & Mouche, Shutterbug
Drake, T.I. & Swizz Beatz, Fancy
Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz, On To the Next One
Ludacris & Nicki Minaj, My Chick Bad
Young Jeezy & Plies, Lose My Mind

Ludacris has the best shot because voters are going to want to give Nicki Minaj her first Grammy this year, this is the only category she’s up for tonight and the competition here isn’t that difficult to beat.

Will Win: Ludcaris & Nicki Minaj.
Should Win: Ludacris & Nicki Minaj.

Rap/Sung Collaboration.
B.o.B. & Bruno Mars, Nothin’ On You
Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall, Deuces
Eminem & Rihanna, Love the Way You Lie
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, Empire State of Mind
John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Common, Wake Up Everybody

Empire State of Mind and Love the Way You Lie look like the favorites here, both big hit singles from very popular Hip Hop acts. Don’t count out the John Legend & Roots collaboration here who might just pull the upset. These Rap categories are hard to call, because with so many top names nominated who knows if the voters will go Eminem for everything or if they want to diversify their picks.

Will Win: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys. Ultimately I think this may be the one award they give Jay.
Should Win: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys. It deserves every award it’s nominated for.

Rap Album.
B.o.B., The Adventures of Bobby Ray
Drake, Thank Me Later
Eminem, Recovery
Jay-Z, The Blueprint 3
The Roots, How I Got Over

Eminem definitely, even though his was the lesser album of them all, with his track record there’s no way he  could lose this one this year.

Will Win: Eminem.
Should Win: Jay-Z. His best album in years, which helped him get the biggest hit singles of his career. It’s just sad to think he might walk home empty handed.

Producer of the Year.
Rob Cavallo
Danger Mouse
Dr. Luke
RedOne
The Smeezingtons

RedOne or Dr. Luke might sadly take this award simply for their volume of work this year, and it won’t be about quality at all. (And why haven’t Stargate been nominated here?). Danger Mouse deserves it, but his albums weren’t as high-profile as those of the aforementioned producers. The Smeezingtons, relatively new, produced some of the top nominated songs this year, so they are the underdogs, and I’d much rather see them win. But it’s gonna be either Dr. Luke or RedOne, with the latter being the favorite for their GaGa connection.

Will Win: RedOne.
Should Win: Danger Mouse.

Okay there you have it, I’m so sorry I’m so late. I think as I’m about to post this nominees are being announced. Forgive any sloppiness and the lack of visuals, I was racing to finish this.

Enjoy!

>2011 Grammy Nominations — Reaction!

Tags

Adam Lambert, Alicia Keys, Arcade Fire, B.o.B., beyonce, Big Boi, Black Keys, Broken Bells, Bruno Mars, Cee-Lo Green, CeeLo Green, Christina Aguilera, Drake, Eminem, Erykah Badu, Fantasia, Gorillaz, Grammys, Hayley Williams, Janelle Monae, Jay-Z, Jeezy, John Legend, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Kelis, Kelly Rowland, Lady Antebellum, Lady GaGa, LCD Soundsystem, Ludacris, Maroon 5, Monica, Neon Trees, Nicki Minaj, Paramore, Ray Lamontagne, rihanna, Robyn, Sade, The Black Keys, The Roots, Toni Braxton, Train, Trey Songz, Vampire Weekend, Young Jeezy

>Now, you may not know that I posted my Grammy PredictionBlog literally 45 minutes before the nominations were announced. I was on Twitter and Grammy.com’s Live blog getting the announcements of who was nominated and who was snubbed. The reaction I had when the full list of nominations was finally available on the Grammy website was WTF!? Literally.

I’m not mad, not even all that surprised, just a little confused. Like last year, when GaGa, Beyoncé, Black Eyed Peas and Taylor Swift were up for Album of the Year it  just felt like the Grammy voters were choosing the most popular and best selling artists. This year with the Big 4 including a diverse group of artists like Cee-Lo Green, Ray Lamontagne, Katy Perry and Bruno Mars it’s not clear what the Grammy voters were thinking. I’ll pick the nominees apart in another post, but let’s first talk about how I was pretty spot on predicting which artists would be nominated, just not too spot on with the actual categories they’d be nominated for.

Of course Eminem was the King of nominations scoring 11. He got the Album, Single and Record of the Year nods I predicted and 6 of his nominations are in the Hip Hop category (competing against himself in two of those categories) which I also predicted. The remaining two nods are for Short Form Music Video for “Love the Way You Lie” (really???) and for his feature work in “Airplanes Part II” by B.o.B. Unfortunately he is really the only Hip Hop artist to dominate the Big 4 categories this year, so that goes against my earlier prediction that Drake, Jay-Z and the aforementioned B.o.B. would be big contenders. Jay-Z only nabbed a Record of the Year nomination for his “Empire State of Mind” with Alicia Keys, same story for B.o.B. who finds himself in the same category with “Nothing On You” with Bruno Mars. And Drake’s only Big 4 nomination comes in the form of Best New Artist, in fact, despite having one of the best albums of the year Drake is only up for 4 total awards.

Lady GaGa ended up being a nominations leader again this year, and given the artists that were snubbed for Album of the Year (Jay-Z, Drake, Robyn, Sade, Rihanna, Janelle Monáe) it’s really upsetting that her 8 track EP “The Fame Monster” is actually up for that category. That undeserved nomination brings this years total to 6 nominations, though she missed out on Song and Record of the Year “Bad Romance”, “Telephone” and oddly enough “Dance in the Dark” are up for multiple nominations. Katy Perry also ended up doing better than I thought, as she did grab a nomination for Album of the Year even when I said it probably wouldn’t happen. Her “Teenage Dream” album helped to score her 4 nominations, not in the Song of the Year or Record of the Year category, but I was correct about the title track nabbing Pop Vocal Performance and “California Gurls” up for Pop Collaboration.

Country group Lady Antebellum also did well for themselves as I predicted.  They pulled 6 total nominations, 3 coming from the Big 4 categories Album of the Year, Record and Song of the Year for “Need You Now”, all of which I accurately predicted. Of the most nominated acts this year, the only one who surprised me was Bruno Mars who is also competing in 6 categories. His debut album “Doo-Wops and Hooligans” missed the cut-off for this year, but his singles feature work and writing made him a leading competitor. Another big surprise, the song he wrote for Cee-Lo Green “F**k You” (or “Forget You” the censored, radio friendly version) is up for both Song and Record of the Year.

And since I’m giving my honest reactions, maybe that song didn’t deserve it’s nods. It’s a fun song, but it didn’t make too many waves on the charts so I’m really surprised it’s up for such high honors.

Arcade Fire did score a nod for Album of the Year as I predicted for “The Suburbs”, but weren’t nominee leaders this year with only two other nominations. Another big surprise is the virtual snubbing of Sade, who only scored two nominations Pop Vocal, Group (“Babyfather”) and R&B Vocal, Group (“Soldier of Love”). Maybe it’s because their album was released so early in the year, voters forgot about them, but it was really a shock to see them only in two categories (however, looking back, they’ve never been nominee leaders, generally only getting one nomination per album).

Most of the other acts I mentioned as shoe-in’s in my Nominee Prediction post were named. Vampire Weekend, The Black Keys, Ludacris, Gorillaz, Young Jeezy, Nicki Minaj, Train and Janelle Monae are all up for at least one award.

And even some picks from my “For Your Consideration” portion are up. Very pleased by the nominations for Broken Bells, Robyn, Maroon 5, Big Boi, and Adam Lambert. And I was very pleased to see John Legend and The Roots‘ collaboration album “Wake Up” nominated in 5 categories, but the homage to the old school of R&B isn’t really a surprising choice.

Which leads to what I think are the biggest snubs. Actually, most of the artists I wanted to be nominated got at least one. However I feel a lot of them were shortchanged in categories they were more deserving of. For instance, Jay-Z and Drake should have definitely been up for Album of the Year. Katy Perry, who maybe got more than she deserves as far as nominations, should have gotten more love for her excellent pop Single “Teenage Dream”. And even though I personally like “Nothin on You” more than “Airplanes” by B.O.B., I feel like the latter is way more Grammy friendly and a great convergence of Hip Hop meets Rock with Hayley Williams on board.

Rihanna scored 4 nominations, 3 coming from Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie” (the other for Dance Single “Only Girl (In the World)”) but to see zero nominations for her superior “Rated R” album, and none for her deliciously pop single “Rude Boy” is surprising. Another great Pop single that was snubbed was Neon Trees‘ “Animal”, which should have at least been up for Pop Vocal, Group if not more.

I also feel that Christina Aguilera should have been up for something, if only Pop Vocal, Female for her second single “You Lost Me” over Beyoncé‘s live rendition of “Halo” (which she won Pop Vocal, Female for last year).

Two terrible omissions came in the R&B category where Fantasia and Monica‘s subpar albums are nominated instead of Erykah Badu‘s “New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)” and Toni Braxton‘s “Pulse”. And while Janelle Monáe scored two nominations, she was probably the biggest snub in the New Artist category (Justin Bieber got nominated over her).  I’m also really surprised that Trey Songz is not up for anything this year, and especially not for his addictive single with Nicki Minaj (who also I was surprised only scored one nomination after more than a dozen collaborations the past year) “Bottoms Up”.

And finally in the Dance categories, which is relegated to two categories (Dance Recording and Electronic/Dance Album) and only 10 spots, Kelly Rowland should have definitely knocked one of them out for Dance Recording with probably the best true Dance single of 2010 “Commander”, while Kelis switched up her whole style on the stellar Dance album “Flesh Tone”. Also it was very strange to not see one of the most critically acclaimed Electronic albums LCD Soundsystem‘s “This is Happening” not up for anything.

So those are my very overdue reactions, and sometime next week (before my Birthday on Thursday) I’ll post my Predictions for Winners as the Grammy’s are just 9 days away.

>2011 Grammy Nominations — Predictions!

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Adam Lambert, Arcade Fire, B.o.B., beyonce, Big Boi, Black Keys, Broken Bells, Bruno Mars, Danger Mouse, Drake, Eminem, Erykah Badu, Fantasia, Gorillaz, Grammy Nominations, Grammy Predictions, Grammys, Hayley Williams, James Mercer, Janelle Monae, Jay-Z, Jeezy, John Legend, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Kelis, Lady Antebellum, Lady GaGa, LCD Soundsystem, Ludacris, Maroon 5, MGMT, Monica, Mr Hudson, Neon Trees, Nicki Minaj, Owl City, Paramore, Rick Ross, rihanna, Robyn, Sade, Snoop Dogg, Sparklehorse, Surfer Blood, The Black Keys, The Roots, The Shins, Toni Braxton, Usher, Vampire Weekend, Young Jeezy

>As much as it pains me to acknowledge it, Eminem will almost definitely be the Grammy leader when nominations are announced later today. Although his recent album “Recovery” is still a sub par outing, Eminem had a huge hit this year with Rihanna that was still on Grammy voters minds when submitting nomination choices a few weeks ago.

A lot has been made about the fact that he’s never won Album of the Year in the media, and the fact that he’s been very present this year with feature work and his album selling as consistently well as his previous outings will assure him multiple nominations (even though his album was garbage, but hey that’s just my opinion). He’ll be a lock for Album of the Year as well as Record and Song of the Year for “Love the Way You Lie” with Rihanna, and he’ll dominate the Hip Hop categories.

Other than Eminem, the other leading nominees will most likely come with a lot of surprises. I’m honestly not as confident with my predictions this year as in previous years, but there are some artists that made such a big impact this year I couldn’t imagine them being left out. And given last years nominees, the popular acts and best sellers will probably be the most mentioned when it comes to nominations.

Judging by that, I have an instinct that this year may be a big year for Hip Hop in the Big 4 categories (Album, Record, Song and New Artist of the Year). Eminem’s “Recovery” is a lock for Album of the Year, but I also wouldn’t count out eligible albums by Drake (“Thank Me Later”) and Jay-Z (“The Blueprint 3”).

Jay’s album came out last year right after the cut off, but the album received critical praise and ended up having three really big mainstream singles. His only problem is since the album was released so long ago, it might be forgotten. Even if he doesn’t get that big nomination for the album, I could see “Empire State of Mind” with Alicia Keys up for Record and/or Song of the Year.

Drake was the new artist with the biggest hype last year, and even though he didn’t have his album out he was up for three awards, so it seems obvious that he will be back again this year, and since his album was a steady seller it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in Album of the Year. He seems like a shoe-in for New Artist of the year however (and will probably win).

B.O.B. will most likely be up for New Artist of the Year as well, and even though his album might not be up for the top prize, his single “Airplanes” was so massive it’s sure to be competing for Record or Song of the Year (possibly both).

Eminem, Drake, Jay-Z and B.O.B. are sure to be favorites in the Hip Hop categories, and I believe they will probably be competing with themselves in certain categories. B.O.B. will probably get two nominations for Rap/Sung Collaboration for both “Airplanes” and “Nothing On You” with Bruno Mars. Same for Jay-Z who should find “Empire State of Mind” and “Young Forever” with Mr Hudson competing against each other. Drake’s “Over” and “Miss Me” will surely be up for nods. Also expect to see Ludacris, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, and Nicki Minaj whose feature work should snag her a few nods, as well as her hit single “Your Love”.

As far as Pop music goes, Katy Perry will probably come out with a bunch of nominations. Her album “Teenage Dream”, which is better than some of the Album of the Year nominees of last year, will probably miss out in that category. However her name should pop up in most of the Big 4 categories, as the albums title track is surely deserved of Song and Record of the Year nominations as well as Pop Vocal Performance, Female. The album should get a Pop Album nomination, and depending on how her label plays it “California Gurls” with Snoop Dogg could be up for Dance Recording or Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Lady GaGa was one of the nomination leaders last year, and expect her to be up for alot this year for her singles and videos from “The Fame Monster” EP. That release is only 8 songs long, and it’s doubtful it will be up for Album of the Year. However “Bad Romance” is sure to be up for Record or Song of the Year, as well as Female Pop Vocal and Dance Recording. Her and Grammy favorite Beyonce‘s collaboration “Telephone” will probably Win Pop Collaboration. As far as Short Form Music Video, any and all of her three video releases (“Bad Romance”, “Telephone” and “Alejandro”) deserve a nomination.

In the Rock and Indie scene The Black Keys, MGMT and Vampire Weekend are buzzed about underground acts that were more successful this year on a mainstream level. All of their releases came out in the first quarter of the year and could be forgotten, but thanks to a little commercialization Black Keys and Vampire Weekend might be up for a few awards, they have songs that have recently gained mainstream success because of television advertisements.

However the Indie act of the year that is most likely to get the most nominations are Arcade Fire, whose third album “The Suburbs” was a critical and commercial success. The group has won a Grammy for Alternative Album for both of their previous outings, and now that they are more known on the mainstream level I expect them up for Album of the Year no question. As far as any other possible nominations, I’m not sure but they will probably all fall under the Alternative categories.

One last shoe-in for Top 4 nominations is country group Lady Antebellum. I’m not very familiar with them, but I know I have read their name A LOT this past year. They are obviously very popular, and very respected as their second album “Need You Now” has been met with a lot of positive critiques. Again, I’m not familiar with them, but I would imagine Album of the Year isn’t out of the question. And the title track, which rose to #2 on the Pop charts will be a contender for Record and Album of the Year. And the group will most likely dominate the Country categories, as Taylor Swift did last year.

And finally the Grammys always have a soft spot for legendary acts making a comeback, and though it wasn’t really a comeback in that sense Sade‘s “Soldier of Love” album single and video will easily compete in a few categories, including the Big 4. That album was released in January and has since lost a lot of steam, but it’s Sade who has won a Grammy for nearly every album released. They won’t be totally forgotten, but I doubt they’ll be nomination leaders.

So here are my educated guesses for the Top 4 categories.

Album of the Year

Arcade Fire “The Suburbs”
Drake “Thank Me Later”
Eminem “Recovery”
Jay-Z “The Blueprint 3”
Lady Antebellum “Need You Now”
Sade “Soldier of Love”

Question marks on Drake and Jay-Z, Eminem might be too much Hip Hop for that category thus canceling those two (far superior albums) out. Also Sade is a question mark, because after the first single not much attention was paid to that album.

Record of the Year

B.O.B. and Hayley Williams “Airplanes”
Eminem and Rihanna “Love the Way You Lie”
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind”
Katy Perry “Teenage Dream”
Lady Antebellum “Need You Now”
Lady GaGa “Bad Romance”

Other possible nominations OMG by Usher, California Gurls by Katy Perry, Not Afraid by Eminem, Fireflies by Owl City, Tik Tok by Ke$ha, Find Your Love by Drake

Song of the Year

B.O.B. and Hayley Williams “Airplanes”
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind”
Lady Antebellum “Need You Now”
Lady GaGa “Bad Romance”
Sade “Soldier of Love”
Train “Hey, Soul Sister”

New Artist

B.O.B.
Justin Bieber
Bruno Mars
Drake
Janelle Monae

For Your Consideration:
I’ve been talking about the majorly successful artists who are sure to get nominated, however let’s shift things to the underrated outings that should be up for something this year.

Rihanna’s “Rated R” is a pop album on par with Janet Jackson’s “The Velvet Rope” which is a gift, but could be a curse at the Grammy’s. Janet’s 1997 album was met with the best critical praise in her career, but was ignored on Grammy night (only receiving a nomination for Short Form Video). Even though “Rated R” deserves a shot at Album of the Year, it’s doubtful she will snag it. However Rihanna will do well for herself this year, “Love the Way You Lie” alone will get her a few major nominations but also her big hit “Rude Boy” should be up for Female Pop Vocal and maybe Pop Single or they might even put her in the R&B race.

In R&B, Usher will most likely dominate as “Raymond v. Raymond” and it’s re-release “Versus” generated two big Pop singles and three pretty big R&B singles. However looking past the mainstream, hopefully Erykah Badu‘s “New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)” and controversial video and single “Window Seat” will be shown some love tonight. As well as Toni Braxton‘s “Pulse”, which was all but forgotten shortly after it was released despite being a very solid R&B album with one of the better R&B songs to come out in years “Hands Tied”. And though I’m not personally vouching for these releases, I could see Monica and Fantasia up for some awards. Though these outings were a bit lackluster for me, they were met with a lot of praise from R&B fans. And even though she’s hard to put in a box of just one Genre, and even though she’s more than likely going to be up for New Artist, Janelle Monae will hopefully be given her due as she put out one of the most original and creative albums of the year with “TheArchAndroid”.

Producer Danger Mouse might have too mellow of a sound to take notice to, but his collaboration with James Mercer of The Shins “Broken Bells” should be up for Album of the Year. It’s doubtful it will, but it deserves to, and if it doesn’t I hope to see them competing for multiple categories in the Alternative categories. Also Danger Mouse’s collaboration with Sparklehorse might be a topic of debate, it was leaked digitally last year but was released officially this year with several guest artists from different generations of Rock and Alternative music. Even if that album isn’t nominated for anything, his output alone should get him a nomination for Producer of the Year. Another alternative group that I think are more than deserving of some mentions are Surfer Blood whose “Astro Coast” was one of the most solid albums released this year. They aren’t popular hardly at all on a mainstream level, but hopefully enough hipsters voted and they could possibly break through.

Kelis and Robyn linked up for a tour this summer, and they should both be up for Grammy gold in the Dance and Electronic categories. Kelis’ “Flesh Tone” was a sharp departure for her, as it was a total dance album. And not a watered down pop version of Dance, it’s up there with some of the best and respected Dance albums of the past. Hopefully we’ll see her name in a few categories. Robyn released three EP’s this year (only two are eligible), and if that invalidates her from any album categories, her two singles “Dancing on my Own” and “Hang with Me” are miles better than the radio staples I expect to see up for Dance Recording (that really don’t deserve to be there). Another Electronic act that got a lot of praise for his recent release was LCD Soundsystem. “This is Happening” got loads of critical praise, and since he’s been nominated three times in the past, I’m sure he’ll get a nomination this year. As well as Gorillaz, who’s album “Plastic Beach” isn’t necessarily one of my favorites of the year but deserves to compete, and they should also be up for Short Form Video for “Stylo”.

And Big Boi, his first solo album “Sir Lucious Left Foot, The Son of Chico Dusty” came and went with little fanfare, but it’s a really solid album with some solid singles that should be up for multiple Hip Hop categories. The Roots could be singled out because of heavy competition in the Hip Hop categories for their album “How I Got Over”, but I expect to see their collaboration album with Grammy favorite John Legend “Wake Up!” possibly in the Traditional R&B Album category since it’s a celebration of classic soul songs, and a truly great album.

In the Pop field, I want to see Adam Lambert‘s “Whataya Want From Me” up for multiple categories (I would say it deserves Song of the Year, but it probably wasn’t a big enough hit to make it in that category), he should definitely win for Male Pop Vocal for this song however. And while Maroon 5‘s album wasn’t anything to write home about, their single “Misery” is fun, infectious and well produced, hopefully that one song (and the video) get a nod or two. And finally, also aided by the help of commercialization, Neon Trees‘ excellent “Animal” should be a favorite for Pop Vocal Duo or Group (unless their label puts them in Alternative or Rock — which doesn’t quite fit)

So there are my predictions, as I said earlier I’m not as confident about these predictions as years prior, but I think I’m on the right track. We’ll find out tonight. And than we’ll discuss the nominations and predict winners shortly after.

>MySpace Blog Reviews: A Look Back!

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adele, Akon, Akon Freedom Review, Akon Review, Al Green, Album Review, Alicia Keys, Anthony Hamilton, Ashanti, Award Show Review, Beck, beyonce, Beyonce I Am... Sasha Fierce Review, Beyonce Review, Black Keys, Brandy, Brandy Human Review, Brandy Review, Britney Spears, Britney Spears Circus Review, Britney Spears Review, Cee-Lo, Cee-Lo Green, CeeLo Green, Chris Brown, Christina Aguilera, Christina Aguilera Review, ciara, Ciara Review, Colbie Caillat, Coldplay, Coldplay Review, Coldplay Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends Review, Coldplay Viva La Vida Review, Common, Common Review, Common Universal Mind Control Review, Danger Mouse, Danity Kane, Danity Kane Welcome to the Dollhouse Review, day26, DAY26 Review, En Vogue, Erykah Badu, Erykah Badu New Amerykah Part One Review, Erykah Badu Review, Estelle, Fall Out Boy, Fall Out Boy Review, FloRida, Gnarls Barkley, Gnarls Barkley Review, Gnarls Barkley The Odd Couple Review, Grammy Nominations, Grammy Predictions, Grammys, J. Holiday, Janet Jackson, Janet Jackson Discipline Review, Janet Jackson Review, Jason Mraz, Jason Mraz Review, Jason Mraz We Sing We Dance We Steal Things Review, Jazmine Sullivan, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, John Legend, John Legend Evolver Review, John Legend Review, Jordin Sparks, Kanye West, Kanye West 808's & Heartbreak Review, Kanye West 808's and Heartbreak Review, Kanye West Review, Kardinal Offishall, Katy Perry, Kevin Rudolf, Keyshia Cole, Lady GaGa, Leona Lewis, Lil Wayne, Lil Wayne Review, Lil Wayne Tha Carter 3 Review, Lil Wayne Tha Carter III Review, M.I.A., Madonna, Madonna Hard Candy Review, Madonna Review, Mariah Carey, Mariah Carey E=MC2 Review, Mariah Carey Review, Mary J. Blige, Maxwell, MGMT, MTV Making The Band, N*E*R*D, N*E*R*D Review, N*E*R*D Seeing Sounds Review, N.E.R.D., N.E.R.D. Review, N.E.R.D. Seeing Sounds Review, Nas, Nas Untitled Review, Ne-Yo, Ne-Yo Review, Ne-Yo Year of the Gentleman Review, New Kids on the Block, New Kids on the Block Review, New Kids on the Block The Block Review, NeYo, NeYo Review, NeYo Year of the Gentleman Review, NKOTB, NKOTB Review, NKOTB The Block Review, p!nk, P!nk Funhouse Review, P!nk Review, Panic At The Disco, Panic At The Disco PrettyOdd Review, Panic At The Disco Review, Pharrell Williams, pink, Pink Funhouse Review, Pink Review, Pleasure P, Portishead, Pussycat Dolls, Pussycat Dolls Review, Raphael Saadiq, Raphael Saadiq Review, Raphael Saadiq The Way I See It Review, Ray Lamontagne, Ray Lamontagne Gossip In The Grain Review, Ray Lamontagne Review, Rick Ross, rihanna, Robyn, Sara Bareilles, SWV, T-Pain, T-Pain Review, T-Pain Thr33 Ringz Review, T-Pain Three Ringz Review, T.I., T.I. Paper Trail Review, T.I. Review, The Black Keys, The Jonas Brothers, The Killers, The Killers Day and Age Review, The Killers Review, The Pussycat Dolls, The Pussycat Dolls Doll Domination Review, The Pussycat Dolls Review, The Racounters, The Roots, The Roots Review, The Roots Rising Down Review, The Ting Tings, The-Dream, Ting Tings, TLC, TPain, TPain Review, Usher, Usher Here I Stand Review, Usher Review, Vampire Weekend, Vanessa Hudgens, Weezer, Weezer Red Album Review, Weezer Review, Weezy

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Here’s just a blast from the past, the couple of months in 2008 I started my MySpace blog!

May 25, 2008 – Sunday

08 Album Reviews Current mood: high Category: Music

I got Usher “Here I Stand” today and was going to write a little review. And I figured since i have the time (i’m at work, but theres no research work to do and no calls coming in) i’ll go ahead and talk about some of the good cd’s that have been released this year.

Gnarls Barkley, “The Odd Couple” – definitley a cooled down/melancholy-ish version of their first album but it has some great StandOut tracks that rival “Crazy” or “Smiley Faces”. My favorites are “Charity Case”, “Whatever”, “Would be Killer”, “Going on” and the first single “Run”. The tracks, by Danger Mouse, are just hella moody and than Cee-lo brings the perfect lyrical and vocal arrangements to match the tracks. I would imagine it would be hard to write to some of the tracks so i give Mr. Green all the props.

The Divas: Janet, “Discipline“/Madonna, “Hard Candy“/Mariah, “E=MC2”

Mariah Carey definitely wins this race by a mile. Madonna’s “Hard Candy” is very — Different, and i do give her credit for trying something new. i HATE the first single with Timberlake, so my expectations were very Low for this album (because “4 Minutes” and the other leaked track “Candy Shop” sounded like re-treads of Nelly Furtado/Gwen Stefani tracks). I think Pharrell is the real star of this album though, his production on “Incredible” (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Va6eBb2osrs) “Heartbeat” and “Give it 2 Me” are damn-near Amazing. These tracks renew my faith in the Neptunes (who had been slowly dying up until Jay-Z’s “I Know”). It’s a true DANCE album, and at least she sticks to that concept. Janet’s “Discipline” on the other hand starts out really good. Than, it slips into a completley different album and vibe. And than towards the end it sounds like she just tacked on some unreleased stuff from years ago (“What Ur Name” and “The 1” seriously sound like they were recorded and mixed and mastered and shelved in 2004). I think the problem is that it’s too long, she should have shaved some fillers out of the mix. Still “2Nite” “LUV” “Greatest X” and “Rock With U” are still Standouts and worth listening to over and over. And ofcourse the first single “Feedback” still has heat.

But, Mariah. I think “E=MC2” is her best album. It’s an album that has No-Filler. Every song has something about it that makes you want to come back. The album has been out almost 2 months, and it seems like i have a new favorite song every week. “Side Effects” “OOC” “For the Record” “Cruise Control” and “Migrate” ofcourse is undeniable thanks to that undeniably addictive every-Man T-Pain. Mariah took her time and put together a truly Solid Album.

The Roots, “Rising Down”

I’m not a big fan of the Roots. I own two of their albums but don’t really listen to them all that much. So ofcourse i wasn’t expecting to even Care about a new Roots album. I saw the video for “Rising Up” on BET and loved it so i was like, what the hell i’ll download it. This cd is shockingly good to me, i like every song. It’s like every song has this intensity on it that you can’t deny (“Get Busy” “The Show” “I will not apologize” for example) and every song has some pretty important lyrics that are definitley refreshing to hear. They even have some ready made Radio-friendly tracks, however i guess it’s sad because i doubt i’ll hear “Singing Man” or “Rising Up” on the radio over something like “Get Silly”. This is definitley my biggest surprise of 2008.

I take that back. Panic at the Disco, “Pretty.Odd” is oddly good. I mean it has this whole oldie Beatle early 60’s rock type vibe to it and i wasn’t expecting that from the people who sang about a bride being a “Whore” on their last album. So i guess i was surprised to listen to it and find it… Pleasant Lol! I dont know, it’s not one of my Favorite albums of the year at all — but it’s a nice album that i may end up getting into more as the year progresses.

Danity Kane, “Welcome to the Dollhouse“/Day26, “Day26”

I was definitley wrapped up in the Making the Band series when i was into these two albums. Now that the season has worn off, i realize these two albums aren’t really as great as i thought they were at first. Danity Kane’s is alright , standouts being “Sucka for Love” and “Xtasy”. Most of the album though sounds like a Rihanna/Britney/Pussycat Dolls wannabe-electro-pop-r&b/light sound so the songs may not be Terrible, but end up being pretty forgettable. Day26’s sounds more like a Jagged Edge/Jodeci/112 compilation. I like most of the songs, but again… they are pretty forgettable. I gravitate more towards the uptempos “I’m the Reason” “Im my Bed”. and “Co-Star” is a REALLY great song (vocally) which shld be a single. I give them credit for putting together a pretty solid cd for their first time… but neither of those two albums will even really be remembered at the end of the year.

Usher, “Here I Stand”

So — the album i had the highest expectations for. And yeah, okay… Usher pretty much delivers. He MIGHT have the same problem as Janet though with maybe too many songs. However, i just downloaded it today so it still needs time to truly grow on me. That being said, there are already a number of stand-outs that i see myself looking stupid in the car singing along to. “Whats Your Name” (http://youtube.com/watch?v=yuiImpkZ4k8) with Will.i.am is HOT!!! “Trading Places” (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ovm-VWS0VgI) or “Before I met you” should definitley be the third or fourth single. “This aint sex” “His mistakes” and “Apetite” are other instant standouts. The rest is pretty okay, there’s only one song i really dont like. I will say that Vocally, he definitley is miles ahead of the Timberlakes and Chris Browns and NeYo’s. All in all, after only having the cd for a few hours I really like it though. I’ll definitley buy it on the 27th.

I cant remember right now any other cd’s i may have downloaded, but those are definitley the top ones of the year. I’m eagerly anticipating a few of the upcoming releases though. N.E.R.D. (6/10) is probably the Most anticipated right now, Weezer (6/3), Lil Wayne (6/10), Coldplay (6/17), Ne-Yo (8/5), Nas (7/1), Sean Paul, Busta Rhymes are some of the ones dropping in the summer that i can think of.

so signing off — The Drums, The Drums, The Drums, The Drums…

(The Ting Tings “Great DJ”)

EDIT: I forgot about Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu, “New Amerykah, Part One”

The reason i probably forgot to mention this, is because it’s my biggest let-down of the year so far. I Love Love Erykah, but it took me Years to get into her last album “Worldwide Underground” and i feel like this album will have to have the same fate. I do like a few of the songs already, first single “Honey” and “That Hump” definitely speaks to me and cheers me up. Other songs are pretty good (oh yeah “Hip Hop The Healer” is pretty awesome) but i haven’t listened to that full cd in so long i dont even remember a title. I will say that the “Honey” video is probably my favorite music video i’ve seen in Years. It reminds me of being little and looking through my mom’s/aunts/uncles record collections =)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_9jpkF1ehD8

July 1, 2008 – Tuesday

N*e*R*D, Coldplay, Weezer, WeezY & The BET Awards – Reviews Current mood: optimistic Category: Music New reviews. So June is officially over, about 5 hours ago, and I didn’t post any reviews of the new music i’ve gotten this past month. So let’s just go ahead and do that Now! First of all, the last blog i said that Usher’s “Here I Stand” may grow on me. Well unfortunately it hasn’t. I barely listen to it anymore. It’s such a run of the mill R&B album and for Usher that’s a No-No. So i’m pretty much over Usher in the 08. And did you see his BET Award performance?? He was so tired, he was lipsynching and we hasn’t Hitting his moves. Really disapointing. Anyhow onto the June reviews. N*e*R*D,Seeing Sounds Nerd’s first album was pretty awesome. It dealt with concepts you didn’t really hear, and the mixing of Rock/Alternative/HipHop was genius at the time and really refreshing. Their second album was a more polished album sonically, however it didn’t have as many solid tracks. Seeing Sounds is completely different from both two albums. I have yet to determine what exactly the albums main message is… what i can assume is a message of “DO YOU!” but i could be wrong. All of that aside, it’s a really good album. The production this time is CRAZY! The group still plays with Rock and Alternative and mixing it with pop, but this album also introduces more of an Electronica vibe and some Drum and Bass thrown in the mix. The concepts of the songs are pretty out there, but some are really relateable. All in all, I’d give this the stamp of approval. “Windows” “Spaz” “You know What” and “Sooner or Later” are my favorites (along with the UK only bonus cut “Lazer Gunz”- which is the first song you hear when you log on to my page). Coldplay,Viva la Vida or Death and all his Friends Okay here’s the deal. I thought “XY” was an amazing album. However i read somewhere that the critics didn’t agree with me. Now i’m reading really great reviews of This album and I don’t know if i agree. The album is cool. I really really like the song “Lost!” and a few others. However, it’s not really a memorable album thus far for me. I know that i enjoyed a majority of it because most of the album is still on my iPod. But there is nothing like “Talk” or “Square One” on this album. It’s very mellow. Chris sounds good though, and the band does do some awesome musical arrangements. I just wish i could remember more than 4 song titles. Weezer,Weezer aka The Red Album “Heart Songs”. That’s the reason to get this CD. It’s an awesome song just about their musical influences growing up. The first time i heard it, it sounded just like a normal love song, with a great track that i instantly loved. When i listened to the lyrics i fell in love with the song even more. Aside from that song, the first half of this album is good. The second half kind of ventures off into terrain that’s a bit less adventurous, more predictable and unoriginal. “Everybody get Dangerous” “Trouble maker” and “Pork and Beans” are the only other real standouts. Not that great. Not that bad. Lil Wayne,Tha Carter III So he’s the greatest rapper alive eh?? Well this album isn’t bad. I must admit though that i can’t listen to it all the way through. It’s like he’ll have some nice cuts like “Mr. Carter” “Dr. Carter” “Shoot me Down”, and than have two or three less than thrilling tracks afterwards. A pretty uneven album, that actually sounds like he had been saving tracks for the past two years and just put them on this album. Making it sound like more of a compilation album than an actual album. BUT, i can’t fault him. That’s the way of Hip Hop these days. I wish’d he would have done something like “Hip hop is dead” or “American Gangster” where all the songs have a vibe about them. Maybe in the future. For right now this is a pretty solid Hip Hop album (which pretty much sticks to the Hip Hop album Norm) with a number of filler tracks. By the way i also like “Got Money” “Let the beat build” ofcourse “Lollipop” and “A Milli” and i actually like the one with Babyface “Comfortable”. Now let’s talk about the BET Awards. I THINK?? they gave out some awards?? I’m pretty sure. But we all know that the BET Awards (and any other Music award show for that matter) is about the Performances. I already told you all what i thought of tired ass Usher (I really think this was not the right time for him to come back out/ i think he’s dealing with his own personal issues and is just not invested in the music thing right now… i could be wrong). It was funny thought because I’m sure Chris Brown and Ne-Yo were super nervous thinking they couldn’t top him. But they did. Chris Brown did a Slower set which surprised me. He started with “With you” and than into “Take you down”, where Ciara came out and did some nasty/naughty dance moves with Breezy. The only bad thing about his performance was … it was too short! Since about 2006, me and my friend had said that a Chris Brown/Ciara dance off type thing would be the Dopest thing ever. And yes when they got into their danceOff part they Killed. But it just didn’t last long enough. Ne-Yo, in my opinion, KILLED IT. He’s not the best dancer (and i noticed that on second viewing) but he knew better than to do some difficult ass choreography because he still had to actually sing Live. When he did hit his moves, he Hit them. And i think the best thing, it seemed like he was trying to pull off this “Year of the Gentleman” persona… and being able to hold onto that character while dancing and singing and hitting your marks and working the stage… to a House song… is most likely pretty difficult and he pulled it off. Standing Ovation! I cant wait to hear what his album is gonna be like. Alicia Keys seemed like she was the highlight of the night to most people i talked to. She basically did her own “Teenage Love Affair” with three backup dancer/singers. Like a girl group right? Than she broke it down and started singing “Weak” and everybody was like WTF. And than SWV came out and finished the song with her, than EnVogue came and sang “Hold On” with her. And than TLC or TC came out and did “Waterfalls”. It was definitley nice to see all these chicks that used to love back in Jr. High again. Nice performance Ms. Keys. Another person I was REALLY glad to see again was Maxwell. His performance was My personal favorite of the night. He was the third performer in a Al Green Tribute. Jill Scott did her thing with “Still in love”, Anthony Hamilton sounded so much like Mr. Green on “Tired of being alone” but Maxwell killed it with “Simply Beautiful”. And one thing i do have to say about the BET awards, i LOVE when they do the tributes. Because when the actual Tributee is on stage doing their thing, you see in the audience all the different generations of performers from different styles singing along. Who else performed? Well TPain did a mix of all his “featured on” hits with Rick Ross and FloRida and all the gaggles of rappers that were on that “Im so Hood” remix. TPain came BACK out during Lil Waynes closing performance. These performances were good and all, but not worth writing about. Nothing else was really worth writing about. But i do have to put Keyshia Cole on blast. She sounded terrible. And, okay maybe i’ll rephrase. Her voice in itself wasn’t bad. But she does not know how to use her voice , Live. She really needs to work on that. But the 08 BET Awards was pretty okay. Better than last year.

July 21, 2008 – Monday

Nas… ” ” better known as “Nigger” Current mood: melancholy Category: Music THE most anticipated album of 2008 did not disapoint. Nas’ past few albums have been like Textbooks to me. An album that talks in many ways about one issue. So, much like a textbook, i really need to study the material and than come up with an overall feeling for said Textbook. Therefore my final review for this album is still Pending. I’ll say now that it IS a great album, it did NOT disapoint. And current standouts are “America” “N.I.G.G.E.R.” “Y’all my Niggas” and “Black President”. Every song is great though. Support this man… maaan!

September 15, 2008 – Monday

Janet Live! and Ne-Yo – Reviews Current mood: breezy Category: Music I finally went to a concert!!!! So i missed the major concert i wanted to see this year and that was the Glow in the Dark tour. I also missed Mary J and JayZ, Coldplay, Musiq Soulchild, and Alicia keys. I missed the Killers last year and just barely was able to see Beyonce. So with work sucking at the maximum capacity for the last two weeks, i just needed to let off some steam and get drunk and get loud. So me and my friend Aleta finally decided to go to the Janet Jackson show. A couple of cool things happened though, we didn’t have to pay for parking AND i only bought $40 tickets… but i think the show just wasn’t selling, so people that worked at the arena were running around Giving people seats in the lower sections… so basically i paid $40 for $120 tickets. AWESOME!!! How often does that happen? Never! At least not for me. The show… yeah i guess it was cool. Lol! No i had fun. I think just the fact that Janet was onstage for 2.5 Hours singing pretty much ALL of her hits. In fact i think she did ALL of her hit singles, and a few album tracks from the new album and some verry verry old songs… and songs that don’t belong in the Oldies but ‘Good’ies category. It was a fun show for the fact that she kept it moving. I’m not gonna get too negative on her, there are a few things that i have small gripes with. They are very minor though, so it didn’t take away from the whole experience. So i had fun, and it made me kinda miss concerts!! Hopefully 09 will be a better year for me. Kanye GO ON TOUR AGAIN NEXT YEAR PLEASE!!!! And now my album review. Ne-Yo “Year of the Gentleman” When “Closer” came out around April of this year, Ne-yo’s album shot to the top of my most anticipated albums of the year… and I dont even really like dude. The album was supposed to drop in june originally, than it got pushed back to August, and now it’s being released this Tuesday the 16th. In the months it’s taken to actually be released, I did seriously lose a little interest. And the followup single “Miss Independent” is good, but it wasn’t as hot or different as “Closer”. Anyway the album leaked, and even though it’s not quite what I expected it’s still easily the best album by an R&B Dude to come out this year (Take that Usher!) The album is really alot more laidback than I expected. In fact I expected a totally different sound from the interviews he was giving talking about the album, that it would be really different, how he’s tired of R&B, how Patrick Stump of FallOutBoy was supposed to collaborate on a track. And when i listened to the album, the first thing i thought was What Happened. It’s a total R&B album, nothing else… “Closer” is the only thing on the album that seperates itself from Ne-Yo’s sound from his previous two albums. What I’ll give Ne-Yo credit for is his songwriting and the ability to make some catchy hooks. Easily one of the top songs on the album, “Why Does She Stay” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH8rKj6VYi0 is a good example. It’s just really refreshing to hear lyrics like: I step outside of myself To see how much she loves me And all the things that i should do for her that i just dont… just dont… And i realize She’s so much better than me Im so unworthy of her Why does she stay ?

Which is quite a change from the “I cheated on her, now i dont understand why she doesn’t trust me” or the “I’m so much better than your current dude, you need to drop him and get with me” type of songs that come from most R&B Dudes (Take that Usher!)

There’s another really well written song, well there are ALOT actually… but the one i really love is “So you can Cry” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkpLZkUR68M ,

Life is long
There will be pain but life goes on
With everyday a brand new song
But if you rather stay at home
Let me do you a favor

I’ll ask the sun to shine away from you today so you can cry
(if that’s what you want)
I’ll ask the clouds to bring the rain for you today so you can cry .

Nice right!

And than there’s the song that is just WAITING to be used at all the upcoming weddings “Stop this World”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzSrPjBXQ7w

Bottom line, this 12 track album has Several potential hits… and even if he didn’t go outside of his box as much as i expected (and that was probably more due to his label and those politics than him) he still delivered.

September 28, 2008 – Sunday

Saadiq, The Way I See It – Review Current mood: annoyed Category: Music It must really suck to have your very first solo album be a Masterpeice. Where do you go from there?? Usually down. It happened to Lauryn Hill, and unfortunatley it looks like it’s happened to Raphael Saadiq. 2002’s “Instant Vintage” was easily the most refreshingly soulful album released that year, if not the whole decade. And his just released third solo album shows that even though this man is still obviously a genius, he seems to be having a hard time matching the artistic success of his first outing. Not to say that “The Way I See It” is a bad album. It’s a step above decent. It’s a throwback to the 60’s and 70’s Motown sound. And the inspirations behind a couple of the songs are painfully obvious. The album definitley stays true to that sound, and the songs end up sounding like they literally could be put on a Motown hit album and fit perfectly. And, that might be a bit of the problem with the album. You’ve got Amy Winehouse, Duffy, and even Solange Knowles (i know right) using the 60’s throwback style but the difference is that they also add contemporary elements to make it something new. Saadiq didn’t add any up to date elements to make the songs pop a little more, but maybe he didn’t want to. Having said that, the song “Oh Girl” is easily the best song on the album. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0qJ_V66n8Q It’s actually a little more “DooWop” than the rest of the album, the fact that the production is so raw and the lyrical and melody are so simple. Much like “Still Ray” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoyaITkdLA0 from “Instant Vintage”, a simple song all around that makes such a powerful memorable classic. Some other high points on “The way i see it” are “Calling”, which is also a simple slow burner, the first single “Love that girl”, and “Never Give You Up” which features the Legend Stevie Wonder. Outside of that, it’s a decent album to have on but it’s nothing that i’m running to my iPod to listen to. Though, like i say alot, it might grow on me. His second solo cd “Ray Ray” i seriously only listened to it once when it was released in 2004, and just last year I started to listen and it really grew on me. So maybe in 2011 or something I’ll fully appreciate this album. For right now, it’s Aaiiight! =)

October 5, 2008 – Sunday

TI, Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson, PCD, NKOTB, Jason Mraz, Britney, Killers … Week in Music Current mood: anxious Category: Music It’s dead at work, so time to Blog. So this week was a bit of an exciting week for music, at least for me. There were two highly anticipated album releases this past Tuesday in the form of T.I.’s 6th album “Paper Trail” and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson’s self titled debut album. Some news on Beyonce’s upcoming third solo album, and single releases from Pop Queens Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Ciara and The Killers also released their first singles from their upcoming Fall releases. So where to start? Britney vs Christina. The late 90’s Pop Tarts are back, and practically going head to head this Fall. Ofcourse Christina Aguilera’s album coming November 7th is just a Greatest Hits (“Keeps Gettin’ Better — A Decade of Hits”), and Britney’s “Circus” due November 23rd is a full fledged studio album which is supposed to be her “ComeBack” (even though her last album was released a little over a year ago, but whatever!). However their first singles are being released just a few weeks apart from each other, and oddly enough they sound almost exactly the same. Christina’s “Keeps Getting Better” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsnOdf3_8jc) was debuted officially at the recent MTV VMA’s during an lipsynched, Lady Gaga inspired performance. And just like the lackluster performance, the song is very boring. Coming from Christina Aguilera, this single is a true disapointment. For an artist who has always prided herself on going against the grain of the Pop scene and doing her own thing, this song sounds like every other song on Dance/Pop radio these days. It sounds like Britney Spears (specifically Britney’s “Blackout” album cut “Radar” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3wvPts-Z8w) and the mere fact that the song sounds like Anybody other than Christina warrants a pretty low rating. Britney’s new single “Womanizer” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_bu4N5qacU) isn’t much better, it’s a dance/pop/electronic upbeat song that is very similar to pretty much all of Britney’s post-KFed recordings. It’s a fun, upbeat song though. You can definitley dance to it. And even though I personally Hate the hook on the song, it’s damn catchy and something as repetitive as that is only going to help the song gain popularity. Beyonce. Ms. Destiny’s Child or Mrs. Jay-Z or Miss Sasha is also planning a Fall release (scheduled for November 18th) with an as yet untitled album. Unlike Britney and Xtina, Beyonce has not released hardly ANY info. She is slated to premiere Two new singles on Tuesday October 7th, and it’s pretty surprising in this Digital Day and Age that neither of these singles have leaked online yet. Not even a snippet has leaked. It’s quite impressive that she was able to withold it from leaking, and a smart move as well. However on different blogs and message boards there is information that has been gathered to keep us Stans happy while we wait. An official statement from Beyonce’s camp has the two song titles as “If I Were a Boy” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”. The former is being pushed to Pop radio, and is written and produced by Toby Gad who is behind Fergie’s monster hit of last year “Big Girls Dont Cry”. There was a demo of this song released a few weeks ago, it’s sung by the cowriter of the song but it’s allegedly alot different than the final version Beyonce recorded and wrote additional lyrics to. Give it a listen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpWHml42_Rg . The other single is produced by Tricky and written by The-Dream who have basically appeared on every R&B and Pop album released since their massive hit “Umbrella” last year. No other info was given out on this song besides the facts that the song is upbeat, the video is done and the dancing in said video is supposedly “On Point”. Additionally, like i said before there is no album title yet but a few things have been passed around online. The first official report had the album titled “Virtuoso Intellect” which was quickly followed by “Virtuoso Effect”. Than a few weeks ago on one of the boards, someone very trusted that allegedly works really close to Beyonce said the album title would be “sumthin u hear her say all the time”. A few days later, it was reported somewhere that “Empowerment” was the title. All this mystery! I think that’s good, there’s no mystery left with albums these days. Jennifer Hudson. She stole all the spotlight from Beyonce during the promotions for her Oscar winning role in “Dreamgirls”, but apparently the spotlight might not shine too long on Hudson’s music career. Her self titled debut album came out September 30th to some Very underwhelming reviews from some of her die hard fans. I personally haven’t listened to the album yet so i’m just reporting what i read, which was that the self titled debut is nothing but a hodgepodge of different styles and that it doesn’t work too well. I may just download it this weekend and post another review if i feel it’s worthy. I do know that she needs to release a follow up single, because “Spotlight” the albums first single, died Months ago. By the way, i did download The Pussycat Dolls second album “Doll Domination” last week. And surprise surprise, it doesn’t totally suck. A Very predictable pop album for sure, but they are a predictable pop group so you can’t expect much else. Only about half of the album is worth listening to. Top songs being “Halo” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jf9moh09so) “Hate this Part” “Elevator” ‘Happily Never After” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqWL1C2Etik) “Magic” and a song that is really stupid but i just can’t get enough of “Bottle Pop”. Everything else is really Average, not terrible but not memorable at all. And while we are on predictable pop groups, New Kids on the Block delivered a reunion album a few weeks (months?) ago, and aided by their recent VH1 Behind the Music special (and my B urging me to listen to it) I checked out some of the songs. I didn’t like many of the songs, they aren’t bad… but those dudes are out of it. I don’t totally remember New Kids from the 90’s, i wasn’t that into them just maybe two or three songs here and there, but it seems like Jordan and Joey are the only ones who can actually sing and the others just kind of phone in their vocals. Still “Click Click Click” is a really good song, and i can’t get “Twisted” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pScuRQjqRoo) out of my head for the life of me. Keeping in the vibe of Average albums, I have to talk about Jason Mraz. I think “We Sing.We Dance.We Steal Things” is now his third studio album, and with “Im Yours” being such a great single, i felt a little compelled to listen to the whole thing. The problem, Jason Mraz is obviously a talented guy. He has a great talent for coming up with creative melodies and he seems to have some great musical influences, and the problem is that either he or his label don’t know which influence they want to copy from the most. There are some really awful songs on this album, for instance “Butterfly” which is him obviously trying to be Jamiroquai with terrible results. Honestly there are really only two singles you need to hear, the first single “I’m Yours” and his duet with Colbie Caillat “Lucky”. While you get those online, get “The Remedy” from his first album in 2002. This is the song that made me take a first notice at this guy. I think he has potential to be a huge artist, but unfortunatley this album isn’t really going to take him there. That finally brings us to T.I., whose 6th album “Paper Trail” dropped the same day as Jennifer Hudsons. And it’s evident that T.I. is going to anihalate her on the charts come Thursday, and you know what… he kind of deserves to. This album is still Typical Hip Hop. Pretty much the same concepts, the same producers, the same type of songs. However T.I. is one of the dudes who actually has talent so him alone sets this album apart from Every Other Hip Hop album. Funny that it sounds so much like his other albums though, at certain points during listening to the album I thought “T.I.’s the Jagged Edge of Hip Hop”, meaning those R&B dudes tend to release the exact same album year after year. However i love Jagged Edge, and yeah i love T.I., so it ends up working in his case. Best songs include ofcourse “Swagga Like Us” with Jayz Kanye and Weezy, “Ready for Whatever”, “My Life Your Entertainment” with Usher, “Live your Life” with Rihanna, “I’m Illy”, “Porno Star”. All the rest of it is good though, and ofcourse this will probably end up growing on me in the coming months, there is already enough to get me to want to actually listen to the album more than once. Oh, last but not least… The Killers have a new single out. It’s called “Human” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvVOoCKjonY) and it’s produced by Stuart Price who i f’ing LOVE. He’s one of those Euro Electronic artists, he has a bunch of electronic groups that he heads and he also produces and remixes under various aliases. He actually contributed a hit remix to “Mr Brightside” under the alias Jacques Lu Cont. Anyway i love that guy, and i love the Killers so i obviously love the song. I really can’t wait for the album “Day and Age” which is supposed to drop November 11th. They also have a show in San Francisco on October 21st. Who Wants to Go With Me??? Additonally, there have been some shake ups with other Fall releases… Keri Hilson’s “In this world” has been moved from October 7th to November 4th. And TPain’s “Thr33 Ringz” moves from September 30th to November 11th.

October 14, 2008 – Tuesday

New Videos Current mood: chipper Category: Music Beyonce’s back!! Nobody should be surprised that I’m excited, but i think people will be surprised how awesome her two new videos are. Ofcourse “If I were a boy” as a single and video completely Shit on “Single Ladies”, but they are both good efforts. If I were a Boy is a cinematic, movie styled music video with a bit of a Power struggle/role reversal plot going on. Its just really well done, and the video fits the song perfectly. The twist ending seals the deal and makes it that much more powerful. And there’s all kinds of Hotness in the video as well. Single ladies is really simple. Its just her and two girls dancing on a plain set. The lighting and the cinematography on this video Amaze me and are really the stars in the video. The choreography is simple, but has some interesting moves in there and really sexy. And beyonce’s legs… OMY! The song is still kind of boring to me though. http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/.. Beyoncé New Music http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/.. Beyoncé New Music So Common released “Unviersal mind control” earlier in the summer, so i’m not sure why he’s just now getting around to releasing a video for the single. Frankly he should have chosen a new single to make a video to. But anyhow, the video is kinda cool… i like the Pharrell robot. but Common is looking a little long in the tooth these days, so it kinda feels like it’s not … hmm… Age Appropriate. This should have been Lupe’s video. http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/.. Common New Music Ciara also premiered a new video this month, and while the video is insanely futurstic and original. The song in my opinion doesn’t match. And i really like the song. But the sound is very urban, very “driving down Mission with the bass bumping” and the video needed something a little more Futuristic, Electronic sounding. Ciara is still the best dancer out there right now, and this video at least proves that. Last, and pretty much LEAST (lol) is Britney Spears’ “Womanizer”. Okay i have to admit the video is kinda cute. It reminds me ALOT of one of her other classic videos, “Toxic”, it almost follows the concept exactly. Britney looks really good though, i mean not only is her body back on point, but even her face. It’s not all puffy, and she actually has life in her eyes. All in all this video is pretty good I can’t lie. It’s entertaining, never boring, and visually appealing, and it did the job a video is sometimes supposed to do and it makes the song a little more bearable. It’s just a little predictable for Britney, it seems like she does the same stuff over and over. But i think i’ve already made that complaint. http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/.. Britney Spears New Music

October 20, 2008 – Monday

P!nk, T-Pain, John Legend, Ray Lamontagne, and Fall Out Boy … Week in Music Current mood: irritated Category: Music I love my iPod, i mean i would probably literally bust out in tears if anything bad were ever to happen to it. (That being said, i really need a new one) I’m starting to love my iTunes just as much because it really is one of the only places I check out regularly that keeps me up to date on whats new. I hate the radio, and there are hardly ever any music videos on music video channels, I watch stuff on youtube but that’s really only when i’m specifically searching for an artist or if somebody on a message board links the video. Other than that, I would be a lot more out of the loop if it weren’t for iTunes. For instance, this Tuesday I go on there to check out “What’s New” “What’s Hot” and notice some dude named Ray Lamontagne is sitting at the top of the iTune album chart. I clicked on some of the samples from his album, and the voice made me download it. The album “Gossip In the Grain” is not necessarily the type of album i would normally listen to, it’s very folk/blues/rock and very mellow love songs. However a great voice will make you pay attention to things you normally wouldn’t, and this guy has a really awesome unique voice. It’s perfectly suited for rock with it’s raspiness, but it also has a deep soul to it that is somewhat close to Temptations’ David Ruffin or Sam Cooke. Still, for me there aren’t many stand outs on the album, it’s a nice alternative option for me when i’m bored with Overproduced Pop tracks (and believe it or not, that Does happen from time to time). I also found two new Fall Out Boy singles. Actually I downloaded “I Dont Care” a few weeks ago, and it’s a cool song, kind of typical Fall Out Boy song. This week they released a follow up in the form of “What a Catch, Donnie” and this song is really … pretty… amazing. And speaking of Voices, I definitley think Patrick Stump has the Best Male Voice out there today, at least in the commercial mainstream Pop world. He just knows How to sing and How to perfectly compliment the song with his voice and vice versa, and he nails this song which is somewhat of a ballad for them. (The best part of the song actually is towards the end, they incorporate some of their older hits into the closing melody… Nice!) Staying in the Rock for the Pop Charts frame of mind, Pink‘s 5th album “Funhouse” will be released in stores October 28th and although i got it online already, it would actually be worth the purchase. I’ve always loved Pink, and even though her last four albums have all been more Rocked Out Pop than the R&B of her first album, each album always takes a slightly different direction. The 4th album “I’m Not Dead”, for instance, was way more of a Fun Popped up Rock album while the one before that “Try This” (which btw was criminally underrated, check out “Save My Life” and “Waiting for Love”) was alot darker deeper and moodier than anything she released before. Unfortunatley, or maybe Fortunatley for some, “Funhouse” is more of a mash up of both of those albums. There are an awful lot of slower songs, surprising given the albums title. Those slower songs do happen to be the best off the album, the second single “Sober”, the albums closer “Glitter in the Air” and the should-be single “I Dont Believe You”. All of these tracks show off her awesome voice, which apparently has grown quite a bit in the last 2 years. These slower tracks also showcase some great songwriting which is rare in the current Pop scene. I must say that this album was Obviously inspired by her divorce and she talks about it Alot in a huge number of the songs on this album. There are a few upbeats on this album, nothing as fun as “U + Ur Hand” or “Cuz I Can” or even this albums first single “So What”. “It’s your fault” “Ave Mary A” and “Bad Influence” are the best of the more uptempo half of the album. Overall, Pink always delivers even if she didn’t really do anything all that Risky with this album. Let’s get back to how great iTunes is for a second. I notice they’ve been doing this thing for certain artists where they release a different song every week or so as a “Countdown” to the album release. They did it for T.I. leading up to “Paper Trail”‘s release, and it seems like they are doing it for both T-Pain and John Legend who have albums releasing within the month. Now John Legend’s last album “Once again” was one of my favorites, and the First single he dropped on iTunes, “Green Light”, is one of the best of this year. Featuring Andre 3000, it’s an uptempo club banger booty/bass track which is a departure for Legend’s slowed down R&B style he normally goes for. And the music video fits perfectly. He followed that up with a ballad “If You’re Out There”, and yeah it’s one of those Inspirational anthems and i’m not a big fan of those but the lyrics are on point. I just never feel the need to want to hear it. I downloaded the other two singles he’s dropped “No Other Love” featuring Estelle and “Everybody Knows” — but haven’t gotten around to listening to them. T-Pain, Teddy Pain, Nappy Booi-o-e!, Teddy Pinned-her-ass-Down, whatever you wanna call him. I know ALOT of people say they are sick of him and his vocoder, but i’ve never gotten tired of him. In fact every single thing he touches i seem to like… if only for his verse or hook on the song. He has a talent for melodies and hooks, and the singles released so far from his upcoming 3rd album “Thr33 Ringz” are all proof of his obvious hit making skills. By now i think everybody’s heard “Can’t Believe it” featuring Lil Wayne, which is some what of a slow jam/love song, took me a minute to get into this song but it’s definitley solid. “Silver and Gold” is actually Not available on iTunes and Won’t make the final cut of the album, but check it out… it’s just a fun Dranking song in the vein of “Bartender” and “Buy U a drank”. I guess there was some “controversy” with Kirk Franklin in regards to this song, apparently Franklin also has a Gospel song titled “Silver and Gold” and he was Upset that T-Pain used the same title to sing about liquor (“Drinkin both kindsa Patron’s/ I done mixed up Silver and Gold” as opposed to “I’d rather have Jesus/ than Silver and Gold”). I’m curious if this is the reason the song isn’t included on the albums tracklist, if so that’s weak, i mean it’s only a TITLE!! Not the first time two artists have shared the same song title and the songs have been drastically different. Anyhow, he released “Chopped ‘N Skrewed” featuring Ludacris last week and this week “Freeze” featuring Chris Brown. Now I do like both of these songs, but these might be evidence that T-Pain may just be dipping in the hitmaking. They just sound very similar to his other songs… “Chopped ‘N Skrewed” actually sounds like a Chopped and Screwed version of “Silver and Gold” but Ludacris does contribute a nice verse that’s worth checking out. And “Freeze” kind of reminds me of that one song he did with Lil Mama “Shawty get Loose”, it’s a nice dance song and it has a cool hook but i don’t really see it going anywhere. And lastly, I heard probably the 2nd Worst Song of 2008. Here is actually my rankings for the Worst songs this year… 1. Vanessa Hudgens, Sneakernight — I dont even want to waste much time talking about this CRAP, I’ll just say I’ve learned to Mute the commercials when I’m watching Nickelodeon (this song is played on her EckoRed commercial that they seem to play every 10 seconds on Nick!) 2. Pleasure P, Did you Wrong — Heard this song today and WOW it’s Terrible! Dude can’t sing (AT ALL), the concept is played the Fk out, and the lyrics are just plain stupid and lazy, example: I ain’t tryna waste your time And, I ain’t tryna waste my time There ain’t no need to waste no time ’cause we done put in too much time I ain’t tryna waste your time I ain’t tryna waste my time Ain’t no need to waste no time ’cause we done put in too much time TERRIBLE!! 3. Ashanti, Good Good — So at least she put out a decent music video behind this Mess. However this is Ashanti stooping to the lowest common denominator… Come up with a stupid repetitive hook and not even worry about anything else and i’ll get a hit. Wrong! I think this song may have finally put that nail in the coffin that is her Career. Alright, until next week…

November 2, 2008 – Sunday

John Legend “Evolver” – Review Current mood: energetic Category: Music I wish I wasn’t so lazy. I intended to include my review of John Legend‘s new album “Evolver” in my updated Week in Music blog last Monday. I was lazy, so I didn’t. And I’ve been putting off for a few days (I had a test this week so studying kind of took up my time), all the while knowing I was going to write a Glowing review of the album because it is really that good. Firstly, I’ll just say that I haven’t been a Huge fan of Legend. I didn’t really like his debut album “Get Lifted” all that much, and wasn’t really even excited when his follow up was released in 2006. Eventually (thanks to Starbucks) I bought the second album “Once Again” and it became one of my top plays of 2007. And a pattern I can sense with John Legend that I hope he continues is that he keeps all the songs on one album in the same Vibe and they seem to all be connected. Much like some of the greats have done in the past. “Evolver” isn’t a Legendary or even Amazing album, but because everything flows so well into each other I think this is probably one of the best ALBUMS of the year. And by ALBUM i mean something that was put together to be appreciated on the whole and not just a Compilation type album (Janet, Usher). The Vibe… To me, being that I’m so damn old (LoL) is very early 90’s. Makes sense, the pop charts have been dominated by 80’s inspired music the past 5 years… the natural transition would be to bite off music of the 90’s. Except on “Evolver” there are subtle hints of the 90’s under pretty contemporary production, like the PM Dawn inspired harmony tacked on the end of “Everybody knows”, the SWV sample on “It’s Over”, and even the lyrical content of “Quickly” is very reminiscent of A/C Phil Collins. Again, just subtle hints so the music on the whole does sound really Fresh and original. And there are some classic songs on here, the music industry is so unpredictable these days so i’m not sure if “Everybody Knows” or “This Time” will get the success on Pop radio that it deserves. They are both Classic ballads that rival Richard Marx, Bryan Adams and Michael Jackson in the 90’s, with very relatable lyrics and slick production. The whole album is solid, there’s not one song I hate or would even skip past (okay maybe “If You’re Out There” which is more along the lines of a Gloria Estefan power ballad for the Olympics or in this case a Democratic Campaign — GO OBAMA!!) but some definite stand outs for me are “I Love To, Love” (reminds me of “Show Me” from the last album… but sweeter) “Cross the Line” (Love the production on this) and “It’s Over” (Kanye kinda kills it, again!). All in all, it’s definitley John Legend’s Best, but on top of that it hopefully showcases what we can expect from him in the future, solid ALBUMS and not just singles.

November 11, 2008 – Tuesday

Beyoncé “I Am…” – Review Current mood: okay Category: Music No matter what anybody says, Beyoncé is definitley the closest thing we’ve seen to a Living Legend in a long time. And it’s not even because she’s the Best vocalist, or the best dancer. It’s not because her songs are groundbreaking or even original or innovative. It’s basically because she’s so well rounded a artist/performer/celebrity. She combines her talents with her image and she’s just one of the best total packages out there. That being said, in anyone’s music career the Third album is (in my opinion) the MOST important album, Especially for someone as huge as she is. And it shows on “I Am…”, her third album in stores on November 18th, that Beyoncé understood the importance and took her time. The album is split into two discs, and the first “I Am… Beyoncé” is Amazing. It’s obvious she was going for a more mainstream Pop vibe with this side, and even though it’s a pretty calculated move the songs are instant classics. First single “If I were a Boy” is a perfect taste of what you’ll get on the album. That song is almost a bit of a Rock/Pop anthem which fits well into the Top40 Sound of today, but obviously has inspiration from an 80’s Adult Contemporary sound, this song reminds me of the 80’s pop duo Heart, while “Smash into You” and “Satellites” (two amazingly great songs) have a bit of a Genesis/U2 vibe to them while still staying contemporary. The excellent production value and the writing on this half of the album almost overshadow Beyoncé, but only Almost. Like on the second single “Halo“, an excellent peice of lyricism (Thanks to Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic and writer and producer of Leona Lewis‘ “Bleeding Love”) and a great track, but Ms. B’s vocals are so strong she makes you feel the power in the words… I swore I’d never fall again but this don’t even feel like falling gravity can’t begin to pull me back to the ground again. And now that brings us to the second disc, one “I Am… Sasha Fierce”. This is supposed to be the upbeat “sassy” side of Beyoncé. It’s really her Stage persona, but if we’re being honest Sasha Fierce peaked on the last album “B’Day” (in the studio that is, Sasha Fierce still KILLS Everybody on stage!!) . The vocals were so strong and the lyrics were so attitude filled, unlike alot of the stuff on this rather disapointing side of this new album. I guess there is some sass on this side, just laid over some pretty boring tracks. “Ego” is supposed to be released as a single and it’s a nice track with a nice hook but the lyrics need some work. (Although i do tolerate most of the song to hear her cuss Finally… Ego so big you must admit I got every reason to feel like I’m That Bitch. Yeah B, you are) However it seems like she got real lazy on this half of the disc. The creative vocal workouts are gone, the interesting lyrics are gone, even the tracks on here are underwhelming. They almost feel like she didn’t really put much thought or effort into alot of these songs. I mean listen to the first Urban single “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)” without seeing the awesome video it’s just “Get Me Bodied” part two. And i won’t even get into “Diva”, her female answer to “A Milli” (i’ma a Diva i’ma i’ma a Diva. Diva is the female version of a hustla) which could have been pretty good but the song definitley lacks something. Alot actually. There are some really great standouts on this half though. “Hello” is a sweet upbeat love song about Jay. Very addictive hook and just a great total production, vocals included. And “Radio” is a bit of Change for her style, it’s a Europop club track and she brings a real Urban vocal style to it. This album seems to be intended to cross her over into a true International star and this would do huge in other countries. As well as “Sweet Dreams”, which most of us Stans were playing all year when we thought it was titled “Beautiful Nitemare”. Another club offering that will do big on the other side of the pond. All in all, Beyoncé went to work. At least on reforming her image as a International Pop Star with huge classic anthems. However she took so many steps forward on the first half of this album, and so many steps back on the bottom half. Anyhow, we’ll see you on Tour Ms. Sasha. On a side note, Jim Jonsin is doing his thing this year. I’m glad he got a chance to show his diversity on this and former DC3er Michelle Williams’ albums. For me Jim Jonsin is THE producer to watch for next year. And one of my favorite producers Mr. Bangladesh who has been floating under the radar for Years (but finally has some major exposure this year because of “A Milli”) also came to work. Although “Diva” does sound almost exactly like “A Milli” (and also Kelis‘ “Aww Shit!!“) his production of “Video Phone” is f’ing awesome

November 30, 2008 – Sunday

Kanye, Killers, TPain & Britney Spears Current mood: happy Category: Music I am So Late. Being Unemployed now, I wanted to really start trying to do weekly blogs. Maybe bi-weekly. And I meant to post this Blog about two weeks ago… but have just been really lazy. That being said, I want to get this out for Monday… because Monday is going to be my Official New Blog date. So now that that’s all cleared up, here we go… Firstly, the album I’ve been Dying to write about… Yeezy’s new one. Now the song “Amazing” is the best way to describe both Kanye Wests 4th album just released November 25th “808s and Heartbreak“, and Kanye west himself. I’m a monster I’m a maven I know this world is changin’ Never gave in Never gave up I’m the only thing I’m afraid of No matter what You’ll never take that from me My reign is as far as your eyes can see It’s amazin’ So amazin’ Speaking about the artist first, he’s definitely drives in his own lane and always has. He has always gone slightly left from everybody else in both Hip Hop and just Music in general, especially on his Second album “Late registration”, but still making his stuff mainstream enough for it not to be ignored on the charts. With this album though, he seems to be driving on an entirely different Highway than everybody else. And some of the creative calls he made on this album truly (imo) present him as a genuine Artists, the likes of which we haven’t seen probably in a decade. For instance, the longer than 3 minute instrumental looping at the end of album opener “Say You Will” track, or the minimal lyrics on the also Amazing “Street Lights”. The tracks in themselves also take music to new grounds. He seems to have cultivated a Perfect blend of real late 90’s Electronica, Hip Hop and Mainstream Pop classics, and normally trying to hybrid too many styles ends up a mess and this works seamlessly. Because he’s a genius. One complaint about the album is that he seems to be talking about the same thing on every song. However that complaint also sort of proves what a great artist he is, this album was obviously motivated by his emotions at the time and a way to vent to get over the Heartbreak. And not only lyrically, but vocally (and yes he does sing most of the songs… but not in the way where he’s trying to become the next John Legend. More of just a melodic way to get his lyrics across) you can feel the pain, like when he screams “I won’t EVER Love again… Never again” on the albums BEST track “Coldest Winter” you really really feel it. This is truly my album of the Year. Kanye has Yet to disapoint. However, Britney disapoints me all the time. She had a trio of live televised performances within the past few days… and let’s just say she’s no longer the Dynamic Live Performer fans Claimed her to be. Which is truly disapointing because before those performances I did get to listen to her new (now 6th album) “Circus” being released Tuesday and I don’t hate it. Her last album “Blackout” released in the midst of her “Crazy Bitch” phase, was Fun but very One-Note and Britney was barely there. Her vocals were totally vocoded and there was just no life behind the lyrics. “Circus” fortunately does bring her voice more to the forefront, and while there are an awful lot of “Blackout”-like Dance cuts, on the whole is alot more diverse and somewhat similar to her Best album 2002’s “In the Zone”. The standout cut on this album is “Unusual You” which may just be the best song she’s ever recorded. It really is a beautiful song, lyrically production wise and her vocals do really set the song off. The next really great track is the Addicting Max Martin production “If U Seek Amy”, which suceeds in being that Guilty Pleasure song that actually eclipses Katy Perry’s trio of addictive singles put out this year. And it’s such a “naughty” little hook that’s so much fun to sing a long to… All of the girls and All of the boys are begging to If U Seek Amy (get it? If U Seek Amy… F U C K ME) … The album actually shows a little progression in Britney’s stifled career and is actually a pretty good (stay clear of “Kill the Lights” and “My Baby” – but Do check out “Out from Under”) listen. She just needs to work round the clock on delivering an Awesome performance one of these days or this album is gonna tank Hard! I was also surprised that T-Pain‘s third album “Thr33 Ringz” didn’t completely suck. It’s really just a Fun, Funny album. You dont really expect anything of much substance from a dude who could deliver such a hilarious lyric like… One, two, three, four Get the hell up out my door Five, six, seven, eight I don’t need your sex, I’ll masturbate … but a line like that is really Fun to sing and he has alot of stuff like that on here. I think what he was trying to accomplish was pulling off a great Album instead of just another vehicle for a few singles to be plucked from. He does try to get diverse on us, with the truly Hardcore Hip Hop (Karaoke with Dj Khaled) and some straight up R&B (Reality Show with Musiq Soulchild and Raheem Devaughn). He even tries (and fails in my opinion) to do a bit of a Message song with Mary J Blige, Diddy and Akon in the form of “Change”. He doesn’t totally fail with this album, none of the songs are Unbearable, but he’s showing that he’s a bit more than just the Auto Tune dude. All that being said, this album basically comes down to 5 great songs. The singles “Cant believe it” with Lil Wayne, “Chopped and Skrewed” with Ludacris and three great album cuts “Blowing up” with Ciara “It aint me” with an amazing verse from T.I. and “Therapy” with Kanye. I think you can get away with just those 5. And while we were speaking, kind of, about Disapointments I have to say The Killers have (at this moment) disapointed me. Their third proper album “Day and Age” was released the same day as Kanye. And maybe being so blown away by that album set my expectations higher for the Killers. I mean, they are my favourite Rock/Alternative group for the past few years and add that they hooked up with one of my Favourite EuroDance producers Stuart Price I expected to listen to what I assumed would be the Greatest album of the Year. However, when i first listened to it, i felt like i was listening to some weird 80’s compilation. I heard a bit of Paul Simon, Huey Lewis, Hall and Oates and even Madonna in there. I’ve only listened to the album once since than, and it did sound better the second time around so maybe i should just save the Definitive review for a few weeks and see where how much, if at all, it has grown on me. “Neon Tiger” and “Goodnight, Travel Well” are pretty Great songs though as are the two singles “Spaceman” and “Human”.

December 3, 2008 – Wednesday

Grammy Predictions Current mood: optimistic Category: Music The Grammy nominations will be announced Tonight. They are making a big Television special out of the nominees, seems pretty lame to me, but the Grammy nominations actually do excite me. This year should be really surprising. I’ve actually been listening to older music this year so I’ve been somewhat out of the loop of today’s music (besides it generally sucks so bad can you blame me). I mean I’ve JUST discovered a couple of acts (keep reading) that had their buzz brewing since the Beginning of the year. So obviously if i made some predictions I’d probably be all wrong, but I do have some Hopes for nominees … artists and songs that i think actually Deserve nominations. So here we go. I had this feeling in the summer when M.I.A.‘s “Paper Planes” song became so Huge in the US, that they might actually put this up for Record of the Year. And not only because the song is amazing, also because M.I.A. has been getting a Huge critical reception since her 2005 debut album “Arular” and she has yet to be nominated for a Grammy or any other American award for that matter. The Grammy committee loves to Look like they are young, fresh, and worldly and that’s M.I.A. and that’s Paper Planes. On top of that, she actually was set to Retire this year (which she has since retracted thanks to this song). She’s not a new artist but she’s a critical and media favorite who attained that commercial success this year and Grammy’s tend to award that. I wouldn’t be surprised if she got a couple of nominations. They’ll either put her in Urban/Alternative Performace or Dance recording. They might actually put her up for Hip Hop Performance Female which would be Smart because she would have virtually NO competition. I’m just gonna say Rihanna needs to win Dance recording for “Disturbia“. However, the dance category is probably going to be filled up with MGMT, Lady Gaga, Ting Tings, Madonna, Janet. Plus they generally tend to have a bunch of respected House DJ’s and Electro heads in this category as opposed to pop stars. They’ll probably put her up for R&B Song and R&B Vocal Female for “Take a Bow“. Jason Mraz should be nominated and Win Pop Vocal, Male for “I’m Yours“. And I’m guessing Sara Bareilles (“Love Song“) and Colbie Callait (“Bubbly“) will be in the running for Pop Vocal Female. However the obvious Winner in that category is going to be Leona Lewis who I predict will be a Grammy favorite this year. I see her getting this award for “Bleeding Love“. And she’ll definitley be in the running for New Artist which i was sure she would win a few months ago but she’s going to have to fend off other Critical favorites Adele, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Ray Lamontagne and Estelle. By the way, put money on Adele for “Chasing Pavement” in that Pop Vocal Female category. I really can’t call who I think will be the lead nominees or even the Album of the Year category. Last year, (when the Grammy telecast turned into “The Amy Winehouse Show” – still mad at that.) the nominees almost mirrored the Billboard top Albums and Singles, giving the impression that Grammy voters only voted for stuff that they heard on Top 40 Radio, and this year might just be the same. Having said that, Coldplay would probably get the most nods. Their album “Viva La Vida” got some of the best reviews this year and sold through the roof. Plus the Grammy’s already LOVE Coldplay, this could be the year when they truly become U2. I’d definitley put money on them for Album of the Year and since they are favorites one of their songs (don’t ask me which) should be in Record and Song of the Year as well. Also if we’re looking at chart dominance you might even see Lil Wayne up for Album of the Year for “Tha Carter III”, if not he’s definitley going to sweep practically All of the Hip Hop categories (Rap Album, Rap Song, Rap Solo, Rap Solo Male, Rap Performance Duo or Group, Rap/Sung Collab, ) and I don’t see why he wouldn’t Win all of those awards to be honest. If we’re looking critically, you might see Vampire Weekend, Portishead, The Black Keys, The Racounters, Ray Lamontagne, Robyn and MGMT in the mix in the big 4 categories. I would also count in Raphael Saadiq, Beck, The-Dream, Ne-Yo, Gnarls Barkley, Panic at the Disco, Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, and even Katy Perry for a nod or two. So, let’s see how well I do.

December 9, 2008 – Tuesday

Grammy Noms, Brandy, Common, Akon … Week in Music Current mood: impatient Category: Music Yeah Yeah Yeah, it’s Tuesday. I was supposed to post this yesterday… but whatever, nobody reads my blog. So just one day late isn’t going to kill… Anybody. Now let’s first talk about how Awesome I am, and how good I was at predicting the Grammy nominations. Lil Wayne actually came out the leader in nominations with 8, and I really can’t say I’m surprised. His album sold through the roof this year, and Grammy’s just couldn’t ignore him. What’s even more awesome, is he was nominated for every single thing I predicted last week: Also if we’re looking at chart dominance you might even see Lil Wayne up for Album of the Year for “Tha Carter III”, if not he’s definitley going to sweep practically All of the Hip Hop categories (Rap Album, Rap Song, Rap Solo, Rap Solo Male, Rap Performance Duo or Group, Rap/Sung Collab, ) and I don’t see why he wouldn’t Win all of those awards to be honest. 7 of his nominations came straight from the Rap categories (Rap Album, Rap Solo for “A Milli”, Rap Performance Duo or Group twice for “Mr. Carter” and “Swagga Like Us”, Rap/Sung Collab for “Got Money” and Rap Song twice for “Lollipop” and “Swagga Like Us”) his eighth nomination came for Album of the Year. So I did pretty good there. Coldplay trailed Weezy with 7 nominations, and as you can see I was pretty spot on with those predictions as well: Coldplay would probably get the most nods. Their album “Viva La Vida” got some of the best reviews this year and sold through the roof. Plus the Grammy’s already LOVE Coldplay, this could be the year when they truly become U2. I’d definitley put money on them for Album of the Year and since they are favorites one of their songs (don’t ask me which) should be in Record and Song of the Year as well. They are up for Album of the Year, as well as Record and Song of the Year plus Pop Performance Duo or Groupfor “Viva la Vida”, Rock Song and Rock Performance Duo or Group for “Violet Hill”, and Rock Album. Outside of the lead nominees I definitley called a few other nominations… “Paper Planes” by M.I.A. for Record of the Year. Adele and Sara Bareilles for Pop Vocal Female (additionally Adele surprised me and got Record of the Year and Song of the Year for her song). Jason Mraz competing in Pop Vocal Male for “I’m Yours” (also nominated for Song of the Year). Rihanna‘s “Disturbia” up for Dance Recording, and Leona Lewis for Pop Vocal Female for “Bleeding Love” (also nominated for Record of the Year). Which leads us to my biggest surprises or Snubs of the year. The most glaring snub was Leona Lewis in the New Artist category. I mean seriously… The Jonas Brothers and Jazmine Sullivan over her? The-Dream not getting ANY nominations for his superior “Love/Hate” album and singles (while J. Holiday – whose only hit “Bed” was written by The-Dream – is up for Contemporary R&B Album of the Year? Did anybody even listen to that album?). And i’m not entirely surprised by the snubs of Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, but given this years nominees they should have found themselves in at least two or three categories (especially Janet, who should have been up for Dance Recording with “Rock With You” or “Feedback”). I was really surprised that MGMT or Vampire Weekend weren’t mentioned at all. And I guess I should talk about the welcome surprises. Ne-Yo , Album of the Year? Again, I felt like The-Dream and even Raphael Saadiq‘s albums were better but I was proud to see Ne-Yo up there. Keyshia Cole stormed through the R&B categories with “Heaven Sent” and I really believe she should win, that was one of the Few TRUE R&B Singles out this year. I was really happy to see Robyn up for Dance/Electronic Album as well as Beck and Gnarls Barkley competing for Alternative Album. Also Very happy to see the producer of both of those albums (as well as the Snubbed Black Keys) Danger Mouse up for Producer of the Year (He should win it). In a couple of weeks I’ll post my predictions for Winners and see how I do. The awards will be telecast sometime in early February (really close to my Birthday… hint hint) On to some new releases that might (but probably won’t) be up for Next Years Grammy nominations. Released last Tuesday was Akon‘s now third album “Freedom” and it’s set to debut in the top 5 albums this week. And if you’re a fan of the albums first single “Right Now (Na Na Na)” than you’ll most likely dig this album on the whole. Akon is a pretty talented producer and writer (I mean if you can put a song together that’s good enough to not be totally irritated by his voice than he’s doing Something right) but this album isn’t anything revoultionary. It’s actually a bit dated in certain respects, if this album came out last year I would have liked it alot better. It just relies a little too much on the electro-pop sound that’s been inundating the radio for the past two years, although songs like “Keep You Much Longer” and “Beautiful”, which features Colby O’Donis and Kardinal Offishall, are a little above average and do fit into that sound really well. Akon does try to diversify this album a bit, which makes the album not a total dud. The albums follow up singles “I’m So Paid” and “Holla Holla” are standouts, as are “Against the Grain” (featuring Ray Lavender — Nice Voice) and “Be With You“. The rest, well I have to admit that I kept thinking “when is this song going to be Over” a few times. For Akon though this is his most solid album to date. And it’s alot better than I expected. Meanwhile, Brandy‘s 5th album “Human” hits stores today, and it’s a little weaker than I expected. I have always given Brandy praise for getting better with each album. However “Human” isn’t better than her previous (damn near Masterpeice) “Afrodisiac”, while that album was alot more mature and real, this album seems to cater to a Younger Poppier crowd with some pretty generic lyrics and concepts. I mean her answer to the World’s problems is to “Warm it Up (With Love)”, she talks about how her man is the “Definition of Love”, and the title track she sings “I’m only Human, Forgive me… I’m only Human, Love me”. None of those songs are awful, but given all that Brandy has been through since the release of the last album, you’d think she’d sing something a little more personal and heartfelt instead of Any-Artist-Pop-Songs. There are some moments of genius on this album though and they mostly come in the form of ballads along the line of her past hits “Have You Ever” and “He Is”. The albums second single “Long Distance” (which also suffers from very generic lyrics “You know right now I can’t be home, but I’m coming home soon”) just sounds like an instant Classic, and even better is “True” which wins on all levels (Lyrics, Production, Vocals) and even that song gets eclipsed by the “Acapella” of “Something’s Missing” which is a very fresh and original arrangement. Vocally, Brandy has always been very underrated and her voice has just grown leaps and bounds with every album. And on top of the growth, she’s a very creative vocalist and that is one of the things that is clearly displayed on this album. I would recommend the album though, even though it’s pretty Generic, there is alot on here that most people will relate to and again Brandy came to work vocally on this album. However, if you go to the store to buy this album and you don’t have “Afrodisiac” or the 3rd album “Full Moon”, do yourself a favor and pick both of them up. Finally, also being released today, is Common‘s “Universal Mind Control”. The album was initially supposed to be released this summer under the title “Invincible Summer”. Than news came that Common only intended to do an EP for that title and put together a full album due in November. Knowing that, I can understand some of the inconsistency on this album. Even with that one complaint, this really is one of the better albums this year. Firstly, I have to say that I’m loving the fact that Pharrell is back, he really impressed me earlier this year with the stuff he did for Madonna’s album and now on Common’s album (which he produced 7 of the 10 tracks) he gives you a taste of why we loved the Neptunes in the first place (the club banger “Sex 4 Suga”, the laid back old school “Announcement”) and a taste of where he’s headed (the albums best track “What A World” featuring Chester French). A producer by the name of Mr DJ takes the reigns for the remaining 3 tracks and from the sounds of it (“Make My Day” featuring Cee-Lo, and “Everywhere” featuring Martina Topley-Bird which are two of the more superior tracks) he might be here to stay. Aside from the production, Common does bring something to this album (which yeah, it could have been just as good if it was all instrumental). Common commented on the album earlier this year and said that it was supposed to be a bit of a throwback dance Hip Hop album and he does bring very old school 80’s Rap flows very nicely to the very futuristic tracks, which are best displayed on the aforementioned “Make my Day”, which has him telling a Story in the same vein as Slick Rick and “What a World”. I’d definitley recommend this album, it’s not the classic that his last album “Finding Forever” was (which if you don’t have it, Buy it… Excellent Kanye and Will.I.Am productions), but at least it’s different and in this late stage of Common’s career it’s good to see he’s getting a little more Fearless with his music.

December 25, 2008 – Thursday

Best of 2008 Current mood: drunk Category: Music Merry Christmas to all my adoring fans. Right! Anyhow I have my lists of best albums and singles of 2008, and I meant to write a blurb about each album/song. However, it’s Christmas and I’m at my Grandma’s house and I guess I should enjoy the Holiday instead of blogging unnecessarily. I just thought I should post something… it’s been about three weeks since my DSL at home was shut off and I’ve missed some entries… so here is the most important entry of the year. So I’ll just list my favorites now, and maybe one day at the library I’ll fill in my critiques about each ranking. Top 15 Albums. 1. Modern Guilt, Beck 2. Paper Trail, T.I. 3. Robyn, Robyn 4. 808’s and Heartbreak, Kanye West 5. The Odd Couple, The Odd Couple 6. E=MC2, Mariah Carey 7. Oracular Spectacular, MGMT 8. Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne 9. Evolver, John Legend 10. I Am… Sasha Fierce, Beyonce 11. Year of the Gentleman, Ne-Yo 12. Universal Mind Control, Common 13. Not 4 Sale, Kardinal Offishall 14. Untitled, Nas 15. Shine, Estelle Top 25 Singles. 1. Disturbia, Rihanna 2. Paper Planes, M.I.A. 3. Gamma Ray, Beck 4. Feedback, Janet Jackson 5. A Milli, Lil Wayne 6. Closer, Ne-Yo 7. I Luv Your Girl, The-Dream 8. With Every Heartbeat, Robyn 9. I’m Yours, Jason Mraz 10. Touch my Body, Mariah Carey 11. Great DJ, The Ting Tings 12. Let It Rock, Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil Wayne 13. American Boy, Estelle featuring Kanye West 14. Heaven Sent, Keyshia Cole 15. Heart Songs, Weezer 16. The Youth, MGMT 17. If I Were a Boy, Beyonce 18. Swagga Like Us, T.I. featuring Jay Z, Kanye West & Lil Wayne 19. No Air, Jordin Sparks with Chris Brown 20. Dangerous, Kardinal Offishall featuring Akon 21. Love Lockdown, Kanye West 22. Don’t Touch Me (Throw Da Water On Em), Busta Rhymes 23. I Don’t Care, Fall Out Boy 24. Everyone Nose (All The Girls Standing In The Line For The Bathroom) [Remix], N.E.R.D. featuring Kanye West, Clipse & Lupe Fiasco 25. We Made It, Busta Rhymes with Linkin Park.

>Album Review: Alicia Keys

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What Happened to Alicia Keys?
Yesterday she released her 4th studio album “The Element of Freedom“, and unfortunatley it’s just a tad forgettable. Not to give the impression that it’s a bad album, it really isn’t. In fact there really isn’t anything about the individual songs that I can complain about, however altogether there are some issues with the album. My main complaint though is that a majority of the songs on this new effort don’t sound new at all. There are times while listening when you feel like you may be listening to some unreleased demos to her last album “As I Am” (evidenced in “Love is My Disease” or “Doesn’t Mean Anything”) and other instances where you feel like you are listening to discards from her second album “Diary” (the Beyonce featured “Put it in a Love Song” and “Empire State of Mind Part Two”). There are a few, well TWO, songs that breakthrough and take Keys to a new level and those are “Un-Thinkable (I’m Ready)” which has a bit of a vocal cameo from Drake, and “That’s How Strong My Love Is” which is a huge R&B ballad reminscent of the classic 80’s hit “Tender Love” by Force MD’s. Those two (well and “Wait Til You See Me Smile” which has a very nice arrangement, but the vocals leave alot to be desired) are really the only stand outs and that’s the real problem with the album on the whole. It feels like Alicia has plateaued and maybe run out of new and interesting ideas. She herself did say in a interview I happened to read that she went into this album having no idea what to do, and it’s pretty evident. She didn’t know how to take her music to the next level, so she just stayed where she was comfortable.
And again, I think I should say this isn’t a bad album. It’s thouroughly listenable, and it might even grow on me, but Alicia has a history of grabbing you with that first listen and because this album doesn’t offer that same effect, it’s a bit of a disapointment. I still have faith in her, she is probably one of the more talented artists of her generation and I think she just needs some real inspiration to deliver another Amazing album. A bad album happens to the best of them, and this is just a slight hitch in Keys’ discography. Better luck next time A.