Mark Ronson x Bruno Mars – ‘Uptown Funk’
French Montana – ‘Don’t Panic
Nicki Minaj x Drake x Lil Wayne – ‘Truffle Butter’
Fetty Wap – ‘Trap Queen’
Alesso x Tove Lo – ‘Heroes (we could be)’
Calvin Harris x John Newman – ‘Blame’
Tag: Drake
NEW MUSIC: Nicki Minaj x Skylar Grey, ‘Bed of Lies’
September / October Favs
It’s another month and since I didn’t post a favs list last month these are my favs over the course of two months. Enjoy!
- Chris Brown ‘Autumn Leaves’ f/ Kendrick Lamar | ‘Time for Love’
- Nick Jonas: ‘Jealous’
- ‘I LOVE MAKONNEN x Drake: ‘Tuesday (Remix)”
- Big Sean x E-40: ‘I Don’t Fuck With You’
- Kiesza: ‘Hideaway’
- Alesso: ‘Heroes (we could be)’
Video Review: Nicki Minaj, ‘Anaconda’
I’ve done a track review, posted the lyric video, and now here’s the review to the highly anticipated video for Nicki Minaj’s ‘Anaconda’. First off I’m not a fan of it at all. I’m not surprised that there is ass shaking everywhere. The song samples Sir Mix-A-Lot’s, ‘Baby Got Back’, so of course ASS would be the focal point.
The video has so many scenes. First there’s the jungle with the banana turntable and leaking coconut. Switch to her in A. Mcqueen then back to the jungle. Then there’s the workout scene where she’s in a bikini at one point then she’s in sweats. Moving on to the chair and the cut off shorts with the jordans and basic chair choreo. She drops the Jordans and then has on heels, pink ones of course. She plugs Myx Moscato, has a scene eating a banana (cute pun), then there’s the final scene with Drake.She gives him the ultimate lap dance and there’s no denying that he was enjoying it.
To expect Nicki Minaj to not be shaking her ass you must’ve missed the entire concept of the title. I will say while the video is not my favorite it’s very clever, well the lyrics are. There’s no denying that she’s gorgeous and that her body is amazing, BUT it’s like she was doing the most in this video. It’s like it was beyond sexy and just straight sex. Nonetheless, she looked great, but she’s done better.
Check out the video below:
NEW MUSIC — Lil Wayne x Drake, ‘Grindin”
EP Review: A Place Like This
Canadian duo, Majid Al Maskati and Jordan Ulllman, and OVO artist better known as Majid Jordan have released their EP, A Place Like This. This is not the first EP the duo have released as a pair, but it is the first under Majid Jordan. Their first EP, Afterhours, was released on Soundcloud under the name Good People.
I love the feel of this EP. It starts off on this high note an then it gets slower and slower. ‘Forever’ and ‘All I Do’ are the two upbeat tracks and then it gradually gets slower with ‘Her’, ‘U’, and ‘A Place Like This’. I compare this EP to like running a race. You start off fast and then you slow down once you lose momentum. You don’t stop running everything around you is just like a blur. That’s what this EP reminds me off. When you’re off in a trance and you’re stuck and everything is moving, but you. ‘A Place Like This’ reminds me of elevator music. Actually if you take out the lyrics, instrumentally this whole EP could be elevator music. I really like it and I’m interested in hearing a full length album from this duo. With Drake working on his new album I wonder if there will be another Majid Jordan feature.
Out of the five tracks my top picks are ‘Forever’ and ‘A Place Like This’.
Check out the video for ‘A Place Like This’ below:
Stream the EP below (via Spotify):
Drake VS Lil Wayne Tour Trailer
Drake and Lil Wayne are getting ready to hit the road next week to begin their 31-city tour, “Drake Vs. Lil Wayne”. There has been a video released for the upcoming ‘battle’ as Sage (Lil Wayne) versus the Protege (Drake). Say what you want about their music, BUT this show is sure to be one for the books. To have two rappers of the caliber of Drake and Lil Wayne on stage,at the same time, going song for song, is going to be a sight to see. Check out the clip below:
Drake Announces New Album Title
Drake has a lot on his plate, yet physically he’s been low on the radar. He has his smash hits ‘Believe Me’ and ‘Trophies’ all over the airwaves along with his other hits moving in and out of rotation daily. He hosts the ESPYs tonight (7.16) and he’s ready to take OVO to the next level and make it more than a catchphrase: OVO that’s major shit.
Although he’s still #TeamYMCMB, Drake has a label of his own, OVO, under Warner Bros. and there’s two projects ready to be released: Majid Jordan and PARTYNEXTDOOR; both Canadian artists. Majid Jordan was featured on ‘Hold On We’re Going Home’ and his debut EP, Place Like This drops July 29th. Also on that date PARTYNEXTDOOR will be releasing his second project, PARTYNEXTDOOR TWO. Take a listen to his latest Drake collab, ‘Recognize’.
Drake is putting Canada int he forefront, so the question is, what’s with a new album? Well, Drake has announced that his fourth studio album will be titled, View From The 6. It’s in the very early stages of production, but based off the radio hits it’s going to be yet another one in the books for Drake.
If his heat in mid-July is any sign of what he has in store for August, then it’s going to be OVO everywhere. The 5th annual OVOFest takes place August 3rd & 4th in Toronto with Drake and Outkast headlining. Of course there will be tons of surprises. Not even a week later he hits the road for a 31 city tour with Lil Wayne for the collaborative tour, Drake v. Lil Wayne. I mentioned before that these two will be battling on stage going back and forth, hit for hit. That should be interesting for sure. Who knows, maybe Drake and Weezy will both drop something new. A better competition, pull a 50 v. Kanye and drop View From The 6 and Carter V on the same day.
This Week In Music (V.16): New Music + News
Welcome to another edition of THIS WEEK IN MUSIC! [As always, click the LINK!]
Quick chart news. Congrats to Trey Songz for having the number one album in the country, Trigga. He also ranks #1 on both R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and R&B Albums charts. To see who else ranked within the top 10 of the Billboard 200, click here and for my Trigga album review, click here. 
Iggy Azalea is still atop the Hot 100 with ‘Fancy’ for the 7th week, putting her in fifth place above Adele (‘Rolling In The Deep’, 2011) for longest reign on the Hot 100 this past decade. Holding the #1 spot is Rihanna’s, ‘We Found Love’, (2011-12). With another month a top the charts and she can set a record. Only time will tell. Iggy also released the cover art to her Rita Ora assisted track, ‘Black Widow’, one of my favorites from her album The New Classic. CLICK HERE for my review.
In other music news, I’ve mentioned in a post before that Drake and Lil Wayne would be heading on tour titled, Drake vs. Lil Wayne. In an interview with MTV, Lil Wayne discussed just how the show would go down:
“Since, thank God we’ve been so successful, we’ll just be going back and forth with our hits and getting the crowd to go crazy, then just finally hittin’ the stage together.”
What better way to feed off the name of the tour than with an actual battle. That should be interesting. The tour will run from August 8th to September 27th.
In other Drake news, his ‘beef’ with Chris Brown must have been ceased because the two have been photo’d in the studio together. I know I’m not the only one who wants to her a Drizzy/Breezy collab. Let’s see how long it takes to surface.
It will have been 20 years since Usher released his debut, ,and it’s been 10 years since the release of his infamous album, Confessions. It has been confirmed that he will be opening this years MTV VMAs airing LIVE August 24th. He hasn’t performed at the VMAs since his 2010 performance of ‘DJ Got Us Falling In Love’ and ‘OMG’. Currently he has, ‘Good Kisser’ out and a new Pharrell Produced and Nicki Minaj featured track titled, ‘She Came To Give It To You’. He already did a medley at the BET Awards so who knows what he’s doing for MTV. Two other performers have been announced for the VMAs, Ariana Grande and 5 Seconds of Summer. Stay tuned to future posts for updates.
Backtracking to the Usher/Nicki collab, I did not like it upon first listen, but it has grown on me. It reminds me so much of Earth, Wind & Fire. I guess I didn’t like it because the sound was not what I was expecting with Nicki Minaj being featured on the track. Being that she’s a rapper I was expecting something more ‘club’ oriented. Nicki did great on this beat and this just adds more to her versatility. I’m interested to seeing how this does on the radio. Take a listen below:
https://soundcloud.com/usher-raymond-music/usher-she-came-to-give-it-to-you-featuring-nicki-minaj
If you were questioning if Yaya Decosta was rightly casted to play Whitney Houston in the upcoming Lifetime biopic, this picture should speak for itself. The photo is a recreation of Whitney Houston’s 1987 album, Whitney. The Angela Bassett directed film will be focusing on Houston’s relationship with Bobby Brown and will not address her untimely death. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Angela Bassett stated:
“I want you to fall into the world of Whitney and Bobby. And I don’t want to stop you at the gate with maybe the image of something familiar, someone you’ve seen from something else. Yaya was far and above the only choice.”
Lastly in music news, Beyoncé and Jay Z are heading to HBO.Their ‘On The Run’ tour will be the next installment for the Carters featured on the network. For full details, click here.
Moving on to new music, Omarion and Bow Wow have teamed up for a new track, ‘Need That Love’. I’m sorry, Omarion and Shad Moss. I’m not sure why he dropped Bow Wow, but whatever. The track does sample Michael Jackson’s, ‘Lady In My Life‘ which most people might know as LL Cool J’s, ‘Hey Lover’. As for the track it isn’t horrible. If this is the direction Omarion is going for his upcoming album he’ll be sampling a lot as he sampled DeBarge on his track, ‘You Like It’. I could hear this on the radio. Take a listen below.
B.o.B released a mixtape, No Genre Pt.2. CLICK HERE to download that. Not sure when or if I’ll be listening to it. Elle Varner has released her official second single for her upcoming album titled, ‘Don’t Wanna Dance’, and features A$AP Ferg. The vibe of the track reminds me of ‘I Don’t Care’ from her debut, Perfectly Imperfect. I like it though and from what she’s put out so far I can’t wait to hear her album. Take a listen below:
https://soundcloud.com/ellevarner/elle-varner-dont-wanna-dance-featuring-aap-ferg
Until next week…
Drake VS Lil Wayne
Drake and Lil Wayne have announced that they will be at war with each other come _ as they prepare for their joint tour titled, Drake VS Lil Wayne. Let me just FIRST say that I absolutely love the title. Might seem simple, but these two on tour is going to be amazing.
The tour will hit 31 cities (so far) starting in New York (Darien Center) August 8th and finishing in Texas (The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Foundation) on September 27th. For those in the tri-state area I would personally recommend the PNC Banks Arts Centre (Holmdell, NJ) show on August 26th. No these venues are not Met Life, Barclay, Staples, or any of that. I’m still interested in this tour. Tickets go on sale NEXT FRIDAY (6.20) on LiveNation.
Check out the full list of dates below (via Rap-Up):
Aug. 8 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
Aug. 9 – Noblesville, IN – Klipsch Music Center
Aug. 10 – Tinley Park, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Aug. 12 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Aug. 13 – Hartford, CT – XFINITY Theatre
Aug. 15 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
Aug. 16 – Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
Aug. 17 – Burgettstown, PA – First Niagara Pavilion
Aug. 19 – Forest Hills, NY – Forest Hills Tennis Stadium
Aug. 21 – Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center
Aug. 25 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
Aug. 26 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
Aug. 27 – Virginia Beach, VA – Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
Aug. 29 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
Aug. 30 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
Aug. 31 – Atlanta, GA – Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
Sept. 3 – West Palm Beach, FL – Cruzan Amphitheatre
Sept. 4 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Sept. 6 – Austin, TX – Austin360 Amphitheater
Sept. 7 – Dallas, TX – Gexa Energy Pavilion
Sept. 10 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Sept. 11 – West Valley City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
Sept. 13 – Ridgefield, WA – Sleep Country Amphitheatre
Sept. 14 – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre
Sept. 16 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sept. 17 – Wheatland, CA – Sleep Train Amphitheatre
Sept. 19 – Irvine, CA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Sept. 20 – Chula Vista, CA – Sleep Train Amphitheatre
Sept. 22 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
Sept. 25 – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion
Sept. 27 – Woodlands, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
These two have a LOT of hits between them and together. Check out their latest collab ‘Believe Me’ below:
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