Song of the Day

**2/1/10

Talib Kweli - I Try

------------I try to vary the music that I walk around town to everyday, but today I found myself listening to Common's entire catalog. Since I don't like to repeat artists on this blog, I handed my hip-hop driven mind to Pandora to point me in a similar direction. Kweli came on, and I'm more than satisfied.

After a night of glitzy and glamorous playtime at the Grammys, I wanted something a little more pensive (and an album that's a bit mature for music turnaround) to welcome the new month and a new year of music. Talib Kweli teams up with Mary J. Blige on the stark confessional, "I Try," with razor-sharp rhymes slicing through thoughts on heritage, and the status quo of music. The Beautiful Struggle, is the Brooklyn emcee's 2004 project.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUMvqAtAFL4

Song of the Day

**11/1/09

Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love

-------------I am endlessly intrigued by the dynamics of pop music, who really writes the music, how much is altered, and basically, how much producers are trying to fool you. It's not necessarily a negative thing, but I can see why many believe that all pop music sounds the same. Brit pop singer Cheryl Cole is a multi-threat in the entertainment biz, and her October release 3 Words gave listeners "Fight For This Love," the techno tank that turns a dance floor into a battlefield for love.

It is a perfectly lively and earnest pop song, but every time I listen to it, I can't help but think Mary J. Blige would bring this song that level. The "Fight" writers Wayne Wilkins and Steve Kipner should have passed this one on to Blige, who could pack more soul into this than any other diva behind a mic. Sure Cole's got the pipes and the Maxim Hot 100 status to make her perfectly attractive to her audience, but her presence in "Fight For This Love" fits like a hand in a sock.