Above is the NEW EP from Nikki Jean and her group - Nouveau Riche - and it’s a unique mix of some hip hop and some rock combined with Nikki’s vocals that you should open your ears 2. It is 8 trax that are surely unique compared 2 anything else u are likely listening 2 now so you should definitely DL above if you’re looking for something NEW and fresh 2 bump in ur stereo. And not only does the Free Money EP have a fresh sound, but also verses and lyrics with a message - “Melody” being my early favorite. And find out more about NIkki Jean & Nouveau Riche with our exclusive interview with Nikki Jean u may have missed!
Down below, check out the DL link 2 the FULL Ludacris & DJ Drama mixtape as well as some NEW R&B trax from Jagged Edge & R. Kelly. The trax didn’t really strike a favorable chord with me personally, but a couple of the Kellz trax are definitely solid. Other than that, peep a couple video premieres from Lil’ Wayne & T-Pain as well as The Alchemist! (Hopefully “Disperse” later 2day!) Enjoy!
Sophrosyne: The sound minded Kanye West knew what he wanted, how he wanted it done, and how to execute it. Every detail had felt like he had delt with it personally. I have never seen another artist try so hard to deliver such an incredible performance. Thank you Mr. West, and thank you for the very personal artist book that was given out after the show titled “Thank You, And You’re Welcome.” The artist book was very well done; Kanye speaks the TRUTH. As an artist I really appreciate all the hard work and effort that was put in, because let’s face it, presentation is everything. ‘Ye appropriated the concert experience to the art form that it’s supposed to be. Mixing a phenomenal “theater” experience w/ his spine chilling records booming through the UC was quite the experience. “Graduation” is really the album that kicked off all of this out of the box ingenuity for the music business, especially the two very artistic “Flashing Lights” videos which blew my mind. The show deserves a 5 star rating for the 5 star performances from Lupe & FNF, N.E.R.D. Rihanna, and Kanye West. [Max G.]
Lupe Fiasco kicked off the show with “The Coolest” over the “Let There Be Light” Justice beat, as expected and it was even sicker live! That got me right into it as he brought out the lovely Nikki Jean for “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” and “Little Weapon” with Bishop G gettin’ in his verse. The highlight of Lupe’s set was “Go Go Gadget Flow” as he sped through the Chicago-inspired hit at an even faster break-neck speed, dropping the beat for the 2nd verse and going a capella at like 1000 words per second it seemed. Haha, the crowd got really into it and fed off the energy from Lupe and his guests and that moment was just ridiculous. “Paris, Tokyo” took on an interesting sound as Sarah Green provided the chorus and a beautiful solo 2 conclude the song, wow. Her voice was booming! Lupe then introduced the Chicago electronic duo, He Say She Say, as they performed “Crash Dummie”. I loved it and was prolly one of 10 people in the UC who knew the words, but I hope others came away impressed. Matthew Santos was the next guest 2 arrive as Lupe & himself performed “Fighters” followed by “Superstar”, which the crowd went nuts for! And then Lupe fittingly ends his set with “Daydreamin’” as him and Bishop G just lost it on stage with Santos and Sarah Green providing some backup vocals, setting up the stage for N.E.R.D., Rihanna, & Kanye West! (Such a beautifull daayyy…!) I’ve seen Lupe Fiasco LIVE 3 times now and I’d have to say that this was my favorite of the 3 as he brought the perfect amount of energy to kick off the show, gave us a couple surprises, and perfectly organized the song order and guest list, allowing his fellow FNF artists shine in such a big spotlight…although no GemStones for Friday night :(. The United Center finally filled in by “Superstar” and its energy did not dip one bit as after a quick 15 minute intermission, N.E.R.D. came out and straight up rocked the house. Pharrell & Co. were simply goin’ crazy, hitting their groove with “Rock Star” and continuing with “Spaz” (featuring a surprise dance performance from Chris Brown!), then “Lapdance”, “Everyone Nose”, & their biggest hit (so far) with “She Wants To Move”, bringing up some lucky ladies in the first couple rows to ‘move’ on stage. They got myself and the crowd a lil’ more active as we were swaying, spazing, jumping, and just going crazy by the last few trax! After a lil’ longer intermission, out came Rihanna, who had her moments on stage, jumping from hit 2 hit. I thought she did pretty good and was relieved that her voice didn’t sound significantly different than on the radio; it’s just that… for most of the crowd, I would think the energy dropped off a little bit, especially after Lupe and N.E.R.D. and the anticipation for Kanye. While I liked Rihanna’s set, it just didn’t seem 2 fit, but I suppose that’s debatable since she definitely had the crowd going for “Don’t Stop The Music” and her finale, “Umbrella”. Just one more intermission and out comes Kanye West on his futuristic space set 2 “Good Morning”. It was almost surreal at first for me and it took me a few trax 2 fully appreciate what I was seeing. He jumped through track to track with no breaks and a sick storyline where his spaceship crashed and his control center dying. The organization was pure genius. He gets on his “Spaceship”, performs the song, cuts it off as the spaceship is crashing, and bam! “All Falls Down”! The beginning/middle of his set included many hits like “Diamonds” (wow @ looking at the whole crowd w/ the diamonds in the sky), “Flashing Lights”, & “Through The Wire” 2 name a few. I was lovin’ these performances but had this unsatisfied feeling in the back of my mind… like I know he’s still got somethin for us. He finally hit “Hey Mama” and as expected, the emotional performance even further ignited the crowd as the United Center got a lil more louder than ‘loudest’ when Kanye motioned for the crowd, singing “I wanna scream so loud for you!”. Whoo, and so begins the “chills” segment of Kanye West’s set. Up next, as I correctly predicted, “Stronger”! Stadium status right there. Everyone was going 2 lose it, we all knew it was going 2 be something special, and Kanye delivered! “Is this what you’ve been waiting for?” was the embedded theme on ‘Ye’s chorus’ as he was spazzing on his suddenly higher, spaceship platform stage. Magnificent. Up next he came up with “Homecoming” as the preceding “Hey Mama” and “Stronger” catapulted him and his spaceship for their return 2 Earth! And of course, being in Chicago, “Homecoming” had an even greater, special meaning. When Kanye got 2, “And if you don’t know by now, I’m talkin’ bout CHI-TOWN!”, there’s no way the hometown crowd was lifted 2 another level (unless u were the 40-yr old lady a couple rows in front of us with Stronger shades, no one else sitting w/ her, and no reaction at all, haha!). ‘Ye ad-libbed a couple “It’s my town! CHI-Town!” lines in the subsequent chorus and we were at the palm of his hand! For his grand finale, Kanye was now able 2 “Touch The Sky”, which again carried greater significance for us as fellow Chicago boy Lupe Fiasco came out 2 another huge ovation for his 3rd verse. My personal favorite moment came at the end of Lupe’s verse with the lines, “Now let me end my verse right where the horns are like, uhhh!”, as Lupe, Kanye, AND Tibs jumped up with the exclamation point on a fantastic concert! Wow, what a great feeling. The last 4 songs were Kanye’s best performances IMO and left me shakin’ well afterwards. Kanye introduced his helpers on the night and left us all with a personal, emotional, and uplifting message that u can see parts of in the recapped YouTube video below! Also, check out the tracklist of the performances in order from Lupe Fiasco & Kanye West! [Sgt. Tibs]
10. “Daydreamin’” f/ Bishop G, Matthew Santos, & Sarah Green
Kanye West LIVE @ Glow In The Dark Tour 05.23.08
01. “Good Morning”
02. “I Wonder”
03. “Heard ‘Em Say”
04. “Through The Wire”
05. “Champion”
06. “Get ‘Em High”
07. “Diamonds From Sierra Leone”
08. “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”
09. “Flashing Lights”
10. “Spaceship”
11. “All Falls Down”
12. “Gold Digger”
13. “Good Life”
14. “Jesus Walks”
15. “Hey Mama”
16. “Stronger”
17. “Homecoming”
18. “Touch The Sky” f/ Lupe Fiasco
***NOTE: Neither Lupe or Kanye did every track in its entirety. Correct me if I’m wrong on the order, but I’m almost positive that it’s all correct! [Sgt. Tibs]
05.24.08
From Left 2 Right: Max G., Nikki Jean, Sgt. Tibs
We went over 2 Saint Alfred’s for the last-minute meet & greet with one of our favorite up and coming artists - Nikki Jean! We were greeted warmly right away, and had a good chance to meet face to face with such a good interviewee and talented artist. It is refreshing 2 see an artist give back like this and put forth a lot of effort 2 give fans like us a chance to not only meet her but get to know her as a person. She was so nice and warm 2 everyone and we wish her nothing but the best of luck in the future cuz she flat out deserves it!
(Note the first official Limited G (Max G.’s clothing line) shirt with the GWHH logo in glow in the dark paint, which aspired a certain glow at the tour. Chyea!)
Finally as a bonus below, check out YouTube-piano sensation David Sides as he plays the Lupe Fiasco mega-hit - “Superstar”! Enjoy! [Sgt. Tibs & Max G.]
NEW, Old GemStones above as the track sounds like GemStones back when he was Gemini. Still a good one tho w/ production by FNF producer Prolyfic and our boy Lupe on the hook! I got 2 see one of the duo above in person 2nite @ the Glow In The Dark Tour in Chicago! (and disappointed GemStones wasn’t there, thought he would be…) Anyway, the show lives up 2 all the hype and reviews u have been seeing. I’m STILL blown away. All the acts were awesome - Lupe as always (adding a nice Chicago flair 2 his usual set), N.E.R.D. rockin’ the building w/ their energy, even Rihanna coming through with some solid performances, and of course Kanye 2 Tha! I’ma save my details and full review for sometime after Saturday’s show where the whole group will be in Chicago again doin their thing 2morrow nite! I just don’t want 2 spoil it for our potential Chicago readers and concert-goers, but one thing I DO want 2 share… one of our favorite artists and gracious interviewees - Nikki Jean - will be appearing @ St. Alfred’s at 1531 North Milwaukee in Chicago from 3:30-4:30 for a meet & greet where she will sign autographs and take pictures! I am likely attending w/ Max G. so maybe we’ll see ya there, haha. Ok, wow, look @ the time of this post — time 2 get some zzzzzzzzz’s.. Enjoy the track!
The above live performance is simply a must-see. Lupe straight up rips it word for word on my favorite track from Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool and Nikki Jean provides the nice, soulful chorus. Their energy really gets the crowd going and you can tell as the song progresses 2 the very end. I had 2 watch that another time myself, haha. A few notes on the NEW trax below… really feelin’ the Taio Cruz/Estelle RMX and “War Is Necessary”, which I’m re-posting with the CDQ version. The “Flashing Lights” track is the Glow In The Dark Version, which is not live, but CDQ and features a slight, yet interesting take on the track, that I’m sure sounds 10x better if that is used when he performs it in his show. Finally, the Jay-Z track is an interesting one as he fired back at DeShawn Stevenson in support of his boy LeBron James - in fact, it is one of the strangest, most entertaining feuds (LeBron & DeShawn) that I can remember. There’s a link 2 the full story below the track that is a must-read if you’re interested in the details. Enjoy!
FULL, CDQ, Rumored Track off upcoming album, Sir Luscious Left Foot*Tibs Fav.
Some HOT stuff for ya 2day, including a NEW (and CDQ) track by Big Boi, Dre 3000, & Raekwon! 3000 is rappin’ about the hokey pokey, haha! Good stuff. Below are some cool videos featuring Chicago’s finest - Kanye & Lupe of course! Kanye has been releasing some videos from his listening party for Graduation from back in the summer and they are both interesting videos that help enhance the songs even more! Below those 2 videos, you can check out a sneak peak at the LIVE performance of Lupe Fiasco, Nikki Jean, & Matthew Santos at the Hot 97 Full Frontal Show! Nikki Jean almost missed it and got on stage as the music began, haha! Anyway, it’s a cool look at what u can expect for the Glow In The Dark Tour, which I can’t wait for! Enjoy!
Yes! The HHSML video PREMIERE is finally here! For my favorite track off the album, Lupe & Nikki traveled down to H-Town for the video, illustrating the telling of the brilliant story of a rapper on the come-up! Low-budget vid, but you gotta love it! Lupe’s got his usual swag and Nikki Jean’s smile lights up the video! The various cameos by the H-Town rappers are a nice treat as well! You can also check the NEW video for KRS-One’s latest track AND a hot song by Konvict Muzik’s Colby O’Donis, produced by Timbaland! Enjoy!
Crazy day full of travel and extreme sickness but it’s all good now as I’m back home watchin my Bulls cruise 2 a much-needed W, haha. (Wait, scratch that, Bulls are now blowing an 18 point lead in the 4th… ugh! UPDATE: Bulls successfully completed the crapfest and lost 110-106.. funny how things changed so quickly.) Anyway, here’s some of 2day’s NEW trax and videos including a cool RMX of a growing T.I. single “Hurt”, the latest, NEW single from Rihanna that will be on the re-release of Good Girl Gone Bad, and more NEW trax f/ Talib Kweli, Musiq SoulChild & Estelle, & Ryan Leslie! There is also a video PREMIERE of the latest from the Teriyaki Boyz f/ Pharrell & Busta Rhymes below!
A couple Lupe tidbits… “Superstar” f/ Matthew Santos has climbed 2 #10 on the Billboard Hot 100! #10?! The promotion has been really stellar for the single as Lupe has performed it everywhere on national tv and went with a big-budget for the video. With the perfectly-timed drop of the RMX f/ popular southern rappers Young Jeezy & T.I., I would assume the RMX and the original will be pushed even more heavily on the radio stations everywhere across the country and I could see “Superstar” climbing even higher! That would be even more gross. Finally, catch Carson Daly 2nite as Lupe Fiasco will again be performing, potentially the “canned” performance of “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” f/ Nikki Jean?! Video will be up ASAP! Stay tuned!
Above are 2 NEW pictures, courtesy of Lupe’s blog, from his next video for “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” f/ Nikki Jean! The pics look sweet and I can’t wait for the video 2 drop on 03.18! Be on the lookout for that! On the low, I got some new music from the leaked albums of Flo Rida and Danity Kane! Diddy has been getting the best beat-makers for his MTB projects, which definitely enhance their sound. Both albums also drop on 03.18, so if ur a big fan of both, u should be in the stores that day. Finally, check out a cool look inside Timbaland’s studio and Snoop LIVE on Letterman from last nite! Enjoy!
Wow, can’t get enough of Girl Talk, so I decided to post up some dope tracks from his album Night Ripper out in 2006. Don’t sleep on it, it’s just awesome. Get the 5 tracks below fo free, and also check out Erykah Badu’s Remix of “Honey” ft. Little Brother. He’s got a lot of new music since 2006, so hit up his site HEREto get your hands on some new albums! Great stuff here, and much love to ya.
For those who missed it, enjoy the LIVE performances by Lupe Fiasco below! I especially loved how Lu got the crowd singing along at the end of “Paris, Tokyo” on Carson Daly - something that I’d imagine is hard in that talk show setting. Overall, Lupe doesn’t miss a word in the verses and I like his additions on the chorus (Sarah Green with background vocals)… yeah, I just love everything about these performances, including that suit on Leno, haha. Anyway, love ‘em for yourself and watch them below! Enjoy!
And if you were wondering, Lupe Fiasco did perform “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” w/ Nikki Jean for the Carson Daly show the other night, but for some reason the performance got canned Maybe it’ll be online somewhere, but that really stinks and its a bad break for Nikki! Our sympathies go out 2 her!
Nouveau Riche - Free Money EP - MORE
Maybe it’ll be online somewhere, but that really stinks and its a bad break for Nikki! Our sympathies go out 2 her!
