This Week In Music (V.15) – BET Awards 2014 [Review]

The 2014 BET Awards aired this past Sunday (6.29) and I’ve been waiting to give my take on the show for this edition of This Week In Music. Now I did NOT watch the entire show and I kept up with what was going on via Instagram but we will get into the winners that I chose in a previous post and my take on the performances. My initial post pre-BET awards were My Picks. To make it easier and to save from typing, I compared my pick to the actual winner. I didn’t do too shabby:

Single Review: T.I. x Iggy Azalea, ‘No Mediocre’

The King of Hustle Gang, T.I., has teamed with its First Lady, Iggy Azalea, for a radio friendly track (and possible smash with the right push/marketing) ‘No Mediocre’. As a DIE HARD T.I. fan (check my archive) I’ve always been in support of his music and his career in general, but some of the stuff he’s been putting out lately has not been of interest to me. None of it was radio qualified anyway. Listen to what you hear on the radio. None of the tracks T.I. was releasing was in that lane. It all comes down to the beat to be honest.

Here he is with this track ‘Mediocre’. The beat is catch, the hook is catchy, yet T.I.’s bars BORE me. It’s all generic. Same thing said time and time again just over a different beat. Overall I can dig the track and Iggy did her thing. Now when you read comments on various blogs/YouTube they say she’s throwing shade at Nicki Minaj (blah, blah, blah).

SIDEBAR — Now I like Nicki and Iggy and the only thing they have in common is that they rap. They are in two different lanes musically. I can see Nicki free styling, Iggy not so much. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m just glad to see another female MC getting shine. No shade whatsoever to Nicki, but just like someone paved the way for her, she’s paved the way for others. Giving credit where credit is due, no Iggyy  might not have grown up listening to Nicki being that they’re not too far off in age, BUT Nicki made it cool to merge Pop & Hip-Hop. She got a lot of flack for it, but she made it work.

Ok, back to the track. As I said, overall I can bump to it. We’ll see how this pans on the radio. Take a listen below:

iHeartRadio Awards 2014 Nominees: Hip Hop/R&B Song of the Year

The iHeart Radio Awards will air May 1st LIVE on NBC and I’m back with another category to discuss. I first discussed Best Lyrics so be sure to check that out. This time around it’s Hip Hop/R&B Song of the Year. The top 10 were:

• “Pour It Up” – Rihanna
• “Power Trip” – J. Cole f/Miguel
• “Started From The Bottom” – Drake
• “I Luv This S**T” – August Alsina
• “Crooked Smile” – J. Cole f/TLC
• “Hold On We’re Going Home” – Drake f/Majid Jordan
• “Blurred Lines” – Robin Thicke f/T.I. & Pharrell
• “Bad” – Wale f/Tiara Thomas
• “Holy Grail” – Jay-Z f/Justin Timberlake
• “All Me” – Drake f/2 Chainz & Big Sean

Here are the final nominees:

 

This category is an interesting one being that Drake was nominated TWICE! When it comes down to I think it’ll be Jay Z v. Drake and Drake will take the crown. The OVO fans are HEAVY and although the Rihanna’s NAVY is die heard I just think this category is in Drake’s favor. My pick would have to be Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’. Not that I’m not a fan of the other 4 nominated songs it’s just that ‘Blurred Lines’ was everywhere and I can’t help but to still dance when the song comes on and it’s been like a year.

Click here to vote. Voting is through Twitter & Facebook. Voting is not limited & you can vote every day!

Check out the finalist below:

Billboard’s, Hot Rap Songs Chart, 25th Anniversary

March 11, 1989 was the day that Billboard implemented the Hot Rap Songs chart. In celebration of the chart’s 25th anniversary, Billboard has released lists of the Top 50 artists from 1989-2014, the top 100 rap songs of all time, and the artists with most #1s and top 10s.

Here’s how the ranking was determined:

The 25th Anniversary Hot Rap Songs ranking is based on actual performance on the weekly Hot Rap Songs chart, since the chart’s inception in the March 11, 1989, issue. Rankings are based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 having the greatest value and weeks at lower positions proportionately less. Due to various changes in chart rules, chart length and methodology throughout the years, songs had varying reigns at No. 1 and on the chart. To ensure equitable representation of the biggest hits from all 25 years, certain time frames were weighted to account for the difference in turnover rates from those periods.

Here are the top 10/50 artists:

1. Drake
2. Jay Z
3. Lil Wayne
4. LL Cool J
5. Kanye West
6. T.I.
7. 50 Cent
8. Ludacris
9. Diddy
10. The Notorious B.I.G.

Female MCs did make the list such as Nicki Minaj (#16), MC Lyte (#21), Missy Elliot (#29), Salt-N-Pepa (#36), Da Brat (#38), and Yo-Yo (#48). Macklemore & Ryan Lewis make the list at #40 based off the success of The Heist which spawned hits, ‘Thrift Shop,’ ‘Can’t Hold Us,’ and ‘Same Love.

Here are the artists with the most #1s:

1.Drake -13

2. Diddy – 10

3. Kanye West – 9

4. LL Cool J – 8

5. 50 Cent

    Bow Wow – 7

    Lil Wayne – 7

    T.I. – 7

9. Ice Cube – 6

    Nelly – 6

    The Notorious B.I.G. – 6

Lil Wayne tops the Most Top 10s list with 288. Jay Z comes in second with 34 and Drake finishes 3rd with 29. Kanye has 26, Diddy-24, LL Cool J and Ludacris tie with 22, T.I. has 21, 50 Cent with 20, and Eminem and Snoop Dogg tie with 19.

Missy Elliot holds the #1 spot for Rap song with most weeks at #1 with ‘Hot Boyz’ featuring Nas, Eve, and Q-Tip. It debuted in November 1999 and spent 18 weeks on the chart. Drake’s ‘Best I Ever Had’ and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’, ‘Thrift Shop,’ tie at #2 with 15 weeks on the chart. DJ Khaled rounds off that list with his track ‘I’m On One’ featuring Drake, Rick Ross, and Lil Wayne. It spent 13 weeks on the chart.

Enjoy the playlist below of the Top 20 Rap Songs of All-Time from the Top 100 Rap Songs list.

Another ‘Drunk In Love’ Remix!

I am officially TIRED of ‘Drunk In Love.’ The song coming on a dozen times a day doesn’t bother me. The fact that it plays back to back on different stations or at the same time at different parts doesn’t bother me either. What bothers me is that the song is slowly, no the song is being RUINED. Some songs should stay as is. Some songs don’t need a remix. This song in particular needed NO remix.

Beyonce was talking about being drunk in love with her husband who’s already on the track. Yet a remix was made with a Kanye West. The beat wasn’t changed and the song wasn’t altered as far as placement of Beyoncé’s & Jay Z’s verses, so it wasn’t bad. Plus I need a little extra on the track being that it’s getting boring and repetitive after hearing it ALL THE TIME! Now T.I. wants in on the remix, but the entire song changed with this trap/EDM beat. Nothing against that genre it just does not work with the song and if a beat like that was going to be used maybe a different one would have been more suitable. I’m a DIE HARD T.I. fan, but this remix is just a mess. He has bars, but he was NOT needed for a remix whether it’s official or not. Despite T.I. being a legend in his own right he’s not really talking about anything. He talks about the same thing now and it takes away from what he’s created over the years as a rapper. He’s boring, repetitive, and needs to stop. As a die hard fan, I can admit this.

The song should have been left alone. Plus it’s FEBRUARY, the song dropped two months ago. The remixes should’ve been happening as soon as the song was released. On top of T.I. doing a remix, The Weeknd did one as well. Another one that I’m not impressed by. It’s like if you’re going to do a remix do it while the song is still fresh.

For instance, take Nicki Minaj’s, ‘Lookin A** Ni**a.’ All the remixes are being done because the song is so HOT right now that dudes jumped on the track making a remix of their own such as Cassidy and Trey Songz. Beyoncé’s track is not one that needs a response. Plus if there was to be a response, itshould’ve happened already.

As great as Beyoncé’s album WAS, no songs are really getting airplay and the only reason ‘Drunk In Love’ is getting airplay is because she’s Beyoncé. Hearing the same song over and over can be tiring.

Welp click here for the Kanye remix.

https://soundcloud.com/theweekndxo/drunk-in-love-the-weeknd-remix

Video: Jennifer Hudson x T.I. ‘I Can’t Describe (The Way I Feel)’