Month: March 2016

The Weeknd releases a remix of Bryson Tiller’s “Rambo”

March 31, 2016 — Leave a comment

The Weeknd hops on another remix, this time on Bryson’s Tiller “Rambo” from his album “T R A P S O U L.” The Weeknd flexes his rap skills, on a song that mostly only features verses from him.

Had to kill the pop game so they know what’s up
Now I’m poppin’ back swift, had to shake it off

While many think The Weeknd is ruling the pop game right now, his remixes with Jeremih, Future and now Bryson shows he definitely can be a part of a lot of different genres.

Listen to the “Rambo Remix” below.

 

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Kyrie Irving addresses Kehlani and PARTYNEXTDOOR situation on Twitter

March 31, 2016 — Leave a comment

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Kyrie Irving spoke about the Kehlani and PARTYNEXTDOOR situation on his Twitter.

On Monday, PARTYNEXTDOOR posted and deleted a picture of him holding Kehlani’s hand in bed. While people thought that Kehlani and Irving were still dating, many assumed that she cheated. Kehlani then deleted her Instagram and was hospitalized for an attempted suicide, which she posted and deleted on her Instagram.

Irving has been silent about this situation, until now.

 

 

 

Many have showed support for Kehlani after her suicide attempt. Chris Brown received backlash because of his negative tweets about Kehlani.

Who is TWENTY88? Jhene Aiko and Big Sean may have announced new project

March 28, 2016 — Leave a comment

Are Jhene Aiko and Big Sean cooking up something together?  After posting these videos to their respective Instagram and Twitter accounts and linking to @TWENTY88 handle, it leads many to assume they have an album in the works.

’88 is also the year that they were both born.

UPDATE: They have just posted this image, which appears to be an album or single cover because of the parental advisory label on their account, with the caption 4/1, as well.

Big Sean also updated his Twitter bio, saying “Currently in the studio… 1/2 of TWENTY88.”

Jhene also updated her Twitter bio, saying “still sailing….. 1/2 of TWENTY88.”

4/1

A photo posted by TWENTY88 (@twenty88) on Mar 27, 2016 at 7:30pm PDT

 

Check out the TWENTY88 videos and videos from their previous collaborations below.

A video posted by TWENTY88 (@twenty88) on Mar 27, 2016 at 7:00pm PDT

A video posted by TWENTY88 (@twenty88) on Mar 27, 2016 at 7:10pm PDT

 

Kanye West shares “Ultralight Prayer” for Easter

March 27, 2016 — Leave a comment

Kanye West shared “Ultralight Prayer” on his Twitter for Easter

 

Like “Ultralight Beam,” this song features a gospel choir, Kelly Price and a sermon from Kirk Franklin.

Listen to “Ultralight Prayer” below.

Justin Bieber cancels Meet and Greets, but does not refund fans

March 27, 2016 — Leave a comment

Justin Bieber announced on his Instagram on March 22 that he was canceling Meet and Greets for his Purpose tour. Citing feeling drained from all the energy and expectations, Bieber rather focus on his albums and his shows.

Love u guys.. I’m going to be canceling my meet and greets. I enjoy meeting such incredible people but I end up feeling so drained and filled with so much of other people’s spiritual energy that I end up so drained and unhappy.. Want to make people smile and happy but not at my expense and I always leave feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression .. The pressure of meeting people’s expectations of what I’m supposed to be is so much for me to handle and a lot on my shoulders. Never want to disappoint but I feel I would rather give you guys the show and my albums as promised. Can’t tell you how sorry I am, and wish it wasn’t so hard on me.. And I want to stay in the healthy mindset I’m in to give you the best show you have ever seen 😉

A photo posted by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) on Mar 22, 2016 at 4:54pm PDT

 

While this disappointing for fans, at least his reasoning was understandable.

However, fans are not getting money back for the canceled meet and greets. As shows on JustinBieberCrew.com’s Twitter, fans will get their money back only if they don’t go to the concert at all. So if fans does go to the concert, they are paying for a meet and greet that they are not receiving.

Hopefully this issue will be resolved differently.

[New Music] Big Sean-Get My Shit Together

March 26, 2016 — Leave a comment

For his 28th Birthday, Big Sean blessed his fans with new music, releasing “Get My Shit Together” on SoundCloud.

Featuring vocals from Jhene Aiko, Sean raps about being at the age where he needs to get it together and get stuff done.

I guess it’s do or die now huh
I guess I’m at the age that I can’t try now huh

Sean is saying there is no more trying anymore. As Yoda says, “do or do not, there is no try.”

Sean has had an eventful 20s. After releasing several mixtapes, his released his debut album in the summer of 2011. Since then, he has released two other albums, the “Detroit” mixtape, and has been featured on several songs. He also had high profile breakups, including breaking up off his engagement with “Glee” actress Naya Rivera and breaking up with Ariana Grande.

What often happens when celebrating a birthday, you realize all the other things you want to accomplish and realize you want to focus all your attention on that. It will be interesting to see what Sean does in the coming year.

 

[Video] Future feat. The Weeknd -Low Life

March 26, 2016 — Leave a comment

Future and The Weeknd released the visual from their latest single, “Low Life” from Future’s album “EVOL.” It was originally released on Soundcloud back in December .

An anthem for everyone’s trife activities and hobbies, The Weeknd departs from the pop/R&B siren that he has been known as as of late and embraces his hood persona, wearing camo and rapping about sex, money and getting faded. Future is in his normal form, talking about his usual day-to-day life featuring drugs and dealing with baby mommas.

Check out the “Low Life” video below.

 

Happy 28th Birthday Big Sean!

March 26, 2016 — Leave a comment

big-sean-album-ready

Big Sean celebrates his 28th birthday today. Big Sean has had a big year, going on tour to support his album, “Dark Sky Paradise” and also being featured on Justin Bieber’s “Purpose” album. Coming up he will be going on tour with Rhianna.

In celebration of his birthday, below is a playlist of some of his best songs.

Giovanni James talks about his sound and finding new ways to say what he wants to say

March 26, 2016 — Leave a comment

whutcha-want-ep-extralarge_1457801444769Giovanni James, the multi-talented performer, released his debut EP, “Whutcha Want,” today. I talked to Giovanni about his history, his influences and his upbeat music.

On his backstory:

I kind of been on the street since I was 13, I had a few difficulties coming up, but I found music and art early, and those things sustained me. I think I started out more as a dancer than a musician. And then through dancing I found music and wanted to take it the next level. I did that as long as I could and then I really wanted to grow so I started to do music. I couldn’t find anyone to work with as a musician that I really  liked sound wise, so I just started and figured out how to start producing and making music and experimenting with music.  I essentially started writing music and rapping at first. I had a singing voice but I didn’t have any training or anything like that, so I wasn’t really confident in that in the beginning, so I started rapping and through the rapping I got my confidence and then started singing.

On his upbeat music:

I think for me I never wanted to make excuses for myself. I didn’t want to rely on being a sad sack or use certain things that were happening in my life for me to lean on for anything. You don’t want to celebrate the darkness. You want to imagine what you want. What I’m learning is what you really want you write through your actions. You will it. I feel like with music you hear things, you have ideas and then you manifest it. I wasn’t going to be the one sitting around talking about the bad stuff. It’s upbeat, yes, because who wants to sit down and be depressed? But there is music that I’m doing that is honest and vulnerable, because I feel like that’s more real. Some days you wake up optimistic and some days you are tired. As an artist I think it’s my job to report the truth. Some days you wake up and you’re optimistic and some days you are not.

On his influences:

Lyrically I have always been attracted to cleverness, to wordplay, to different ways of saying something. I like metaphors. I like to paint a picture. It’s like a fantasy mind where you can escape through the words you paint. And then sometimes you find ways to simplify certain ideas because sometimes complicated stuff has a really hard time reaching people. So for me I’m always trying to balance that. It’s like walking a tightrope: trying to say things that are meaningful but somehow simple. It’s probably one of the hardest things to do. Initially I’m kind of infatuated by a different way of saying something that has been said a million times, because it all has been said before.

You can buy “Whutcha Want” on iTunes here and stream it below.

 

Lollapalooza 2016 Lineup

March 25, 2016 — Leave a comment

Lollapalooza has announced the highly anticipated lineup for its 25th show. Below is the overall line up for the show, taking place at Grant Park in Chicago July 28-31.

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Although the timing for each set has not been announced, this is how I would attack each day.

Thursday

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J. Cole, Bas, Cozz, Omen, Lana Del Rey, Cashmere Cat, Towkio and Kehlani: Thursday definitely has a Dreamville theme, with J. Cole, Bas, Cozz and Omen performing. I would check the whole team out. I’ve never really gotten into Lana Del Rey, but I do like some of her songs, so it would be interesting to see her live. I’ve seen Bastille live before and they are incredible (check out pictures from their show here) so I would definitely see them again. Cashmere Cat might have an incredible set, I love his production work, such as his song “Adore” with Ariana Grande. I would have to check out Chicago’s Towkio as well. Other than J. Cole, who I am most excited for is Kehlani. I love her mixtape “You Should Be Here” and hopefully she would have new music out by then.

Friday

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Future, Alessia Cara and Saba for sure. I’ve seen both Future and Alessia Care live before (see pictures from Alessia’s show here) and they are great performers. By the rate that Future is putting out music, its anyone’s guess what his set list will be. I’m interested in seeing Saba, who has collaborated with Chance The Rapper before, perform solo.

Saturday

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Disclousure, Vic Mensa and Tory Lanez. I’m not too excited about anyone else from the lineup, but Disclosure’s “Caracal” album was great, Tory Lanez “Say It” was a favorite from last year, and Vic Mensa has been making waves in the industry for a while.

Sunday

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Haim, Bryson Tiller and Vince Staples. I’ve seen Bryson live before and its great. His mix of R&B and rap helps the show to continuously have momentum. I loved Haim’s “Days Will Come” and they recorded a lot songs live on that album, so it would be great to see them in person. Vince Staples was a very buzzy artist in 2015, so it would cool to see what he has to offer.

Below is a playlist featuring my picks from Lolla.