Music Reviews In A Minute: J. Cole - Cole World, The Sideline Story

Well, rumor had it –  that a man from The Ville (Fayetteville, North Carolina to be exact), caused a Cole World to emerge out in these streets; but the release of J.Cole's "Cole World: The Sideline Story" hastily reset this rumor to a truth.

Bedstuy Betty Reviews The Weeknd's House of Balloons

These days the world of R&B is taking on a more hallucinatory and surreal approach with artists such as Frank Ocean, James Blake, and Beach House at the wheel.  With that said, The Weeknd is definitely the newest alum.  House of Balloons is equal parts grimy debauchery and polished production as 22-year-old singer Abel Tesfaye belts in falsetto about drugs, sex, and partying. Initially generating a low buzz in late 2010 when a few tracks were uploaded to YouTube for consumption as well as a cosign from Drake on his blog, not much was known about the Toronto-based group which is also comprised of producers Martin “Doc” McKinney and Illangelo.  With such themes, I probably would like to maintain an air of anonymity myself.  Don’t misunderstand though, House of Balloons is exactly what you want playing after a party at 5 in the morning when almost everyone has gone home and there’s littered glasses and bottles everywhere.

With the opening lyric on the first track “High For This”, “you don’t know what’s in store, but you know just what you’re here for...” Tesfaye creates a seductive aura over a hypnotic beat with light distortion. Throughout the song, there’s an evident quality of desire that is both visceral and alluring as he assures a girl for whatever act they’re about to engage in, she should be in an altered state. The Weeknd samples Siouxie and the Banshees’ “Happy House” for its title track as his falsetto implores the listener throughout the chorus that “this is a happy house” but as the song progresses it becomes slightly more mournful. Then like walking through a portal into an almost Odd Future setting, “Glass Table Girls” is quite obviously about that powdery white stuff while Tesfaye switches his style up opting out the falsetto for a sing-songy rap that’s more ramble than structured. The raw element of honesty present throughout the album also appears here as one lyric states: “I heard he do drugs now, you heard wrong I’ve been on it for a minute...”

Suffice to say with such hints, The Weeknd obviously lives it up and knows the party scene intimately. However their body of work thus far, also carries an honesty that’s indicative of the potential growth in R&B. While there’s little news about their next moves, Drake has tapped the singer for the OVO Festival in Toronto for late July along with rapper Rick Ross and there are rumors that he may end up working with Drake’s producer Noah "40" Shebib. We’ll see how long The Weeknd maintains their air of mystery.

Guest Blog - @BedstuyBetty Reviews Childish Gambino's "EP"

Review by Bedstuy Betty

Just in time for Spring, Donald Glover has released a new mixtape simply titled EP.  Five tracks filled not only with superior lyrics, but also diverse production as well as something even more intangible, desire.  Thus far, Mr. Glover has been somewhat of a golden boy with notable successes in both acting and writing; however it appears that this year will definitely be his to shine musically.  Where his prior efforts left the aftertaste of this pursuit being merely a pastime, EP leaves all doubts cleared by this point.

Beginning with the track “Be Alone”, Glover croons in his sweet falsetto over indie rock tones, violins, and soft drum kicks.  Though fairly somber and low-key, the lyrics shine through and give the fans a personal look at the effects of Glover’s growing fame while still maintaining a level of accessibility.  “Be Alone” is truly candid and can leave the listener a bit raw but still hopeful that Glover won’t find himself alone forever.

Guest Blog - @BedstuyBetty Reviews Childish Gambino's Culdesac

Review by Bedstuy Betty

You may recognize Childish Gambino better at his regular 9 to 5, as Troy Barnes on the NBC
show “Community” or as his real life persona Donald Glover of Derrick Comedy fame, but this certainly isn’t his debut musically. Previous endeavors include Sick Boi, Pointdexter, as well as I Am Just A Rapper & II and Gambino has once again delved into his valise of talent and created Culdesac, an assortment of tracks cleanly captured and primed for general audiences.

It appears that this time around, Gambino is polishing his approach and improving his accessibility with tracks such as “Got This Money”, “I'm On It”, and “Do Ya Like” which also samples Brit songstress Adele’s hit, “Melt My Heart To Stone”. All three tracks contain a pop quality coupled with laidback production and smooth rhymes a la Kanye.

The Grammy Awards Get It Wrong Again

Normally I don't watch award shows, but with there being no more Sunday Night Football and the fact that 70% of my Twitter timeline would be tweeting about it, I decided to watch the Grammys. I had grown tired of award shows in entertainment in the late 90's or early 2000's. Most of the time none of the artists that I cared about wouldn't sniff a nomination, let alone perform.

At this point I only check for the best rap album to see who got snubbed for a nomination. This year the nominees were Drake's Thank Me Later, Eminem's Recovery, B.o.B.'s The Adventures Of Bobby Ray, Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 & The Roots' How I Got Over.  I had no problem with Eminem winning for Recovery.

I thought it was the best of the available choices.  If I were given run of the Grammy Awards, my nominees would be:

Ghostface Killah - Apollo Kids
Skyzoo & Illmind - Live From The Tape Deck
Meth, Ghost & Rae's - Wu-Massacre
Eminem - Recovery
Black Milk - Album Of The Year




My winner would be Live From The Tape Deck with Black Milk's AOTY a CLOSE second.

If it were up to you, who would've been your nominees and who would you have given the Grammy to?




Thanks for stopping by,

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Music Reviews In A Minute: Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday [Deluxe Edition]

Nicki Minaj reminds me a lot of Eminem, whether it's the different voices and inflections that she utilizes, the energy or the funny punchlines.  Sadly, she's a little too much like Eminem with her first project.  Pink Friday is an incredibily ordinary album from an extraordinary talent.  Nicki's debut suffers from trying too hard to be pop.  She's built enough of a buzz before the album ever dropped so to try so hard for mainstream success is a bit of a mystery as well as crippled the album.

Childish Gambino - Over (Live Performance)

Cookin' Soul & Drake - Thank Us Later (The Remix Album)

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The 2009 CMJ Mixtape

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The Jetsetters Mixtape

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Formatmag.com & MeLo-X - Futurama Mixtape

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Colin Munroe Is The Unsung Hero

I'm not big on singers, but I've been feeling this cat ever since I first heard his take on Kanye's Flashing Lights, which is pure HEAT! I have been fan. Definitely check him out.





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Mr. Flashing Lights on Myspace