Damn, Robin went ahead and cast his wife, Paula Patton, in this video, completely sonning the rest of the industry. You win my friend, you win. Game, blouses.
I remember watching some of the Joe Budden TV episodes (side note: Joey is one of the most entertaining cats in the industry, hands down) when Drake put out So Far Gone and I always thought it was interesting how open Joe was in praising Drizzy’s work. Take this one, for example, where Joe spazzes over “A Night Off”…and rightly so, it’s a phenomenal record. A year or so later, he had the same reaction for Frank Ocean’s “Novacane,” which later led to this (Internet) classic.
Another year later, and it’s not surprising to see Joe release music with that same vibe, though he’s doing it fairly coyly as part of a side project with Emanny, jokingly called Summer Leather Vest (you’ll see the inspiration in the video hahaha). It’s a shrewd, smart move, because it allows Joe to try something new without fully committing to it. I’d expect to see some of this sound permeate his upcoming solo releases, but I doubt he’ll bring much of it to the Slaughterhouse project so fans of the rappity rapp rap shouldn’t fear. I’m glad to see him diversifying his sound though, especially because joking or not, “Unison” came out fresh.
The Weeknd’s first official is for “The Knowing,” and as you might expect, it’s rather open to interpretation. The song, however, is not.
After “Like Smoke” with Nas, which we’ve been playing on SNSS the past few weeks, “Our Day Will Come” is the second track to leak from Amy’s posthumous Lioness: Hidden Treasures album dropping December 5th. I can’t wait for a new Amy album, but it’s tragic that we’re getting it under these circumstances. So talented. RIP.
Wale, Miguel, and Miguel’s hair release the official video for “Lotus Flower Bomb” off Ambition, which is doing real well on the charts so far. Congrats to Wale, MMG, and the Warner fam. Wale can rub folks in the industry the wrong way, but he’s been cool to me every time we’ve met and it’s always dope to see talented artists become commercially successful. Super dope actually.
Seattle folks: I’ll be giving out a pair of tickets to Wale’s upcoming show in Seattle on Sound Session tomorrow night. Plus, you’ll get to come meet the man himself at KUBE with us earlier in the day. Listen tomorrow to win!
And while we’re on the subject of TED talks, here’s the homey Shad discussing “Bearings” and how he stays focused on the right path. If your favorite rapper couldn’t get up and do one of these talks about a substantive topic, and do it coherently, you’re listening to the wrong people.
RIP Heavy D! I never met Heav, but from all accounts, he was an incredibly positive and amazing person. He was a classic hip-hop icon that could span all sub-genres of the culture to get love from everyone. Don’t just remember the uptempo pop songs and dance moves…dude could rhyme.
He’ll be missed in this industry and worldwide.
Big shout to my guy Rockwell Powers for putting me up on Peter Baldwin’s music. I’ll try to post more from Peter later, but for now, be sure to peep his website and follow him on Twitter.
I figured I’d follow J. Cole’s “Lost Ones” with a track that represents another possible outcome to that unfortunate scenario. While Cee Lo’s addition to the record doesn’t seem necessary to me (and there’s a little too much Coolio in “Gangsta’s Paradise” happening for his visuals), I hope it helps the song get the notoriety it deserves.
Artists take note: this is the kind of emotion you should put in your music. And you also shouldn’t have kids until the situation is right. But you already knew both of those things…right?
Pac Div’s The Div project comes out on Tuesday. Support some of the game’s best.