(RE)Wire your ipod..

Usher has somewhat fallen off of the musical recently. His last album "Here I Stand" wasn't exactly a commercial hit, and somewhere along the lines marriage, fatherhood and divorce shifted his focus.

Well thankfully he's back. The official single off of his upcoming album "Monster" is entitled Papers, but a new track just leaked named Rockband. Yes, like the game.

But guess what? The song is hot. Granted Usher is moving in a more pop-oriented direction for this album, but the RedOne produced song is slick, uptempo, and classic Usher that keeps people on the dance floor. Plus he mentions the Rolling Stones in the song, so that's automatic cool points for him.

Next up is Wale, who's track is Letter featuring John Mayer. I don't know what to say other than I love it.

I will admit I'm a huge Wale fan, so maybe I'm a little bit biased, but his music is the truth. Lyrically he's real, raw and honest, and outside of a few artists in the game now, that sort of reality is sorely lacking. Hip-hop as a culture has been suffering from a over saturation and infatuation with money, girls, and fame, but Wale, Kid Cudi and others are finally bringing back the heart of what hip-hop used to be.

I could type out all of the lyrics and reiterate what is so amazing about this track, but the song will speak for itself. His album "Attention:Deficit" hits stores Nov. 10

Mr. Fiasco + Twilight?

Yes, the one and only Lupe Fiasco recorded a bonus track for the Twilight: New Moon Soundtrack and it's definitely more rock than Lupe is known for, but it still goes in hard because lyrically he's a beast.

The track is "Solar Midnite"

Solar Midnite

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

F.A.B.O...

Yessir. Mr. Jackson is back with his upcoming album Loso's Way (Not feeling the title at all).

Anyway, he has two videos out (and I'm sure most people who are die-hard fans won't know because radio is shafting him this time around) titled "Throw It in The Bag" ft. The-Dream and "It's My Time" ft. Jeremih.

'Throw it In the Bag' is a certified club banger, and it's just a simple, fun song. Plus Claudia Jordan is the leading lady, and she's one badd chick so I like it even more.



'It's My Time' is not a super banger, but it's a passable single. Jeremih adds nothing to the song. Overall, it's decent, but the video isn't horrible. I'm hoping Fabo comes harder on the rest of the album.

First Look

Black Scale Denim First Look. They're mos def more than shirts ya dig?

via Hypebeast

Change Clothes

From Huffer Summer 09 line



"Bayside" from Stamp'd Summer 09 collection

Random Mashup..Old, New, and Unknown..

Wale ft. Lady Gaga "Chillin"



I just rep DC and PG hard because of this. And ONLY this. The dude is one of the best new rappers. And there's no autotune. Thank you.

I'm glad he's getting major label shine, because his work on the underground/local scene is fire.

I'm mad I'm just getting around to posting the video.

Mary J. Blige ft. Drake "The One"

Yea. It's hot. It's weird though that Mary and Drake are collabing (not a bad thing), HOWEVER the weirdest part is that she's using autotune. It could be a lot worse, but I mean it just makes her seem even more screechy to me. And I like Mary. Oh well. By the way, it's the rumored first single off of her upcoming album.

PS: What do you write about thought after being known as the heartbreak queen then making several albums about finding love?

Drake ft. Trey Songz "She Just Wanna Dance"

This is old as hell (since around january), but it's classic Drizzy, and Trey makes it a certified banger. Still worth a rotation on the ipod. From "The Drought is Over" (Friends With Money) Mixtape.

And, another old track resurfacing: "Right to Left" by Drake and Tanya Morgan. This is a track from the Comeback Season era, and its said that Drake's rhymes are reused in the song. I don't care. Two of my favorite hip-hop artists on one track is beyond dope.



I HATE Flo-rida. He's a sellout, horrible/whack lyricist, and one of the main reasons mainstream rap is garbage. However his song "Sweat" with Chris Brown is only being mentioned because Chris' part is smooth. I wish ANY other rapper was on this

Winter, Winter, Winter...

I love fall/winter for many reasons. Snow, snow days, heated seats, and new clothes. Y-3, the high fashion line by Adidas for the ballers has begun to release snapshots of shoes from the fall/winter 09 collection. You know I'm a fan for them. I geek for Yamamoto. He stays killing the creative game with his on point designs and color schemes.

Honja Hi







3 Colors. It's christmas in May. Thank you higher powers.

PS. The Honja Low



Credit to Highs Nobiety

Something New...

The realm of music groups is a fickle one. Danity Kane? Done. Da Band? Yea...no more. Day 26? Who knows? But they don't look to have a promising future. The point is that pop trios, quintets, and so forth are hard to maintain because of egos, cheesiness, and the fact that no one over a certain age should care about these groups. (In theory, of course.)

Now, let's meet Electrik Red, the newest group vying for the title of the 'it' girl group of the moment. Honestly I was (and still am) a little skeptical, but after listening to a few of their tracks, I'm impressed. None of them have voices to write home about, but I like the breathy, sex-filled Janet vibe they give off, and they're hot girls, so I mean that's an even BIGGER plus. But the icing on the cake is that their album is a product of one of the golden guys in music now, (Terius Nash aka The-Dream)so the songs automatically have dope production. Can pretty girls survive on being pretty girls, or can they actually stick around and create a brand for themselves that people want to support?

Have a listen for yourself.
Their new album "How to Be a Lady Vol. 1" is in stores NOW.

It's here...

"Brooklynati", the long awaited album by New York based hip-hop group is finally here. I was telling you guys about it a while ago, and it's completely worth the hype. Their what hip-hop should be: real, raw, smooth, and fun all at the same time. I won't go into a detailed review just yet, but tracks worth downloading (if you don't buy the whole album, which would be a serious mistake) are:

So Damn Down; Plan B; She's Gone; We're fly.

Hip-Hop is alive people! Now I just need to catch them live.

Retro Fresh

I haven't made a post in a while simply for lack of creativity, but I thought I'd give some shine to the man of the moment: Jimmy from Degrassi. Also known as the rapper Drake.

It's true, he's been out for a good while (at least to those who are big fans of the underground mixtape scene), but he's just started to get major exposure on the radio front. He's got the easy-going pretty boy type vibe already, and while I wasn't a huge fan before the hype and overexposure, I can definitely appreciate his interesting way of rapping/singing.

I just needed to give him his props now before I die of overexposure and hate him in a few months.

Forever...in a Day

I'm not gonna lie, I thought Day26 was completely whack, irrelevant, and with the exception of a few songs off their first album (Since You've Been Gone) I didn't expect to hear anything worth listening to from them ever again. The whole boy-band image is hard to recreate, especially among urban listeners,so the odds were definitely not in their favor. Their sophomore album "Forever in a Day" finds them finally taking a more current approach to their sound, and putting some life behind their eyes. First single "Imma Put it on Her" is catchy enough, but Diddy continues to wreck songs by 'rapping' on them and causing them to lose all cred whatsoever. The album picks up nicely on second single "Stadium Music" and the T-Pain featured "Shawty What's Up". Uptempo's are not the groups strongest asset, but they certainly put energy into the songs, making them worthy club bangers. The group sounds as harmonious as ever, but the latter part of the album doesn't sound as fresh as the beginning (the horribly produced Jermaine Dupri "Need That"), making us wonder if the group knows who they are, and what they want to sound like. In the end, the reality is they have a long time to find 'forever', but they just might get one more day to find it.

Recommended songs : "Stadium Music", "Babymaker", "Truth is a Lie"

Hit List...featuring Ya Boy

Long story short, he's become one of my new favorite artists on the mixtape scenes after he sampled "Who Am I to Say?" by Hope (one of favorite songs by the way), and proved that he's a force to be reckoned with. His flow is simple, laid back, and confident, and his lyrics are clever without being too contrived. I'll be on the lookout for more from him in the future.

Also Check out Hope's song "Who am I to Say?"

Ya Boy Myspace
Hope Myspace

Turn it up...Shout it out...

I say it a lot, music is in a recession. A recession of talent, drive, and creativity. It seems like everyone is bent on copying the same sounds, singing about the same tired club experiences, and just being damn robots. Pop music to me especially is full of over-produced, emotionless crap, and it makes turning on a radio pointless. Keri Hilson isn't exactly a svengali of music, but she's a nice departure from the same formulaic R&B dominated by few artists with few fresh ideas and sounds. Hilson's debut album "In A Perfect World" released March 24th, features the song "Knock You Down" with appearances by Kanye West and Ne-Yo. The production is breezy, enjoyable, and all artists on the track make it worth listening to. Keri may not be creative revolutionary, but she at least shows her talent and proves that maybe music isn't as formulaic as it always has been.

For a moment, there's an artist with a different approach to the same old scheme. Maybe the army of pop music machines can be defeated.

'Rebirth' of a rap superstar..

Lil Wayne has proven in the past few years that he's your typical southern rapper, having pushed himself far away from his Cash Money roots. He hasn't lost who he used to be, but instead added a quirky, eccentric, hip-hop response to Kurt Cobain type of personality to his music. We almost never know what to expect from him in interviews, performances, and albums, and with the release of his newest single from his rock inspired album "Rebirth", we're taken on yet another roller coaster ride, courtesy of Dwyane Carter.


"Hot Revolver" in theory should be a nice song. The instrumental is catchy, Wayne's guitar playing is actually not as horrible as people might assume, but combining all of that with his unique rap sounds and over auto-tuning, the song is a creative project blown up in a million pieces. The saving grace of the song ends up being the background vocals on the chorus, which gives it the only sense of catchiness throughout the song. Lil Wayne is not a singer, obviously, but the over digitization of his voice only magnifies the alien qualities that made him so unique and the song ends up making the fans possibly reaching for a revolver. To end their misery, of course.

However, I will say this in Wayne's defense; He's taking a very bold and interesting risk with this album, and maybe it's not that the songs are bad, but they just don't catch the full energy of Lil Wayne. That is the ultimate disappointment because he is like lightning in a bottle when he performs, but so far this is sounding like a spring shower in a cup. I'll sit back and wait for the final act myself.

Introducing...

(RE)Volution Street is here to enlighten the world to fresh style and music that you won't find in your day to day life, and once again this is no exception.

Let me introduce you to Tanya Morgan. The question isn't who is she, rather than who are they? Their words are "The name means nothing...and everything!" But they're much more than a name, and much more than computerized beats and cliched rhymes. Their dopeness factor comes through in their use of live instruments, poetic lyrics, and smooth delivery. Think of them as what I like to call "Neo-Hip Hop". A merger of the best of both musical worlds into music that is timeless, real, and still cranks with the best rap out there.

That is what I call a (RE)Volution.

Tanya Morgan Myspace

If you like the samples you heard, download their mixtape "Tanya Morgan is a Rap Group" Here

Be on the lookout for their upcoming album "Brooklynati" out soon

A "New Found" Interest...in some old "Friends"

A Day to Remember - New Music - More Music Videos

The time for a pulsating, insanely addicting song of the summer is almost here, and with the musical landscape not dominated by a single genre unlike years past, the field is wide open for an act to take charge of the radio airwaves. New Found Glory has stepped up to the starting gate with their new single "Listen to Your Friends", and the title alone makes it worth a listen. After all, friends don't lead friends in the wrong direction, right?

In the midst of the Fall Out Boys, the Panic! At the Disco's, Good Charlotte's and the countless other pop/rock punk bands out there, it's easy for a group without a hit in recent memory to fall into the abyss of one-hit wonders. (Bowling for Soup, anyone?) However, they're back and in full force with an energetic number that will be played at more proms, homecomings, and high school dances then necessary. That just might be the point, after all if the kids latch on to a song, the general public just might be a little more interested. The song isn't revolutionary, and pretty much sounds like the rest of "Glory's" catalog, but as long as radio spins it, the kids are happy, and the band has been plucked from obscurity, then this single should be checked off as a job well done. It isn't groundbreaking enough for song of the summer, but this is the great start of a potentially beautiful friendship

New Found Glory's sixth album "Not Without a Fight" was released February 20.

Fresh (RE)lease

Kelly Clarkson is a pop mega star, and a reality show winner. The two aren't exactly synonymous, but Clarkson proved that her insanely powerful voice was a forced to be reckoned with. Three albums and two Grammys later, Kelly is back with her fourth CD titled "All I Ever Wanted. It's being pegged as a more mature of her multi-platinum album "Breakaway" and less of the singer- songwriter vibe that was found on her less commercially successful, yet critically acclaimed third album "My December". What we have here is a track from the new album named "The Day We Fell Apart." Normally, I'm not a fan of super cheesy pop music, and thankfully this isn't that type of the song. Kelly's voice is in prime form, and the drum line in this song is so powerful that it becomes an instant rocker. The best part about her performances is when she sings, she makes sure you feel everything that she's feeling, which makes for an even better experience. A catchy melody, strong verses, and an emotion-filled delivery prove that not only is Clarkson back, but is securing her place as one of the greatest pop singers of the new millennium.

"All I Ever Wanted" is slated for a March 10, 2009 release.