Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Video: Drake - Marvin's Room

The latest cut from Drizzy finds him pouring his heart out to his ex-girl in the hopes of winning her back.  Only problem, she's with another guy and he's drunk-dialling her at 3 in the morning.  C'mon Drizzy, you're better than that man!


Drake ~ Marvins Room (Official Video) from OctobersVeryOwn on Vimeo.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Stream: Saturday night tracks - Young Jeezy and Kelis

The pre-dinner mix is in full swing, and here's a couple of tracks to show you the vibe. Holla back if you like the tracks!  Even better, give me some suggestions!



Thursday, June 23, 2011

Stream: All of Beyonce's new album '4'

Over at AOL Music Beyonce's awesome new album is streaming right now.  Check it out HERE

Video: Britney Spears - I wanna go

Britney's new single has a new video.  The song and video are about how much Britney is pursued by the media and how she's had enough.  Wait a minute, is that the same media she relies on to promote her singles and video's?  I'm confused.



Friday, June 17, 2011

Video: Lady Gaga - Edge of Glory


Possibly as a response to all the show-stopping, expensive clips she's been putting out lately, 'Edge of Glory', her album-closing, defiantly 80's power ballad, is a low-key affair, in as much as a Gaga video can be low-key. 



Thursday, June 16, 2011

Video: Frank Ocean - Novocane

As part of the Odd Future crew out of California, you'd expect Ocean's music to be a little different, and it is.  Ocean is a guy who can convey the not just the feeling of heading into the desert for three days with a girl he barely knows, but he can articulate why and make it sound like truth.  The music's great too.


frank ocean [novacane] from christopher francis ocean on Vimeo.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Breaking News: Tupac's alleged killer confesses

One of the great mysteries of Hip-Hop (and there are a few) is 'who killed Biggie and Tupac'?  All this unconfirmed, but we may have an answer to at least half that question.  According to AllHipHop.com, Dexter Isaac has confessed that he shot Tupac at Quad Studios in November 1994. The reason behind it he claims, is that Rap impresario James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond - Currently manager of rapper 'The Game' - paid him $2,500 for the shooting.

Thanks to Pitchfork for the heads up

Video: Chris Brown - Your Body

Brown drops a video for album track 'Your Body'.  Mixtape coming soon apparently.


Chris Brown X Hudson Mohawke - Real Hip Hop Shit #2 from Mechanical Dummy on Vimeo.


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Download: Kanye West - Mama's Boyfriend

Those with good memories might remember Kanye heading to the Facebook offices prior to the release of his last album and dropping a verse from this song.  It never appeared on the album and you can hear why.  It doesn't sound like anything else on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fanstasy.  That's no criticism, this is in fact a pretty solid track in its own right.

Download it HERE

Stream: Nas - Nasty





This is what it says.  Three minutes of no-chorus, superb rapid-fire rap from Queensbridge's finest.  

NASTY (Produced by Salaam Remi) -DIRTY by Nasir Jones

Download: DJ Bombe' - James Blake/Drake mashup mixtape

Anyone who reads this blog, which is very few I know, knows that I'm a fan of both James Blake and Drake.  Blake crafts otherworldly music that chops and changes his voice over dupstep and other syncopated beats, whilst Drake raps and croons mostly over woozy atmospheric productions.  DJ Bombe' has mashed the two together for a whole mixtape (called James Drake) and it works surprisingly well.  A great introduction to both artists if you can't be bothered listening to them separately!

Find it HERE

Friday, June 10, 2011

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Video: Steve Urkel rap song from the early 90's

Besides being moderately funny, this time capsule of a clip features a bunch of child stars from the era, including Jennifer Aniston, Breckin Myer, Danicka Mckellar (Winnie Cooper from the Wonder Years) and Candace Cameron (Full House).

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Essay: Where's Hip-Hop at in 2011?

Where is Hip Hop in 2011



Let me qualify first off: I love Hip-Hop. I love it, and have loved it, for a very long time. However, and let me be very clear about this, I’ve not loved it at the expense of every other genre.

Yes, there was a time, long ago, where I would have dared you try and prove to me the worthiness of dance music, but I was young and naĂŻve and really did not know what I was talking about. That, and the fact that my friends listened to a lot of shitty 90’s dance music which gave me a negative impression of the genre for a longer than I care to admit.

Hip-Hop, like any form of music, falls in and out of favour depending on trends, the volume of music released and its relative chart performance in any given year. Without a dearth of critically acclaimed or chart-topping albums in the last few years, one could even argue that Hip-Hop, pure Hip-Hop, is on the wane.

Besides Eminem, B.o.B. and Kanye, who released a memorable Hip-Hop album last year? Should I even call B.o.B. memorable? Is this year much better? Not taking into account chart performance (and I never do), I have to say that I’ve been pulled back into the Hip-Hop fold this year by several outstanding releases.

Saigon, E-40, DJ Quik, Pharoahe Monch and Lupe Fiasco have all released outstanding album this year with memorable cuts and a unique sound.

Why the sudden resurgence, and where have these guys been hiding? If we take a brief look at each, maybe we can draw some conclusions.

Saigon has been around the block, his album languishing for years in storage due to label problems. He is relatively new school compared to some of the other guys, but aligning himself with super producer Just Blaze has seen the return of a sound quite familiar to anyone listening to Jay-Z in the early parts of last decade, and his blue-collar street sage sensibility works a treat in this post GFC world.

Whilst Saigon is a sophomore on the rise, E-40, DJ Quik and Pharoahe Monch are old-school anomalies in the cipher of Hip-Hop – veterans who still maintain relevance long after their so-called use-by date has passed. How did they do this?

E-40 is a San Fransisco native who’s been cranking out funk-glazed Hip-Hop for two decades. He has an ear for beats, seems to be up on the latest trends without straying too far from his lane, and his son (yes, his son) makes some of his best beats. Quik is another Cali legend, responsible for crafting memorable beats for Dr Dre and Tupac, to name just two. He’s always been an innovative producer, but his relentless tinkering with the West Coast G-Funk sound has seen him become increasingly experimental, but no less funky, over the last decade.

Monch was originally part of seminal New York group Organised Konfusion, but broke away in the 90’s with the Godzilla-sampling ‘Simon Says’. After that debut, he drifted away from Hip-Hop for a long time, mainly due to that familiar rapper woe – label problems. He has since come back with two albums in the last 4 years, each with an updated sound but still with Monch’s signature twisted linguistics.

Of the new artists, Lupe is an interesting case. Over the last few albums, he has built a dedicated fan-base on the back of his rapid-fire flow, experimental sound and obscure pop-culture references. Although he hasn’t completely abandoned his roots, his latest album sees him gravitating toward dance-oriented beats, and with it, mainstream acceptance. He did hit number one on Billboard, so maybe he’s on to something, time will tell.

Wiz Khalifa and Tyler, the Creator are two new artists trying to find their niche. Khalifa is the weed acolyte, cutting wistful on his laid-back debut Rolling Papers, while Tyler is the enfant terrible at the head of the LA based Oddball crew, a shock-rapper whose vulgarity and vitality recalls Eminem’s early records.

At broad stroke, I would say that the only thing connecting these artists is that the fact that none sounds anything like the other, and none sounds like anything that would have existed 10 years ago. In a world that is now so saturated with sound that it is hard to be noticed, these artists have succeeded, by being themselves and stretching their signature sound in different directions.

New or old, each of these artists have broadened their horizons and experimented with their sound without alienating their fans. They give their fans credit by indulging the belief that if they grow in their sound as artists, the fans will grow with them. Instead of satiating the sound of the street, they are now limited only by their own imagination.

If the 00’s have taught us anything, it is that good music will be found, whether it’s comes via a 20-something rapper with half a dozen mixtapes to his name, or a grizzled veteran who’s willing to surrounded himself with creative people. This gives me hope for the future of not just Hip-Hop, but music in general, hope for musicians to continue to push the boundaries and never rest on their laurels.




Stream: Two new songs by The-Dream

On the back of writing and producing some of Beyonce's latest bangers (1+1 & Girls), Terius Nash aka The-Dream has announced that his fourth solo album, The Love, IV (Diary of a Mad Man), will be released on September 20.

To celebrate, he has upped a couple of tracks to his website.

Stream the songs at The-Dream's website HERE

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Stream: Kelly Rowlands feat. The-Dream & Lil Wayne - Motivation (Remix)

I'm a bit late with this track, so I've added the remix, which I'm loving, featuring The-Dream and Lil Wayne.



Monday, June 6, 2011

Video: Kanye West - Monster

The clip for Monster debuted a few months back and critics jumped on it faster than you can type 'online petition'.  It's depiction of models as corpses (or so it appears) caused such a ruckus that the video was pulled by West's record company.  Without explanation, the clip has popped up on Wests website.

Whilst the video drapes nearly every scene with male and female models in states of undress and rigor mortis, the stars and their surroundings are pure opulence.  Mansions, silk sheets, designer clothes; it's all die young and leave a beautifully tailored corpse.

Jay-Z seems a bit detached from it all, wondering if his Apple stocks will drop after appearing in such a controversial video, and Nicki Minaj has a hard time controlling herself and staying in step with her co-stars.

It looks great, still sounds great, but I'm clueless as to what it's trying to say.  Is it an allegory on the price of fame?  Rapper braggadocio given a cinematic sheen?  True beauty doesn't last?  Who the hell knows.  It's about as controversial as Thriller, but no-where as good.



Video Provided by DatPiff.com

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Stream: Beyonce - Best thing I never had

Yet another Beyonce track, and to be honest, any one of them could be the lead single.  This piano-heavy, vitriolic opus finds King B in 'Irreplacable' mode, throwing a kiss-off of epic proportions to an ex-lover, and punctuating it with a sure-to-be-repeated '...sucks to be you right now'.  Can't wait for this album.

Best Thing I Never Had by Beyoncé

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Video: Robyn - Call Your Girlfriend

Video's are awesome, but a lot of the time they don't tell us much about an artist.  Behind the elaborate costumes, make-up and choreography is a person, and this video is about as close as you'll get to a personal music video.

Three and a half minutes and one tracking shot of Robyn doing whatever she can to command the camera, which she does with ease. 



Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Video: The Weekend - The Morning

One of my favourite records of this year is the Weekends House of Balloon, a grimy hangover of a record that's been garnering critical from a coterie of outlets in the short time since its release.  'The Morning' is a dizzying highlight, droning its way through a description of early morning shenanigans with a lady of the night.

So far any video attached to any of the tracks off the album have been dismissed as unofficial, and I can't even confirm that this one comes from the band.  The production value is curiously high for a 2011 release, so I would hedge my bets that is real.


The Weeknd - The Morning (music video) from High Five Collective on Vimeo.

Video: Rihanna - Man Down

The video, beginning with the ending, shows Ri-Ri busting a cap in an unsuspecting mans head.  Not your typical R&B clip for sure.  The story retreats to a day earlier, with a more lively Rihanna kicking it in a Jamaican ghetto and frolicking in the waves at a beach.  Next thing you know it's dark out and she's entering a pretty shady looking club.  This is where things start to get darker, which of course explains the reason behind the gunshot at the start of the clip.

Although it's shot beautifully, the story hardly packs a punch, and this dichotomy between the bland storyline and ease with which it's depicted leaves you with an uneasy feeling.  Judge for yourself.