A slimmed down Rick Ross graced the stage dressed casually in all black aside from the scarf hanging from his pocket and the "condo on his wrist". He performed So Sophisticated and Touch N You with the help of a DJ, hype man and the track he rapped over. God Forgives, I Don't, in stores July 31
Nearly 20 years after making his debut as half of the critically acclaimed rap duo 8Ball and MJG , 8Ball brings us his seventh solo project. Life's Quest released July 24, features Angie Stone, Big Krit, 2Chainz and of course his partner in rhyme MJG.
Review Disclaimer: Around here we keep it simple, not claiming to be musical scientists or anything so no formulas no extra analyzing no mics, no stars no stripes. We either PLAY, PAUSE, STOP or REPEAT. You may agree, you may not, music is an art not an exact science.
With all that said let's get into this 8Ball,Life's Quest.
REPEAT
It is classic 8ball. He's giving us what we fell for back in the '90s, adjectives, nouns and verbs poetically assembled over mellow beats to paint vivid scenarios that entertain and at times inform his fans about life.Although the stories are still not g rated, 8ball expressed his maturing mind on tracks like Indestructible. Life's Quest, The Price and Good Days.
Somehow I always end up in or around a heated discussion about whether or not rappers should stop their career at a certain age and I think a lot of the Vets still have it and can still deliver and should keep doing what they do.
God Forgives,I Don't ,not ready for the tittle but hey I admire creativity and do realize Rick Ross can afford to carry around as many grudges as he wants ( I'm sure they're in a nice Gucci Duffel or something way more luxurious )
Back to what really matters, Rozzay will bless us with his fifth studio album July 31. The Maybach Music Group CEO recently released his new single, 3 Kings, featuring the legendary Dr. Dre and proud new poppa Jay Z.
I was pretty shocked at the amount of people I've come across that claim to have never heard of K Michelle before Love and Hip Hop Atlanta.The Memphis, Tennessee native is no stranger to the music industry. Although she has had a few false starts during her journey towards infinite success and has yet to release a full length major label studio album, the R&B singer has a catalog of music not to be slept on.
No stranger to growing pains, the piano playing songwriter has a reputation for speaking her mind and concentrates on writing music that expresses exactly what she is feeling no censors no excuses no apologies.In her own words, " I may crazy, but I'm talented as ****". K Michelle vividly expresses all of her emotions in her collection of mixtapes that include the newest one 0 F***s Given. She has released popular singles including How Many Times and Fallin' and was featured in a duet with R Kelly on his Love Letter Album.
Although I am so over the drama filled scripted reality shows that have become the norm, I hope this does take her career far.
The Liberation Tour seems to be an eastcoast one, according to the LIVE NATION website. Goodie for the east coast because if Mary J Blige, Melonie Fiona and D'Angelo all bring their A Game it's sure to be a great show.
Some of the lucky cities for the tour which is slated to begin mid August include Virginia Beach, DC, Boston, Miami, and Philadelphia.
Award winning film maker Spike Lee has teamed up with the estate of Michael Jackson and Sony Music to bring us a documentary focused on the King of Pop , Michael Jackson. The documentary, Bad 25, will feature 40 interviews conducted by Spike Lee of many of the collaborators who helped bring the Bad project to life.Bad 25 will be available September 18th. Check out a sneak peak below.
We couldn't be more excited about this! After a six year hiatus, that included personal and business changes Tweet is back! Ms. Southern Hummingbird, Smoking Cigarettes ( which she no longer does), Cab Ride, Iceberg, Small Change, My Man is set to release her third studio album under DuBose Music Group. The album Simply Tweet is scheduled to be released THIS FALL. Until then Tweet is releasing new music on Tuesdays, follow her here-----> so you won't miss anything Meanwhile you can listen to recently released songs below.
ASCAP's annual Rythm and Soul Awards recently took place in Los Angeles,CA. The legendary music icon,Quincy Jones recieved the ASCAP Founders Award for his acheivements. Also honored was the super talented producer Pharrell Williams, with the Golden Note Award. Noah "40" Shebib was awarded the Songwriter of the Year Arard. Other top honors were awarded to EMI Music Publishing ( Publisher of the Year) ,Sure Thing written by Miguel and Happy Perez ( Top HipHop/R&B Song), Look At Me Now written by Jean-Baptiste Kouame II and Wesley Pentz (Top Rap Song) and I Smile” written by James "Jimmy Jam" Harris and Terry Steven Lewis (Top Gospel Song)
Performances included a tribute to Quincy Jones by Marsha Ambrosius and Tyrese. DJ Don Cannon , rapper Meek Mill,and gospel singer James Fortune also perfomed for a crowd that mostly consisted of songwriters, recoring artist and music industy leaders
Recorded for the upcming film Sparkle, the duet features Jordan Sparks and Whitney Houston who also star in the film. Based on the original released in the late '70s,Whitney plays the mother of an aspiring girl group. The video was filmed after Whitneys death and features clips of her from the movie.Check out Celebrate by Jordan Sparks and Whitney Houston below!
I want everybody to Stop. Look.and Listen is what I can imagine R Kelly saying in my head right about now. Why? Because along with the recent release of his fourtenth studio album, Write Me Back, he also has a much anticipated autobiography, Soula Coaster The Diary of Me.
The book is coauthored by award winning novelist David Ritz. Check out this excert from Rolling Stone Magazine of R Kelly recalling meeting legendary rappers Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smalls.
The King of Hip Hop Soul just wants to share his love with you!.
If you rely on social media for any amount of your knowledge of current events then I am positive you've seen and heard the name Frank Ocean at least a dozen or so times in the past week or so.Those headlines are pretty much concentrating on one thing so I'll go into another thing or two about him.
The NOLA native, who relocated to Los Angeles after Hurricane Katrina has been written for successful recording artist including Justin Beiber, John Legend Brandy and Beyonce. The member of the eclectic bunch Odd Future has also released a critical acclaimed mix tape,Nostalgia.Ultra and two successful singles Novocaine and Swim Good.
His current peak in popularity is good for his fans, it has caused the powers that be to release his debut album Channel Orange early ( well at least the digital version which is available on itunes now) everyone else will have to wait until July 17.
The captivating Atlanta native who hit the scene in the late '90s as a member of the rap group GOODIE MOB who has also released music as a solo artist and member of the duo Gnarls Barkley will be appearing in an upcoming movie. The movie, Can a Song Save Your Life, was written and will be directed by John Carney, and also features fellow The Voice coach Adam Levine. Cee Lo will play Troublegum, a succeful hip hop star.
Cee Lo has also been making music too, after over a decade without music from GOODIE MOB as a whole, he along with Big Gipp, T-Mo, and Khujo,have reunited and according to a recent MTV interview with Green,we can expect Age Against the Machine to please core fans and new ones alike.
Check out GOODIE MOB performaing their current single Fight To Win on Jimmy Kimmel
Knowing that release dates change often and projects get pushed back frequently, I bring you a rumored release date for the G.O.O.D Music Compilation CD ,Cruel Summer. Seeing as how the tittle has summer in it and the first single Mercy has been recently certified Platinum, it would behoove the powers that be to release it on the intended date of August 7,2012.
News Flash; Cruel Summer Release Date Pushed to September, wonder if it's coming with a tittle change Mean Fall perhaps.
The project will include the distinctive talents of Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T, CyHi the Prynce, Common, Kid Cudi, Teyana Taylor, Mr Hudson ,Q-Tip and 2Chainz.
Big Sean, Pusha T, 2Chainz and Kanye recently performed Mercy at the 2012 BET Awards and also debuted New God Flow, said to be the second single from the compilation.
Featuring Robert Glasper on piano and Fender Rhodes, Casey Benjamin on vocoder and saxophone, Derrick Hodge on electric bass, and Chris Dave on drums the band is rooted in jazz but definitely knows how to effortlessly appease the ears of Hip Hop and Soul music lovers who have yet to realize they like Jazz.
“I wanted to do a record that showcased the fact that we play with artists in other genres,” explains Glasper, adding that the album has “more of an urban, hip-hop, soul kind of vibe, but the spine of it all is still a jazz spine.”
The album he is referring to is Black Radio, the fifth from the band but the first of its kind. Black Radio features a delightful array of recording artist such as Erykah Badu, Bilal, Lupe Fiasco, Lalah Hathaway, Shafiq Husayn KING, Ledisi, Chrisette Michele, Musiq Soulchild, Meshell Ndegeocello, Stokley Williams , and Yasiin Bey( formally known as Mos Def)
July 6th is 50 cents birthday and he's decided to give a gift to all his fans, a free CD. Tittled 5(Murder By Numbers) it will be followed by his official Interscope album called Street King Immortal due out in November, A preview and download link is available below, tell me what you think!
#AKNEWDAY, one of the trending topics on Twitter ever since Alicia Keys recently dropped the link to the new single via social media .
Produced by the one and only Swizz Beats this track is an uptempo,bass heavy ,feel good track. New Day was created for her forthcoming fifth studio album rumored to be realeased this fall. Check it out below.
Above is the cover for Ashanti's upcoming album Brave Heart, coming when I really can't say it has been pushed back soooooooooooo many times. The last date I had was for the end of August but I just, literally just read an article saying it has been pushed to January 2013(say it aint so Ashanti). Well in the mean time I've come across some new music from our Princess of R&B produced by Irv Gotti,featuring Maybach Music's own French Montana and Meek Mill.
Let's not forget about the first single The Woman You Love ft. Busta Rhymes.
