So I’m shuffling through the various new tracks released over the weekend on my google reader and I stumble across this new track by the Roots. Now while I’ve never bought a whole Roots album, I’ve always paid attention to their music and have more than a few songs of theirs on my ipod. This song however was definitely not what I was expecting. A re-working of a Monsters of Folk song, and featuring Monsters of Folk member Jim James, the song adds a great hip hop backbeat provided by the extremely talented Questlove. After one listen I’ve already become excited about their new album. Exactly the effect a first single should have.
Ryan Leslie is definitely an interesting individual. At the age of 14 he scored a 1600 on his SAT’s and “bypassed” his senior year and went to HARVARD. Graduating at 19 he moved back in with his parents and took out at $15,000 loan from his parents to get his own studio started. He then landed a 30-day production internship with a producer by the name of Younglord. It was during this internship that Ryan produced one of my favorite songs off of the Bad Boys II soundtrack “Giving your love to me” by Beyonce.
Beyonce (Giving your love to me)
The production of the song was supervised by Sean “Diddy” Combs who was impressed by Leslie’s skills and offered to manage him. Under Combs’ management he produced for a number of Bad Boy artists including New Edition, and Danity Kane. After hitting it off with Tommy Mottola, they developed a business relationship, and Leslie was handed his own imprint (NextSelection) by Mottola and Combs. Through this imprint he released Cassie’s first album which was fueled by the smash hit “Me and U” which he produced.
Cassie (Me and U)
Despite becoming an in demand producer he never let his dream of being an artist die. In late 2003 he released two singles (“The Way That U Move Girl” and “Used 2 Be”) for an album that would never be released due to differences with his label. He returned in 2006 releasing “Diamond Girl” as the lead single from his debut album Ryan Leslie. My personal favorites on the album are the songs “Valentine” and “Addiction”.
Ryan Leslie (Valentine)
Ryan Leslie (Addiction)
In 2009 he released his second album called Transition. Another great album but my personal favorites are: “Never Gonna Break Up”, and the first single “Your Not My Girl” which had a great video directed by the always amazing Anthony Mandler.
Ryan Leslie (Never Gonna Break Up)
Ryan Leslie (Your Not My Girl)
While he’s not the most gifted singer I’ve ever heard, he seems to be improving and his voice fits well and all of his immaculately produced songs. What originally made me take notice of Ryan Leslie in the first place were these Youtube videos that he put up of him in the studio crafting these beats, and they are definitely remarkable to watch. He’s truly one of my favorite artists (something I was reminded of when I stumbled upon his Addidas commercial) and that’s why he is my artist of the week.
Song of The Week – Unthinkable by Alicia Keys (May 17th, 2010)
I originally heard a few seconds of this awhile ago on the radio and reminding thinking to myself “I should probably check that song out when I get a chance” and of course I forgot about it (like I usually do unless I make a note of a song I’ve heard in my iPhone). But the other day for the first time I heard the majority of the song on the radio and was immediately hooked, which surprised me considering how much I didn’t like Alicia Key’s other singles off of this album.
She is however an artist that has a number of slots in “My Top Rated” playlist on my ipod. Among those songs is one that she did on her last album that featured John Mayer on backing vocals, and I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to this new song more closely and could hear Drake singing. The song has a darker sound with low piano thuds struck over a hip hop beat. Alicia’s voice sounds like it is a part of a dream with an effect on it making it dazey. An instant classic, and an instant download for me.
Listen To This – Blue Sky by Emily West ft Keith Urban
Let me start off by saying this: I am not a country fan! But lately a few country songs have made their way onto my ipod. It probably started when Jamie Foxx featured on that Rascall Flats song (There she goes), then Lady Antebellum made an album full of infectious songs that I couldn’t help but buy. Then recently watching an episode of the apprentice, two rising country stars were highlighted, as the assignment on the episode was to give these two artists a makeover, and PR coaching. One of the artists was Emily West, who on the show had this really goofy personality which immediately made me write her off as anyone I would listen to. Then at the end of the show both artists performed. The first artist was some guy who I’ve already forgotten everything about, except that he had a striking resemblance to a young Elvis. After him Emily went up and sang and my jaw dropped to the floor. Never have I heard anyone sound more like I would expect an angel to sound if I ever heard one sing. At points during her performance the band just stopped playing almost as if they were also in awe of her voice, and the majority of the audience wept! What an amazing voice, and what an amazing singer, listen to this song and I bet you feel the same.
Song of The Week – Find Your Love by Drake (May 11th, 2010)
Let me start off by saying I have been a Drake fan for years. Even before the critically acclaimed and universally loved So Far So Gone mixtape came out. I was a fan when he was still just known as that slightly corny kid from Degrassi who somehow got Trey Songz on a song. Now, while I am a big fan of Drake the rapper, I’m much more of a fan of Drake the R&B singer. The songs that he sings on are so different from the regular sounding R&B songs we’ve all become so accustomed to. He’s not afraid to branch out and add influences from other genres, and his lyrics are so personal sounding when he delivers them that you KNOW that he had to write them.
His latest single, Find your love is no different, except that this time the song is produced by one of Drake’s biggest influences in Kanye West. The 80’s style drums on the song evoke memories of West’s 808’s and Heartbreaks album, as well as the way the verses are delivered (Hey, hey, hey). I did think that Drake would rap on the song but was pleasantly surprised when he didn’t. I love the song and you should too!
B.O.B AKA Bobby Ray, Atlanta rapper, and sometime singer has been bubbling on the underground scene for quite a while. Signed a couple years ago to a joint deal between rapper T.I.’s label, Grand Hustle, producer Jim Jonsin’s label, Rebel Rock, and Atlantic records, his debut album “The Adventures of Bobby Ray” just hit number one in the United States, fueled by the success of his first single, super-hit “Nothin on You” featuring Hawaiian crooner Bruno Mars. Though I do like the song, I’ve avoided adding a link to the song, it’s not because I don’t like the song. Actually I love it, but there are two reasons it’s not posted: 1) if you are completely unfamiliar with THE NUMBER ONE SONG IN THE COUNTRY then you don’t deserve to know it, 2) A goal of this blog is to introduce people to music they haven’t heard but might like.
For those reasons the song I have chosen to post is a song featured on his mixtape “May 25th” that came out just prior to his album. The song is called “Gladiators”, produced by Alchemist, and featuring fellow up-and-coming rapper J.Cole (my favorite new rapper).
