New segment here called "Bonus". It's real easy. I'll post all the bonus tracks, remixes, and unreleased joints from major albums that aren't part of the original track listing. The debut of this one'll be all about Drake's Thank Me Later album which may or may not be one of the top two LPs of the entire year so far. Guess you'll have to wait for January 1st for confirmation. Ha. Like you're really worried about what I think ...
Bonus Tracklisting
15. 9 A.M. in Dallas
16. Un-Thinkable (Remix feat. Alicia Keys)
17. You Know You Know
18. Fancy (Remix feat. Mary J. Blige & Swizz Beatz)
... and do the John Wall.
Showing posts with label Alicia Keys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alicia Keys. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
More Thank Me Later
Friday, February 26, 2010
Best Albums of '09
So this year was a weird one in the rap world. For the first time ever, the mixtape game caught up and lapped its secular album counterparts. To reflect that, I'll have a separate EP/mixtape Top 10 because there honestly would only be about 3 of these joints that would survive on a combined list. That's dirty. Unless some record exec comes up with something serious, this industry's gonna die a whole lot sooner than later. There's only gonna be like three and a half dudes left that could put out hit albums from any given genre. Or albums are gonna be weeded out altogether and you're only gonna be seeing singles for the rest of forever. Oh well. Let's move on, shall we, with the few LPs that did escape the grasp of the label heads. And we'll make no further mention of Robert Plant, ever.
10. Asleep in the Bread Aisle - Asher Roth
Yes. This shows how lacking 2009 was. But I can't lie, the album that was forced out immediately on the inexplicable hype of "I Love College" had some quality to it. If you wanna go back and read my track-by-track Twitter review, go ahead. For a few months at least, the resident thugs of rap were asked to step aside and make way for the MTV-friendly blonde frat boy who could twist a rhyme scheme a lil' bit and make all the teenage girls swoon. He was just as easily discarded from the limelight, but not before the blog campaign to support the guy's debut album as the first 09 Freshman to get a release. With strong features such as my man Cee-Lo, Miss Keri Hilson, double time Busta Rhymes, pre-Jigga-hating Beanie Sigel, and the always great Slick Rick, I genuinely enjoyed approximately 85% of this album. When avoiding the topic of weed smoking and hitting on anything that walks, Asher can be pretty interesting. Who knows if the guy will ever recover for a major sophomore follow-up, but he undeniably had his impact on 2009. Surprise track: "Fallin'"
9. Brooklynati - Tanya Morgan
These guys came to Lexington last semester for a show and I'm very proud to have attended. The trio with a girl's name released Brooklynati to their cult-like following those privileged enough to be amongst them knew what to expect. With Ohio natives Ilyas and Donwill plus the Justus League's resident New Yorker Von Pea, Tanya Morgan is all about the rapping. With stylistic inspiration of the old Native Tongues crew and the Soulquarians, all the production by Von Pea and Brick Beats nestle in on a range of boom bap to soul hop. Jermiside, Phonte, Che Grand, Kay, Blu, and even Ms. Info all join the party on features. The hook are most always chant worthy and transitioned perfectly into their hyped live show, which forever cements this album as essential in my book. Brooklynati is fun, lighter listen than the rap world's grimy alternatives. It's all about style and dopeness with this crew who you can tell just loves hip hop more than the majority of rap acts out. Surprise track: "Hardcore Gentleman"
8. This Perfect Life - Charles Hamilton
Yes, I know this never got its proper release. But it should have, so we'll treat it like it did. I already gave a long rundown of the circumstances around this project, so I'll just talk about the music itself. This was unfiltered CH. It was completed before the industry exile and represented all the aspects of composition that Charles loved to experiment with. The beats were all self-produced with heavy drums over roughly chopped samples that had been utterly decomposed. And over this signature lo-fi sound, Charles rapped in his free-associating, lazy manner while distortedly crooning on the hooks. Each song was heavy on this album. Whether discussing the industry, racism, or the motivation to live, Charles did it his way and with witty thoughtfulness. This music was the epitome of his bare-all diary reading, making it everything that caused his fans to connect with him on the most instinctual level while it also was exactly what made his detractors disregard him in the first place. You either love or you hate this failed Interscope CD. Just like you do with all of Charles' music. Surprise track: "Post-Lynching Ceremony"
7. Padded Room - Joe Budden
Joey's another hate-him-or-love-him type of emcee. Especially when he's on his mentally tortured steez. This album is the second in a series of (kinda) conceptual releases. Besides a couple of weird momentum shifters, this record's pretty much halfway to an old school Eminem-type project minus the white boy angle and at half the speed. Filled with hallucinations, drug binges, depression, and suicidal notions, Joe narrates you through his inadequacies in life. The main problem a lot of people had with this release was the lineup of unknown producers. I'm not going to give him the Nas title of having a lead ear, though. I don't mind most of the beats, even though some of them seem to fall short in contributing to the darker mood that you'd assume he would've wanted. And I'm never one to complain as long as Budden is going on thought-provoking rants or just simply telling a story about whatever. Somehow this is technically his sophomore release, but that's a nonexistent point with Joe's veteran status on the mic. While it doesn't always stay on track from song to song, I don't really care. If you don't mind your hip hop in emotional turmoil and somewhat disorganized, then this will be found in your rotation. Surprise track: "Exxxes"
6. Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse
The blogosphere's darling supergroup actually got a release. Color me surprised. New Jersey's Joe Budden, Detroit's Royce da 5'9", New York's Joell Ortiz, and Los Angeles' Crooked I all took a pause from their mixtape campaigns and joined together to make the hardest album lyric-by-lyric in years. Sure, it's a lot of murder, murder, murder talk, but when the emcees doing the talking can rap like these four can, it's anything but recycled. In my opinion, you know you're dope when people can't agree on what to hate on you about. I read some reviews saying that Slaughterhouse is too monotonous with their hardcore lyrical aggressiveness on every track. But then I also read some reviews complaining about the concept tracks of "Pray", "Cut You Loose", or "Rain Drops" when they switched their collective style up. So ... ya know. This album, bar for bar, is stank-face-inducing. But I have to air my one and only gripe ... You should NEVER have Pharoahe Monch on your tracklist and confine him solely to a chorus. It's a dope track, but "Salute" could have been an all-timer with a single additional 16. Ha. Surprise track: "Not Tonight"
5. Attention:Deficit - Wale
I feel like this album got the "disappointment by popular demand" treatment. You know, when something's really dope, but everyone listens (or doesn't listen at all) to it after they've read that it's a sellout attempt that couldn't compare to The Mixtape About Nothing. And then that person perpetuates that one quotable description and everyone jumps along with it. Attention:Deficit is dope. Yeah, he has commercial features by Lady Gaga and Gucci Mane on his singles, but he also K'naan and J. Cole features along with BKS and Dave Sitek beats. Is that selling out, too? And I don't care how dumb Gucci's mumbling rapping (I had to fight myself to not put that in quotations) is, nothing could ruin the inerrant greatness of "Pretty Girls" as a bomb single or any other classification. Dude puts a go-go singer that all of us non-DMV residents have never heard of and it rocks like none other. Wale's musical stylings are still the same as any of his other projects, his awkward rhyme schemes at times are still there, his punctuating punchline referencing is still adamant, and his diverse subject matter is still present. The quality gap between this debut album and his mixtapes that reviewers quip about simply isn't there. If you liked Wale before, you'll enjoy this album and spin it ridiculous. Don't believe the non-hype. Especially if you extend your iTunes version of this album by tacking on the joints that didn't make the cut, like "Ice & Rain", "Letter", and "Bittersweet". Surprise track: "Contemplate (feat. Rihanna [sampled, but close enough])"
4. The Blueprint 3 - Jay-Z
I don't care what anybody accuses this album of being. This is destined to be a classic in my book. With three legit smash singles in the calling-out of "D.O.A.", the (NWO) anthemic "Run This Town", and the hometown opus "Empire State of Mind", this album easily meant more to commercial hip hop than any other release last year. But the heart of it to me is the deeper digging chemistry of Jay with Kanye and No I.D.'s work on the boards plus all the chances that he took with hip hop's newcomers. Some call it a desperation reach to remain relevant, but I see his collaborations with J. Cole, KiD CuDi, and Drake as spotlight generosity. His album was gonna be on easy platinum status whether or not anyone else was on it, so don't kid yourself. And if you were lucky enough to get in on a leg of the Blueprint 3 tour, then you heard, saw, and felt the purpose that each track served. Hov brought back his quiet flow, experimented with some techno sounds, and even threw out a full blown indie collabo with Empire of the Sun. It's already cliche for me to repeat, but if you want the old Hov, buy his old album. Surprise track: "Venus vs. Mars (feat. Cassie/Beyonce)"
3. The Element of Freedom - Alicia Keys
I think it's her best album. If I don't know what to listen to at any given minute, I scroll down just a little bit through the A's and double-click that gorgeous spoken word intro and let this album ride. Ms. Keys (I will never refer to her as Mrs. Beatz) creates some of her most catchy melodies and accompaniment of her career and still somehow finds a way to take her vocals to different places even on her fourth album. It only takes managing to get to track 2 ("Love is Blind") to find that out. The LP's sole blemish is the God-awful Beyonce collaboration, "Put It in a Love Song". Alicia rarely does any collaborations in any way, shape, or form, and this track kinda shows why the majority of pop artists probably shouldn't break into her artistic circle. Forgetting that that song exists ... the three lead singles ("Doesn't Mean Anything", "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart", and "Empire State of Mind, Part 2") are all anthemic and have already carved up the charts. The insanely classic "Un-thinkable" that just so happened to be written by Drake needs some single treatment, too. That cut is too big to be denied. Alicia is 4 for 4 on studio projects and I don't think she could drop a disappointing album if she tried. Surprise track: "Love is My Disease"
2. Man on the Moon: The End of the Day - KiD CuDi
This debut destroyed any defining barrier that was possibly left in hip hop. No one can convince me otherwise. CuDi hit the emotional vein of a generation of listeners who have never heard someone live through their music for them. Kanye tried, but he'd already been rich and critically acclaimed ten times over again by the time 808s came around. So while Kan's music was easily full of brilliant expression, CuDi hits that nerve in a more genuine way and did it on his very first attempt. He sorta rapped and sorta sung his way into the consciousness of a fan base that he created himself. He didn't go out seeking his niche in music, he just made it and let people flock to it as they pleased. Yeah, "Day N Nite" was a smash hit that was released years before this album dropped to the public, but that joint was included on this album by default of the record label. Man on the Moon is about a journey. An incomplete journey. An incomplete journey filled with lowest of mistakes followed up by five minute highs and rounded off by further disappointment. It's about not being good enough and knowing that even though you're not good enough, sometimes that's good enough. It's about not understanding your purpose. It's about knowing that even though you may never know your purpose, the journey to try and understand it anyways may very well be your purpose. It's about being the man on the moon. And KiD CuDi managed to pick the most epic instrumental landscape ever in which to articulately melodicize his way through this journey. And it would have been the album of the year in pretty much any other year ever. Surprise track: "Up Up and Away"
1. BLACKsummers'night - Maxwell
The first time I heard "Broken Wings", I knew this was gonna one of my favorite projects of the decade. I admittedly had to do some Maxwell research as I came to my age of musical appreciation right in the middle of Maxwell's hundred year break from music-making. But that hiatus only made this album more perfect. And let me emphasize the last word in that sentence. Perfect. This LP, though only 37.3 minutes long, is perfect. Each of the 8 songs, plus the musical outro, is perfect. Maxwell has as distinctive a voice as anyone in music history and he uses it to its full effect crooning over every track of his own production. I've listened to this whole project 22 times straight through. And that says nothing to the spins of each individual joint. I can't imagine a greater R&B record than this. I literally can't. While I thoroughly enjoy contemporary artists such as John Legend and Anthony Hamilton who are insanely great at what they do, no one I've ever heard has crafted an album like this down to every micro-detail of its development. I guess some of the greatest music ever comes in the briefest of packages. From "Bad Habits" to "Cold" to "Pretty Wings" to "Help Somebody" to "Stop the World" to "Love You" to "Fistful of Tears" to "Playing Possum", Maxwell crafts an immaculate atmosphere of absolutely wherever he wants to take his listener. While you may think the subjects of heartache and desire are familiar, this album is enough to make you rethink that. The brevity keeps you dying for more of this audible experience. I cannot articulate how much I need blackSUMMERS'night and blacksummers'NIGHT in my life. And my future woman's life. Surprise track: "Playing Possum"
... but do take my word for it.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Best Songs of '09
There's no reason you should hold my personal year-end opinion over anyone else's since it's strictly subjective when trimming literally thousands upon thousands of songs from 2009 into a single 10 joint list. So you can either ignore me altogether and scoff at my attempt, or you can enjoy my personal guide to what my ears consistently were bumping in the 365 days that made up last year. Oh, and by the way, Coldplay sucks. I don't care how many awards they win or how many songs they do with my favorite rappers.
11. Bonus: "Hurricane" - 30 Seconds to Mars feat. Kanye West
This was the surprise track of the year for me. I, like most rap fans, can admit to never having heard a song by 30 Seconds to Mars before. And the song motivation itself could easily be chalked up to a midlife crisis collaboration by Kanye in-between his 808s and Taylor Swift heartbreak. But it’s actually an amazingly epic composition. I can deal with the slightly whiny hook by the lead singer because the lyrics are so heavy and the production is so prolifically explosive. I can only assume that Ye at least did the drums, but regardless, this “Hurricane” is fit to play in the climactic scene of the next crazy huge billion-dollar-budget action movie. Mark it.
10. "I Figured It Out!" - brandUn DeShay
This song is everything you don’t hear in any rap songs. Nowadays or ever. It’s a track stripped of all posturing. It’s raw and emotional and just tells a story. It intros with gorgeous strings immediately as the story unfolds and the production continues to crescendo until the climactic and glorious presentation of the sampled hook. It’s put together brilliantly and is a standout track for me from brandUn’s second full-length project. You should already know that all his music is dope, but this one finds its niche in a section of hip hop that doesn’t exist: genuineness.
9. "In Case I Actually Get Her" - Charles Hamilton
Your immediate greeting in this song is the gentle acoustics of Rihanna's "PS (I'm Still Not Over You)". CH then jumps straight into the closing of his conceptual opus, Well isn't This Awkward. If you don't enjoy all the things that make Charles Charles, then you may not enjoy this too much. But the "lo fi" mastering with rough sample dubbing, the dead pan delivery of lyrics driven by heartache, and the over-harmonized hook singing are exactly what make this the epitome of Hamilton music. His lyrics are always witty and he shows a masterful focus in bringing an alternative close to this full project over a song from his love obsession. You'll know right away if the track's going to strike you in a strong way. It captures a completely different emotion throughout as he deepens the pitch of the selective portion of the original RiRi joint and makes it a classic CH composition.
8. "Nothing On You" - Bobby Ray feat. Bruno Mars
B.o.B is one of those artists that I (and many others) really hope is smiled upon by the industry. It very rarely happens to someone who actually deserves it, but here's hoping that Bobby breaks the mold. The ATLien who can rap, legitimately sing, and actually play guitar comes correct on this lead single from his future debut album. He infuses his full-scale musicality and understanding of catchy, substantive songwriting effortlessly. I don't think anybody knows who Bruno Mars is, but he can sing any chorus he wants to from here on out. This lively ode to (*gasp*) monogamy is a genuine hit created in a similar vein to "I'll Be in the Sky" (an entrant in '08s top song list). If this song is any indication, Bobby Ray's proper debut should be huge and make its mark in progressive rap music forever.
7. "Otherside" - Macklemore
I strictly have 2dopeboyz to thank for this one. Otherwise I probably never would have been introduced to the Seattle emcee Macklemore. Once the Red Hot Chili Peppers riff sample comes on with this song, I'm swept away. This was one of the very few rap songs in recent memory that absolutely demanded me to spin it back over and over again immediately. It has an insane energy of importance to it that's punctuated with Macklemore's clear diction of an untackled subject matter in rap. And while you would think that any song discussing the ramifications of the cough syrup-abusing epidemic would come off boring and preachy ... it's anything but that, damn it. With his very opening bar, Macklemore joined Shad in becoming the only rappers to convince me of their respective greatness immediately. I've never heard a rapper rap like him, and with that, this song instantly catapulted itself to a premier representative of the entire year in music altogether.
6. "Heart of a Lion (KiD CuDi Theme Music)" - KiD CuDi
Even more than "Soundtrack 2 My Life", this song was the soundtrack to my life. CuDi's three-year-old single "Day N Nite" ruled all of 2008 and he made sure to ride that momentum into something spectacular this year. I have to prevent myself from just dishing on the entire album so I can save that for the top LP list. This song specifically is the second track in Act II: Rise of the Night Terrors and represents CuDi mentally preparing himself for everything that's about to come in his life. It's all about deading the effects of what's haunted you all your life previously to accept the potential good out of a situation that may not seem to be positive at all. If you can somehow create confidence from a place in your life that gives rise to pretty much every feeling besides confidence, then you can go somewhere. And I really don't care if you feel like the song's that deep. Cuz it is to me. Plus, if you're not in the mood for psychoanalyzing, then just scream the hook as loud as you can to your heart's content and forget about everything else. No, no, no, no, no, no, nooo, YEAH, nooo, YEAH ...
5. "Exhibit A" - Jay Electronica
Everyone was hanging off "Exhibit C" (including me), but it just so happens that its prequel hit a little closer to home for me. The production on this joint is bonkers. It's a perfectly crafted beat if there ever was one. And I've never been a big Just Blaze believer, either, so I don't exactly know where this came from. Mr. ElecHanukkah made sure he took full advantage of it, too. The elusive emcee remains as the intellectual name-dropping alternative to Game and has the enlightened bars to back it up. Every run of falling keys is a powerful moment and this is one of those obscure tracks that people will point to years down the road and still hold in insanely high regard. Trust me. I spit that wonder rhymer sh/me and my conglomerates/shall remain anonymous/caught up in the finest sh/get that type of media coverage Obama get/spit that Kurt Vonnegut/that blow your brain, Kurt Cobain, that Nirvana sh ...
4. "Fear" - Drake
"Best I Ever Had" didn't convince me. "Every Girl" sure as hell didn't convince me. And I still haven't gotten through a full listening of "Money to Blow" without falling asleep. But "Fear" was the track to finally break through to me. Up until this So Far Gone addition was released, I would have sworn that Weezy had drained all the realness out of Drake that he'd worked crazy hard to establish with Room For Improvement and Comeback Season. But no, it just turned out that Aubrey was waiting for one of those once-in-a-lifetime DJ Khalil beats to come bouncing his way to force him to rap about something again. In what's pretty much his own anti-"Forever", subject matter-wise, Drake details what his newfound fame hasn't done for him. And the song just feels good to listen to. Even with the obligatory autotuned hook. I'll take all of it. He claimed this is the transition record between his latest mixtape offering and the content that's gonna make up his debut album. And that statement better hold up, cuz this song is on classic status. [... *looks at Drake* ...] And don't let me down, man, cuz my roommate has hung out with you twice already and he's got me believing in you as a person. So ... yeah.
3. "Unthinkable (I'm Ready)" - Alicia Keys feat. Drake
I should've been convinced earlier by "Houstatlantavegas", "Little Bit", and "Brand New" that Drizzy was straight when dealing with R&B songwriting. But no, it took a collaboration with the love of my life for me to see how legit he was in crafting a classic. He smartly only provides just the slightest hint of background vocals for this song, though, and let's Alicia take care of everything else. The beat was dually produced by Miss Keys and Drake's in-house producer 40, and I will swear by the tandem in all future ventures. The deep drum pulses and vibrancy of the piano baselines sprinkled with 40's signature atmospheric mastering make this a surefire hit. The only thing that would keep me from crowning it a Billboard charter is the fact that Alicia had a similarly powerful track, "Lesson Learned", on her previous album that was never released as a single at all. Regardless, though, Drake's edgy songwriting pushes Alicia in a slightly deviated musical direction from normal that only brings back perfect results. I think this new album is the best in her catalogue, and this specific song is the beacon that I find myself winding up at the most. Every line has an urgency to it and the emotive effects linger long after the song's finished playing.
2. "Fo Yo Sorrows" - Big Boi feat. George Clinton, Shorty, & Too $hort
How? Can a rapper really have a premier song of all of 2008, follow it up with a premier song of all of 2009, and still have those songs' album nowhere in sight? Yes. Frickin' Sir Lucious Left Foot is still a figment of our imagination. But somehow I can't seem to get too mad at that fact when this song is better than most entire albums dropped in '09. This is funk at its finest as obviously influenced by Mr. P-Funk himself, reprising his "Synthesizer" collaborative role. Too $hort even manages not to ruin it with his expectedly welcomed novel misogyny and drug talk. The fluent double-time as well as slow-flowing Big Boi personas are in full effect here commanding his shared stage, but the driving force behind this unbelievable composition is the retardedly perfect Shorty hook. For those who think life is unfair/cuz I blow my smoke in the air/as if no one is standing there/then I'll roll one tonight, fo yo sorrows/in my chair, as I sit back smiling from ear to ear/with a fistful of your girlfriend's hair/yes, she'll blow one tonight, fo yo sorrows. Don't judge it until you're singing every word of it in some imitative voice that you'll never have down right. And since Andre is nowhere to be seen, this is Big's murder blow to anyone who ever held the notion that OutKast wasn't a two-genius crew. This song gives me the stank face every single time. It's beyond ridiculous.
1. "Pretty Wings" - Maxwell
My song of the year comes as the return-to-form track from an artist fresh off an eight-year hiatus. The only funny thing is that I never knew who he was in the first place. Upon first listen, I knew that "Pretty Wings" was something really special. Upon fiftieth listen, it still had the same perfect luster with each note and was well on its way to being the most played song in my entire iTunes collection. It stumbled into my life in the exact same fashion as Alicia Keys' "No One" had years prior. The music video managed to be leaked to my attention before the mp3 ever even did. All I saw was the beautiful woman in the still image and that was enough for me to check it out. That video and its gorgeous accompaniment were profoundly impacting and I'm still in love with every facet of instrumentation in its composition. Literally every song on the new album is a classic to me, but even in all their collective glory, "Pretty Wings" alone will forever define 2009 with every chime. Sometimes what's meant to be is for it not to be. But this song will still be there regardless, so life's all good.
... but do take my word for it.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Love on a Two-Way Street
Hey, you heard of Macklemore? ...
I don't know if Ryan Lewis used the original "Love on a Two-Way Street" by The Moments or if he straight messed with Jigga's Al Shux beat, but I do know that I sweat it. The very first joint off the instantly classic The VS. EP is called "Vipassana" (... which is an insight into the nature of reality, courtesy of the all-knowing Wiki ...) and it's tinged with the same notion of gorgeous accompaniment that made "Empire State of Mind" the most anthemic single of the year. It's gotta completely different aura to it, though. You know Macklemore ain't gonna be on the same wave as Hov. Psh. Decide for yourself which one you like more. You might be surprised.
Macklemore - Vipassana
Jay-Z - Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys)
... but do take my word for it.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Cuz If You're Not Really Here ...
So this girl made me go and see the movie Fame. I thought it was gonna suck and be some unholy kind of cheesy, but naw, it was actually alright. The music choices were essential. From "Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor" by Frédéric Chopin (which I only know cuz Alicia Keys gorgeously interpolated it for the intro to her last album) to "Ordinary People" by Johnny L. But my favorite was the insanely perfect rendition of "Black & Gold". Now I'd never heard this joint until I was introduced to the cover version by Phony Ppl, but it's a perfect song. I still got it stuck in my head.
So why don't you enjoy a few versions of it right here and decide for yourself who killed it the best.
Sam Sparrow - Black & Gold
Phony Ppl - Black & Gold (Cover)
Adele - Black & Gold (Live Cover)
Katy Perry - Black & Gold (Live Cover)
Guillemots - Black & Gold (Live Lounge Cover)
Now while there's gonna be 2% of the dope music in this next movie, I'm going to see Couples Retreat tomorrow night with the girl who I hope's gonna be my girl shortly after. Peace out.
... but do take my word for it.
Monday, August 31, 2009
And It All Comes Out
So it all leaked. All of it except for two bonus joints that are supposed to be Rhapsody exclusives. I'm talking about Jay-Z's album of course. And I'm sorry, but you'll have to look elsewhere for those links. Not on my site. But after maybe possibly sneaking a listen to BP3 myself, I'm definitely gonna buy it. It's (obviously) not as focused as the great American Gangster, but so many of the individual cuts are ridiculously dope that I'll be forced to support it. Every Kanye and No I.D. cut brought the heat, as I expected, and J. Cole's feature is super straight. Add in the powerful Alicia Keys hook on "Empire State of Mind" that got me all hot and heavy and you got yourself quite the repeatable iTunes selections. I could listen to that woman all day. Her voice even looks sexy, if you can conceive that. The album ends on a great cut too with Mr. Hudson singing over a "Coldest Winter"-esque beat on "Forever Young" while Jay gets back in full on "Beach Chair" mode. Oh, and ... my album's on Rhapsody, too, in case you forgot! Jigga can't hog all of that site.
But he sure can put together a commercial with them that gives me chills. If you don't realize everything going on then ... I don't know what to say.
... but do take my word for it.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Soundtrack Diva
No, that's not Whitney Houston in the picture.
I really enjoy Macy Gray. I don't care what anyone else's opinion is of her. I got all four of her albums, search for all her loose tracks, and randomly throw on her playlist all the time while still holding my man card. All you may know of her is her global smash single (that you know all the words to), "I Try", and maybe that she sang the As Told by Ginger theme song (for all the former Nickelodeon-ers around my age), but who really cares about that? To me, she's forever an icon ... simply because she played a role in my two favorite movies of all time, Domino (with my wife, Keira Knightley) and the OutKasted Idlewild.
Speaking of those two movies, Macy also performs a featured song on each one. And luckily for me, they were em-pee-three'd on the respective soundtracks as well. Majestically drawing the curtain on Domino's elaborate, explosive, and intensely provoking conclusion, Macy softly lays her vocals on a song simply entitled "Real". That deeply cemented the flick as my favorite and most personally impacting film I've experienced so far in my short life. It opened on a stellar note with a thumping Xzibit/Anthony Hamilton collabo and held every morsel of my attention and dedication until Macy's signature croon completed the experience. And this is another thing ... I don't give a flying anything what you think about Domino. That's my ish for the rest of eternity.
And soon after I updated my iTunes with a few secretive gems that I had to search down from Ms. Gray, I realized that she for real, for real brings her A-game on movie soundtracks. I love most all her music, but she's got some serious hits on a couple random big screen projects that I've never actually seen before. I thought I'd share them with you tonight if you can handle the raspy vocal repertoire of one of my elite R&B songstresses. You can say what you want, but let me tell you that there is no mistaking a Macy Gray joint. And I'm not even talking about the still smoldering one that she just put down. If those pipes (and I'm not even ... forget it) are broadcast over some speakers, then everyone knows what's up. "I Try" is a purely classic landmark of the turn of the century, so you should have respect for this woman. Now I ain't saying her last name is Keys or Hill or anything, but give a few of these soundtrack songs a chance and get a taste of some miscellaneous Macy goodness that you may find out you can secretly enjoy, too. And just to reinforce everything I've already said, I really, really, really love Keira Knightley ...
Macy Gray -
"Real" from Domino
"Coming Back to You" from Deja Vu
"Time of Your Life" from 8 Mile
"Don't Forget Me" from Confessions of a Shopaholic
... but do take my word for it.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
My Oscars Wrap-Up
I ended up watching every second of the whole show ... just to see if the camera panned to her again. That's all I really remember.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Classic: Teenage Love
Slick Rick is my dude. The picture with this post was taken by me in the third row of the Legends concert with Tyler & Daaaaaave last year. Of course I was blown away seeing Big Daddy Kane, Dana Dane, and Whodini, but Ricky & Doug E. Fresh frickin' killed something else.
So you should prolly know at least half of "Children's Story" off the top of your head and recognize "La Di Da Di" on the first beat, but my favorite Slick Rick song is "Teenage Love". I'd actually heard the sampled chorus off of Talib Kweli's ridiculously amazing bonus track "For Women" before I heard the original. So I had that immediate connection to the song already.
This one just hits a lot different than Ricky's usual song matter on women. This one sets aside his usual stone-emotion pimp persona and assumes a fragile, understanding dude. Even if it just lasted this one song, I believe it. No matter the other stories he tells. The song got a more recent ode with Alicia Keys' "Teenage Love Affair", even more so with the LL & Swizzy remix that directly sampled it. Slick Rick is my dude.
"Don't, don't, don't hurt me again ..."
... this was whatcha all been waitin' for ain't it?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
#1: No Words to Even Begin to Describe
Oh, and speaking of beautiful skin ...
Numba 1 is ... Keira Knightley!!!
The long-delayed completion of my short wifey series ends at the amazingly perfect British actress from all the Pirates, Domino, Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, the fourth Star Wars, Love Actually, King Arthur, Bend It Like Beckham, and every good magazine cover ever photographed. I love that woman.
Musically, Alicia Keys obviously moves my soul in a ridiculous way, but I want Keira Knightley to be my love interest in a music video. And I'll accidently mess up every time so we'll have to keep reshooting scenes over and over forever. No matter how stupidly chick-flicky any movie in the world is, I'm there if she's in it. She's the best actress in the entire world, so I'll fight someone over that, too. She makes my life better. You don't even understand.
I've only ever even met one girl in the universe who is prettier than Keira and you can prolly count on me not blog posting about her on here. So let's just say Keira Knightley is wifey 1.1 behind the unnamed wifey numba 1.0. Alrighty?
And finally, in Wifey series concluding fashion: she's frickin' beyond gorgeous.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Intimate Friends
It's sad to me that Common and Alicia Keys have done more movies together than studio records. That's 1 to 0 if anybody's counting.
Common himself rumored about an "I Want You" remix with her, which woulda been fire, but it hasn't come about as of yet. But if you wanna link em up music-wise in another way (besides the less-than-stellar UnPlugged version of "Love It or Leave It Alone"), why not do it with a double sample article?
Both the Kanye-produced Alicia single and debut track from Common Sense (circa '92 again!) use the beautiful opening to Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations' 1977 song "Intimate Friends". Get up on your Motown history with this one!
Alicia Keys is fine. Just thought I'd mention that again before I closed the post ...
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Dear Diary ...
I did a word association post way long ago about my favorite songs featuring the word "nobody". And I wanna do another one. So I'm gonna do another one. Here's another one.
The Idle song uses the same instrumental composed by Alicia, but everything else is 100% original. Idle Warship is another Talib Kweli group to join the ranks of Black Star, Reflection Eternal, and Liberation. Dude's starting to get an alias complex like MF Doom or Madlib ... connect those dots ...
It's really sad back in the '90s that Nas offed Cormega. If he hadn't, Mega prolly would be in everyone's top NY rappers list ever. Dude's got a real heavy poetic influence in his rhymes for such a hard-persona emcee.
But Ms. Keys' "Diary" is one of my favorite songs ever. Forever ever. There was a point in my life last year where, I swear, I had to watch the video for that song on my iPod every single night or I couldn't fall asleep. She made me content like nobody else could at 1:30 on any random night. Below isn't the video I'm talking about, but it's a taste of the song.
... and so concludes another masterpiece
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
#4: Washington
Just found my Kerry post deleted, but for review:
Numba 4 is ... Kerry Washington!!!
She directed the video for this song with Alicia Keys and Kanye West in it, which might be my favorite off of Common's last album: I Want You (direct link)
And she's gorgeous.
... and so concludes another masterpiece
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Laptop Mixtape [The Originals]
I wanted to give you all a frame of reference for my first mixtape in case you didn't recognize all the instrumentals I went over.
Here's the tracklist:
1. A Milli - Lil' Wayne feat. Cory Gunz
2. The Coolest - Lupe Fiasco
3. Brown Paper Bag - DJ Khaled feat. Young Jeezy, Juelz Santana, Lil' Wayne, Fat Joe, Rick Ross, & Dre
4. Heart of the City (Ain't No Love) - Jay-Z
5. Piece of Mind - The ARE feat. Truth Enola
6. Daydreamin' - Lupe Fiasco feat. Jill Scott
7. Building Steam with a Grain of Salt - DJ Shadow
8. Liberation - OutKast feat. Cee-Lo, Erykah Badu, & Big Rube
9. New - The ARE
10. Don'tGetIt - Lil' Wayne
11. Untitled - The ARE
12. Success - Jay-Z feat. Nas
13. Fallin' - Jay-Z
14. If I Ain't Got You - Alicia Keys
15. Never Let Me Down - Kanye West feat. Jay-Z & J. Ivy
16. Champion - Kanye West
17. We Takin' Over - DJ Khaled feat. Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman, & Lil' Wayne
18. Mr. Carter - Lil' Wayne
... and so concludes another masterpiece
Monday, November 3, 2008
#2: Ms. Keys
And the long-delayed next installation of my wifey series.
Numba 2 is ... Alicia Keys!!!
I am definitely not a notable original in my thinking of this woman, but goodness.
I'm confident enough to crown Ms. Keys the songstress of our generation. Who doesn't know every single word and scat-like odd note of "Fallin'", "If I Ain't Got You", "Karma", or "No One"? No one. That's who.
She's the genuine human version of every fake Beyonce/Ciara/Christina Milian R&B singer that gets on the charts and stays in the public eye. You just know she's for real. You just know. And you can't tell me otherwise. Plus 30 million records and 11 Grammy's?
Forget that she's been in Smokin' Aces, The Nanny Diaries, and The Secret Life of Bees to show she's not just a beautiful voice. And she's got the new James Bond theme song. If that ain't legit, I don't know what it.
I love her. Bought every album. Sought every rare feature. Sweat every new music video. Yeah. That's my girl. She's undeniably one of the most talented woman in the world in my opinion.
And she's gorgeous.
... and so concludes another masterpiece
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Just a General Update
Just wanted to let you all know about all my projects and those upcoming.
The Laptop Mixtape
Download the whole thing for free right HERE!!! This is all pre-college Chris, so jump on it! It's already vintage by now! Features the smash single "My Life" with accompanying features of Aaronn Ralph and the special album-only version with Steven replacing my chorus vocals. But if you have something against Shtee, then you can download the single-only version off my MySpace! And let's not forget the song that started it all, "School's Almost Over"!
Vol. 2, A Laptop Chronicle
I've posted a lot of the songs I've finished from it on this blog, but even those have mostly been tweaked for my sophomore effort. It currently stands at 11 completely done tracks on my iTunes, but I got at least 6 completely untouched brand new (produced by me) beats sitting in GarageBand. Plus the two brandUn tracks. Plus about three or four other instrumentals I wanna go over if they come out right. So yeah, it's shaping up. I have no idead when it's be completely zipped and out in the world, but it shouldn't be too long. Oh, and I just finished this quick ditty. "Brett Favre" (downloadable link). A hilarious sample flipped to an an important concept. An ode to Ethan, of course. Ha! The whole thing'll be out soon enough. Has less features than my first (whether that's a good or bad thing) and some original Chris Campbell production. Lead single is the Andre and Norah featured "Take It Off".
Remix Part Three!!!
In case you're not Tyler or not a retentive Busta Rhymes fan, this title is a tribute to his screaming at the beginning of the sloppily compiled internet remixes of "Touch It" a couple years back. But it's my crazy big remix project of all the recent hit singles in which everybody and their mom dropped a freestyle verse or remix to. I compiled 'em all, mixed 'em, dropped a verse on 'em, and let the world have the product. Currently 100% done with 6 songs off it, and it'll prolly end up being 10 or 11 deep. Commercial product, but one with integrity. The Alicia Keys remix that I did is DOPE!
Simply Poetic
A spoken word album. This is where the heavy stuff will be. A couple poems have been featured on some of my tracks, but this is where they'll be performed in all their acapella glory. Not much else to know. I just need to sit down hard on this and I could get it done crazy quick. But, you know ...
27 Point Me
This is following the concept started in my second mixtape's interludes. Chris Campbell will have taken over a radio station and provides you with the latest and greatest songs as well as exclusive interviews with legendary musicians and comedians. Robin Williams? Dane Cook? Lauryn Hill? Dave Chappelle? Frank Caliendo? I'm not telling. It's a comedy concept CD obviously. Only one track into it, but the mental construction is all there! And the radio station is 27.ME, hence the title. Dumb, but you'll get over it.
That's everything currently in a nutshell. This is prolly why I never get any sleep, cuz I for sure don't have any free time to be composing all of this!
... and so concludes another masterpiece
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Don't Tell Nobody
So my "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" blog got deleted, too! Somebody's after me! But it's okay, cuz i'm bout to have a special joint like nothing I've ever done before. If it works out I may just have a heart attack and be a martyr through the song. Ha! Don't tell nobody though. 'Cept brandUn.
Dumb concept, but here's my favorite "Nobody" tracks! This could be a Jeopardy category or something.
Eclectic mix. And fittingly, each track deals with something completely 100% different. Whether it's insecurity in the world, acknowledging undealt-with circumstances, braggadocio of one's dopeness, facing the pain of unknowingness, or the rare praise of a man's love. Respectively, of course.
I had previously posted that amazing Leona Lewis was like my third favorite woman in the world. Well in case you didn't know, Alicia Keys is two. Eventually I'm going to dedicate a music post to each of my five wives. But again, they'll prolly get deleted for some reason they won't fully explain to me! So check back like 12 times a day! Ha!
I'll try to stray away from posting new-new stuff unless it's absolutely vital, cuz then the argument of affecting record sales is dead, but the freshest music will always find its way on these pages. So, yeah. Who am I kidding, I'm posting whatever new stuff I want whenever I want. "You, sir, were a formidable opponent." (c) Stephen Colbert
Don't wanna get sued for using that last line there! Ha! But anyway, it might be the pictures I've posted with some of the posts. Whatever it is, my blog won't die and I'll tinker to make sure of it!
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