Christina Is Also Somewhat Correct [Guest Post] - And Yes, It's About Beyoncé

But, hey, hear me out.

"New Year, New Me" right? [Yeah, I hate when people say that, too.] I'm trying a couple new things for the 99 and the 2014 and the first is going to be posting on here more frequently. The other is the occasional guest post. This first post is from my lovely friend Christina (@ChristinaRpr) and she's probably the perfect person to look to for a fresh perspective since we agree on basically nothing. Except the fact that we're best friennnnddds. (We're not really best friends.) And I realize it's now January 3 and Beyoncé's album came out a few weeks ago but hey, the holidays just past. Those were clearly more important than me updating my blog. Well, here's Christina!

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I'd like to first take a brief moment to recognize a.samp for allowing me to discuss the Beyocalypse on his blog, because as we all know, a.samp's usually right - on matters of football, hip hop, booze and snookups... but today, he passed the torch to me to review Beyoncé's surprise self-titled, EARTH-SHATTERING visual album, "Beyoncé" - and well, as a fan and someone who's been patiently waiting for her next "era" to begin, I'm very happy to oblige.

Gosh, where do I even begin? Within hours of the surprise release, she'd already sold 100,000 copies exclusively on iTunes and has now reportedly sold over 1.5 MILLION, which is like, the most records sold by ANYONE on iTunes, like, EVER. Not sure if that's accurate but it sounded good. :)

The album is solid. The accompanying videos are stunning and provocative. She's 32, and she's never looked so good or appeared more confident than she does on this album. In fact, I'd argue that this project is some of her best work to date. Every "short film" spills over seamlessly into the next one, creating this body of work that's cohesive, thoughtful, masterful and sexy... but tasteful (kinda) - in typical Beyoncé fashion.

I just love it. Every single song, every single visual. It's perfect. I haven't LOVED a Beyoncé album since "B'Day," but this time - she nailed it. Working with the likes of Justin Timberlake, Miguel and Drake, the records are soulful, modern, funky, infectious, fun and even...political? Yes, she's even offered us some socio-political dialogue on the not-so-fair expectations of women and our obligation to support the feminist movement via prominent Nigerian writer and feminist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's brief cameo-sample on the record "***Flawless" and somewhat on the ballad "Pretty Hurts."

Beyoncé cited in the "Making of" video and in her official press release that she wanted to provide listeners and fans an "immersive, multi-platform experience," that changes the way we consume music. In other words, she's merely adapting to the increased demand of consumers wanting multi-media content available and accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on their mobile devices and tablets. Smart and therein proven by the fact that she sold nearly half a million copies in just a couple of days of the release. Risky, sure ... successful? I'd say yes.

She's undoubtedly the hardest working entertainer in show business, underscored by the mere fact and audacity that she was (and still is) on a WORLD TOUR - yet managed to bang out these records, videos and promotional planning at the same damn time.

This project exudes everything Beyoncé represents as both an artist and businesswoman tirelessly fighting to maintain quality of music and entertainment in the industry. Whether you "get her" or not, you gotta respect her for it!

Again, I like every single record and video on the album, but here are my faves!

Drunk in Love (feat. Jay Z) - Yeah, we're kinda obsessed with these two so anytime they collab, we're given exactly what we need, but never too much. The song is a SMASH, will be in heavy rotation on hip hop AND top 40 stations, and the video is loosely directed and fun to watch. I especially enjoy the weird stripper-leg-kick-twerk-jig thing she's doing throughout - totally here for ratchet Beyoncé. Directed by Hype Williams.

Blow - This seems to be the popular favorite, written and produced by my bae PHARRELL. It's a very catchy and suggestive record about the pleasures of oral sex - pretty explicit for someone who barely swore at one point in her career. The video is super fun and yeah, she looks phenomenal. Directed by Hype Williams.

No Angel - shot in her hometown, Houston, Texas and apparently Brunswick, Australia, NO ONE CAN MIX RATCHET AND HIGH FASHION LIKE BEYONCE, and that's frankly why we love her. I'm pretty obsessed with this video, actually.

Partition - Produced by Timbaland, and actually one of my favorite records, really love the heavy baseline. The video is a little porny but it works. I love that Jay Z is her video boy and is just there watching, chilling... partaking. The song itself isn't terribly explicit minus the eyebrow-raising lyric - "He popped all my buttons, and he ripped my blouse/ He Monica Lewinsky-ed all on my gown" NICE. *notes that Monica Lewinsky is now a verb.*

Jealous - LOVEEEEEEE the Parisian backdrop and influences. Love the candor of the lyrics. She apparently shot some scenes at 4 AM in NYC.

Rocket - The most soulful record on the album, clearly influenced by D'Angelo's "Unititled" and co-written by Miguel. Another video showing lots and lots of Beyoncé's "I just had a baby, but I bounced back, bitch" body. Video's soft-porny but again, it works.

Mine (feat. Drake) - OKAY. Girls love Beyoncé, girls love Drake. Perfect record, perfect accompanying artistically-interesting visual. I'm obsessed!

Blue (feat. Blue Ivy) - Brazil is the backdrop, Beyoncé looks AMAZE and Blue is ADORABLE. WHAT MORE COULD WE ASK FOR?

The other records/videos "Pretty Hurts," "Flawless," "Haunted," "XO," "Heaven," "Ghost," "Superpower," and "Yonce" are all solid records with cool accompanying visuals as well, overall making for a substantial and truly immersive project that's equally as appealing as it is satisfying. Definitely a must-buy! Also - interesting marketing strategy to release physical copies right before Christmas. The woman is SMART.

Oh, and I think I have finally found and replaced my wig.

Thanks, Samp :)


Follow Ms. Reeves (@ChristinaRpr) on Twitter. She's not so bad. Thanks Chris!

Nothing Was the Same - Track-By-Track Review

Whether you like it or not, Drake’s good. He’s been good since he dropped like five years ago. But still, he remains one of the more polarizing rappers out. It could be that he’s from Toronto. Maybe it’s the Degrassi (oh, and Charlie Bartlett!) acting past. It could just be the R&B half of his discography. Whatever your reason to slight him, one thing is constant: He makes good music.

Case in point, Nothing Was the Same, Drake’s third studio album that dropped yesterday. After binge listening for the past few hours (and with a week’s head start—Go internet!) here’s my track-by-track review of NWTS.

1. Tuscan Leather
Ok, I’ll be the first to admit, this is the most aggressive opening track in Drake’s catalogue. But honestly, I only have Fireworks and Over My Dead Body—not two of his most fiery openings—to compare it to. But other than that, I’m not a huge fan track of this other than the Heatmakerz-esque high-pitched sample and the pretty smooth beat switch and (better) verse that accompanies it. Don’t worry, the album picks up from here.

2. Furthest Thing
So remember that R&B Drake that I mentioned earlier, boom. This shit goooooes though. Introspective, melancholy Drake is still good Drake. I’d be surprised if this wasn’t one of Aubrey’s favorite tracks from the album. This even has a very So Far Goneish feel to it. Not to mention a second beat switch toward the end. Frequent Drake collaborator 40 is actually on his Just Blaze on the second half of this one. And it works.

3. Started From the Bottom
It didn’t take long for the internet (and our annoying Facebook friends and their statuses) to make us tired of this song but in all honesty, after a few weeks of not hearing it at all, I like this one again. Give it a few more weeks even and I might even forget about the snow scene. Yeah, that snow scene. I don’t want to forget about her, however. Anybody got her name, by the way? (For a friend.)

4. Wu-Tang Forever
I refuse to feel bad for liking this song so much. The worst part about it is that if it were up to the internet, we should be outraged that such a mellow song has references to Wu-Tang in the title. But honestly, that’s dumb. And the subtle yet repeated “It’s Yourz” sample justifies the title just fine for me. (HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT….?!)

5. Own It
See, Drake even used the “It’s Yourz” sample on this song, too. With that being said, I have mixed feelings about this song. First off, this song is so So Far Gone that it’s insane, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Second, this so is so Drakeish that it’s insane. I’m not 100% sure what that means, but I think you’ll agree. I think that this song is so familiar because we’ve heard it from Drake so many times. Not bad overall, though.

6. Worst Behaviour
Ok, the album is seriously picking up some steam at this point. Perfect placement for this song, especially following the last two slower songs. This song essentially embodies why we listen to Drake: Creative and funny verses, simple yet effective hook and a couple good punch lines. Mainly: “Bar mitzvah money like my last name Mordecaiiiiii…fuck you, bitch. I’m more than high.” AND LET’S NOT FORGET the Mase-inspired third verse. As an avid Mase fan, the song could’ve started and finished with that verse and all would’ve been well in the world.

7. From Time feat. Jhené Aiko
You didn’t’ think we’d make it all the way through a Drake album without a real deal relationship song, did you? Good luck with that. Drake even goes as far as name-dropping and telling stories of past relationships in this song. I should make one of these. (Actually, maybe not.) Also noted, we’re halfway through the album and just getting to the first featured artist (with the exception of background vocals.) I can appreciate that. Not only that, but Jhené Aiko is dope and I should probably be listening to her much more than I do now.

8. Hold On, We’re Going Home
I don’t know. Just watch.


9. Connect
Another slow one that just works. I’m actually pleasantly surprised at how well this album flows from song to song. You can definitely hear Drake’s Texas influence in the background of this one with Trae the Truth dropping background vocals. Will allow.

10. The Language
BIRDMAN 5 STAR OUTRO. GAME OVER.

11. 305 To My City
First off, Detail sounds frighteningly similar to Lil Wayne. (Am I the only one that didn’t know this?)  This song is pretty dope and I’m almost positive this is what Drake was writing in his infamous strip club pen session:

Peep Drake ass in the background writing lyrics at a strip club lmfao 😂😭😩 pic.twitter.com/jxD3aS0dkG

— Curtis Jayy (@KingCurtisJayy) August 6, 2013

12. Too Much feat. Sampha
This guy’s name is Sampha so clearly I like this song already. Following a very Drake-like performance on Jimmy Fallon, I’d be surprised if this isn’t the next single from the album. This is a pretty smooth song and Sampha’s background vocals throughout the song really brings the beat together.

Drake and Sampha also worked together flawlessly on The Motion.

13. Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music II feat. Jay-Z
Ah, finally. What better way to close out an album than by featuring the greatest rapper of all time…..and potentially his worst verse of all time. Hate to finish this post out focusing on Jay-Z but come on. Cake, cake cccake c-c-c-c-cake…what was he thinking with the second half of his feature? And the verse started with so much promise. Once I saw Jay listed I was positive this would be my favorite song on the album. But nah. It’s not quite as bad as Off That but those cake lines definitely made me think twice.

All in all, I really like this album. It’s very easy to listen all the way through without even glancing at the skip button, cake verse included. It’s clear that Drake’s really found his lane(s) and is content with his current place in hip-hop. And thank goodness for no Lil Wayne features.


Also, if you’re not using this or this as your album art, you’re doing it very wrong.

My Chemical Romance - Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys Album Cover

I'm pretty excited about new MCR, but this new music has been a little, um....different. I'll withhold judgement until I hear some more from the album. For now, here's their latest joint, Na Na Na.Not super dope, but just for super dopeness, the Ghost of You video. THIS is the MCR I'm hoping for.

Guess we'll see on November 23^rd.

Music of the Moment - November 9, 2009 [Wale Edition]

Less than a day away from the much anticipated release of Wale's debut album. I know kids have been waiting 5-6 years [and even longer] for this joint to drop. Since most of the people I know have had the album for about a week now, I won't waste time posting joints from the album. [Partly because I haven't listened to it yet.] Instead, I'll just post up some of my favorite somewhat lowkey mixtape tracks from Wale. You prolly know him from the rap.

ADD Part 2 // Hate Is the New Love
Download: ADD Part 2


Crazy // Hate Is the New Love [Favorite Wale Verses]
Download: Crazy


Daytona 500 // Hate Is The New Love
Download: Daytona 500


Boyz Remix feat. MIA // Boyz 12"
Download: Boyz Remix feat. MIA
Whether downloaded it already or not, go cop Attention Deficit tomorrow. Support good music.

Album Review: Black Kids - Partie Traumatic

I'm gonna catch heat from all the hip hop heads out there but more than any other album this summer, I've been waiting for Partie Traumatic from Florida-based group, Black Kids. Black Kids are as Indie-pop as it comes. Rolling Stone named Black Kids the Artists To Watch in 2008 and I couldn't agree more, especially because of their raw talent. When I stumbled across their Wizard of Ahhhs EP, I was pleasantly surprised that there was still music like this being made: Kind of 80's-ish with a European influence. Awesome. Their songs are catchy and have little substance, but I'm still loving the album. It features all four of the songs from their Wizard of Ahhhs EP except they've been re-recorded and the quality is much better. Going in to the album, my favorite song was I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You. But after first listen, the title track takes the cake for best joint on the album. The new version of ...Boyfriend is definitely up there along with Hit the Heartbreaks and Listen to Your Body Tonight. I would definitely say give Black Kids a listen if you're looking for something new and different.

Solid album, just a little short. Altogether, it's worth about 4 a.samps.

Check out the video for I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You. It's mad different, but still hot.

I had to include Partie Traumatic too.