Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel- Mariah Carey

When you've achieved the kind of international success Mariah Carey has in her almost 20 year career, failure is no longer an option for new musical material. She's had her fair share of commercial bombs (Glitter, obviously), and more than her share of commercial highs, (Butterfly, The Emancipation of Mimi)so for her twelfth studio album "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel", she certainly produces a winner. Mariah shared the executive production duties of this album with the golden boys of the moment The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, and arguably for the first time in a while produces a slick,cohesive contemporary album without sacrificing her "Mariah" personality.

I'm not a fan of long drawn out, but Mariah finds herself at her most intriguing when she's not flipping through vocal hoops and restrains herself and let's the music speak for itself. "Ribbon", "Candy Bling", and the much hyped "H.A.T.E.U" find Mariah going into her emotional journal and just reminiscing on life. One of the things that I enjoy about this album is that there are songs for people miss the early poppy, doo-wop Mariah ("It's a Wrap", "Angels Cry"), but she did what I hate that so many artists often do. She turns the strongest songs on the album into interludes. "Languishing" could've easily been one of a her strongest songs ever, but instead we get the condensed version.

All of the comments aside, marriage and maturity seem to agree with Mrs. Cannon, and this is a very nice conceptual album to add to her catalog of musical tricks.
Definitely a solid effort.

My Picks
Betcha Gon Know
Languishing
Candy Bling
More Than Just Friends
H.A.T.E.U

Brand New Eyes- Paramore

Very few artists can constantly convey emotions of pain, hope, anger, and fun in every song, but Hayley Williams is one of the exceptions. Young and feisty, she represents something that has been lacking from the industry for a while: passion. "Brand New Eyes", Paramore's latest effort is not a complete departure from their commercial pop-punk sound that spawned previous hits "Misery Business" and "CrushCrushCrush", but a welcome change for a band that finds themselves on a maturing lyrical journey. The beauty in this albums comes when the guitars and drums are stripped away, and a raw, acoustic sound appears. The urgency and reality in William's voice is a perfect match to lyrics that find her on a never-ending emotional journey. In the end, that's what makes Paramore such a relateable band, because we can still grow with them.

My Picks
Ignorance
Brick by Boring Brick
Looking Up
Misguided Ghosts
Turn it Off

Wow...didn't see this day coming...

I'm not EVEN a 50 Cent fan at all. He's a dense and pretty ignorant individual 95% of the time, and plus his career has been in a ditch for some time now, so it's kinda disappointing that I like his new song "Baby by Me" with Ne-Yo featured on the remix.

The title itself is already a little crass sounding and just over the top, but it ends up being a chilled out track with a very hot club beat, and if anything wins me over in this song, it's Ne-Yo. He knows how to give a song some sort of life and credibility.

So thank you Ne-Yo. And thank you 50, for not being as whack as you've been known to be

Go to Da Shady Spot to download

Black Roses

For this dying love...
Special Delivery for You and I...

Trey Songz. Ready. In stores now.

Lew Static-"Industry Rejects"

So, Lew Static found me on twitter and directed me to his mixtape.
I rarely listen to random mixtapes unless there is some sort of buzz simply because I don't have the time, but things change.

The mixtape is interesting for sure, as the Rejects (Lew Static and Drew Sarrels) don't fit into a particular mold. They're not completely alternative, but not commercial enough to be ringtone rappers either.

They definitely have some semi-generic club songs ("On Top"; "Drive Me Wild"), but these songs have fresh enough feel to them, so that even though they're not poetic masterpieces, they'll keep you interested for the remainder of the ride

"My Dreams" is where things starts to get good. Using Goapele's "Closer to My Dreams" as the instrumental for this track, Static shows more of his personality outside of the gloss that commercial hip-hop has become. Baby steps, but interesting steps for sure.

"The Greatest" is a perfect boasting track, because it's confidence and determination fused with a rock/hip-hop sound. Lyrically, there is still much more depth desired, but that can be overlooks.

Overall, it's a very easy mixtape to listen to. It tells the story of someone who is simply put, young and living life. That in itself is a reason to keep your ears tuned in. Aging makes for a very exciting life soundtrack, and the hope is that the lyrical content will continue to rise above and beyond the depths of the "hip-hop" scene we're all suffering from. Not quite and Industry Reject yet, but there's a bit of rebellious nature hidden in there.

Recommended Tracks: "My Dreams"; "Leave Me; "Go Away"

Download: Industry Rejects

I'm afraid of the mice under the bed
I hate when the darkness turns to light
Strength is my weakness, the fleeting power I crave
-Revolution Street. Vol 1

"Fear"

Drake

...Back in the Building

Get on your music ish. I've been gone on a long summer hiatus, but I'm back, and be prepared to see some changes on the site.

Revolution Street is evolving. Clothing line is on the way, we're doing big things. So please be aware and get extremely excited!!!



LeToya
Tears
Regret
I Need a U



Trey Songz
Say Aah ft. Fabolous
Jupiter Love
Black Roses




Wale
World Tour ft. Jazmine Sullivan
Ice and Rain