[A Brief Review] Souled Out - Jhene Aiko

This month Jhene Aiko dropped her debut studio album "Souled Out". I was a big fan of "sailing souls" and "Sail Out" so it's exciting to see her finally release a studio album.

On first listen, it sounds pretty much EXACTLY like all of her previous stuff. Really mellow, trance-y, music you just chill to. And I get it, it's her style and its what makes her unique as a female artist so I can't be mad at that. I kind of wish that the album had more of a unique sound in comparison to her other works but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy listening to the album. It kind of reminds me of if Drake were a woman and released a straight R&B album. Really emotional, raw and honest. I was hoping for more songs like "Comfort Inn Freestyle" but I feel like a song like that comes out at just the right moment and it's hard to force emotion like that for a studio album.

It's one of those albums that you can listen to in the background of what you're doing and it doesn't really get in the way of anything. I wish I could say that I was blown away but I don't really know what I was expecting. The songs all sound extremely similar and tend to blend together, which makes the album flow really well, but it kind of just plays like one really really long song. If you're not actively paying attention, you won't know what song you're listening to, or how many songs have passed.

Overall it was solid and had good vibes but I was unimpressed and bored listening to it.

Notable songs that I enjoyed:
To Love & Die ft. Cocaine 80's
Lyin King
Brave
Pretty Bird ft. Common
Blue Dream

But my opinion means nothing. Listen for yourself. 

It's raining...

Whenever it rains I like to take a break from being the ray of sunshine that I am and be really moody and melancholy. During this time I like to actively look for new places to live where it never rains..i.e. California, shop online for black long sleeve shirts and leggings and do yoga in the dark.

Enjoy this playlist to make you feel just as distant and moody as I do..when it's raining.
Its a lot of Lana Del Rey...but are you surprised?

We Made it in America

Last weekend I attended the 2014 Budweiser Made in America Festival in Philly and it was everything I hoped it would be. These were some memorable moments in no particular order.

1. Kanye. He rapped. He sang. He ranted. He wanted people to mosh? It was Kanye.
2. Pharrell. So it rained that day. and we waited 2 hours IN the pouring rain. ended up getting front row spots. Pharrell was incredible and killed it obviously.
3. Drugs and Beer. Festivals are one of the only places where people just openly do drugs and its like...eh. The BEST part actually was the people who took just one step too far. Lets make a reality show that follows all of the paramedics that take all the drunk druggies away.
4. Rain. It poured. Like literally POURED. They told everyone to evacuate so obviously no one did. Instead we took the opportunity to get front row seats for Pharrell.
RIP shoes and crown :(

Other memorable moments:
5. Kings of Leon doing an encore with Sex on Fire.
6. Losing my phone and friends during J Cole's set.
7. Danny Brown being weird AF and it being amazing.
8. A constant stream of house music.
9. YG's FREE MEEK set.
10. Dressing 'festival chic'

 Here are some low quality pics and from my SnapChat.  


 

What's my age again?

After 21 birthday's start to become sad. You always feel awesome that it's your birthday, but it's never really as good as you hope it will be. You have all these expectations that don't ever REALLY get met within those 24 hours. For me birthday's are just a reminder that another year has gone by I'm still not where I want to be. [Of course I feel "blessed" to be alive to see another birthday blah blah blah]

I was told that your odd years are always the best ones. Which, thinking back, could be true. (with the exception of 19 which I feel like just sucks all around for everyone) I predict 23 being a good year. I mean 23 worked for Jordan right?

The mantra for my birthday has been "nobody likes you when you're 23" (*Mark Hoppus voice*). You're  young enough to make mistakes but old enough to know better. It's kind of the best of both worlds in a messed up way. Still, nobody takes you seriously yet so you might as well do whatever the hell  makes you happy.

Summer Jam 2014: In review

June 1, 2014 marked the 2014 Summer Jam music festival hosted by Hot 97 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. This was my first year attending Summer Jam and the first time I had really been to a music festival of this caliber. I had no idea what to expect other than the advertised set of artists. Certain aspects of the show exceeded my expectations. I hate the word epic but it was pretty epic.

First of all: I was really only expecting (and excited) to see a select few among all of these that were advertised to be there such as Wayne, Nicki, 50 Cent, Wiz Khalifa, The Roots, Childish Gambino, Jhene Aiko, Nas and Iggy Azalea.

What I was not expecting is that basically every artist relevant in music today (and 10 years ago..*cough* G-UNIT *cough*) would show up and make an appearance.

First there was the festival stage. Notable performers included Iggy Azalea, Jhene Aiko, Childish Gambino and others that people basically used as alcohol breaks. Iggy was Iggy, she had a lot of energy and no one really paid attention until 'Fancy' which she ended with. She did have dancers which is always fun to see on stage. I was most looking forward to see Jhene and Childish perform 'Bed Peace' together, which they did and it was fantastic. Jhene looked flawless and I immediately want to copy her entire wardrobe. I was skeptical about how Jhene would sound live but she surprised me and I was really impressed by her performance. Childish killed it as well. My only wish is that he would have done some of this older stuff like 'Heartbeat' or 'Freaks and Geeks' but each artist really only had time to do 3 or 4 songs for their set.

After some tailgating, parking lot loitering, and almost getting punched in the face by a drunk bitch who was unaware of how to act at concerts...we finally made our way up about 6 stories to our seats in MetLife Stadium. For how much we spent on tickets they should've thrown in a pair of binoculurs because damn...we were FAR. Although! After being in the pit for the majority of concerts it was nice to have a seat and not live in fear of being suffocated or elbowed in the face.

Action Bronson had a good set. The cameras mostly focused on his choice to perform barefoot. Then there was Wiz Khalifa. I've seen Wiz in concert before and he's actually a really good performer. Then came the first surprise of the evening when he brought out Snoop Dogg.(!!!) Which was awesome.

I'm not going to mull on the rest of the performers. Nas was there and brought out French Montana and Meek Mill. Meek KILLED IT. Anytime he does 'Dreams and Nightmares' the crowd is guaranteed to go off.  Trey Songz came out and killed it per usual. He even threw in a little "Free Breezy" chant (UPDATE: Chris Brown was released from jail the very next day so obviously it was because of our chant). Somewhere in there as a G-Unit reunion which, ok, was pretty cool. There were about 85 people on stage at this point and I really had no idea what 50 Cent was saying but G-Unit was there. He didn't do 'In Da Club' which upset me, but I couldn't be upset for long because pretty soon Nicki Minaj came out.

Nicki did her amazing rendition of 'Boss Ass Bitch' followed by her verses from 'Monster', and 'Up All Night'. She also performed 'Did it on 'em' which is one of my forgotten favorites. At one point even Soulja Boy came out to assist in performing their new song 'Yass Bitch' (yes the actual name of the song).

THEN!!!!!!! Nicki says she has an announcement..she proceeds to talk about a certain member of YMCMB that she is very angry at...how they used to be cool but not anymore because...MF'ers never loved her......................

YES. OMG. DRAKE!!!!! Drake came out guns blazing and performed 'Worst Behavior'. He did some other songs too but by that point everything had become a euphoric blur of screaming and crying and a little bit of hyperventilating. (I love Drake. if you couldn't tell)

Eventually Wayne came out, did 'Believe Me' with Drake, and his part of 'Loyal'.

At that point...nothing else mattered and nothing was the same, so we left.

Here is a list of basically everyone that was there:

Jhene Aiko, Iggy Azalea, Childish Gambino, Trey Songz, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Drake, Soulja Boy, Kid Ink, Mack Wilds, Chinx, August Alsina, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Meek Mill, French Montana, The Roots, 50 Cent, G-unit, Fabolous, Nipsey Hussle, The Lox, Yo Gotti, Ty Dolla $ign, DJ Mustard, A$AP Ferg, ad more that I can't remember.

I also really enjoyed Jersey so Summer Jam may become an annual thing.

I'll say things that are serious and put them in a joke form so people can enjoy them. We laugh to keep from crying.

I have a love/hate relationship with Kanye West. I say this like I actually know him personally...But I look at everything from a PR perspective. At first I thought he was arrogant and everything he said deserved the hashtag #richpeopleprobs. But I'm starting to understand where he's coming from and why he acts the way he does.

He considers himself a visionary. and if you really look back at what he has accomplished, he is. His approach is just one that makes people angry, which causes people to not take him seriously, which then makes him angry. I get it, it's a vicious cycle. It's extremely frustrating when people don't take you seriously, and your means of expressing yourself, the only way you really know how, is the main reason people write you off. I feel you, Kanye.

I'm a huge Kanye West (the musician) fan. No matter what I say or what he does I'm gonna keep listening to his music.

He was on the second night of Late Night with Seth Meyers and I thought he handled himself very well. You can tell he wasn't coached into saying things for interview purposes but it's so funny how hard he tries to please, while simultaneously preaching that he doesn't care.

Anyways, I'm really excited for Seth Meyers taking over Late Night. He has great chemistry with guests.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDFECwrGnzI?list=PLJaq64dKJZoqUES1U2FZDJ30BWI1T1xMg&w=560&h=315]

 

 

2013 in Review: My favorite albums of the year

2013 was a pretty good year for music in my opinion. I feel like I have a very diverse taste in music and I’ll listen to pretty much anything. Also, as a disclaimer, having absolutely no musical talent other than ability to listen and critique my opinion means pretty much nothing other than the I just really enjoyed listening to these albums repeatedly in their entirety. So the following, in descending order, are the 6 albums that pretty much dominated iPod during 2013.

6. Long.Live.A$AP. A$AP Rocky

I saw A$AP Rocky in concert 3 times this year. YES THREE TIMES. Once pre-L.L.A$AP, and twice post album release. I've got to saw he and the mob put on a good show. Despite almost getting suffocated at each show I have no regrets seeing him three times.

When I know I'm going to a show I try to listen to the artist non-stop before the show. It's no fun seeing someone live and not shouting all the words to their songs. That being said, I listened to this album for about a month straight non-stop.

Favorite song: Probably a tie between "Long Live A$AP" and "1Train".

5. ARTPOP Lady Gaga

This woman could probably release a blank CD and I would be all over it. I'm not sure what it is. Her eclectic style, or the fact that she is probably one of the most genuine performers of my generation, but I am always instantly drawn to anything Lady Gaga does. Her passion for her music and her performances is so obvious and she has the talent to back it up. I like ARTPOP because it reminds me a lot of her first album "The Fame", which I still listen to like it just came out.

Favorite Song: "Do What U Want" feat. R Kelly.

 

4. Yeezus, Kanye West

You can hate Kanye for being an ass but theres no denying the man knows music. I feel like when ever Kanye releases new music, you can appreciate it if you go into it with any sort of expectations. Each album is so different than the one before it. People might say that he's lost his touch but I think Yeezus is one of the best. It's so dark and different and I love it.

Favorite Song: "I'm in it"

3. Yours Truly, Ariana Grande

It really blows my mind that Victoria Justice got a record deal before Ariana. I think people are always hesitant about young Nickelodeon/Disney stars going from acting into singing. Take away her cheesy acting and TV shows and I feel like Ariana is the real deal. People compare her to Mariah Carey which is no doubt a lot of pressure but I was truly shocked by how good her album is. Her voice is really unlike anyone else her age and in her genre. I hope she keeps going with music and does great things as she gets older.

Favorite Song: Tattooed Heart. 

If you haven't seen it, watch her preform this song live at the American Music Awards. She even gets a standing O from Lady Gaga at the end :)

2. 20/20 experience, Justin Timberlake

Both parts are good but Part 1 was really hard to top. I literally still listen to the whole album at least once a week. The only weird thing is imaging him writing all of these songs about Jessica Biel.

Favorite Song: Pusher Love Girl 

1. Nothing Was The Same, Drake 

Anyone that knows me knows that I pathetically worship the ground that

Drake walks on so it's no surprise that NWTS is my favorite album of the year. There's just something about the way the album flows, you just have to listen to the whole thing all the way through. I'm obviously a bit biased, but you can really tell that Drake puts so much of himself in to his music and doesn't just write songs to make hits. I mean, he raps, he sings, sometimes it sounds like he's just talking to you. OK I'll stop because I could probably write an entire post about how much I love this album.

Favorite Song: "Own it", and also the way it is kind of a continuation of "Wu-Tang forever". I always have to listen to the two back to back.

Just because the previous 6 are my top favorites doesn't mean I didn't listen to other things. Here a few honorable mentions, of other albums that I really enjoyed

• Bangerz (Don't lie, you low-key liked it too), Miley Cyrus
• Midnight Memories, One Direction
• My Name is My Name, Pusha T
• MMLP2, Eminem
• Born Sinner, J Cole
• Because the Internet, Childish Gambino
• Sail Out EP, Jhene Aiko 
• Beyonce: The Visual Album, Beyonce (Special Sidenote: I do love Beyonce and her new album but I am still somewhat recovering from the fact that she just dropped it with no heads up so that's why it didn't make the top list. I don't doubt it will be on my 2014 playlist for months to come.)