Visuals for a track off of her “S” EP.
R&B
The Weeknd – Devil May Cry
Abel did a song for the upcoming movie, Catching Fire, the sequel to the hit Hunger Games movie. I like this track, it doesn’t like a typical Weeknd song.
Jhene Aiko Talks Working w/ Drake & Childish Gambino on the Truth
Jhene chops it up with Elliot Wilson about stuff I mentioned in the title.
Melanie Fiona – Cold Piece (Official Video)
Looking Back, Overrated/Underrated: Drake – Take Care
In 2011, Drizzy dropped his highly anticipated, sophomore album. I liked the stuff Drake put out prior to it, so I was looking forward to it. It’s looked at as one of the best rap albums of the 2010 decade so far. It even ended up winning the Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2013. Overall, the verdict is
OVERRATED
I really don’t like this album. I mean I REALLY don’t like this album. I must admit, I bought into the hype at first, but after giving it a couple of listens, Take Care just became annoying. You know all those stupid “Drake the type of nigga that..” jokes on Twitter? I’m sure that this was the cause of it. He said he doesn’t like when people call him emotional, but wtf do you expect them to do when you make some shit like this? All you did was bitch about girls for the the majority of the album. This nigga rapped about going through girls’ purses? Seriously? Seriously? This is the softest “Rap” album I’ve ever heard, and resulted in Drake being crowned the emperor of the lightskinned niggas.
How tf did this beat Nas’ Life is Good for the Grammy? Was it a more popular album, yes. (I may have just answered my own question.) But was it better? Fuck no. It was kinda bold that he never threw away his Grammy speech, and he didn’t even get to use it, but this shit shouldn’t have given him the reason to use it in the first place. Drake’s a talented guy, don’t get me wrong, but.. “The Motto” was one of my least favorite songs in 2011, and the “movement” it started was terrible. Old people trying to relate to today’s youth by saying YOLO is nerve-racking.
I loved the production on this, especially “Lord Knows”, but other than that, it’s been resting in my recycle bin since I came to the realization that this album does absolutely nothing for me. That sing-rapping shit like he did on “Headlines” is irritating when he overdoes it, and the fact that he tried to talk tough while he was doing it made it worse. What “thug” sings when making threats? Drake’s delivery on most of this tracks was whack, and and most of the rap verses weren’t memorable to me. Even though he had PHENOMENAL lines like, “She said “You’re such a dog”. and I said “You’re such a bone.” and “Just bought a ghost so shit is getting spooky”…. Nigga what? It’s those type of lines that if you say them acapella, they’re meant to make people say “oooh”, but everybody just be standing there like 
This featured some of his worst rapping and his worst singing. And the R&B songs that The Weeknd wrote for this would’ve sounded ALOT better if The Weeknd was the one singing them. A few, (and I really mean “few”) of Drake’s songs were cool, like “HYFR”, “Look What You’ve Done”, “Crew Love” and….I think that’s it. My favorite part of this album, (“Buried Alive”, which ain’t all that great either) don’t even got the nigga on it.
I’m not HATING ON this album, I just HATE this album. He managed to redeem himself with Nothing Was the Same though, so it may be all good from here on out.
Janelle Monae – PrimeTime ft. Miguel (Music Video)
Best Features of 2013 (So Far)
2013 is a few months away from being over, and I’ve heard some amazing features this year. Here are the top 13.
13.) Future on Lil Wayne’s “Love Me” Future is the reason I liked this song. His part was so damn catchy. Everybody I know was singing “I’m on that good kush and alcohol” for quite a while after hearing this.
12.) The Weeknd on Juicy J’s “One of those Nights” Haven’t been a big fan of The Weeknd’s music this year, but I loved his verse and hook on the song. His intro played a big part in setting the vibe for the track.
11.) 2 Chainz on Drake’s “All Me” “This that sauce! This that dressing! Given-chy! Nigga, God bless ya!” 2 Chainz’s delivery and charisma on this gets him a spot on the list.
10.) Chance the Rapper on Lil Wayne’s “You Song” Chano did this song justice, Wayne was dope on it too though. Chance painted a verbal picture on here, on how he and the girl he’s talking up’s future would be. The hook he sang on here was stuck in my head for a while.
9.) Frank Ocean on Jay Z’s “Oceans” Frank has always been a poetic songwriter, and his contribution to this song made it alot better than it would have been if he wasn’t on it.
8.) Vince Staples on Earl Sweatshirt’s “Hive” Earl had some dope verses on this track, but Vince was the standout. That laid-back delivery mixed with his lyricism still keeps this on replay on my phone.
7.) Domo Genesis on Tyler, the Creator’s “Rusty” This nigga Domo ripped this verse, and he provided the song with the chorus. He sounded so damn hungry on this track, and he managed to out-do his Odd Future bros Tyler and Earl on this. Didn’t see that coming.
6.) Nas on Big Sean’s “First Chain” I liked Sean’s and Kid Cudi’s verses on this song too, but Nas out-shined them, no doubt about it. His flow, delivery, and lyrics on here were great. “Sorry Sierra Leone, one day we’ll right the wrongs.”
5.) Jhene Aiko on J. Cole’s “Sparks Will Fly” This has been a good year for Jhene, and this was one of her highlights. Her voice on this song is so smooth and melodic. Another one of the songs I most likely wouldn’t have liked if it weren’t for the feature.
4.) Drake on Migos’ “Versace” For the longest, I thought this was Drake’s song. He turned this into a catchy hit. For months he had people tweeting “Versace, versace [insert unfunny rhyme here]”.
3.) Big KRIT on A$AP Rocky’s “1 Train”It’s hard to deny KRIT was the standout on this song. He brought intensity, lyricism, and was the perfect choice to be the one to close out the track. One of the best songs on Long.Live.A$AP.
2.) Kendrick Lamar on Big Sean’s “Control” Seriously, would anybody have really cared about this song if it weren’t for Kendrick’s verse? The name-dropping made it the most popular verse of the year. Tons of hip-hop fans and rappers paid attention to it.
1.) Jay Z on Kendrick Lamar’s “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe (Remix)”Not much of a Jay Z fan, but I’ll give credit where it’s due. His verse on here was very dope. “Empty my memory bank, it’s a million dollars in it baby, Hilary Swank.” He brought his arrogant bravado on here and delivered a great verse.
EXPhits 