Happy Monday to everyone. Here’s some carefully selected songs guaranteed to help you start your week off right. In the order you should listen to them. Enjoy
Sidenote: Who you know starts off a playlist with Anita Baker and ends with Playaz Circle? And it all makes sense. Gotta love the power of music.
This list is impossible to get correct because first of all everyone’s criteria for a top artist is different. Secondly, I haven’t and don’t claim to have listened to or researched every artist out there.
Still I’m going to attempt to give my top 10 based on the following: Relevance, Social Impact, Stage Performance, Record Sales, and Catalog.
*Sidenote: No groups in this list. If I allow groups then Rolling Stones, U2, and the Beatles will take up 30% of the list before it even gets started.
1. Michael Jackson-Say what you want about all his antics over the past decade but I don’t think anyone has ever had as much of an impact on pop culture the way Mike has. From making classic albums like Thriller to starring in commercials with Michael Jordan, Mike is the BLUEPRINT in my opinion. He is the ultimate performer. If you’re a 90′s baby or an unaware 80′s baby you might want to research Michael’s concerts when he was at his peak. People literally died when they saw him. Longevity is another reason why Mike gets No.1 on my list; he’s top the charts with his through several decades and reached the entire world with his music.
2. Elvis Presley- This is a shaky pick for no.2 but just like Michael, I think Elvis’ influence on pop culture can’t be ignored. His likeness has been used over and over, his voice is often imitated, and he is credited by many as the first artist to push the envelope in America. It’s safe to say without no Elvis there would be no 2 Live Crew. Imagine a world with no 2 Live Crew.
3. Celine Dion- This is a pick based strictly on quality of work and record sales. When it comes to those two categories, Celine is undeniable. She is probably more popular outside of the United States and that’s saying something because she’s big here.
4. Frank Sinatra- Old Blue Eyes at no. 4 seems incorrect to me. I can’t name a song of his outside of “New York, New York” but there are far too many people out there that consider him great for me to ignore.
5. Mariah Carey- Much like Celine, Mariah has an international following that can’t be denied. She probably has the most extensive catalog of anyone else on this list. More No.1 Records than any of us can imagine, the respect from her peers, the look; MC is a living legend and I think she deserves this No.5 spot.
The next 5 I won’t write any explanation for. Mainly because I’m getting tired and need to wake up in 5 hours for my workout.
6. Bruce Springsteen
7. Madonna
8. Prince
9. Bob Marley
10. 2Pac
It took all of my power not to sneak Jay-Z into that list somewhere but I don’t think it would be right. If anyone has any thoughts or wants to share their top 10, feel free. I’m sure Jimi Hendrix fans probably think I’m stupid. Aretha Franklin heads are probably unsubscribing as we speak. Biggie supporters probably want to hack into my account and switch that number 10.
In case you haven’t heard, Cam’ron aka Killa aka King Joffie Joe is back!!!! His new album is set to be released next month through Asylum records.
To hold fans over between now and then, my good friend DJ Laser has compiled some of the best of Cam’ron for his latest mixtape entitled “Back Like I Never Left”.
If you had a chance to download the Stack Bundles or the Joe Budden tapes that Laser put out then you know that he knows music. I’m yet to download this one because I’m going to snatch up a hard copy while in NYC on Thursday. For those that won’t be able to do so, here’s the download link: “Back Like I Never Left” Download
Just some videos I found that I believe illustrate the good parts of this music thing.
First up, my homie Nephew from Chicago just doing what he does; spitting a few bars for the people. His mixtape Nephology 2.0 will be out real soon.
Secondly, The Dream in studio making 2 hits back to back. I love seeing people in studio creating like this. It shows the ease and difficulty that goes into making these songs that we sometimes take for granted. Dream definitely has tits hits for days.
Lastly, SlaughterHouse is getting the respect they deserve. These are 4 guys who are great on their own but were smart enough to form this super group. I think if they play their cards right they have potential to be one of the best hip-hop groups ever. I love how they all stay in their lane; nobody forcing the issue to sound like these half-ass newcomers new current rappers.
This video is for my favorite song from them, it’s called “Move On”.
Keri Hilson is officially my favorite female RnB singer and my newest celebrity crush. Just when I thought she topped herself with the “Turning Me On” video and song, she comes back with another great song and video. This time she teams up with Kanye and Ne-Yo. I think Keri is coming for that number 1 spot.
And fellas, get ready to rewind at the 1:43 mark, WOWZERS!!!
Tagged I Love Her, Music Mondays
The homie AO and his crew The Cool Table are slated to release their mixtape entitled “The Cool Table Vol.1 on” on April 14th. AO’s a good dude and I think him and his team are on to something.
I’ll let them tell it:
“What is The Cool Table? The Cool Table is not a group or a record label, but rather a network of talented recording artists, songwriters, producers, musicians, and budding music executives that are sure to make a major impact very soon through an independent approach. This project, “The Cool Table Vol. 1″, serves as a platform to showcase the music and establish a reputation within the Hip Hop and R&B arenas as undeniable contenders for top shelf status. They are trendsetting, unique, forward thinking and, above all else, gifted.
Who sits at The Cool Table? Hip Hop artists Balistik the Messiah, Verse-A-T.I.L.E., and AO, collectively known as Fresh/High Society; Alternative/R&B artist Switch of Beyond This Point (BTP); Super Producer Mylon; Production team NameBrand (Biggs & AO); Music Executive Ronny Ron. All of the above are based out of New York (Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island) and New Jersey.
When will “The Cool Table Vol. 1″ be available? April 14th. This project will be a free download primarily promoted through PardonMyFresh.com in addition to other blogs and mixtape sites. There will also be physical copies manufactured and distributed on CD.
The first 2 singles from “The Cool Table Vol. 1″ are “The Funeral” by Fresh/High Society, produced by Mylon; and “Nova Chick” by Switch of BTP feat. AO of Fresh/High Society, also produced by Mylon.
The future of music sits at The Cool Table. Pull up a chair…”
Click Here To Hear “Nova Chick” from The Cool Table.
Click Here To Hear “The Funeral” from The Cool Table.
Remember me ranting and raving last week about being excited about talent again? Here’s one of the reasons why.
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Kenyatta’s manager Rasheid about two weeks ago where he shared with me some of the music. Kenyatta Fiya is a dancehall/reggae artist originally from Jamaica and his music is great in my opinion.
I really encourage everyone to check him out. DJ’s especially.
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This EP comes to us from 6S out of Ohio. She’s someone who goes back with Sean Famous, and also someone I’ve had a chance to get to know a lil bit via Twitter, Facebook and other forms of communication. Very cool person. Naturally you expect cool music from cool people right? The EP doesn’t dissapoint. The production, song concepts, and everything is on point. My favorite joint for now is probably “Fun & Games”.
Sidebar:Probaby 1000 mixtape/eps will drop today. Probably 200 will “sound good”. Only about 10 will feel good to the listener. Don’t strive to make music that “sounds good”. Strive to make music that feels good. It’s what will seperate you from the gazillions of artists out there now.
I say that because that’s what I felt about this joint. It feels good AND sounds good. But if I had to pick one over the other, feel is better than sound any day.
Shout out to the homie XO from Uptown DC. For those that don’t know XO has been doing his thing out here for a while. I haven’t listened to this one yet but his last two mixtapes were nice so I expect nothing different.
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This is very monumental. Actually it’s not. It’s just post #200.
Congrats to Uncle Charlie Wilson. I think two weeks ago I posted that his album will be in stores, don’t know if any of you actually went and bought it but regardless he had the number 1 album on the Billboard Charts. That man makes some of the smoothest music ever.
Speaking of making music. When I first started to make songs I used to never write my stuff down. You know how most rappers say they do that just because Jay-Z and Lil Wayne make it seem so cool? That’s not me. There’s really nothing so cool about it. It’s just a technique that works better for some. The benefit is that it frees up your delivery. Music wise I’m my biggest critic and every time I write a song and read when I record it, I literally want to kill myself. You can hear the split second hesitation in the delivery, the uncertainty of what word comes next, and all kinds of other technicalities. However when I develop it in my head and record straight off memory, the songs usually turn out great. Think of it as driving out of town and having to look down at a map as opposed to someone who is from that town and has mastered the roads. The person that’s mastered the roads will be able to just cruise and drive freely with no hesitation or anything. So even though I’m not full time recording anymore, whenever I do, I’m going back to my old style of memorizing as opposed to writing.
Had to scold Simone Carlene on Twitter the other day. There’s already a shortage of people who offer a unique perspective on things, can’t have the few that still do it taking hiatuses.
Speaking of Twitter. What a fun place. I like it because although it’s addictive, it’s really not time consuming. If you read and write at even a 7th grade level you can Tweet all day and still live your normal life. It’s not like Myspace or Facebook where actual time has to be invested in it. The most fun part for me is that it allows me to freely study human psychology like none other. I mean it should be illegal. It’s high school all over again, except worse. People catch feelings, fall in and out of love, argue, back stab, tell lies and all types of stuff. That’s the negative. On the positive side there’s lots of laughs to share and good networking to be done. It sort of cuts out the middle man between fans and their favorite celebs. No need to read a press release about Rapper X’s show when Rapper X is tweeting all about it live from backstage. Also it let’s you see how cool some people are. Example being Solange Knowles. I always thought she was a bit funny style but I was way off. If you read her Twitter you’ll see that she’s a real cool person that’s misunderstood by the media.
Randomly ran into Audra at the club Friday night. Kids these days.
March 1st was a dreaded sports day. Shaq got the best of Kobe, my Lakers lost, Lebron won, just awful.
www.thefamousfirm.com is almost complete. Be sure to keep checking it for updates.
It’s snowing outside I’m not in the mood so Music Mondays is cancelled.
Holla
