Something I Think You Should Hear...

*** UPDATED ***

J. Cole - Cole World: The Sideline Story

Cole World: The Sideline Story is finally here and as a J. Cole fan I'm very proud. He's definitely held it up for us fans of The Come Up, The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights (and more recently Any Given Sunday).

So of course because I pre-ordered his album my copy came through the door on Saturday, but I held off on the album review because I didn't want to prematurely judge his debut record based off of what I already adore about Cole's talent. 

This album is perhaps the best example of the type of masterpiece that can only be put together with pure control over your project, unlike (and yes I'm going to say it) the efforts of Wiz Khalifa & Nicki Minaj, who had the mixtapes to stand up on but failed to deliver the album music lovers and not lovers of the hype were expecting.


Cole Talks About The Sideline Story

The Sideline Story has a nice hip hop/soul sound to it, with the right balance of mellow, mid-tempo and club bangers which all stand up lyrically, within this album there is also a certain level of consciousness that Cole makes coherent throughout each track.

The album begins with a much needed introduction which leads nicely into the first song, 'Dollar and a Dream III' which basically sums up how J. Cole perceives his musical struggle up until this point. Then there are tracks such as 'Mr. Nice Watch' and 'Can't Enough' which most would say isn't typical Cole as they definitely get you moving but they stay true to form as they are packed with witty punchlines. The album also consists of tracks like 'Lost Ones', 'Never Told' and 'Nobody's Perfect' which explore topics rooted within the motions we go through when in love or faced with hardship.


J. Cole - Daddy's Little Girl

The elements that stood out massively with this album is Cole's attention detail; I'm such a big music lover and I truly believe you can hear how much time and effort an artist has put into a song to make it the best it can be.With tracks like 'In The Morning' and 'Lights Please' which are now Cole classics he took the time to rework them by adding and removing parts of the instrumental to make them exciting to old listeners.

As my favourite track from the album doesn't have a video yet but it's about to surface as Cole and Missy have started putting visuals to the track, I've put up the visual for my second - actually third favourite track from the album.

J. Cole - Lost Ones

Let me know what you think of Cole World: The Sideline Story

I Literally Can't Get Enough!!

I LOVE THIS SONG...


J. Cole - Can't Get Enough feat. Trey Songz

Yeah and if you're wondering that is Rihanna...

Fresh From The Editing Suite...

***UPDATED***

This post is dedicated to my little Sister - Happy Birthday!

I've gotta admit I'm quite pleased with myself with this edition of 'Fresh From The Editing Suite'.
It's like playing 6 degrees of seperation, the only artist who's missing from this is Beyonce.

Rihanna - Cheers

Although I do believe these are the laziest type of videos an artists can make I love them. Nothing beats seeing behind the scenes footage of all that goes on when these stars are on the road, especially when you're actually interested in what they get up to. 'Cheers' is yet another release from Rihanna's Loud album, and the video documents all she's been up to in the last few months. The video also shows her sporting her new hairstyle and colour which I'm really feeling; finally the red is dead and buried.



Nicki Minaj - Fly (feat. Rihanna)

Once upon a time I was a massive Nicki Minaj fan but since her "fashion" sense upgraded to crazy I've switched off. In this video she does well to rock a couple crazy looks, none of which help to put across the potentially inspiring story behind this song. The video isn't really anything special, and I'm really struggling to understand the bit when she goes all ninja on some dudes. And am I the only one who thinks the video was located on the exact same set as Chris Brown's video 'Next To You'; very coincidental.


Lil' Wayne - How To Love

So Tha Carter 4  is here. Anyway. Yeah the hype around Weezy is pretty much gone, and 'How To Love' isn't exactly the best song to use to try to resuscitate the hype. I know it's meant to be one of those deep tracks that make you think but I want a song I can dance to man. The story in the video good but it's been done before, that's not to say that any video treatments nowadays are unique but it could've been done in a refreshing way.


Jay Z & Kanye West - Otis

Ok, my hands are up, I was not excited about Jay & Kanye getting together to make an album because their bromance is a tad bit annoying. But it'd be rude not to appreciate the great music that they make when they hit the studio. 'Otis' unlike 'H.A.M.' is very enticing to the ear and also typical Kanye, and the added element of Jay Z makes it that much better. The video's fun to watch, like who doesn't want to see rappers "discreetly" show off how much money they have by making a video that doesn't have a lot to it.


J. Cole - Work Out

'Work Out' is definitely my favourite song in this bunch, what should I say about the brilliance that is J. Cole? Maybe I'll just start by saying he has smacked it, this is the feel good song of the summer (even though it's more or less over), this track makes going back to the office that bit more bearable, and it 100% gets you ready for the weekend. The video to accompany the track is pretty standard for Cole, not too much going on but you still wanna watch it to see what goes down. Looking forward to the album, which I shall be pre-ordering...COLE WORLD!!

And just in case you missed my six degrees of separation let me break it down for you:

Rihanna obviously features on Nicki Minaj's track, Nicki's part of Young Money which is Lil' Wayne's clique, Wayne and Jay Z have collaborated on tracks together and are the Mr. Carters, and then finally J. Cole was the first artist to be signed to Jay Z's label Roc Nation #SICK

Something I Think You Should Hear...

So I've decided that hibernation is boring and after a quick revamp I'm in love with my blog again - Yay me!

Miguel - All I Want Is You

Every artist's first album sets the tone for the rest of their entire career; some choose to launch themselves on a platform which is beatable, others fail to launch, but then there are the few that launch right off into space - Miguel is a fine example of those who aim for the stars. This dude can SING!! His voice is actually amazing, not only can the brother sing, but he also writes which only makes his music more enjoyable and hella sexy.

The album is entitled, 'All I Want Is You' which shares the same title as the first track he released from the album that featured J. Cole. Miguel's album is the perfect R&B album as he sticks to the classic formula used by so many others however he owns every concept and theme explored by blending his sultry voice with lyrics that showcase his talent for songwriting.

Favourites from this album have to be (1) Quickie, (2) All I Want Is You ft. J. Cole, and (3) Pay Me.

Usually I upload official videos of my favourite track but I think this video does the job nicely. Here's a video of Miguel performing one of my favourite tracks off the album:

Miguel - Quickie

Still In Hibernation...

Ok, I know I said that I was in hibernation but I can't leave my blog without gracing it with the video below.

So you've probably grasped that I'm a big fan of music, and every so often a song will come along that is just amazing. On average I spend about  12 hours in a week on my laptop updating my iPod - this is not a fact, it's simply for emphasis, meaning that I have an decent collection of music which varies across different genres.


I've known about J. Cole for a while now. I liked his song 'Who Dat', his verse on Miguel's track 'All I Want Is You' was banging and I thought his mixtapes were alright. I remember getting his mixtape, 'Friday Night Lights' around about the same time I got Kanye West's album, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' and so naturally I just skimmed through Cole's mixtape, whilst I banged out Mr. West's album. Therefore, the only times I listened to J. Cole's tracks was when my iPod was on shuffle and I couldn't be asked to change the track - hey, I've gotta be honest but I still liked him.

His first two mixtape's (The Come Up & The Warm Up) were decent and he kind of reminded me of Nas a little bit, which is of course a good thing, but there was something about them that just didn't have me hooked. Difference is now I've listened to his mixtape properly and in my opinion it could've been an album. Since Tuesday 15th February, the only song that I have been listening to is the video below, and it's because I can not get enough of the way this song has been put together. Each note and each word is perfectly in sync; I salute J. Cole (and Drake - even though I do not appreciate the fact he has failed to go to the gym or get a haircut or visit his stylist) because I thought good music was dying out but he's proved me wrong and the video's not too bad either; actually tell a lie, I really like the video.


I'm officially a J. Cole fan, so enjoy.




J. Cole - In The Morning ft. Drake

Put That Song On Replay

So I'm back for the third time to tell you about the songs I've been banging out on my iPod and as time is far spent I might as well get going with the first tuneage...

Miguel - All I Want Is You ft. J. Cole
If you don't fall in love with this song then I seriously need to question your hearing. This is perhaps the most chilled out song I've heard all year and there is something about it that just makes me feel like I'm listening to some good old school R&B and Miguel was right to choose J. Cole as the featuring artist because his lyrics just sync so well with everything Miguel is singing about.

Loick Essien - Love Drunk
Loick Essien has finally arrived. If you're like me you'll remember he featured on the vocals of Chipmunk's single 'Beast' (which by the way is banger too) and now he is here releasing his own material. I'm expecting big things from Loick as his first single 'Love Drunk' is absolutely fantastic.


 
Usher - DJ Got Us Falling In Love ft. Pitbull
I'm not gonna lie when I first heard this I was like, "Huh? Is this really what Usher is doing now?" but after a few listens I figured it weren't too bad but the selling point for this single was the video. In this video I just feel as though Usher has gone back to what he is made for and that my friends is making us dance. Honestly since 'Confessions' I believe that this is the first video Usher has released where he seems to be really enjoying himself - hence making us (the viewers) enjoy ourselves too. 

Jazmine Sullivan - Holding You Down (Goin' In Circles)
Right, the bottom line is Jazmine Sullivan can sing. This lady has one of those voices that just makes you wanna sing along as if to say the song is directly speaking about your life. Similar to Miguel's 'All I Want Is You' this song just has that old school vibe to it.

Big Boi - Follow Us ft. Vonnegutt
'Shutterbug' was of course a banger and proved that musical genius Big Boi still has it in him to get us all bubbling. With the track 'Follow Us' he has once again proved that no-one knows how get featuring artists to bring a song alive like he does and I would have to say that this song is definitely a riding track.