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(10/23/14 4:05am)
With so many new hip–hop artists coming out of Atlanta these days, you might question whether or not veteran T.I. is still king. With “Paperwork,” he makes clear he's not abdicating anytime soon. “King” kicks off the album in the right direction, followed by the hard–hitting “About the Money” and “New National Anthem,” which features a powerful hook from Skylar Grey (who is performing at SPEC Concerts’ World Café Live show this Saturday). “No Mediocre,” featuring starlet Iggy Azalea, lives up to its title, but some of the features (particularly Pharrell on title track “Paperwork”) drag the album down. While he isn’t quite in his prime anymore, T.I. still reminds us that he’s the man in the Atlanta rap scene.
(10/20/14 11:00pm)
Colombia–born, DMV–raised singer Kali Uchis brings
us the colorful, old–school video for her new track “Know What I Want.” Featuring
pink dust and seafoam–colored vintage cars, the video shows Kali kidnapping her boyfriend and abandoning him tied up on the side of the road. She spends
most of the video dancing, driving and putting makeup on, which serves to show
that she actually “knows what she wants” and plays down the fact that she’s
leaving this poor dude to die in the desert. Don’t mess with Kali! Musically, her
soulful voice is reminiscent of that of Amy Winehouse, and the reggae chords
and beat accompany her style perfectly. Look for her EP “Por Vida” sometime in
early 2015.
(10/15/14 4:08am)
Hummus is something worth taking seriously. You might think that those little packets of Sabra with pretzel sticks can pass as “hummus”, but it pales in comparison to the hand-made real deal. Enter Michael Solomonov, the man behind Philly favorites like Federal Donuts and Zahav. His latest restaurant, Dizengoff, is a “hummusiya” (Israeli word for a restaurant based entirely around hummus) on 16th and Sansom, a quick SEPTA ride from campus.
(09/11/14 3:22am)
When singer Jhene Aiko released her EP "Sail Out" last fall, it was packed with high-profile rap features like Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino. She made it clear that her debut album "Souled Out" would be feature-free, and she delivered with a thoroughly satisfying project that highlights no one but herself. She often gets lumped into the Drake-Weeknd minor-chord dark R&B crowd, but she breaks out of the box on this album and she does it best on songs like “Spotless Mind” and “Lyin King.” While there aren’t many collaborations on the album, she chose the right ones with the excellent Cocaine 80s feature on “To Love & Die” and the No I.D.'s production throughout. In what has been a quiet year for R&B, Jhene has stolen the spotlight.
(09/04/14 12:05am)
(09/02/14 9:47pm)
(Pop) JoJo - Leave (Get Out) – Hopefully this will get the message across, and your unwanted company will leave you faster than JoJo’s career left her.
(04/24/14 2:37pm)
Fun fact: a guy named Nayvadius D. Wilburn wrote Beyonce’s “Drunk in Love” and recorded his version of the song before she did. As much as I want to refer to the artist as “Nayvadius” for the rest of the article, you probably know him as Future. Yes, this is the same guy who has that “Tony Montana, Tony Montana” song. This is also the same guy who did the iconic choruses to Ace Hood’s “Bugatti,” Lil Wayne’s “Bitches Love Me” and Rihanna’s “Loveeee Song.” Known for his warbling voice and catchy hooks, “Fewtch” has carved himself out a snug little niche on Top 40 Urban radio. However, anyone who sees him as just a gimmick is sorely mistaken, because his solo work is top–notch.
(04/17/14 1:00pm)
"Z" - SZA
(03/31/14 11:28am)
There was once a time when you couldn’t turn the radio on without hearing a 50 Cent song. Hip–hop changed in front of our eyes as Fiddy got himself entangled in dumb beef with Kanye West and Rick Ross (and many, many others) and his bad contract with Interscope kept him from putting out an album. I mean, this dude put out a song with Eminem AND Adam Levine and couldn’t keep it on the radio! Last week, 50 graced the internet with not one, but TWO new music videos (“Hold On” & “Don’t Worry ‘Bout It”) and they’re both reached one million views on YouTube already. Neither of the videos does anything new (it’s all women, clubs, cars and the hood), but the music sounds fresh and the reaction (almost one million views on each video) is what really matters. I think it’s safe to say that Fiddy is back!
(03/20/14 1:29pm)
"Mastermind:" Rick Ross
(02/27/14 1:45pm)
1. “Happy” by Pharell Williams
(02/12/14 1:00pm)
It takes a pretty unique artist to be able to emulate both Jay–Z and Beyoncé (and a police siren) on one song, but if anyone is going to do something like that, it’s Future. Somewhere between a remix and a cover, the Astronaut himself rides his intergalactic “surfbort” all over a pretty close replica of the original “Drunk in Love” beat, making several references to the original song while changing a few of the words around to more accurately fit his “Thug n’ B” style. While most will prefer Bey’s pretty and powerful voice to Fewtch’s trademark warbling, he stays within his lane and does a fine job preserving the tone and energy of the song.
(02/06/14 1:30pm)
I put DuBois on my housing application because it said it had a kitchen and, though I can’t cook, I thought that might be cool. When I found out my first seven dorm choices had been ignored, I went straight to the Penn ’17 Facebook group to find tips on how to switch rooms. However, once I got on campus, I realized how clutch it was to have my own bathroom. From there, my perspective slowly began to change.
(02/06/14 1:30pm)
Hip–hop as a genre, or even as a lifestyle, is stereotypically dominated by braggadocio—whether it’s about cars, money, or women. Usually, rappers like to rap about how good at rapping they are. But the most interesting thing about this phenomenon is how different it is from music of older generations. There’s a disconnect when I play modern rap music in the car with my dad and he complains the whole time. Did Frank Sinatra croon about how great his voice was? Did Jimi Hendrix write songs about how much he shred on guitar? Music relies on connecting to the listener, and while some people enjoy songs like “Rap God,” it’s not exactly the most relatable topic. When’s the last time you heard someone brag on the beat about fixing a college sporting event, putting their arm through a priceless painting, or hiding drugs inside of a small dog? If you can remember hearing any of these things, chances are you listen to Action Bronson.
(02/03/14 1:05pm)
If you spend enough time clicking on related videos on YouTube, eventually you’ll come to something weird enough to make you question how you got there. Shaka Ponk’s “Wanna Get Free” video, appropriately featured on VEVO’s “WTF Wednesdays” is one of those videos. The Paris–based electronic rock group channeled all the excitement and energy of their latest single into a visual experience consisting of leopard women, robot monkeys, dancing skeletons and everything else from your last acid trip. The song itself is an electro–punk anthem catchy enough for a road trip or a movie montage and the video only enhances the entertainment factor. If such a place were to exist in France, it would top the Eiffel Tower as a travel destination.
(11/07/13 10:25am)
Most Eminem fans were skeptical, especially given his last effort, when they heard that his new album was going to be titled “The Marshall Mathers LP 2.” His last full–length album, “Recovery,” was filled with a lot of shouting, cringe–worthy punchlines and collaborations with people he would’ve joked about killing in his golden age. “MMLP2” is, thankfully, a mostly different creature. The album opens up with “Bad Guy,” an excellent revisit to one of his most beloved songs, “Stan,” in which Stan’s little brother Matthew gets revenge in his wronged brother’s name. Throughout the whole album there are subtle references to classic MMLP songs like “The Real Slim Shady” and “Kill You.” Tracks like “Brainless” and “So Much Better” emanate old Eminem. As usual, the rapping itself is top–notch, especially on the aptly–titled “Rap God,” and sometimes to the point where there’s so much wordplay that it’s impossible to catch it all in the first few listens.
(10/31/13 9:51am)
“No Blues” is the fifth studio album by the Welsh indie rock group Los Campesinos! The album sort of sounds like one long 42–minute song, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The first track, “For Flotsam,” is synthy and guitar–laden and establishes that Los Campesinos! have not lost their lyrical prowess. The next five songs are as strong as the first, especially with the catchy “The Portrait of the Trequartista As A Young Man” (the name is slightly less catchy) and the lyrically powerful “As Lucerne/The Low.” But like a lot of good–but–not–great albums, the momentum begins to fall after the halfway mark up until the brilliant finale “Selling Rope (Swan Dive To Estuary).” Still, this is a solid project and a definite listen for any indie pop fan.
Grade: B
Download: “Lucerne/The Low”
Sounds best when:Looking up the definition of the word “Trequartista.”
(10/29/13 9:00am)
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(10/04/13 3:47pm)
Danny Brown, a Detroit rap veteran who took advantage of the Internet to burst into the limelight in 2011 with “XXX,” returns with his highly–anticipated album “Old.” His trademark atypical rap voice and drug–addled lyrics are back, and, much like last time, the album is split evenly between silly raps about Molly and the size of his member and serious joints about his struggle with drugs. After having only two featuring artists on “XXX,” Danny getsstandout verses from Schoolboy Q, Ab–Soul and A$AP Rocky, along with hooks from indie artists Purity Ring and Charli XCX. With its gritty sound and harsh lyrics, “Old” is not for the casual radio listener, but it’s solid for an intermediate rap fan and exactly what Danny Brown’s loyal fans wanted.
(09/26/13 9:15am)
Drake’s newest album, “Nothing Was the Same,” does not have a misleading title. On tracks like “Connect” and “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” he shows off a newfound vocal confidence that sounds mature and in control. This voice translates well to his rapping, too, as he goes line–for–line with Jay–Z on “Pound Cake” and spits vicious rhymes for six minutes on intro song “Tuscan Leather.” There are some missteps on the more shallow rap songs, like “305 To My City” and “Worst Behavior,” but overall the album delivers. As he declares on the DJ Khaled–featured track “No New Friends,” Drake really is “the leader of the new school.”