The Billie Holiday classic, "Strange Fruit" gets an update courtesy of Common, John Legend and production by Kanye West. Race relations in America has come so far from the days of lynching, but racism is still rampant. Solid message this Holiday Season: celebrate your life, your roots and don't give up the fight.
Word! Consquence is back with his second solo album Cons TV. The G.O.O.D. Music Fam hookups on the new video for "Whatever U Want"... yummy!
Seriously -- cannot stop listening to "Layback" off of Ross' new album Deeper Than Rap. Rick's album is thugalicious beginning to end, but it's Robin Thicke's smooth vocals on the chorus that undresses women instantaneously. Sure Robin's really a poor man's Justin Timberlake, but the boy really goes bring magic to the track. Rawse-poo just sold over 125 million records, so it's not to say the rapper doesn't still have game, but how much of that is really thanks to his collabos?! Think about it: Pain, Wayne, Kanye, Legend, Ne-Yo, The Dream, Trina, Foxy Brown -- that's a lot of chart toppers on a steroid-juiced budget. Ross still has what it takes to move Hip-Hop forward, but is riding into mainstream on the curtails of Billboard's Top 100 list really what he's about? Jury's still out, but until then, press play and repeat. Maybach Music is this summer's anthem.
Was it just me, or did John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae send every woman in the audience home a little more frustrated about her love life?! One of the hottest tours of the moment stopped in
Corinne started off the night with "Trouble Sleeping" from her self-titled album, and that set the mood for the rest of show. The audience fell in love with Corinne as she belted "Put Your Records On," and they felt her heartache as she yearned for her significant other in "I'd Like To." But Corinne's best performance was her rendition of the Led Zeppelin classic, "Since I've Been Loving You."
Corinne tells a beautiful story on stage, but you have to wonder: what kind of guy would break such a great girl's heart? The answer: John Legend! Damn, he's hot, but what a player! On stage, John is sexual enigma -- he seems all innocent behind the piano, but his bachelor tendencies come out to play as he croons the audience.
He opened his set with "Stereo" getting the audience riled up and ready to party. But then, just as you would expect, John switches the mood from fun to flirty exposing his cheater ways in "Number One." His set list resembles the seesaw of emotions felt throughout both Once Again and Get Lifted.
Like any guy who's broken a girl's heart, John reels you in with his performances of "Save Room" and "Where Did My Baby Go," and right when you think you have something special, he hurts you with the bitter truth in "Another Again." Thanks a lot, John. Of course, there's always the honeymoon period, and John pleases the crowd with "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)" and drives the women crazy with "Slow Dance," especially if you're the lucky woman chosen to share a dance on stage with John.
Minus all the promiscuous fun and love ballads, John knows how to put on an amazing show. He gets serious with "Coming Home," and during his encore (yeah, don't be that person who leaves the concert early -- wait for the house lights to come on), John brings his drive for social change home with "Show Me." He ends the show encouraging everyone to donate to the "Show Me" Campaign -- a grassroots movement dedicated to fighting economic and spiritual poverty. John will love you, cheat on you, and dump you all in one night -- and it's never felt so good.
Originally published @ http://www.collegeclub.com/article/view/3654
John Legend might have sailed into the hip-hop scene via Kanye West, but on his sophomore album, Once Again, John proves he's an artist in his own right. Produced by Kanye, Raphael Saadiq, and will.i.am, Once Again brings back soul and R&B from the '60s and '70s and combines those sounds with contemporary hip-hop beats.
This time around, John takes us on a lustful journey as he falls in and out of love, goes after the wrong women, and loses the right woman. Of course, he's still creeping around behind his girl's back in "Again" (I feel so alive, it won't last, but it's alright/fleeting joy and fading ecstasy/here's it going again, oh/sneaking fruit from the forbidden tree/sweet taste of sin). Compulsive cheating aside, John strives to find true love with one girl in "Each Day Gets Better" (I thought about it for far too long/But I never had someone to sing about/Until I met her, now each day gets better).
Musically, this album steps away from the brash sounds of hip-hop. On tracks "Save Room" and "Slow Dance," John's rugged voice is backed with doo-wop style vocals and soulful guitar strings, creating a retro sound. "Show Me" opens with a raw guitar intro, and John's soft voice adds soulful emotion to the song -- easily making this the best track on the album.Although the album is heavily soul-based, the hip-hop feel is not lost. On the Kanye-produced track "Heaven," samples from soul classic, "Heaven Only Knows" are combined with hip-hop drum beats. "Maxine" is bossa nova driven, and the addition of synthesizers creates a soft bass line that keeps your feet tapping and body moving along with every beat.
The music and lyrics together drive the success of this record. Whether he's getting it on in public in "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)" or praying for the safe return of soldiers in this heavy political climate in "Coming Home," John manages to make any topic sound beautiful.
Originally published @ http://www.collegeclub.com/article/view/3500
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