My boss is weird but in a funny kind of way. She'll hide behind doors and wait to pounce as that person is approaching nearer and nearer. And then "Raaaaagh!" Grown men would be screaming like bitches. I would be dying, pissing myself with laughter. My other co-worker would try that on me and it would never work. He would creep up behind me and yell "boo!" I would never flinch. I guess when you've had that done to you so many times, you build up this wariness that you become spontaneous to it. But then again, no matter how gruesome a horror movie is, it doesn't frighten me either. I was watching House of Wax on cable one night with my mom and two sisters and my mom cringed throughout the whole movie. But to me, if you've seen one horror movie, you've seen them all. The crap music that has been coming out lately is exactly that, one big horror and frighteningly, this is what music has come to. Now that's what frightens me. Murder to the ears? Blood on the dancefloor more like...
Monica reports that the song Resentment which will make Beyonce's new album B'Day was originally recorded by former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. The track was co-written by Candice Nelson (Alicia Keys, Jennifer Lopez), Walter Millsap (Brandy, Brooke Valentine) and produced by Damon Dash. However, the lyrics had been changed so that Beyonce herself could be credited (no surprises there especially since Beyonce claimed to have written Emotion live on TRL when that was in fact a Bee Gees cover). In other Beyonce news, X-Factor chiefs have invited Beyonce to be a guest judge by joining Sharon Osbourne, Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh on the panel and they are waiting for her to say yes!!! I think this opportunity would be fantasic for Beyonce's promo for B'Day and unlike Paula Abdul (who was a guest judge on Saturday) she's a talented singer so she should be up on the panel. But this is not the last we've seen of Paula. In future episodes, we will see her scrapping with fellow judge Louis Walsh (who use to manage Samatha Mumba, and pop band Girl's Aloud and who now manages X-Factor winner Shayne Ward and Irish group Westlife). The premiere of Saturdays X-Factor was watched by a whopping 8.4 million viewers and ratings are set to skyrocket to an even bigger number if they manage to get Elton John and Beyonce on the show.I was also shocked to learn that Alesha Dixon from former R&B group Mis-teeq only limped in at a disappointing no14 with her new track Lipstick. I won't front. I don't like the song and don't think that genre of music suits her. I think her voice is better suited to R&B/Reggae 
influenced music because she has that urban swagger that's not best suited to rock/pop music. Polow Da Don is my current no1 producer right now and I say this because every single track he's produced so far has been hot as hell from Kelis' new song Blindfold Me, from Fergie's no1 hit London Bridge to Pussy Cat Doll's latest single Button's and I'm hearing he's done some work on Ciara's upcoming new album The Evolution. It seems like we'll be hearing a lot more from him as artists queue up to have him produce a hit record for them. In other UK R&B chart news, Christina Aguilera has shot to no 1 with her album Back to Basics. My blog is 99% R&B-affiliated but I just need to talk about the Prison Break Premiere 2 nights ago. In the UK, it doesn't come back until next month but Wentworth Miller is soooo fucking fine. Hmmmm, I would do that boy something terrible. I just needed to get that off my chest *lol* Back to Christina Aguilera. She's on the latest cover of Allure magazine (above).
Above pictures: Danity Kane were finalising their promotion on the release of their debut album at TRL. Sean Paul, Blu Cantrell, Rihanna and the lovely Christina Milian all made appearances at the Teen Choice Awards. Kelis outside the CBS studio's. Her new album Kelis Was Here dropped yesterday. And below is Omarian's new album cover for 21:
REVIEWS ...
My Love - Justin Timberlake feat T.I [Download: full]
Finally! The HQ of Justin's My Love featuring T.I. I already wrote a review for this when the bad quality leaked and that was a radio rip but now that the HQ is in, I think this latest R&B track is fantastic and more the JT that made me a lover of his music in the first place. The beat is hot and sticks in your head big time. You can also hear clips from the new album here.
Made for TV - Omarian [Download: full]
A slow jam from upcoming new album 21. It is totally different from Electric and Entourage. I like his vocals on this track. I've never taken him seriously as an artist but now I think he's building his own niche and seperating himself even if Chris Brown is the one providing him with competition.
A slow jam from upcoming new album 21. It is totally different from Electric and Entourage. I like his vocals on this track. I've never taken him seriously as an artist but now I think he's building his own niche and seperating himself even if Chris Brown is the one providing him with competition.
We Ride - Rihanna [Download: full]
I love this song which is a great surprise to me because I haven't been too impressed with anything thatRihanna has put out as of late. This is a nice laidback R&B track that you can just sit back and chill to. I can't wait to see the video for this song. She looked amazing judging by the screencaps that have been floating around lately.
Happy - Rihanna [Download: full]
I'm glad that this is an unreleased track. It's totally irrelevant and is just one of those songs that's there. I don't care for it in particular. It's not the worst offering that I've heard from Rihanna and is definetely filler material at best.
Pimped Out - Brooke Valentine [Download: full]
More crunk music from Houston's finest. This song is just as cool as Dope Girl, and it is allegedly one of the tracks that will make her new album Physical Education which has been pushed back to 2007. I have been feeling everything that Ms Valentine has put out. I think her sound is refreshing which is nice because her last album Chain Letter was rubbish so she has definetely stepped up musically.
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Addiction - Mutya Buena [Download: full]
Ex-Sugababe Mutya is gearing herself up to launch her solo career in Britian. Judging by this track, it seems she'll be heading towards the R&B direction and not the pop/alternative route that the Sugababes are notorious for. Mutya was my favourite singer in that group and this song isn't that bad either. Good luck to her.
These aren't necessarily reviews but as I'm one to please my fans, I decided to fulfill a couple of requests and as I have them I may as well share.
Maneater (Remix) - Nelly Furtado [Download: full]
Everytime Tha Beat Drop (video version) - Monica [Download: full]
7 comments:
The song Happy isn't an unreleased track from A Girl Like Me. Rather it's a new song for Clinique's Happy Frangrance. I like the track. It sounds like Neptunes beat but it's not
Hey Toya, thanx for crediting me on your blog ... It's an honor for me and I'm very grateful :) Omarion looks HAWT on the cover, thanx for posting dat hot shit, hee hee :)
Hopefully Beyonce's album will get pushed back and she can promote it for a new date. I didnt like the Rihanna song. Its blah and boring nothing special about it. Brooke sounds great, I loved her music, she has a nice sound and content musically.
I like Rihanna's track "Happy" - the style suits her. R&B, with this laid back island vibe about it. Her voice also sounds nice on it.
As for Brooke Valentine...DAMN!! That track is HOT!! Toya, make sure you be posting a HQ version of it when it surfaces. That'd sound so hot in a club. I usually don't like dem crunked out kinda beats, but she's workin' da hell out of this and did her damn thing on "D-Girl". I think it's cos the beats mix dat dirty crunk sound with an actual melody and she's also got a hot voice.
As for Mutya..."Addiction" is aight, but that "STOMP...clap! clap! STOMP...clap! clap!" Drum and kick has been done to DEATH already. It's played out now. JoJo already worked it to death on "Baby it's you" along with lots of other dancehall, ragga influenced tracks. Out of all of her leaked tracks, "2 the limit" is still my fave. Everything else has been so-so.
She needs to be careful wid da R&B route though, cos it doesn't sell too well in the UK. Which is why I think it was clever for the Sugababes to roll out with this alternate style which allowed them to dip into different genres and also sell in the UK - whilst maintaining credibility.
I like Mutya's voice though. I always liked her voice in the Sugababes, but she sounds better now. Not so depressed, like she's really going for it. She's hitting notes and doing things vocally she didn't really do in the Sugababes, which is cool.
Great review J. Yes, I'm sooo feeling that Brooke Valentine track. Monica, u welcome. Miss April, I don't think the album is going to get pushed back. She's done waaay too much promotion for it and well, it drops in 2 weeks.
I thought you would want to read this...
Which Kelis was here?
The singer's new work exposes all her sides
'I know I'm not for everybody,' says Kelis.
Kelis isn't pleased.
The one-named, Harlem-born singer (who pronounces her name kuh-leese), doesn't think she's getting any respect from her record company.
"My label is constantly trying to take control of me," she says. "I'm not a new artist. I've been working hard to create my persona and have longevity and they went against my wishes."
Specifically, the singer is stewing over the fact that her label, Jive, included the song "F--- Them Bitches" on her CD "Kelis Was Here," out Aug. 27.
"I just did [the song] to get it out of my system," the singer explains. "I did not want it on the album. It's just not a statement I want to make right now."
Longtime fans might find that surprising. After all, we're talking about a singer who made her reputation by singing about things like having sex in public, and enjoying a kind of milkshake that has nothing to do with a malt shop.
At the same time, Kelis considers herself a born-again Christian, and insists that she knows how to keep a handle on her supersexy image. "I know a lot of people think that I don't draw a line," she says. "But I've never done nude photo shoots and I don't feel I'm vulgar with my sexuality."
Likewise, Kelis believes that many listeners have misinterpreted the nuances of her new hit, "Bossy," which finds her happily proclaiming, "I'm boss-ay/I'm the bitch y'all love to hate."
"A lot of people think being bossy means bossing somebody around," the singer says. "But it's about being in control in your life. I'm fighting to be my own woman."
That much has been clear from the start. The 26-year-old singer, born Kelis Rogers, began her career as a teenager, singing hooks on songs by Ol' Dirty Bastard and Wu-Tang Clan's RZA. On her first solo album, 1999's "Kaleidoscope," she presented herself as a multicolored, intergalactic sex goddess: Barbarella meets Foxy Brown. Produced by the Neptunes, the album found Kelis blithely smudging the lines between rock, hip hop and soul.
"I can't be just one thing," Kelis says. "I can't just do rock or hip hop. It's all a part of who I am."
The chorus to her first single, "Caught Out There," found her screaming the line "I hate you so much right now," so loudly, it made Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" seem sheepish.
The song certainly got her noticed, but her album only sold a few hundred thousand copies.
Her 2001 followup, "Wanderland," wasn't even released in the United States. Kelis' American label at the time, Virgin, was going through a chaotic overhaul back then, so she fought, and won, the right to get out of her contract.
Today, Kelis considers "Wanderland" the favorite of her albums. The disk continued to establish Kelis as a star in Europe, where her first album also went over well. Part of the problem here, the singer believes, is the prejudice America often shows toward black artists who rock.
"The United States, as a whole, is really racist," she says. "When you leave the U.S., the music format is different. To me, rock 'n' roll is black music. It started with us and, eventually, it will end with us."
Kelis finally seemed ready for a major breakthrough with her last CD, 2003's "Tasty." The disk perfected her sassy persona, and featured a wealth of original hooks and tunes. Its single "Milkshake" climbed to No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 list. But the album sold only a little more than 500,000 copies. Again, record company implosions came into play. Her label, Arista Records, died right when the album came out.
Kelis' media-profile expanded regardless, thanks to her racy magazine photo shoots and her marriage to rap icon Nas. Despite the pressures of their two-career marriage, Kelis claims that the couple's struggles over issues of time and ego aren't any more dramatic than they are for any driven pair. She also takes pains to point out that the song she performed with Nas - that one about having sex "In Public" - was just a fun concept not an admission.
For her new album, Kelis mixes such provocative songs with more emotional ones. "I'm at a different point in my life," she explains. "I'm older. It's an inevitable change."
Even more dramatically, Kelis is no longer produced by the Neptunes. While she blandly describes their split as having to do with them "growing apart," later she admits she wanted to prove she wasn't the Neptunes' puppet.
Instead, this time Kelis worked with producers ranging from urban icons will.1.am, Scott Storch and Raphael Saadiq to pop craftsmen Max Martin and Linda Perry. The result is a true sprawl of a CD - with 18 tracks (whittled down from the 40 she cut).
While the title "Kelis Was Here" extends the singer's trademark in-your-face persona, she claims the name has a serious side. "It's about leaving a mark; it's about letting people know someone was here before you."
Of course, being a leader can have its consequences in the marketplace, a point that's hardly lost on Kelis.
"I know by now," she says, "that I'm not for everybody."
I've just checked the links and they work perfectly fine. Try again.
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