LIVE(life)LOVE(life)HIP-HOP(is life)

Erykah Badu – Jump Up In the Air ft. Lil Wayne & Bilal

niafree — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:43:57 +0000

One of my favorite artist, Erykah Badu, is set to release New Amerykah Part Two: Return of The Ankh on 03.30.2010 A.D. Honestly, whenever I’m tired of the mundane popular music of today, I listen to Erykah Badu (especially Baduizm).

She has given us her new song (which has 9 other versions with 9 other emcees) and self directed video. Enter the erykahlidoscope and check out Jump Up In the Air…

Tagged: Bilal, Erykah Badu, Lil Wayne

They Reminisce Over ‘Ye

niafree — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:10:42 +0000

All my friends know (and those who follow me on twitter) that I miss Kanye… five months without him in music game and I truly feel like something is missing. So over at itsthereal.com they created a video dedication to the man we love and miss… the best of all time (of recent times lol)… Mr. West, that is… check it out…

Tagged: it's the real, Kanye West

B.o.B aka Bobby Ray… May 25th Mixtape

niafree — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:19:44 +0000

Bobby Ray aka B.o.B. couldn’t wait until May 25th for the release of his first official album, B.o.B. Presents the Adventures of Bobby Ray (2010, Grand Hustle) so he gave the people May 25th (his 6th mixtape). With features from J. Cole, Asher Roth and Charles Hamilton; May 25th is a decent prelude to what many expect to be a great album (like nothing we’ve heard before being that B.o.B. gives us a Hip-Hop/Country/Rock/Funk/R&B influenced “OutKast/Gnarls Barkley/he sounds like Bobby Ray” type of sound). He may not be YOUR twist but if your twist is good music, get with it. Shouts to DJ Drama and the Apphiliates!!!

DOWNLOAD NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gladiators ft J. Cole

Above is the Gladiators track which features J. Cole… its not one of my favs but its J. Cole and he holds his own on the track.

Tagged: Apphiliates, Asher Roth, B.o.B., Bobby Ray, Charles Hamilton, DJ Drama, Gnarls Barkley, Grand Hustle, J. Cole, Outkast

Big Sean is… Finally Famous…?

niafree — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:26:36 +0000

Supa Dupa Lemonade freestyle is tearing up the internet and since I really like Big Sean… Here you go

And this is an older (not too old) video… Million Dollars

Tagged: Big Sean, G.O.O.D. Music

Trying to stay alive…

niafree — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:50:41 +0000

When everyone was claiming that hip-hop was dead, or dying, on life support or suffering in some way about three years ago I was watching R&B slip away. What happened in R&B that took the soul out the beat? It was as if the pop explosion of the late 90’s rolled over and began to suck in the R&B artist… there just seemed to be a lack of soul, passion, love songs, ballads, and real singers (I mean people that can BLOW not Ciara or Chris Brown). I love Christina Aguilera but it struck me as odd that “Back to Basics” was one of the best R&B albums of 2006 (no knock though, it was an amazing album). Do not get me wrong there are artists who hold strong to their R&B roots but little attention or not enough exposure until they come out with “cross-over” or pop hit. Now let’s say you’re thinking about the question that I’m posing regarding the state of R&B and you don’t agree that Chrisette Michele, Ryan Leslie, Melonie Fiona, Solange Knowles, Robin Thicke, Ne-Yo, Trey Songz, Jennifer Husdon and a few other relatively new comers are reviving a genre that fell upon hard times… then tell me who was holding it down for R&B in let’s 2006 and the three preceeding years.

I’m happy to say that R&B is coming back and Alicia Keys, John Legend, and Musiq aren’t the only ones making love songs nowadays. Amongst the mundaness that has taken over the artist in the industry today I’m realizing that the new trend is to be different which unfurtunately results in everyone being the same… There are a lot of new talents coming up and I’m hoping that ten years from now I’ll still be excited about the music industry as I am now.

BUT for the time being I’ll put up a few new R&B songs I heard today.

Ryan Leslie – You’re Not My Girl

Melonie Fiona – You Stop My Heart

Melonie Fiona – Walk On By

Melonie Fiona – Magic

Mario – More Than Friends

NiaFree

Tagged: Alicia Keys, Chris Brown, Chrisette Michele, Ciara, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Mario, Melonie Fiona, Ne-Yo, Robin Thicke, Ryan Leslie, Solange Knowles, Trey Songz

Best I Ever Had Video

niafree — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:31:00 +0000

Okay so Drake has a hit single on his hands with Best I Ever Had… how do you keep the momentum with that song? You release a video, right? Right, but it should be a good video… I understand that its not the ’90’s and artists aren’t spending tons of money and energy on the production of a decent video but at least make it entertaining. I just knew that the artistic genius that is Kanye West would direct a great video BUT NO he did not. I’m honestly hoping that the concept was too deep for me and went over my head.. if that isn’t the case then you have a great track, girls, a gym, and a few funny spots about 5 minutes in. But I love Drake and he’s still the best I ever heard (recently).

NiaFree

Tagged: Drake, Kanye West

The Biz… MJ, Jay-Z, and Drake

niafree — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:49:38 +0000

Following the untimely death of the great Michael Jackson, it was expected that fans would come out of the woodwork to stock up on Mike’s albums and music. Just as expected Michael Jackson (already the undisputed King of Pop) proved himself to be the King again. The preliminary sales numbers from the Nielsen SoundScan reveals that nine out of the top ten spots of Billboards Top Pop Catalog Albums chart will be held by Michael Jackson related projects. Michael has a record eight of the top ten spots and the Jackson 5 holds the ninth. Collectively, Michael Jackson’s solo albums sold 415,000 copies the past week with 58% of them being digital sales. For more details and a report of the countless Billboard records broken by Michael Jackson this past week CLICK HERE!!!

Everyone was wondering why Blueprint 3 continued to be delayed and I’m sure the world was shocked when Jay-Z bought out of his contract with Def Jam before releasing the highly anticipated album… Well “Blueprint 3″ will be released on September 11th (exactly 8 years after the release of “Blueprint”) through Jay-Z’s new Roc Nation imprint. The “Blueprint 3″ album will be distributed through Atlantic but the other artsist and Roc Nation works will be distributed through Sony. For more details CLICK HERE!!!

It was reported a while back that Universal Motown had won the bidding war for hip-hop’s next big thing, Drake. Unfortunately (for them) they came close but no cigar. Drake has signed with Lil Wayne’s Young Money imprint and will be distributed through Universal Republic. Drake’s highly anticipated major label debut, “Thank Me Later,” is scheduled to be released later this year. For the full story CLICK HERE!!!

NiaFree

Tagged: Atlantic, Billboard, Blueprint, Blueprint 3, Def Jam, Drake, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Michael Jackson, Roc Nation, Sony, Universal Motown, Universal Republic, Young Money

Mr. Hudson ft Kanye West – Supernova

niafree — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:09:38 +0000

I will admit that when Kanye started singing and using auto-tune I wasn’t particularly upset about it. I truly didn’t find anyting wrong with it because I felt that it was an artistic move for ‘Ye and simply what he felt like doing at the time oppsed to a financial move to sell records. With that said I love Mr. Hudson’s Supernova featuring a Kanye West who some may say is singing too much. Okay so it may not be hip-hop, shoot me; Kanye may not a be good singer, shoot me again; but there is no denying that he is a hell of an artist and Supernova is a good song. And the video is Pop-Art at its finest… Haa! lol

NiaFree

Tagged: G.O.O.D. Music, Kanye West, Mr. Hudson

New Trey Songz

niafree — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:19:19 +0000

As we all patiently wait for the August 4th release of Trey Songz’ third studio album, READY, he gives us a little something to hold us over for the next month. The new King of Remixes has released Anticipation which is ironically all original songs… 12 good tracks and I won’t go into a detailed description of the mixtape simply because I feel that his own description is much better than mine could ever be. Thus, below I’ve posted what Trey said on his blog… F.Y.I the Prince fan in me loves the “Purple Rain” inspired “Yo Side of the Bed” (its no “Purple Rain” by far though.. but its cool).

Many of you may ask, Why ANTICIPATION? Well lets break it down shall we:

An⋅tic⋅i⋅pa⋅tion [an-tis-uh-pey-shuhn] -noun

1. realization in advance, intuition; foretaste.

2. Musically – a tone introduced in advance of its harmony so that it sounds against the preceding chord.

Musically, I’m currently in a creative space like no other. I feel as though whenever a mic is put in front of me, I can do no wrong. At a time in the music industry where album sales are low, fans are fickle, inconsistent, or more into the various songs than they are the particular artist, I feel that I must give u a reason to love me. Embed in you a desire to love me and an appreciation for the music. I must show you that not only do I LOVE what I do but I also do it well.

The creation of ANTICIPATION began after I presented READY to my label the first time. I just started recording on my days off and the music felt great and decided that I’d rather share the music than let it sit and be idle. This is music without politics, without creative boundaries.

Troy (my mentor and founder & CEO of Songbook Ent.) and I have been making music since I was 15. There was a time when thoughts of monotonous melodies or redundant choruses wasn’t THE KEY to making a hit record. Music that just felt good. Although they’re present at times the boundaries are endless in this body of work, giving you a (1) realization in advance to READY.

What do I mean by READY? Well, lets do this one more time.

Read⋅y [red-ee] –adjective

1. completely prepared or in fit condition for immediate action or use

I like to say don’t get READY…STAY READY!!! But until then…Here is ANTICIPATION…

WHAT YOU WAITIN ON!? Are you READY?

DOWNLOAD ANTICIPATION NOW!!!!!!

NiaFree

Tagged: Atlantic, Prince, Purple Rain, Ready, Trey Songz

R.I.P. Auto-tune

niafree — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:51:03 +0000

There is no need for an over the top video analysis. The title of the track speaks for itself… D.O.A. or Death of Auto-tune has had a long time coming and I must say that it is right on time. It would take Jay-Z to call out the industry on their bullshit fad chasing, which has ultimately led to a complete lack of creativity in the music and fashion… in the whole lifestyle for that matter. Here is the video on which Jay-Z blows up that wack ass gold champagne, ridiculously tacky jewelery, boarder line tacky clothing, and the auto-tune device amongst other “thriving” fads.

NiaFree

Tagged: Jay-Z