Johnta Austin "Close Your Eyes" (Produced by Bryan Michael Cox)
Apparently this is slated to be the first single from his new album "Love Sex Religion." I guess he finally scrapped the "Ocean Drive" album concept since it's been on the shelf for so long. It seems that Jermaine Dupri is going to constantly keep doing what he can to push out an album from Johnta. Don't get me wrong, this song is not bad at all, but I'm not sure he will ever succeed as much more than a writer, which is no slight at all.
Slim confirmed that his next project is called "Cruise Control". He is working with a rapper named Deezo and a group called Ivy Leegue. Also got a project with 8Ball called "Fatboy & Slim: The Movie".
He has recently been working in the studio with Atlanta rapper J.Futuristic also known as J Money First Name Last Name. They have recorded over 6 songs in the last week, including an unreleased song called "Hey Girl".
He confirmed via Twitter that he is in talks with a deal with Capitol Records.
I might be in the minority on this one, but I've never been a fan of this song. I might get criticized for this, but I don't think it deserves the constant airplay it gets on radio and all of the hype that has followed. In any case, I don't represent any record label or radio station, so I don't have any say in the decision. In any case, here is the video, and it's at least a bit interesting, touching on the endless race issues that seem to plague us in the United States.
In the spirit of having the opportunity to speak with the man yesterday, I thought I'd throw up one of his classics which also happens to be one of the biggest classics of all time in hip hop. In the song, he uses a woman as a metaphor for hip hop, with H.E.R. standing for "Hip Hop in its Essence & Real." The song goes on to criticize the direction that many artists were taking the genre of the music, especially into the mainstream. I never actually understood what he meant at the time, but as the years went on, I started to relate more and more to the song and now I can rarely even listen to hip hop anymore.
Alicia does her thing on this cover of the #1 single by Blondie from 1980 "Rapture." As you can hear from this song, the beat also incorporates portions of the Sex and the City theme song. There is a reason for that, this is her addition to the Sex and the City 2 soundtrack which will be in stores May 25th.
Another very good song from Ms. Pasian. I can already tell she's going to make it big one day if she's not there already. She's got the talent, she's got the charisma, and she's got a strong support system; all at such a young age. I'm expecting very big success in the future and so far she continues to impress me.
Today I got the opportunity to participate in a blogger conference call with Common to discuss his upcoming starring role in the movie "Just Wright" and his hip hop career. I was on the call with about ten other bloggers who each had the opportunity ask a question each and some very good questions were presented. Common did a very good job of fielding each of the questions and came off to me as very down to earth which is something I will always respect and support. Below, you can read the question I had the opportunity to ask and Common's response. "Just Wright" will hit theaters May 14th.
YKIGS: Since your debut in hip hop in the early 90's, can you comment on the change hip hop has experienced and some of the changes you've had to make to remain relevant?
Common: Well I mean hip hop, from when I started, definitely has evolved. I look at hip hop as a living organism and it’s like a person. If we look at how we were 15 years ago, we were different people. Shoot, I could look at myself three years ago and say I was a different person. So hip hop is constantly changing, it’s definitely to me like it had a little innocence to me when it began. When I started in the early 90’s, mid 90’s, going into that era, it was still like a certain innocence. Street music was the truth, it just was like man, Nas is dropping the truth, Mobb Deep is dropping the truth, NWA is dropping the truth, you just felt it and it was very creative, I thought it was very creative, everyone had their own character and story to offer. But I think at certain points it has ups and downs, and I think it’s still some quality hip hop out there you gotta seek it more. As far as where I fit in, I think I’ve just been able to keep learning and growing as a person and then making sure I put my heart into my hip hop, my heart into my music. I think when you put your heart into it, there’s certain things people can’t deny, they relate to it, because they be going through some of the same things. I don’t think I’ve ever been afraid to offer who I was at the time. Whether it was like the Chicago dude drinking 40’s, or the dude who’s getting into Jazz music, or whoever it may be. I was able to stay true myself and I think that allowed people to respect what I was doing and some of them to get into it.
Finally we have a chance to hear the song "Fill Your Cup" he referenced months ago in the interview I did with him (Click Here)!! This song is crazy, and definitely not the type of song we are used to hearing from Jon. He really goes in on the bridge as well. As for the other song "After the Party," I don't know much about it, but it's pretty good too. Shout out to one of my readers for putting me on to these two new tracks.
Sorry for the poor quality, I'm currently working to secure the good quality versions of these!
Craig David's interpolation of the original song done by Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross. His recently released album "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" consists primarily of cover songs with his own twist and contains only one original song. He's a talented singer, and I can dig his version of the song.
The latest from JE featuring The Boss. As you may have heard, their upcoming album "The Remedy" has been pushed back to a July 28th release date. The official first single is slated to be "Butterflies" and should be premiering soon.
This is a leftover from her "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" album. Here's some news on what she's currently working on:
Following the cancellation of the Angels Advocate remix album, it was announced that Carey will go back to the studio to start work on new material for her 13th studio album, due for release in late 2010. Long time collaborators for the project include Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox and Teddy Riley. Apart from her 13th studio album, it was confirmed that Carey is also working on a second Christmas album.
The final Top 40 single by Shai was their addition to the "Beverly Hills Cop III" soundtrack in 1994. Shout out to my man Samuel Gonzalez for today's selection
