FULL, CDQ, Track off upcoming album, First Love, in stores 08.19! *Tibs Fav.™
I’m lovin’ everything I’m hearing from R&B new-comer Karina Pasian, and this track is different than the previous ones we’ve posted off her debut album, First Love, in stores this coming Tuesday! “90s Baby” is sure 2 be a radio hit - it’s got the uptempo beat and the equally catchy hook, but there’s somethin’ about Karina that I can already see separates her. While this song isn’t as lyrically deep as her other songs, it is a nice track that exposes a lil’ bit more about who Karina Pasian is, a good idea for what looks 2 be the first track off her album! Below, there’s some more R&B featuring some big names like Brandy, Trey Songz, & Bobby Valentino, as well as some solid hip hop cuts - namely a CDQ version of an old T.I. mixtape track, a nice Talib Kweli feature, & a solid, passionate banger from Cassidy & Cory Gunz! Finally, peep the latest video premiere from Musiq SoulChild! Enjoy!
N*E*R*D “Everyone Nose RMX” f/ Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, & Pusha T
VIDEO PREMIERE!
Thanks 2 S-Preme in our Jabbify, I was able 2 catch the world premiere of the long-anticipated “Everyone Nose RMX” on BET’s 106 & Park and thx 2 Connie over @ OnSmash w/ the send-thru, we have the video online and above @ GWHH! I was expecting big things from the video and it delivered. I love the crazy, fresh effects throughout and the video game / electronic type elements illustrated, w/ everyone lookin’ and actin’ all fly throughout the video. It definitely personifies the style of N*E*R*D and its equally fresh guest features - Kanye, Lupe, & Pusha T from Clipse. I’ve also been thinking about who delivers the best verse out of the 4 in this track for quite some time now, and I’ma throw it out there that if I had 2 choose one who really really killed it, it’s Pusha T. His flow is just ridiculous over the awesome beat and people shouldn’t sleep on him w/ CRS likely overshadowing him on this song 2 the casual fan. Any thoughts on this as well? Chat or comment away! (I should note tho that Kanye, and Lupe especially shine brighter lyrically..) It’s a MUST-WATCH video so please take the time 2 check it out above! That’s all I really got for now, besides a boatload of trax and other videos for ya below! Hip hop, R&B, Underground, Mainstream, something for everyone so just check it out below! Enjoy!
Finally the VIDEO PREMIERE for “Disperse” by Consequence f/ GLC & Really Doe has arrived! As said earlier, this was one of my favorite trax of ‘07 and the video really does the song justice. They illustrate the story that all 3 rappers touch on in their verses and are just havin’ fun, especially Lu and Cons throughout the vid, haha. All the while, everyone’s lookin’ pretty fly. Definitely a MUST-SEE video above so don’t sleep. The track is off of Don’t Quit Your Day Job, which is in stores now!
A bunch of trax below that u can DL, not a lot of special ones, but definitely check out a couple good hip hop trax from the Minneapolis MC Muja Messiah f/ Black Thought of The Roots, which fans of The Roots will enjoy as well as the Guru feature track where Guru spits it pretty nicely (unfortunately his verse is interrupted by a lil’ shout out, ugh!). Mainly hip hop trax below but also some R&B w/ One Chance & Donnie Klang! Enjoy!
CONTEST:
Head over 2 lupethefiasco.blogspot.com for a brand NEW contest for all the VIDEO DIRECTORS out there! Basically, direct a creative music video for a Lupe Fiasco song and you could WIN an autographed copy of Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool as well as have ur video featured on Lupe Fiasco’s OFFICIAL Blog! CLICK HERE for the FULL details!
So here’s a lil somethin’ different up above - instead of a feature track, check out a sweet mixtape sent over from our friends at HIP HOP UPDATE - a themed mixtape called The Sole Of Hip Hop, where they compiled some of the best trax about fresh kicks! As somewhat of a shoehead myself, and certainly Max G. is up on his shoe game, we are fans of how the sneaker culture influences hip hop and vice versa. This mixtape is a nice reminder of how the two cultures blend 2gether. Peep the tracklist by clicking on the back cover above or check out the post at HHU! Down below is ur NEW music featuring some big names like Ne-Yo, jennifer Hudson, Kanye West, Mos Def, & MORE as well as NEW videos featuring more behind the scenes looks at upcoming videos as well as a recap of the Rock The Bells concert in Chicago we attended, Lupe Fiasco on CNN, a video premiere from The Game, & Jim Jones losing his mind and dissing Nas when Nas can absolutely destroy him! Haha, enjoy!
Producer: The Neptunes - Freestyle over the Common single, “Universal Mind Control” *Tibs Fav.™
LARGE update here so here’s some thoughts… first and foremost, Bullet.. straight up stepping his game up. DL his ridiculous freestyle of Common’s latest single “Universal Mind Control”. Perfect beat for Bullet 2 shine on with his fast, twisted Chicago flow and they got creative with chopping up his voice in a couple instances. (Not 2 mention Common killed this as well…) He’s on the verge of being the next big thing out of the Chi so don’t sleep. Below, a TON of NEW trax f/ the long-awaited return of Lil’ Wayne on “A Milli”, celebrating his million copies sold of Tha Carter III in the first week. Some more big names of hip hop and R&B featured below like Nas, The Game, Day26 as well as quality trax from some lesser known names like Mickey Factz & The Cool Kids, Dwele, & perhaps my favorite song from the batch below, “Can’t Do Without Ya” by R&B singer, Francisco! Scroll below and you’ll find somethin’ u like and u can also check out some videos featuring Bun B, The Roots, Bobby Valentino, & MORE below! Enjoy!
And for all u Chicago visitors, GemStones is throwin’ a bday bash and mixtape release party TONIGHT!! All the info is on the flyer at the very bottom with GemStones himself performing at midnite (along with some FNF friends, maybe Lupe??). Thanks 2 KayCee and hopefully Max G. & I will be there 2 see ya there! Also, last-minute addition of the K-Salaam & Beatnick RMX of Common’s “Go” & Lil’ Wayne “On Me” that u can DL below (spotted @ HHU)! Enjoy!
Back again with another unique feature for GWHH - a review of N*E*R*D’s newest album, Seeing Sounds, just released in stores this week! Simply click the ‘Reviews’ tag above and check out our previous reviews! (Here I Stand,Tha Carter III, & The Glow In The Dark Tour in Chicago)
Seeing Sounds is a perfect title for the album; right away, the listener can see the hip-hop production mixed with rock, a unique element that defines N*E*R*D* with a sound unlike anything listeners have ever heard. The reason for the title goes deeper than that as N*E*R*D member, Shay states,
“It’s a mixture of senses that may cause a person to experience colorful hearing, auditory smell. For example, you might see something, and it might trigger a song. You might hear something, and it might trigger a taste in your mouth. When we created this album, it was the music we envisioned while creating it. We decided it would be the appropriate title for the album.”
Their vision was executed very well in the music and I think fans of hip hop and rock alike will enjoy parts of this album, at the very least. The personification of this vision for the album has to lie within one of my favorites - “Spaz”. As Pharrell describes,
“[The song] ‘Spaz’ is [a] nostalgic, hip-hop feeling with some drum and bass. It becomes a big, tall monster. It’s almost like this big gorilla looking down at you. If he smacks you, he kills you. His fingers are the size of your body. That’s kinda what we’re doing. We’re facing this big monster of, of what we know is out there, of what we see, that big monster of energy.”
While the production of the album is its most consistent attribute, I would say the lyrics throughout Seeing Sounds are the most inconsistent. The track, “Love Bomb” contains elements of both brilliance and non-sense, in fact, and illustrates similar patterns seen throughout the entire album.
“Can’t you see?
This is the Truman show baby
Cuz when they fight who dies is you
Ohhhh what if you unscrew me?
We’ve got the same gear and the same tools
But how you gonna catch up with your head hanging down
Whatcha see staring at the ground?
But I believe, even without a clue
You’ve got sunlight
And it can be your guide
No more political dreams
Not another excuse
Don’t need another love song when you the love bomb..
To just blow us away
To freakin’ blow the lights out
Turning night to day
And root from other way
Just to make it right now
Fuck what the government say
We gotta save some lights now
Is it ok?”
- N.E.R.D. “Love Bomb”
The important idea to note about the lyrics, however, is that the “non-sense” I’m speaking of can actually be interpreted positively as seen above in “Love Bomb”. They spread their message with a very unique approach that I’m not sure I like, or even fully comprehend sometimes, but I definitely respect. The lyrics are quite unique, that in some cases, it provides for some deep reflecting to try and understand what they mean behind the “non-sense”. The one area I believe the lyrics can improve in is in the choruses. One of the first things I concluded after a couple listens of the album was the repetitiveness of almost every chorus. Sometimes a simple phrase is repeated every so often (See: “Everyone Nose”, “Anti Matter”, “Spaz”, & more..) that it takes away from the depth of the verses and limits the album’s lasting appeal. I still do enjoy most of the songs, but will I still feel as strongly a couple weeks, even months down the road when the repetitiveness of the choruses sway the meter higher on the annoying scale? Time will determine that, but it is one concern of the album that holds it back a little bit. Luckily, in almost all the tracks, the beats are never the same throughout and actually switch very drastically for certain bridges, which provides for fresh tracks and doubles as an effective strategy for a listener trying to perceive the group’s vision of Seeing Sounds.
Overall, this album is a MUST-BUY for any fan of hip hop OR rock as Seeing Sounds has some strong crossover appeal to fans of both genres. It is certainly one album I will be blaring through the speakers throughout the summer. As an added bonus, DL one more track from the album called “You Know What”. It was the one track that jumped out at me (and Lupe :D) as an instant classic when I popped in the album for the first time the other day. Be sure to pick up the album ASAP if you don’t have it already. If you hurry to your nearest Best Buy, Circuit City, or Target sometime today, you can still pick it up at its first-week discounted price of $9.99!
Slow Sunday for some hot trax, but I saw this unofficial compilation of a ton of artists over “Flashing Lights” featuring old verses from all of the above (For ex: Lupe & Santos’ “Superstar” is over the “Flashing Lights” beat.) Nonetheless, it makes for a nice listen if u can’t get enough of “Flashing Lights” (which I can’t, haha.) Down below are some big names like The Game, Akon, Pharrell, but I’m not really feelin’ any of those trax. No bigger names tho than USHER & MICHAEL JACKSON, who are apparently collaborating (with T-Pain tho… ugh) and the snippet is out on their song. We’ll see how the full version turns out but so far it sounds pretty sick! The song is credited w/ the artists listed below and shouted out by T-Pain on the track, but again, we’ll see when the full version leaks! Enjoy!
FULL, CDQ, 1999 (NEW) Track from lost album, World Record Holders*Tibs Fav.
Above is the latest from Go Getters, exclusively dropped from FSD. Go Getters, if u recall from last week, is the group consisting of Kanye West, GLC, Really Doe, & Arrowstar - a Chi-Town clique when they were all fresh in the game around 1999 and 2000. It is interesting 2 hear these trax, especially Kanye pre-accident, who sounds noticeably different. It’s some raw Chicago Hip Hop above so be sure to DL it!
The third (and final?) version of the “Flashing Lights” video has also hit the web and u can view it below! Admittedly, it goes over my head a lil’ bit on first viewing, but Kanye brings it with a deep and artistic perspective that his fans should respect. It is important to note that this “Version 3″ is the last 2 leak and hit the web, but it was in fact the first video Kanye & Co. shot for the song. They scrapped it and filmed the 2nd version that leaked last week, scrapped that, and released the one with Rita G. back awhile ago.
Scroll a lil’ more for a large batch of NEW trax featuring some big names like Usher, Lil’ Wayne, & Mario, but the one below that I’m feelin’ above the rest is the song by Danny Fernandes - an uptempo new-age R&B track with a sick beat, similar 2 Fernandes’ earlier hit “Curious”. Enjoy!
Producer: The Neptunes - FULL, CDQ, 1st Single from upcoming album, Invincible Summer*Tibs Fav.
Back from Minny w/ Max G. with a bunch of NEW trax! Above is the long anticipated (at least for me) CDQ version of Common’s “Universal Mind Control” f/ Pharrell. The Neptunes’ beat creates such a different sound than we are used 2 for Common, one that will definitely take getting used 2 with this song, and perhaps on his upcoming album, Invincible Summer. Either way, definitely a MUST-DL for ur collection! For all our Chicago readers, Common will be one act at DePaul University this Friday for only $10. That’s all the details I know, but I’m sure there is more info 2 be found and u mite run into Max G. & I there, haha. The rest of the NEW trax below are pretty solid featuring some big names like Trey Songz, R. Kelly, Ciara, & MUCH MORE! Scroll, Peep, DL, Enjoy!
Producer: The Neptunes - FULL, CDQ, NOT The Final, Final Mix? *Tibs Fav.
Definition of FIRE above. Simply put, Yeezy begged Skateboard P 2 leak this on his blog 2day and for good reason b/c the world can definitely use another reason 2 live 2day, haha. U know it’s going 2 be heat with CRS recording on tour and grabbin’ the other half of Clipse - Pusha T - for this NEW, HOT, Neptunes-produced beat! Scary part, ‘Ye said this isn’t even the “final, final mix”…! So without further adieu, DL the HOT track above and enjoy!
Karina Pasian “90s Baby” - MORE
