Video: Robyn - U Should Know me better (feat. Snoop Dogg)

Review: Kanye West - Yeezus

One of Kanye West's many peeves has been the fact that he has never won an album of the year Grammy. His last album 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' was an opulent, star-studded affair that seemed to court Grammy nominators and looked to  finally provide West with a win, but it was not to be.

With his new opus 'Yeezus', Kanye seems to have given up on ever winning Album of the year. This record is at times abrasive, aggressive, dark, misogynistic, racist and spare, and yet the sum of the parts is never less than awesome.

It's clear that some Kanye fans won't be happy with the album (see #yeezus on twitter for proof), and he probably won't find any new fans, but for those who up for more than radio-ready hits will certainly be rewarded.

The album opens with 'On Site', one of four Daft Punk produced tracks, and an song designed to test both casual fans and stereo speakers. The blown-out bass and sharp synth stabs are the backbone of the uptempo beat, pushing an energized West to exclaim "how much do I not give a f**k?" before dropping a sweet distorted soul sample right the middle of the song.

'Black Skinhead' rides a Marilyn Manson sample, and lets Kanye get his Kurt Cobain on, screaming and yelling that he's "been a menace for the longest". Hide your daughters.

'I am a God' is 'Ye at his most egotistical, yet also his most self-aware. He must know how ridiculous a line like "Hurry up with my damn croissants" comes across, and yet he spits it with the same disdain with which  he disses his ex and the valet who's late with his Porsche. Is the track darkly comic or comically dark, I'm still not sure? 'New Slaves' follows, a pointed and supremely focused track about "that rich n***a racism". It hits hard lyrically and musically, and is the apex of the spare minimalism that defines the first four tracks.

The beat choice switches up with 'Hold my liquor', an hallucinogenic concoction anchored by a faded hook from fellow Chicagoan Chief Keef. It's very 808's and Heartbreaks, right down to it's confessional lyrics about Wests inability to stop drinking. 'I'm in it' opens with Kanye getting dirty through a filtered mic and a fuzzed-out synth line, before breaking into a rabid Dancehall bridge followed by a stunning Justin Vernon vocal. It's impossible to dislike, even though it contains some of the most NSFW lines even laid to tape.

'Blood on the leaves' baits controversy for different reasons, using a Nina Simone sample about lynching and turning it into a chance for Ye to wax nostalgic about his ex, and not fondly. If the Simone sample wasn't enough, it's mashed up with horns from the C-Murder 90's track 'Down for my niggaz'. It's what you'd expect to hear if Kanye had found trap music during his 808 and Heartbreaks period. In a word, dope.

The wooziness continues with 'Guilt Trip', with West proclaiming his status as the 'Chief Rocker', and sampling another dancehall legend in Beenie Man, although Beenies voice is chopped and screwed. The track owes a little to both Dancehall and Houston screw music, and continues the theme of unexpected genre mashing on the album. 'Send it up' is pointedly arch, with a beat that pushes the limits of listenability and features a verse by Chicago mixtape legend King Louie. At this point in the album, we're about as far from Top 40 territory as you can get.

'Bound' is the exquisite closer, and perhaps the closest thing to a typical Kanye track. There's an amazing soul sample, that Ye hilarious uses to wax lyrical about the women in the club who 'order champagne, but still look thirsty, wearing forever 21, but just turned thir-tay'. However, keeping with the unpredictable nature, even this beat gets switched up. Justin Vernon jumps in for a blazing chorus that ensures 'no leaving this party with nobody to love'.

Albums as visceral as this one don't come along very often, mostly because artists and groups have to compromise their sound in some way to achieve success, whether it be hiring hit producers or changing style to keep with current trends.

Thank god then that West is both successful and confident enough to ignore popular trends altogether and return with an album that hits with the same force as the Sex Pistols, Public Enemy or Nine-Inch Nails in their prime.

Review: The-Dream - IV Play

The-Dream doesn’t care about the radio.

Over the course of his three solo albums (love/Hate, Love vs Money and Love King), The-Dream has shown a knack for delivering engaging songs that tend go against current R&B trends.

At a time when everyone’s doubling down on EDM and trying to squeeze every last dollar from it before its inevitable collapse, Terius Nash seems determined to look forward by looking back. In previous years this retro style’s worked marvellously well, whether it’s crafting hits for others (‘Single Ladies’, ‘Umbrella’, ‘Baby’), or making memorable yet underappreciated songs for himself (‘Yamaha’, ‘Rockin that Shit’).

However, it seems on this release he’s tried too hard not to sound like everyone else and ends up sounding too little like himself.

From the first track you notice somethings missing. The-Dream has always been counted for two things in his lyrics, hilarious double-entendres and ridiculously sincere pledges of love, and yet there seems to be no humour here. ‘High Art’, his opener with Jay-Z, is a lazy contemplation on the art of getting high, and it’s just an excuse to highlight a nice Jay-Hova verse. The second single ‘IV Play’ is again pretty straightforward and not very clever. The strain continues with what could be a spiritual sequel to Ginuwine’s ‘Pony’ called ‘Equestrian, however it’s beat is uninspired and the lyrics never rise above it.

‘P***y’ is one of the rare tracks that noodles it’s way into your brain the way The-Dreams track have always done, and it’s coupled with another tight verse from Pusha T. Kelly Rowland and Beyonce drop in for a couple of middling ballads, which makes you nostalgic for the fun bounce of Mariah Carey’s Love vs Money contribution ‘My Love’.

Just when you’re about to switch off, the exultant yet nihilistic ‘Michael’ drops in, with The-Dream continuing a theme of one-night stands , but this one with a twist that both tips it hat to MJ whilst still able to put a smile on your face. It’s vintage The-Dream.

The second half of the album is not much better than the first, with Nash trying to show his skills at varied genre’s, with mixed success. ‘Loving You/Crazy’ has an uptempo groove that feels out of place and never quite lands, while ‘Holy Love’ and ‘New Orleans’ aim high as girl-done-me-wrong ballads that end up feeling overwrought and underwhelming. It’s not all bad though, as ‘Self-conscious’ and ‘Slow it down’ remind you that Nash can write memorable hooks in his sleep.

If this is your first exposure to The-Dream you’d be better off checking out one of three earlier studio albums, or his last mixtape 1977. All were great examples of how your lyrics can be both funny and sincere at the same time, and how you can create a sound that‘s both original and hot.