Who Is Gyptian?
In 2005, the previously unknown singer rose to international acclaim when his debut single Serious Times hit the top of the local and overseas reggae charts, and defeated even Junior Gongs Top Ten Billboard hit Welcome to Jamrock, to be declared Jamaicas Most Important Song of 2005. Nominated for Best New Entertainer at the 2006 International Reggae and World Music Awards, the twenty-three year old velvet-voiced singer has been dominating the charts with a slew of hit singles including Is There a Place, Beautiful Lady, and the chart-topping ballad Mama, Dont Cry.
Born Windel Beneto Edwards on October 25th, in the King Weston District of St. Andrew to a Seventh Day Adventist mother and Rastafarian father, Gyptian received his musical calling at the age of 7, when he began singing in the church. Recognizing his God-given talent, his parents soon introduced the resistant youngster to Mr. Wong, a producer from Portmore in St. Catherine. I did not take it seriously. My family members have always been carrying me to Portmore to see him, but I usually disappear. One day, they dropped me off at his studio and left me and it all began there.
Under the guidance of Mr. Wong and Earl Chinna Smith, Gyptian honed his unique sound, winning the 2004 Star Search talent competition at Kens Wild Flower Lounge in Portmore, earning him a spot at Sting 2004, dubbed the greatest one night reggae show on earth.
Nicknamed from his habit of tying a shirt around his head and twisting his chin hair like an Egyptian pharaoh, the young, gifted, and conscious singer is very protective of keeping his sound 100% Gyptian. You have to think about what people think and how they feel, the real things that people see. Any track at all you hear from Gyptian, right by my fingers out of my head."
With his highly anticipated debut album due in late 2006, Gyptian looks forward to sharing his musical message with the masses. At this juncture in my life, I live, eat, and breathe musicthe very air that comes from my mouth brings words of power and wisdom. I have the urge to teach my brothers and sisters until eternity."
Who Is Nightwave?
Slovenia born and raised Maya Medvesek aka Nightwave is a Glasgow based Producer, DJ, Vocalist & RBMA graduate. October 2013 saw Maya launch her own label, ‘Heka Trax’ with debut EP ‘Luxor’, gaining DJ support far and wide, plenty of BBC Radio1 play, a 8/10 review in Mixmag and ‘Track Of The Week’ spot in Billboard. Her most recent EP ‘Hit It’ out April 4th features Chicago legend DJ Deeon and was chosen as ‘Bass Record Of The Month’ in Mixmag with press support ranging from FACT to The Guardian.
As a child, Maya started to learn music theory and play the flute and began playing with electronic production at the age of 14 when her musician father gave her some of his music gear cast offs. She soon fell in love with techno and house and many nights were spent sneaking out to clubs and completing homework in toilet cubicles. Her releases on Svetlana Industries,Unknown to the Unknown, Fortified Audio & Seed Records, as well as Ministry of Sound’s ’Adventures in Dubstep & Beyond’ & the Cassie Tribute album ‘Skydiver’ out on Local Action Records either as Nightwave orher retired moniker 8Bitch, have garnered her international acclaim for a fun,forward-thinking and innovative approach to production drawing inspiration from ghetto house, grime, rave and juke.
Nightwave attended RBMA Madrid in 2011 and continues to work closely with the Academy as a performer and occasional lecturer. Perhaps even more so than production, DJing is Maya’s greatest love and2012 saw her play an energetic set to a packed RBMA stage at Barcelona’s Sonar festival where her set was heralded by International press asone of the festival highlights. She has supported a variety of artists like Rusko, Anthony Shake Shakir, MNDR, Derrick May, Dopplereffekt,Death Grips, LFO and Rustie on his US and Australia tour, appeared at festivals such as Sonar Tokyo, The Electric Picnic, Notting Hill Carnival,Outlook, Electrosanne & Exit and has recently launched her own club night Nightrave.
As a vocalist she guested on Rustie’s critically acclaimed Warp Records album ‘Glass Swords’ with the single ‘Surph’ which hit day time Radio 1 playlist, garnering support from the likes of Pete Tong, Annie Mac, Nick Grimshaw & Huw Stephens who premiered a very special Maida Vale recorded live version of the single on his show. Finally-Maya also worked on the videogame DJ Hero where her body and moves were used for the female game characters.
Luke Bryan will heat things up next week (March 11) with the release of his sixth spring break EP, Spring Break 6…Like We Ain’t Ever. And in the latest episode of his weekly video series LBTV, he previews songs from the forthcoming release.
“I just kind of stumbled into doing the spring break concerts and making the spring break album, and here we are on the sixth spring break album,” he said in the episode (watch it below). “It’s awesome. It’s totally what you want as an entertainer, to have those kind of dynamics in your show.”
He added: “I love getting together and writing the songs for it and putting them out on iTunes. Last year, we did a physical CD which did great. We’re just enjoying it, loving writing the songs and as long as the fans are still enjoying it and wanting to come down and see our shows, it’s fun.”
Bryan said he finds comfort in writing whatever he wants for each spring break release. “Nobody’s going to hold it against me. It’s not going to come back and haunt me if I do a crazy song for spring break.”
While the video above shared snippets of each song, Bryan also told the story behind one song in particular, “Night One.”
“‘Night One’ talks about, I wish I would have met you on night one. Because it seems like you always meet that right person on vacation, or at the beach, on the last night that you’re there,” he said.
“I feel like year after year we always get a little bit better with the spring break albums,” he continued. “It’s just all about trying to make the music better each and every year and I feel like we’ve done that with this one.”
Luke Bryan will release Spring Break 6…Like We Ain’t Ever on March 11. He will also crash the spring break party on March 11 and 12 in Panama City Beach, Florida, for his sixth annual Spring Break concert at Spinnaker’s Beach Club.
News : What Do Jay Z And Shakespeare Have In Common? Swagger
News : What Do Jay Z And Shakespeare Have In Common? Swagger
"No one on the corner has swagga like us," sang rapper M.I.A. in her global hit "Paper Planes." The song was later sampled by T.I. and Jay Z in their hit song "Swagga Like Us." A few years before that, it was Jay-Z who declared "I guess I got my swagger back" on his 2001 album The Blueprint.
The word swagger should be a familiar term to anyone who has listened to popular hip-hop songs in recent years; a recent search on Rap Genius turned up more than a thousand songs that used the word in the lyrics.
Given those stats, you'd be forgiven for thinking "swagger" is a relatively new concept, but it can be traced all the way back to Elizabethan England. As with so many other famous words and phrases, the first writer to use it was William Shakespeare. The playwright first had the "shrewd and knavish sprite" Puck use it in this monologue in A Midsummer Night's Dream:
What hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here,
So near the cradle of the fairy queen?
While there is a tiny hint in this usage that swagger is closely related to braggadocio and pride, it wasn't until Henry IV, Part 2 that the meaning was really driven home by the bard. It's in that play that the London innkeeper Mistress Quickly gives this speech about one of the overly aggressive and forward men who frequent her tavern:
If he swagger, let him not come here: no, by my
faith; I must live among my neighbours; I'll no
swaggerers: I am in good name and fame with the
very best: shut the door; there comes no swaggerers
here: I have not lived all this while, to have
swaggering now: shut the door, I pray you.
It's clear from this passage that swagger has two meanings — one that refers to drunken behavior, and another, more familiar one that denotes arrogance and (in the eyes of people like Mistress Quickly) an outsized sense of self-worth.
Sound familiar?
Jonathan Swift would also pick up this usage more than a century later, in 1726, with Gulliver's Travels, when he wrote that the Queen's Dwarf "would always affect to swagger and look big as he passed by me in the Queen's Antechamber ... and he seldom failed of a small Word or two upon my Littleness."
While the definition of the word would keep its judgmental connotations during the 1800s, in his 1865 dictionary, British etymologist Hensleigh Wedgwood defined the word in poetic terms, writing that it was "the idea of tremulous motion, swaying backwards and forwards ... commonly expressed by forms originally representing the sound made by the dashing of water."
By the 1870s, the word would take on the definition we know today — that is, as this 1872 dictionary puts it, "to boast or brag noisily." (Cultural critics have been declaring that "swagger" has been on the decline since at least 1892. A piece in the magazine Science that year called swagger "[t]he most obvious and disagreeable form of self-assertion, which consists of making other people conscious of their inferiority ... ")
But swagger, fittingly, was and is persistent. Definitions like the one in that 1892 article show how "swagger" was in many ways a natural fit for the hip-hop of the past two decades. According to Slate, the very first hip-hop artists to use "swagger" in a song were the group Brand Nubian in their 1990 song "Slow Down," where they note someone "used to walk with a swagger, now you simply stagger."
"Slow Down" would start a lyrical trend. As Ben Gabriel wrote in The New Inquiry three years ago:
Swagger is not new to hip-hop but has always been exterior to it. It recalls '70s rockers, '20s gangsters, pirates and Shakespearean vagabonds. The connotations are all, one might say, very white. But it is a very particular kind of whiteness — one which is very aware of itself and makes an explicit performance of its own economic or legal disenfranchisement.
Since then, the evolution of swagger has continued, and the word has been shortened to simply "swag" in recent years.
Apparently it's true, as Jay Z raps in "Otis," that the hip-hog mogul invented "swag."
But the award for the most gratuitous and random use of "swag" goes to rapper Souljah Boy in his song about Joseph Kony, leader of the guerrilla Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, "Stop Kony":
Stop Kony
What do you think we should do about it?
We should stop him
We should stop who?
Him.
It's obvious that Kony should be stoppped.
The problem is that 99% of the planet doesn't know who he is.
Swag.
If they knew, Kony would have been stopped long ago.
Swag.
Videos : Mila J : Smoke, Drink, Break-Up (Explicit)
Videos : Mila J : Smoke, Drink, Break-Up (Explicit)
Who Is Mila J?
Jamila Akiko Chilombo (born November 18, 1983) known mononymously as Mila J is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer from Los Angeles, California. She is known for being in Prince's video for "Diamonds and Pearls," and was part of a short-lived girl groups called Gyrl and Dame Four, and appeared on tracks by RaRa, IMx and Omarion. She released several singles in 2006-2009 under the name "Mila J," and then went on a hiatus for a number of years before returning as "Japollonia" in 2012 and then reverting back to her stage name as Mila J.
She is currently signed to Universal Motown and is preparing her second studio album entitled M.I.L.A which stands for Made in Los Angeles.
Jamila was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Christina Yamamoto and Dr. Karamo Chilombo (birth name Greg Barnes), a pediatrician. Her parents later divorced. She is of mixed race background—her mother is of Japanese, Spanish, and Dominican descent, while her father is of African American, Yaqui, Choctaw, Cherokee, Navajo, and German Jewish descent. She also has French ancestry. She has four full-siblings named Miyoko, Jahi, Miyagi (who died in July 2012 after a two year battle with cancer) and singer Jhene Aiko. She also has three paternal half-siblings named Marcia, Dio, and Kareena.
From a young age, Jamila was part of a dance group and first came to the attention of Chris Stokes as a dancer in Prince's "Diamonds and Pearls" video in 1991. She and her sister Miyoko were in the R&B group Gyrl, managed by Stokes and toured with Immature, who were signed to MCA/Silas Records.
The "Gyrl" group was formed by Jamila, Miyoko and Paulette Maxwell. When they were backup dancers for Immature, the name of group was Innocence. Like dancers, they appeared in the videos "Da Munchies", "Constantly" , "Constantly" (the remix version), and "I Don't Mind". In 1995, Gyrl released their debut single, "Play Another Slow Jam" on Silas Records, which peaked at #74 on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 6 weeks, but missed the Hot 100. After the debut single "Play Another Slow Jam" in 1995, Paulette left the group.
In 1997, Jeanae' Briley and Tai-Amber Hoo joined Gyrl, released the single "Get Your Groove On", that was in the movie B*A*P*S which peaked at #91 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #30 on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 14 weeks, becoming their highest chart appearance to date. After that the group was solved.
In 2005, she was also a member of the girl group Dame Four, with Tomasina Parrot, Tennille Mathis & Mercedes Nelson, who released a single "How We Roll". Dame Four split up not long after releasing their radio single in late 2005.
After appearing on tracks by RaRa, IMx, and Omarion, Jamila was set to release a 2006 solo album "Split Personality" under the name Mila J but was shelved. Her single "Good Lookin Out" entered Billboard Radio Monitor's R&B/Hip-Hop chart at No. 37 and also at No. 64 on the Hot R&B/Hip hop songs chart. The album featured a number of appearances from artists on the T.U.G. roster and its associates, including Marques Houston, Young Rome, Rufus Blaq, and The Underdogs.
She performed two songs from the album at Showtime at the Apollo.
In 2012 Jamila redefined herself by changing her name and appearance from the soft feminine Mila J to the rough-around-the-edges Japollonia. She released a mixtape for free download through DatPiff, supported by a music video, "Blinded." Following Mila J's 2012 Internet success with her highly popular mixtape, which received more than 700,000 downloads, she releasing "Movin On" viral video with VEVO and giving away the single for free on her site and her VEVO page.
Now once again billing herself as Mila J, she is set to release a single called "Smoke, Drink, Break-Up" with an accompanied music video for it that is going to be released soon. The music video will be premiered on BET's 106 & Park. She is currently working on a full length album M.I.L.A., which stands for Made In Los Angeles.
HAERTS have yet to reveal the official release date for their debut album, but the rising New York foursome have shared a new track from the forthcoming set: "Call My Name," a demure stroke of easy-on-the-ears synth-pop. The self-produced track (the band's first) disarms not only with its dreamy, orange-sunset color scheme, but also with its brutal kiss-off chorus. "I don't know why you're not calling my name," vocalist Nini Fabi sings over a pattering drum beat and ethereal electronics. "When I leave, I'll take away the pain."
Hear "Call My Name" below, scroll further down for HAERTS' upcoming tour dates, and look out for details on their first full-length — the follow-up to last year's Hemiplegia EP is due out later this year via Columbia Records.
Lady Gaga gets swarmed by Wall Street wolves, carried by dominatrices and healed by water ballet dancers in “G.U.Y.: An ARTPOP Film.” The two-part video released tonight (March 22), for both the titular song and “Venus,” seems to tell a story of her rise to ARTPOP stardom. It is difficult, though, to pay close attention to any semblance of plot, not with The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast acting as her court musicians while lip-syncing the lyrics.
Andy Cohen, host of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, also appears as either an angel or God.
Lady Gaga had made extraordinary efforts to drum up buzz for “G.U.Y.,” with a TODAY chat and the two-minute preview on NBC. All of that, plus how it darts from one extravagant setting to another, and as Lady Gaga transforms from a slain phoenix to a Bob Mackie-inspired queen and a stripped-down ’90s pop diva, may recall how Michael Jackson built anticipation for his 1992 “Remember the Time” video. Immediately after its TV debut on three (!) networks, MTV aired a behind-the-scenes documentary of the star-studded clip.
If it isn't clear from the cover of this month's Rolling Stone, one of music's biggest stars right now is a 26-year-old with nerdy glasses, asymmetrical hair and a serious thing for aliens. That Sonny John Moore just released his first proper album feels like a cosmic joke: The DJ and producer known as Skrillex has been cranking out recordings, selling out stadiums and winning Grammys for years now, and could fairly be called the poster child for electronic dance music's recent global takeover.
Of course, Skrillex has found success in part by ignoring designations like "studio album," releasing music at his own pace, in small doses and by creative means. His latest effort, Recess, was delivered earlier this month to fans who thought they were downloading a smartphone game.
NPR's Arun Rath recently spoke with Skrillex about sidestepping the traditional marketing machine, the loaded language surrounding dubstep and other dance music, and the lessons he's hung onto from his days fronting a rock band. Hear the radio version at the audio link, and read more of their conversation below.
Let's get really basic and talk about your sound. "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" seems like a good place to start — when you made that, you were DJing clubs around L.A., and that song just took off.
It was crazy. That song in particular was very inspired by U.K. dubstep. During that time, Smog was a record label that was throwing events in L.A., so I was going to a lot of their shows. They were playing all these real early dubstep records; that whole culture also really inspiring to me. I made that record in my bedroom not really knowing what I was doing, but it just kind of came out.
Can you talk about what dubstep is, that sound that came out of the U.K.?
Dubstep came from grime. Grime is a style of music production: around 135 to 140 BPM, kind of urban, almost carnival-y music, but had some elements of bass and even drum 'n' bass. Guys who were making dubstep in the early 2000s — Skream and Benga and Artwork and guys like that — were taking those elements of grime but removing the vocals and making them a little bit more aggressive. That's how dubstep sort of started.
The thing I always associate with it is the drop: that moment where the bass just kind of freaks out and you're in a different zone.
Yeah, and I think I took it to a bit more of an extreme level. But I feel like with a lot of records made for DJing, there's always some sort of buildup. Even in techno, where it's really simple, it'll be the same loop over and over again, but then the "drop" comes — and that's usually when the kick drum comes in. Or if you listen to funk and disco, the drumbeat comes in, and then all of a sudden the bass line comes in. It's a similar, dynamic way of approaching how to write music, but taken in so many different ways.
In a song like "Scary Monsters," what are you doing to make those kinds of sounds? How do you get that?
Just toying around with a lot of virtual synthesizers. I always think it's fun to make sounds that almost sound human — even though they come from a computer, there's something organic-sounding about it. That's where the "monster" thing comes from, I think: It sounds like someone's actually talking, but every one of those vowel sounds is just a lot of detailed drawing in little curves.
It's funny — when you make music, you don't really think about how you're going to explain it at the end. People are really, really into the idea of, "What were you thinking of when you made that?" And I don't really think of anything; it just happens, and it's hard to explain.
Well, you're somebody that a lot of people like to talk about, to define you and where you fit into dance music. You've been called "brostep," which was originally meant as an insult — what did that mean?
I guess it was the whole idea that girls didn't like my music, which is really funny and opposite. I think "brostep" was just was a derogatory term that came from the heads, the purest dubstep fans that weren't into anything that had too much mid-range sound in it; for whatever reason, they're not into that. But then, I feel like it was either Rolling Stone or Spin who gave Bangarang a review — and it was a positive review — but they called it brostep. And Bangarang is probably the furthest thing from brostep, because the tempos aren't even dubstep tempos. So some people took it as, "Oh, it's a legit thing and it's not a negative thing." It's just a really funny word that has polar-opposite meanings for different types of people who experienced it.
Dirty Vibe with Diplo, G-Dragon from Big Bang and CL from 2NE1
Another criticism that's been directed at you is that this isn't really dance music, that you can't dance to it. "Dirty Vibe" is an interesting example; how can you dance fast enough to keep up with that?
It's all about what your preference is; people hear rhythms differently. I bob my head to it and it gets me into that zone that I intended it to be in. It's what's cool about records like that: You can interpret the rhythms in so many different ways. It kind of doesn't really sit anywhere.
That song includes some guest performers. Who are they?
G-Dragon and CL are two artists that come from Korea. G-Dragon comes from this group called Big Bang; they've been signed and putting out records in Asia since they were, like, 15. They can sing, they can dance, they can rap. They're really in their own world and so disconnected from the media over here; that's why it was really fun working with them. Me and Diplo did the track and CL and G-Dragon are the ones rapping over it. And rather than using synths on the drop, we're using all vocals, just chopping up vocals. We just wanted to do something really weird and fast and crazy.
I'm curious about the collaboration process when you work with other artists. When I imagine you working, you're by yourself in a studio with a bank of computers, just doing your thing. How do you integrate your style and work with other people?
Well I'm mixing and mastering everything myself, so that's where that part comes in. But I come from singing and playing guitar and instruments, so I love collaborating. Some people like to just get a vocal and do it all in post [production], but I'm really involved with the artist.
When I did the record with Chance the Rapper, "Coast is Clear," I recorded his entire band, The Social Experiment — live horns and keyboard solos and all that stuff. I wrote some chord progressions out, had them replay it, reinterpret it. Chance started toasting over it, and it happened really quickly in the sort of whim of the moment. But it was all of our energy together. Before I was doing Skrillex stuff, I was helping my friends record and mix their demos. The group process is half the fun.
Listen To The Darling Of Dubstep, Speaks
You got your start fronting an emo band, From First To Last, when you were a teenager. How did you get from there to the DJ world?
I always loved electronic music growing up. Bjork was always one of my favorite vocalists and I loved how involved she was with the production, how she took elements of IDM and drum 'n' bass and created something really awesome and melodic. I was listening to a lot of Prodigy and Nine Inch Nails as well, so I always had this sort of love for electronic sounds. Between the ages of 15 and 16, I was making records on FruityLoops and Reason for fun, and even did some programming in my band.
And then I felt like it was time for me to leave the band. I spent two years doing it and it wasn't what I wanted to do anymore. The computer was just the way I could express myself, basically. It was just another instrument.
The release of Recess was a surprise — in fact, people first got to hear it through an app you released called Alien Ride, which was billed as a video game.
Before the video game component even came, I wanted to leak my record — but I didn't want anyone to know a record was coming out. And at first I thought about just dropping a link in a Reddit forum or something really random. Then we had this idea of creating an app that you would download and it just had a countdown timer; no one knew what it was. But I was thinking, maybe that's a little boring, and maybe some people are gonna delete it off their phones. So we're like, "How can we keep people engaged for three days and talking about it?" So we created this little video game that's actually really fun and kind of addicting.
It's an Asteroids-style game, really simple, and on the website we had the highest scores. So kids are just playing, trying to get the high score — and we're battling the kids, me and my team. But the whole time, at the top, there's a countdown timer. People are like, "What is this? What's going on?" And some people were like, "Man, I hope it's a new record." It could have been anything, so it's awesome that what they were hoping for, we got to give them.
When I first heard about it I thought, "Well, that sounds like a clever marketing gimmick" — but it's a lot more esoteric. This is kind of more for your hardcore fans, right?
Yeah, it's not to change the world. We didn't do a press release about it or anything. I put it on Facebook, let all my fans download it for free and then just gave them the record. We've never done marketing for any of my records: It's always just been announced on the day of, through my Facebook. I was planning on just doing that with this record, and then I was like, "Let's do something a little extra just for the core fans, who are gonna be stoked."
When you create something niche like that, you're gonna see the sort of people who really are dedicated to you, and that's gonna narrow down a lot of the traffic so you can actually become really engaged with these people.
You are huge now; there's no getting around the fact that you've made it big. It's kind of amazing that this is actually your first studio album.
Yeah. What does studio album mean?
You tell me.
I don't know! I didn't really do my record in one studio, you know what I mean? When you say "studio album," it feels like I went away to a studio in the mountains for a month. But it was made in so many different places — like, the Chance the Rapper record was done in Seattle after one of his shows, just randomly.
You can release music in so many different ways, and even though the mainstream media and certain people might not pick up on it because it's not through the normal avenues, it's still effective. I've put out four EPs in the last three and a half years, and probably just as many or more singles and remixes throughout those years. So I've put out the equivalent of many studio records, just in a different way.
I feel like people don't take you as seriously unless you've done a "studio record" — which is OK, but I think it's also important to not limit yourself to that, and show that you can release music and be successful in other ways. Especially in the world of electronic music, kids are so fast and prolific. They're making stuff, and then the night they made it they're playing it out live, it gets shot on a cellphone, it's already on SoundCloud. So how do you accentuate that movement? That's how I've always kind of seen things. Recess happened naturally. In the beginning, I wasn't even sure if I was gonna release an LP or what it was gonna be, but those were the songs that I wanted to put out at the time.
Does it feel weird for you to release a "studio album" in that way? To do the traditional thing?
The only thing that's weird to me is when people say that — all of a sudden, it's this thing. You definitely get a lot more attention when you put more songs together. But my core fans have never complained; when Bangarang came out, it wasn't like, "Where's the album?" Because they know that I'm putting out remixes and stuff in between. I don't think there's any right way to do it. Maybe I'll make a four-disc epic record one day, and maybe the next day I'll make a single or something.
There's so much texture, so much fine detail and layers in your music. When you're in the final stages of making an album, do you agonize over it? How do you know when you're done?
See, that's the one curse: I feel like anybody that's mixing and mastering alone, it's always hard. When I was in a band, you would write the songs, your producer would record it and that was it. When you're mixing yourself and it's all in the box, in the same place where you've made the record, it's easy to start changing stuff last-minute. So it's all about just committing to whatever you have. It can be agonizing, and there's some things that probably took longer than they should have.
Somebody once said, "A work of art is never completed, only abandoned."
That's the perfect way. I definitely abandoned this record, man.
Recess Review
It’s so surreal knowing that despite bringing “brostep” to the pop masses and earning status as one of the most recognizable figures in electronic music, Sonny “Skrillex” Moore has yet to release a studio album. 2008 marked Moore’s departure from post-hardcore completely, donning the glasses and the stupid hairstyle, embracing his electronic-infused alter-ego. Now, six years later, his long-rumored debut album Recess is here, and it says a lot about where Skrillex has gone over those course of those six years. In a world where the dirtiest, filthiest beats are rewarded with headlining roles at the festivals and audiences of the tens of thousands, Skrillex actually loosens his own chains a bit with Recess, putting the formula aside for a while and experimenting with how to display rhythm and how to use vocals and samples in more intelligently organized patterns. Recess isn’t going to change people’s minds over brostep, but it very well might change people’s minds over Skrillex.
Skrillex, throughout his entire discography thus far, has had a formula, the “Skrillex Method” if you will: open things up with a melodic intro coupled by steady beats, building up to a single sample, then plummeting with a heavy drop. Keep the thick grub-wub going for a while, then moving back into the melodic motions. Rinse, repeat. This move has become a widely used technique for many, many contemporary artists of this genre, and while Recess might have moments of experimentation, it’s safe to say that Skrillex hasn’t dropped this tactic at all. “Try It Out (Neon Mix)” is a prime example of this formula, and if you’re in any way familiar with Skrillex’s past works, it’ll be extremely predictable. “Dirty Vibe” still gets hit hard by this formula, albeit in a weaker impact. The drops aren’t as heavy and the rhythms much less layered, but the contributions from South Korean rappers G-Dragon and CL add slurred and snarling vocals, giving the song a…well…dirty vibe. “Ragga Bomb”, for all its reggae vocals and heavy drops, is one of the biggest abusers of the “Skrillex Method.” It’s unquestionably predictable with very messily arranged vocals and samples, embracing party indulgence, but never making anything meaningful out of it. It’s dirty, but really has no reason to be. “Ease My Mind” opens with an incredible vocal sample from Niki & The Dove, but instantly breaks into Skrillex’s warped effects, a move that ends up tainting the purity displayed within the earliest minute. These moments are Skrillex’s comfort zone and it shows: they don’t display any desire to move forward, regressing into the same crowd-pleasing shallowness that has made his career such a bank for MTV.
But despite this criminally abused tactic, Skrillex does the impossible and actually attempts to dim the lights and make music that doesn’t use this formula as a crutch (or in some cases, not at all). “Doompy Poomp”, despite its goofy-as-all-hell name, manages to take a slick, laid-back rhythm and add just enough melody and layering to make it palatable. It’s an excellent example of Skrillex shedding the party excess and drawing influence from the more fundamental instrumental methods from older, more “classical” electronic artists like Aphex Twin. “Coast is Clear” features vocals from Chance the Rapper, whose sexual propositions end up giving the track a scatty beatbox feel with croony singing. The vocals are light and nimble and the production elements are strangely minimalist compared to the other tracks on the album; it sounds more like a simple remix than a full-fledged track, but compared to how similar many of the other songs on the album are to each other, it’s great to hear something that's easily distinctive from the rest. “Stranger” is a definite standout. It’s groovy and croony for the most part, but the components form a slick rhythm that’s great for clubs, but never over-indulgent and messy (the last minute and a half are surprisingly enjoyable).
The songs on Recess come together best when stripped away of their excess layers, which is something that Skrillex and all of his brostep brethren have been scared to death of doing. With Skrillex’s debut album, there are moments of remarkable promise, points where Skrillex is starting to move toward the club door and leave the party behind in favor of something different, something with more texture. But he’s still tied to the club and there are still moments where his musical composition mainstays are still abused to no end. Songs like “Ragga Bomb” are almost as cacophonous as Skrillex’s earliest works (almost…) and “Ease My Mind” makes the angelic vocals and smooth beats of Niki & The Dove into something full and over-encumbered. They show that Ol’ King Brostep is still compelled to stick to his guns, even if they’re firing on their last rounds. But those points of more poignant, steadier, more remix-inspired melodies like in “Doompy Poomp” and “Stranger” move back from the indulgence, finally achieving a sense of texture and even cleanliness. Recess is not a great album by any means, but it’s a bold motion of Skrillex contradicting his truest mantra, and right now, that’s not something that anyone can’t help but be a little curious in hearing.
As part of a grand 40th-anniversary reissue of Elton John’s landmark album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, a mob of today’s musicians are going to cover every single song on the original album. And the most puzzling of those artists is the pairing of Miguel and Wale, who team up to cover “Bennie And The Jets,” maybe the most personality-soaked and impossible-to-cover songs in Elton John’s oeuvre. (Amazingly, though, Wale is not the first rapper to be involved in a “Bennie And the Jets” cover.) The Miguel version is a weird experiment in combining old-school songcraft with new-school production techniques, and it’s a pretty confusing mess even before Wale shows up. Listen to it below.
Videos : Breathe Carolina ft. Karmin : Bang It Out
Videos : Breathe Carolina ft. Karmin : Bang It Out
Who Is Breathe Carolina?
Breathe Carolina is an American electronic rock band from Denver, Colorado, composed of David Schmitt and a live band. Breathe Carolina started in 2006, and have released three albums, and two EPs.
Kyle Even, born on September 21, 1985, and David Schmitt, born on March 26, 1988, spent their early years playing in various local Colorado musical groups. After being introduced to alternative rock by an older stepbrother, Even moved towards vocals as a teen. Even performed in the band Rivendale. They produced an extended play called Portrait of Shadows. Schmitt, on the other hand, started on bass at the age of 12 and then branched out to guitar, performing in Colorado with As the Flood Waters Rose (later named The Autobiography).
Both bands played together often. As the Flood Waters Rose opened up for Rivendale at Rivendale's album release at Grandpa's Music Box in Thornton. After leaving As the Flood Waters Rose, Schmitt started recording his own song on GarageBand, which he later asked Even to participate in creating. As both bands broke-up for the members' departure for college, Even and Schmitt started Breathe Carolina.
Breathe Carolina started in 2007 with Denver, Colorado natives Kyle Even and David Schmitt recording songs on the music-creating software GarageBand for fun. They created a MySpace profile, gaining over 10,000 song plays in 2008 and accumulating over 30 million plays during 2009. The name Breathe Carolina came from a dream that Schmitt had in 9th grade, about calming down a woman named Carolina. Soon afterwards, Even quit his job as a photographer to tour with the group full-time. Their first EP, Gossip, was released as an iTunes exclusive on November 26, 2007. It was self-released and has since been removed from the store.
Breathe Carolina recorded their first album using GarageBand, and signed with Rise Records before its release. The album introduced a few new songs that were not featured on Gossip, including "The Introduction", "No Vacancy", "Show Me Yours", "Classified", "That's Classy", and "You Wish". "Don't Forget: Lock The Door" was the only track from the Gossip EP that is not featured on the LP. The album was released on September 16, 2008, and was followed by a tour to promote the album. Breathe Carolina headlined their tour with Every Avenue, Brokencyde, and The Morning Of. While on "The Delicious Tour", they announced that they would be making a music video for "Diamonds". The video has appearances made by Millionaires, as well as Josh White from Umbrella Clothing and This City Is Burning Records.
A few months after the release of Punk Goes Pop 2, shortly after they finished the 2009 "Take Action Tour", Breathe Carolina announced that they had left Rise Records and have signed with Fearless Records and would be in the studio recording their upcoming album Hello Fascination with Mike Green. On June 29, 2009, the first song from Hello Fascination was released: "Welcome To Savannah", which was a featured song on the Fearless Records Summer Sampler 2009. New songs were also played during Vans Warped Tour 2009. These songs include "I.D.G.A.F." and "Hello Fascination". On July 27, 2009, the second song from Hello Fascination was released, the title track of the album. Hello Fascination was released on August 18, 2009.
In September 2009, the band announced they will be headlining the EZ Bronz Tour. Also in 2009, Breathe Carolina was featured on the cover of Substream Music Press, which also features an interview with Even and Schmitt. Toward the end of October 2009, Hello Fascination was released in Japan. The Japanese edition of the album includes a bonus song entitled "Have You Ever Danced?". This song features David Strauchman (Every Avenue), Jeffree Star, and Austin Carlile (of Of Mice & Men).
Breathe Carolina's "Hello Fascination" is the featured track playing in the background of the current promos for NBC's The Jay Leno Show, airing from September 14, 2009. The track was also featured in MTV's The City. Their song "I'm The Type Of Person To Take It Personal" was also featured in The City’s Season Finale in December 2009. Breathe Carolina released a music video for "Hello Fascination" on February 3, 2010. The music video is directed by Spence Nicholsen.
The deluxe edition of Hello Fascination was released on July 6. On June 23, Schmitt and Even launched a clothing line called Blush, and "I.D.G.A.F." was announced as the band's next single, with the music video being released on July 30, 2010. The duo played on the Altec Lansing stage during Vans Warped Tour 2010 and covered the song "Down" by Jay Sean for the compilation album Punk Goes Pop 3 that was released on November 2, 2010.
On November 21, 2010, Breathe Carolina released their second ever Christmas-themed song for a part on the 'Tis the Season to Be Fearless compilation album. The song is titled "Mile-High Christmas". The first Christmas song they released was "Snowed In", which was the first song ever recorded and released by the duo. "Snowed In" was initially recorded when the band first recorded their Gossip EP, but the song was decided not to be included on the EP by the time of its release.
On December 22, 2010, Fearless Records posted a video featuring a 30-second preview of the track "Blackout". Recording for the third studio album took place in early 2011. On April 28, 2011, it was announced that the album would be titled Hell Is What You Make It, and that its scheduled release date would be on July 12, 2011. A promotional website for the album launched a 40-second video containing a preview of the track "Wooly".
The album's first single, "Blackout", was available for streaming via MTV Buzzworthy on June 13, 2011, and was available for digital download the following day. On June 16, the duo performed "Blackout" for a nationwide television presentation on Jimmy Kimmel Live. A music video for the track was shot in Los Angeles, California on July 1 and 2, and was released on the duo's official Vevo page on YouTube on September 20. The song has since become the duo's most commercially successful single to date, peaking within the charts of Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, the United Kingdom and United States, while also being certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling more than 500,000 copies. Two other tracks from the album, "Wooly" and "Sweat It Out", were available for streaming prior to the album's release. The group participated on the Scream It Like You Mean It 2011 tour during that summer to promote the album. An extended play titled Blackout: The Remixes EP was released on September 27 via iTunes.
On December 23, 2011, it was announced that the duo signed with Columbia Records. Throughout early 2012, the duo participated in the Blackout Forever tour alongside The Ready Set with guest appearances by Ashland HIGH and Matt Toka. On February 22, it was announced that the duo would be participating in the 2012 Warped Tour. The duo have also since re-entered the studio to continue writing and recording new tracks. The duo announced that a new single, "Hit and Run", which was to be released on May 22, 2012. Schmitt also announced that a music video for the song is in production, saying that the video will actually have a concept, unlike their previous videos. The song premiered via Alternative Press on May 21, while being available for digital download the following day. The duo also contributed to the compilation album Punk Goes Pop 5 with their cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean".
Breathe Carolina is working on their fourth studio album and have said that they are going back to their old roots for the record. On March 25, 2013, it was announced that the title of the new album is Savages. On July 6, 2013, the duo released their first mixtape Bangers for free download via Sol Republic. Following its release the band toured North America with bands We the Kings, The Ready Set and rapper T. Mills.
On October 15, 2013 David Schmitt made an announcement via Alternative Press discussing founding member Kyle Even's departure from the band, due to his new responsibilities as a father.
The band later on the "We are Savages Tour" have toured with Jonny Craig , Mod Sun and Ghost Town . So far the band has released a lyric video for the song "Savages" and a music video of "Sellouts" featuring Danny Worsnop from Asking Alexandria . The album is said to be released on 18 April 2014.
Breathe Carolina is a electronic rock and electropop band. Post-hardcore influence also exists, evident by the use of screamed vocals and breakdowns. These elements, however, are usually kept to a minimum while electronic elements take precedence. This fusion of post-hardcore characteristics and dance-oriented electronica has led the group to be labeled crunkcore as well. Also typical of crunkcore is the prevalent use of Auto-Tune and vocoders on Schmitt's vocals.
Their entire first EP, Gossip, and debut full-length album, It's Classy, Not Classic, were recorded using only the computer program GarageBand. The group did not produce music via studio until the recording of Hello Fascination, which can be considered the group's first true studio album.
Although much instrumentation is added through programming, typical instruments are also present in the duo's music in select songs; Schmitt provides lead singing vocals for the duo along with playing the guitar and drums while Even provides unclean vocals and occasional cleans in their newer material. Live performances by Breathe Carolina usually consist of an arrangement of three extra members providing keyboards, keytars, drums, guitars and bass. During most live sets, Joshua Aragon plays guitar (when necessary) and performs backing vocals while Eric Armenta provides drums on a standard drum kit all while Schmitt and Even perform the clean and unclean vocal positions respectively.
The first integrated communications docking station for iPhone.
Combining the capabilities of many top-selling iPhone accessories into a single device, the revolutionary iFusion utilizes Bluetooth technology to extend a traditional telephone handset and hands-free speakerphone with amazing voice clarity to the iPhone to meet the demanding requirements of today's home and business consumer.
The unique cradle design of the iFusion supports the iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4, providing easy access to a dock connector port for syncing or charging, and an audio line out port for connecting to powered speakers via an optional audio cable, eliminating the need for a separate dock. With support for A2DP Bluetooth streaming, users are able to enjoy their favorite iPhone music over the internal speakerphone.
Karmin switches it up for the third visual from imminent debut LP Pulses. The Boston duo leaves behind the retro disco vibe of “I Want It All” on the album’s title track — opting for an edgier mix of hip hop and pop that showcases Amy’s steady flow and Nick’s vocal chops.
The stylish pair always deliver memorable videos and “Pulses” is no exception. Largely filmed in black-and-white with the occasional splash of bold color, the clip begins with mock stock footage of scientists finding a way to visually represent sound before Nick and Amy appear (shirtless and with a huge quiff, respectively) to do their thing with dancers and acrobats. Watch up top.
Is this Karmin’s best video yet? Have your say in the comments below.
News : Johnny Cash's Great-niece Found Stabbed To Death
News : Johnny Cash's Great-niece Found Stabbed To Death
Authorities in Middle Tennessee say the great-niece of singer Johnny Cash has been found stabbed to death and stuffed in a box in a house.
Putnam County Sheriff David Andrews said Thursday that Courtney Cash's body was found Wednesday morning.
Andrews said Cash's body was found in a large chest. A man identified as William Austin Johnson, Cash's boyfriend, was being treated for stab wounds at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
Andrews said the pair had gone out with a friend before an altercation took place in the house where Johnson and Cash lived with their young child. The friend, identified as Wayne Gary Masciarella, has been charged with first-degree murder.
Andrews said Johnson escaped the attack and took the child with him before driving to the hospital.
"There was a struggle," the sheriff said.
The suspect may have been trying to hide Cash's body, Andrews said. A motive was not released, but Andrews indicated the stabbings were likely connected to drugs.
"This is a senseless, tragic death of a young lady whose life was probably taken as a direct or indirect result of drugs," Andrews said.
Masciarella is being held without bond. He has a court date scheduled for April 21. Officials in Putnam County said they do not know if he has a lawyer.
Johnny Cash's brother Tommy Cash, who was Courtney's grandfather, released a statement on behalf of the family. He thanked the public for their support and asked for privacy after "this violent act."
“We ask for your prayers for the Cash family at this time. Courtney and her boyfriend are beloved members of my family and like you we have a lot of questions and emotions that we are beginning to sort through today...We are completely heartbroken. It is a time like this that we are grateful for our faith and trusting the loving guidance of God.”
Videos : Justin Timberlake : Not A Bad Thing (Explicit)
Videos : Justin Timberlake : Not A Bad Thing (Explicit)
Justin Timberlake's latest music video is a call to action. Literally.
Ellen DeGeneres had the honor of debuting Timberlake's "Not A Bad Thing" video on her talk show, much to the delight of fans. The video is a documentary-style story of Timberlake's hunt for a man who publicly proposed to his wife with the help of "Not A Bad Thing."
The proposal took place on a Long Island Rail Road train and, in case you were worried, she said "yes." Now, Timberlake and his team are on a mission to find the mystery couple and learn their story. The video is being used in conjunction with signs, posters and an on-the-ground foot search in a crowd-sourced effort to locate the happy lovers.
The video's song lyrics are interspersed with clips of different couples talking about their own personal stories of love and marriage proposals. If you thought that love was dead, get ready to have your faith restored. It's a heartwarming montage of romance and happiness. Yes, we're gushing too.
Singles : Big Boi ft. Kid Cudi & Stevie Wonder : Part Time Hater
Singles : Big Boi ft. Kid Cudi & Stevie Wonder : Part Time Hater
Listen To Big Boi ft. Kid Cudi & Stevie Wonder : Part Time Hater
For the final installment of Big Boi’s #MashupMondays series, Big Boi goes out with a bang and blends together his subdued collaboration with Kid Cudi, “She Hates Me,” and Stevie Wonder’s “Part Time Lover.” The result is smooth, upbeat, and undeniably catchy, but what else would you expect from a song that features Stevie Wonder? Listen to the mash-up above.
Karen Marie Ørsted has caught our eye again and again, from her Spice Girls cover to her music videos. Bottom line — she’s going places, so it’s interesting to learn a bit more about where she came from. Less a music video and more a chance to glimpse behind the scenes of a rising pop star, this video, titled My Home Town, finds MØ in her parents’ home playing piano and sitting in her old bedroom talking about growing up and recording the debut album No Mythologies To Follow. Watch it above.
Who Is Wye Oak
Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack of Wye Oak have spent most of their lives in Baltimore, Maryland. But after two years of constant touring with Civilian, their highly lauded 2011 album, they landed on opposite sides of the country with an unforeseeable future ahead. Despite this newfound uncertainty, the two bandmates embraced their physical distance, passing ideas back and forth, allowing new work to evolve in their respective solitudes. Shriek is Wye Oak’s fourth full-length and the culmination of their intent to express the emotional and intuitive self by acting out animalistic exclamations through cathartic release. It is their most personal and confident declaration yet.
Newly inspired by playing bass, Jenn took up songwriting in a setting where the guitar did not dictate harmonic boundaries or require a call-and-response relationship with her voice, a hallmark of previous Wye Oak records. With her phrasing freed, now it is often Andy who interacts with Jenn’s vocals, playing syncopated and meditative keyboard parts, and the duo’s collaborative arrangements provide a backdrop in which both the arcs of melodies and the new rhythmic elements flourish.
To engineer, mix, and co-produce, they brought in Nicolas Vernhes of the Rare Book Room in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, whose inventive and forward-thinking approaches to production complemented their new direction. The result is a record of indisputable humanity. Shriek is a complete narrative of disorientation, loss, renewal, and empowerment.
Videos : The Wind and The Wave : It's a Longer Road to California Than I Thought
Videos : The Wind and The Wave : It's a Longer Road to California Than I Thought
Who Are The Wind and The Wave
The Wind and The Wave are Dwight Baker and Patricia Lynn, best friends who employ the mantra “if it feels forced, fuck it.”
After having retired as a touring musician in 2003, Baker came to find Lynn through the production of her previous project in Austin,Texas. Over the course of working together on other musical efforts, the two are now able to describe themselves as being “cut from the same thread,” and “rarely on different pages.” This made it not only easy, but essential that Baker and Lynn begin writing and producing music that satisfied their own ever-evolving creative spirits.
“All of our songs truly come from the heart,” Lynn says. Baker and Lynn can dive head-first into serious conversation topics and quickly burst into laughter. “We try not to take anything too seriously,” says Baker. “It’s definitely work, but it’s the best kind of work. There’s no sense in doing it unless you’re having fun.” It’s obvious this duo is doing something they love. Baker and Lynn are preparing to release their first album, From The Wreckage, in which they wrote together before they even intended to call it their own.
“We were just writing to write, then half way through it dawned on us that we had to perform these songs live, as a band; that it was the only way we could see these songs realized,” says Lynn.
Even the band name was a happy accident, but ‘the words sounded good together’ and meant something to them, much like the music they had created. Thus, The Wind and The Wave came into being in late 2012.
Ashanti dropped by "The Breakfast Club" on Tuesday to talk about her new album entitled "Braveheart" and her love life with Nelly. She confessed that her latest album is her most personal one as of yet and that fans will find the answers they were looking for from the album, including those of her relationship with ex-boyfriend Nelly.
In December 2013, Ashanti also revealed that she doesn't have any plans of getting back with Nelly. "Negative. You know there is a lot of things that happened this year. A lot kinda went public more than other things have gone public before. When a man is hurt, I feel like men deal with hurt differently. We are in that space now and there are things that were done and things that were said that probably should not have been done or said but they have been," the 33-year-old singer explained.
During their rumoured split, Nelly publicly dated actress and model Tae Heckard but Ashanti appeared to be unfazed by the short-lived relationship. "I am very smart and I know him. I knew what the façade was," Ashanti said about the issue.
However, it appears that the two could not stay away from each other. Nelly and Ashanti were spotted together in February and according to the source, they looked real "happy to be back together."
Ashanti focused on acting with her roles on Lifetime's Army Wives and other various projects. When she split from her former record label, Murder Inc. she did not talk about what happened for personal and legal reasons. Now she is ready to speak on everything that has happened. "It was hard because the love was genuine. We went through good and bad things. I still consider them family," she said.
"My album Braveheart is definitely my most vulnerable, sincere and open album so far. My last album was out in 2008 and so much has happened between 2008 and 2014. I feel like a lot of questions that people may still have are definitely being answered in the album. The public has seen me go through a lot of things, my career, my personal life. This album definitely has the answers," Ashanti said.
On Ashanti’s latest album, Braveheart, the album title is a direct reference to Mel Gibson’s 1995 film by the same name. In it, the Scottish fight against the English, outnumbered and outmaneuvered. Ashanti likens herself to the Scottish declaring, “A lot of people counted me out and that feeds my hunger and ignites my passion...” This is her way of declaring a comeback. It’s been six years since Ashanti’s fourth album, The Declaration, 12 years since her debut, and 11 years since her last Top 10 hit. There’s really no other way to listen to Braveheart.
Ashanti - I Got It ft. Rick Ross
“Bangers” were never Ashanti’s thing (2004’s “Only U” being an exception and the one in Braveheart we’ll get to later) and that’s where her missteps arise on the new production, only because it’s questionable whether they play into her strengths. Producer Detail, throws his hat into the ring with “Count” where Ashanti’s distorted vocals linger with, “Baby, don’t make me count your money.” In a land where songs make babies, Rihanna’s “Birthday Cake” and “Pour It Up” met at the strip club to conceive inebriated. It terms of style, it’s the odd-man-out in the album along with the Rick Ross trap-inspired collaboration “I Got It.” Both don’t illicit jaw drops, and that’s what tracks like that aim to do. The main vocal duet, for example, comes in the form of “Love Game” with Jeremih. The production on the track is rich and the chemistry palpable, but not striking.
Not all collaborations fell flat. There’s a gem on the album, of the radio-hit variety, produced by DJ Clue. The bass-heavy slow-groove “Early In The Morning” features a singing French Montana, and it’s, hands-down, the best track on the album. More than just an ode to morning sex, Ashanti’s low register weaves into the subtly arranged verses and hits the mark capturing mood and effortlessness, “Early in the morning, I’mma have you moanin’.” “First Real Love” with Beenie Man is triumphant as it is hopeful and geared to get some club traction. Ashanti’s voice works well with the reggae production and Beenie Man’s, “Zagga zagga zagga zaaah.”
Traces of Ashanti’s debut linger with tracks that are sweet and demure. “Nowhere,” “Don’t Tell Me No,” and “Never Should Have” all contain a fully contagious melody coupled with songwriting centered on vulnerability and regret–it’s good R&B. In theme and vocal arrangement, Ashanti conjures memories of Mary J. Blige during her My Life era, when she sings, “I try to make it work but I just end up hurt” on “Runaway.”
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