Song of the Day

**11/14/10
Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name?
-----------------Rihanna's last album Rated R was kind of forced - I knooww she went through some rough times, but it wasn't much of a bounce back. But with steamy songs and tough-subject thinkers, Loud is the outrageous, red-haired scream that RiRi needed. There is (thankfully) a remix of the radio hit featuring Eminem "Love the Way You Lie," a song about sex in the air and of course, "Only Girl in the World."
 
  Lots to pick from, but "What's My Name?" is the stripped down sequel to "Rude Boy." The lyrics are plenty forward, but the beach-club friendly beat makes for a different, more romantic atmosphere.

http://perezhilton.com/2010-11-12-rihanna-whats-my-name-music-video-drake

The Blueprint 3

So I know I'm a little behind on this one, but I bought (with that green papery stuff called cash) The Blueprint 3 Jay-Z's latest encore released officially-ish on September 11th.

I had a leaked copy of the album, but the inner music geek inside of me wanted the plastic, the celophane wrapper, and the album artwork. To get these treasures of tracks, I shelled out a phenomenal $17 for a copy (you're welcome, Jigga Man and Atlantic). This small fortune is now sitting amongst my very haphazard collection of cassette tapes, vinyl, and cds that are temporarily on my desk until I can move them to my collection.

Many of the tracks are produced by Timbaland and Kanye West, and a line of artists longer than Saturday morning at the DMV appear on collaborative tracks. Rihanna's chorus-belting role and Alicia Key's sultry cry take hold of "Run This Town" and "Empire State of Mind," respectively. Pharell, Kanye, Drake, and Kid Cudi take hold of the B-Sides.

I still haven't formed a definite yay or nay to this one. It may take me a few more listens, for while I may acquire leaked tracks early on, I sometimes forget that I have them and the necessity to revisit material rears its head.

What do you guys think? Is Jay-Z's latest the greatest, or can you find way more than 99 problems with The Blueprint 3?

Song of the Day

**6/26/09

Boyce Avenue - No Air

--------------Artists have been covering Billboard topping hits and crowd favorites over the decades. And with endless Youtube hits of mediocre mooks off the streets stumbling over notes in their garages/living rooms/dorm rooms, one tends to think "where can I find a decent cover of my fave songs, yo?"

Fear not, for among the smog sub-par musicianship there is Boyce Avenue. Begun by the three Manzano brothers from Florida, the trio have played acoustic sessions for years, including deeply respectable covers of pop treats the likes of Justin Timberlake, Natasha Beddingfeild, and for today's song, American Idol Jordin Sparks.

Alejandro Manzano's strong piano gives the original recording a run for its money. Absent of synthesizers, "No Air" is stripped of bravado and given intense vibrato from Manzano's crooning vocals. Get the cover from Boyce Avenue's Acoustic Sessions Vol. 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guWHD4a1wOM

Other Key Covers (Over Various Albums):

Natasha Beddingfeild - Pocketful of Sunshine

Rihanna - Umbrella

Justin Timberlake - Lovestoned

What Goes to Rehab and Cries Me a River in the Air

Pop artists are often pinned with accusations of plagiarism, especially when the song that launches their career into a radio, tv, and digital download heaven stood on the platform of a past career. It's been going on for years, but has anyone been upset about artist sampling others and getting away with recycling?

Flip on the radio. For the sake of argument, we'll check into Rihanna's "Rehab." It says so in the title that it is a collaboration with Justin Timberlake, but did you expect to hear two of his older singles embedded in "Rehab"'s beat?

Timbaland produced the beats for both "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" and the unforgettable post-Britney bash "Cry Me A River." Timbaland also produced "Rehab," and it is odd how all three songs sound eerily similar. So similar in fact, that you can sing portions of each song in unison - a three part harmony of three different hits.

"Apple Bottom jeans/ Boots with the fur..." - the rest you already know of Flo Rida's breakout hit "Low." The Florida rapper also achieved chart success with his follow up, "Air." Now, listen to both chorus' together...yep, that odd similarity is there again.

Maybe the tride and true argument for the recycling of today's Top 20 hits is the mantra "I like the beat and it's fun to dance to." The attention span of anyone in the ipod generation is about that of a paperclip, so these may go unnoticed, or indifferently neglected.

The crime isn't plagiarism, but the lack of creativity that seems to plague the pop albums that are shovelling in money and keeping major record labels afloat in the storm of low CD sales and rise in digital downloads.

Do we want to keep blowing up old tracks just to "pop" them again? True, influences from other artists are flattering and, when studied, innovative tools for music's future. To put it simply, you can follow your parent's teachings, but you don't want to end up exactly like them.

Here's a grammar lesson: "Pop" is both a noun and a verb. Pop songs are adorably catchy, infectious, and memorable. These songs "pop" into the mainstream feed and, after a brief ride on the top, gradually leave us and take a backseat in music history. Pop music has defined moments, years, and generations. By using songs from the past, we have no words, rythems, or ryhmes to define the present.