You won’t find anything too extraordinary about this Philip Andelman-directed music video, but I gotta take a time-out to support my girl Rihanna. Her third studio album Loud releases physically and digitally November 16. See the tracklist here, and watch the music video for the lead single “Only Girl (In the World)” here. Good to see RiRi back in full form; not that Rated R was a let down (in fact it was quite good)–I’m just happy she’s found a way out of the depressing times that dominated her music post-Chris Brown incident.
Category Archives: Music
G.O.O.D. Friday: Kanye West – “Chain Heavy” (Featuring Talib Kweli & Consequence)
Mr. West is back with another G.O.O.D. Friday cut. And this one is special because we’ve been anticipating it for quite some time now. Kanye first performed a verse from it way back in July at the Facebook headquarters. With verses including lines like “I am the day Ice Cube met Michael Jackson / Keep him away, huh? Something might happen / This is the making of a masterpiece / So we broke out the chains and told ‘em master, peace!” and a heavy beat (pun intended) backed by a piercing theremin and Q-Tip on the keys, this has got to be one of the best Friday tracks yet. And it doesn’t hurt that fellow rappers Talib Kweli & Consequence (Tip’s cousin) round out the solid number with their very own verses. Preview and download “Chain Heavy” below. Hopefully “Mama’s Boyfriend”, the other track ‘Ye previewed at Facebook, is not too far off from release.
Download: Kanye West – “Chain Heavy” (Featuring Talib Kweli & Consequence)
[audio: Kanye West – Chain Heavy (Featuring Talib Kweli & Consequence).mp3]Look after the break to find last week’s G.O.O.D. Friday track “Looking for Trouble” (Featuring Pusha T, Cyhi the Prynce, Big Sean & J. Cole).
[Via KWBlog]
Continue reading G.O.O.D. Friday: Kanye West – “Chain Heavy” (Featuring Talib Kweli & Consequence)
Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager out now
Cudder roundup: Short film “Maniac” short film, LNWJF perfomance, ‘Wizard’ collab w/ Dot Da Genius, Bape t-shirt
Bunch of Kid Cudi news, so it’s roundup time. First up is news that actor Shia LaBeouf (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Transformers) is set to direct a short film based on Cudi’s Man on the Moon II track “Maniac.” Cage and St. Vincent are featured on the joint, and according to Rap-Up.com Cage is friends with LaBeouf and asked for his assistence to helm the video. LaBeouf had previously directed Cage’s music video “I Never Knew You” back in 2008. While you’re waiting for this video to drop, jump after the break to watch Cudi perform “Maniac” with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. There you’ll also find photographic proof that the Cudi/LaBeuf collab is actually going down.
Speaking of collabs, Cudi has publically announced that he is forming a rock band with close friend and producer Dot Da Genius. They are calling themselves ‘Wizard.’ When Cudi picked up the guitar for the very first time he became fascinated with the instrument and surprised himself by how quickly he picked up on playing chords. He says that three songs for the album have been completed, and he’ll continue to record more songs on the tour bus as he and Dot make “college runs.”
Last, but certainly not least.. To celebrate the release of his sophomore album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, Cudi has teamed up with Bape again to sell a BAPE x Kid Cudi Rager t-shirt. The tee will sell in black and white variants and like always will be limited in quantity. If you want one plan on camping outside the Soho Bape store in NYC on November 9, the same day the album hits stores. And who knows, maybe Cudi will swing by and make an appearence.
[Via Rap-Up, here & here; DatNewCudi] Continue reading Cudder roundup: Short film “Maniac” short film, LNWJF perfomance, ‘Wizard’ collab w/ Dot Da Genius, Bape t-shirt
Kanye West reveals (interchangeable) album covers in Ustream chat
Earlier today Kanye West hopped onto a Def Jam conference call and Ustream to talk about his upcoming album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
In regards to the album, ‘Ye dropped the following bits of info. The album is about a “year and a half in the making” and he collaborated with RZA, Pete Rock, No I.D., Q-Tip, Rick Ross, Nicki Manaj, Rihanna, Fergie, and Elton John, among many other surprise guests. He also confirmed that a new version of “See Me Now” features Big Sean, along with original guests Jay-Z, Beyonce, and Charlie Wilson.
While he was taking calls from the press, Kanye held up the physical album casing. It’s a red three-fold case with a very interesting design. In addition to the CD, the album comes with 5 interchageable covers. You can swap them in and out of the front to give the case different looks. We have already seen four of the five covers by artist George Condo; they include the two “Power” single artwork, the “Runaway” single artwork, and of course the “banned” album cover, still pixelated.
When asked about how the final tracks will differ from the leaked versions, Kanye responded, “I don’t want to give away exactly what I did differently, you know you just gotta hear it and feel the surprises.” And then came the best quote of the call from Cyhi Da Prynce (who stood by on the call with Big Sean and Pusha T): Referring to the leaks he said, “What ya’ll got is uncooked meat.”
‘Ye also discussed the inspiration behind his short film Runaway: “the colors…fantasty/future mashup…express some of the feelings that I’ve had as a creative dealing with a culture that beats down on creativity and anything that’s different.”
He said that the “uphill challenge” of the past year pushed him to make better products (ie. G.O.O.D. Fridays, the new album). Speaking of new product, he spilled that his collab album with Jay-Z is due out “early next year.” Cheers to that!
Watch the entire Ustream conference call after the break. Continue reading Kanye West reveals (interchangeable) album covers in Ustream chat
Trailer: Kid Cudi – MOTM2: The Legend of Mr. Rager
Cudder is continuing the cinematic theme with the release of his sophomore album. Just like he did with the first Man on the Moon album, Kid Cudi has put together a short trailer to promote his music (that is organized by scene, mind you). There really isn’t much to it, unfortunately. There’s some shreaking and nicely cut shots, and now we know where those posters originate from. Look after the break for 3 “deluxe” trailers; they are 30 second spots from the DVD documentary “Journey of Mr. Rager” Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager drops November 9. Preorder now.
[Via DatNewCudi] Continue reading Trailer: Kid Cudi — MOTM2: The Legend of Mr. Rager
G.O.O.D. Friday: Kanye West – “The Joy” (Featuring Pete Rock, Jay-Z, Charlie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield & Kid Cudi)
G.O.O.D. Friday, ya’ll. This past week’s joint features Jay-Z, Charlie Wilson, Kid Cudi, and newcomers Pete Rock and the late, great Curtis Mayfield (his 1970s hit “The Makings Of You” gets sampled). Also sampled is Syl Johnson’s “Different Strokes”. Preview and download below. Again, the cover art does contain nudity so hop after the break if you want the uncensored image.
Download: Kanye West – “The Joy” (Featuring Pete Rock, Jay-Z, Charlie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield & Kid Cudi)
[audio: Kanye West – The Joy.mp3][Via KWBlog]
Music video: Daft Punk – “Derezzed” (new TRON footage!)
Ah ha ha, look what found its way onto the Internet. It’s Daft Punk. It’s new Tron: Legacy footage. Turn up your speakers and mash play right this second.
Tron: Legacy hits theatres December 17. The Daft Punk-infused soundtrack drops December 7. Game on.
This music video was made with 700,000 Lite-Brite pegs in stop motion
Never heard of David Crowder Band? That’s fine because the most interesting part of their new music video “SMS (Shine)” are the visuals.
The video portraying a love story made completely of LITE-BRITE pegs was done solely by hand. Even details such as the piano playing in the background and the monkeys beating a drum in perfect time was done free of digital affects and computer animation. It took 2,150 man hours, 1,200 LITE-BRITE images, 83 friends and 148 pizzas to complete the video.
Yeah. Enjoy!
[Via Engadget]
Kanye West x Jay-Z EP ‘Watch the Throne’ is now a full length album
Told you the Kanye West news was far from over. In an interview with MTV, Kanye West revealed that the upcoming collab EP with big brother Jay-Z will in fact be a full length album. ‘Ye said, “We did like five [songs] so far, and then a few of them kind of were out there, and I put them on my album. Sorry, Jay!” He’s most definitely talking about G.O.O.D. Friday turned My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy tracks “Monster” (Featuring Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver) and “So Appalled” (Featuring Jay-Z, Pusha T, Swizz Beatz & CyHi Da Prynce). West continued, “But we’ve got some more, and we’re going to the south of France at the end of this month just to record our ideas.” See Kanye fans? Fantasy may contain a bunch of songs we’ve already heard, but ‘Ye and Jay-Z have many more tunes up their sleeves. Looking forward to it.
Single: The Black Eyed Peas – “The Time (The Dirty Bit)”
The Peas are pumped to unleash the follow-up to their 2008 hit album The E.N.D. The new record is appropriately titled The Beginning and it drops November 30. Says frontman will.i.am: The Beginning is our departure to the new…always pushing new sounds and technology…I can’t wait till you experience all that we have been cooking up…”
Can’t wait that long for new BEP music, huh? Well here’s a treat! Take a listen to their brand new single called “The Time (The Dirty Bit)”. The song covers the Dirty Dancing hit “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” originally recorded by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes in 1987. And you know its got that signature BEP electro hip-hop headbanger twist to it. Will it resonate with fans, radio listeners, and party-goers as loud as “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling”? I don’t think it’s as catchy as those two, but nothing will keep this new single from quickly becoming a chart-topper. A music video has already been made to accompany the single and it should drop sometime soon.
‘Ye’s ‘Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ tracklist enclosed, album up for preorder
The not-really banned album cover has made its way into iTunes all pixelated, along with the tracklist for Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and here it is:
1. Dark Fantasy
2. Gorgeous (Featuring Raekwon & Kid Cudi)
3. POWER
4. All Of the Lights
5. Monster (Feauting Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver)
6. So Appalled (Featuring Jay-Z, Pusha T, CyHi Da Prynce & Swizz Beatz)
7. Devil In a New Dress
8. Runaway (Featuring Pusha T)
9. Hell Of a Life
10. Blame Game (Featuring John Legend & Pusha T)
11. Lost In the World
12. See Me Now (Bonus Track)
Right off the bat what do you notice? That’s right–we’ve already heard half the album already! “Power” and “Runaway” served as the first two singles, and “Monster”, “So Appalled”, “Devil in a New Dress”, and “See Me Now” were all included in Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Friday collection. Bummer, eh not so much. I was definitely expecting an epic, lengthy album, but you have to take into consideration what Kanye has provided fans for the past few months. The G.O.O.D. Friday collection has us anticipating a new Kanye track every single Friday–and this series will continue past the album’s release until Christmas time. The album may be lacking in new content, but it cetainly contains the best of G.O.O.D. Friday along with hotly anticipated tracks like “All of the Lights” and “Lost in the World.” If you don’t play into the leak game, half of this album will be brand new for you to take in and enjoy. And take note that the contents of the album are subject to change before the release date. Lost tracks like “Mama’s Boyfriend” and “Chain Heavy” might just find their way onto it. For now, preview a bunch of the songs by watching Runaway again and look forward to this week’s G.O.O.D. Friday track. The fifth studio album from Kanye West drops November 22. His collab EP with Jay-Z called Watch the Throne will follow soon after. There really is no end in sight.
Preorder information! The standard version includes all 12 tracks (iTunes) and the deluxe version (iTunes/Amazon) packs all 12 tracks plus the Runaway short film. (FYI — “Monster” has turned up as the third single. Preorder on iTunes today to instantly download it.) You might want to opt for the physical in-store copy; Kanye promises there are five different album covers (including the “banned” one) and they will all ship inside the CD case.