14 Apr

Posted at 20:07h in Music, Throwback
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Birthdays make TBT selections a lot easier, and today just happens to be Da Brat’s 48th trip around the sun, so you already know what’s about to happen.

On “Ghetto Love” (featuring T-Boz), Brat raps her ass off about and to her incarcerated boyfriend who she’s waiting for on the outside. The song is hella romantical, but you might miss that quality because Brat was aggressive in her delivery, and her sweet words are commingled with lyrics about helping her man “keep the business runnin'” and wanting to harm his enemies. How’s that for passion and love?

“Ghetto Love” was released in early ’97 as the second single from Da Brat’s second album, Anuthafunkdafiedtantrum. Based on a sample of DeBarge’s “All This Love” and produced by Jermaine Dupri, the song possesses a certain kind of cool that we just don’t get to see anymore — a very ’90s kind of cool. You had to be there.

“Ghetto Love” would go on to become one of Da Brat’s biggest hits, peaking at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. Happy birthday, Da Brat!

09 Apr

Posted at 21:43h in Music
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Chlöe dropped her second single as a solo artist, and all I have to say is this: Yes.

After the rather dull “Have Mercy,” the older half of Chloe X Halle is back with a song that we don’t have to force ourselves to like. “Treat Me” gives us just enough melody, just enough bass, just enough vocals, and just enough bars — yes, the verses are rapped. The previews of the song weren’t promising, but after the first listen, it is very clear that Ms. Bailey got one.

“Treat Me” is the kind of fresh, sexy club banger that its predecessor hoped to be. And with a sample of Bubba Sparxxx’s “Ms. New Booty” (featuring Ying Yang Twins and Mr. Collipark), you already what what time Chlöe was on when she made the music video. Click play.

07 Apr

Posted at 22:00h in Music, Throwback
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We skipped TBT a few weeks ago, so it’s only right that we get two selections today.

John Oates, one half of Hall & Oates, turns 74 today, so there’s no better time to revisit one of the duo’s classics. As the lead-singing half of the duo, Daryl Hall got most of the shine, but John was a beast on the guitar and also co-wrote many of the duo’s biggest hits.

One of hits in question is “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” the second single from the duo’s 10th LP, Private Eyes (1981). As the story goes, Daryl Hall came up with the melody after an evening at the studio. The next day, he wrote the lyrics with John and Sara Allen — Daryl’s girlfriend at the time.

“I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” sounds like it could be about a relationship — and according to John Oates, that was intentional — but it’s really about enforcing boundaries in the face of industry people and maintaining artistic integrity. And here we were thinking we couldn’t love the song anymore.

If you think the song sounds like Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” you’re not crazy. According to Daryl Hall, during the recording session for “We Are the World,” MJ admitted to reworking the bass from “I Can’t Go for That” — to which Daryl responded that he, too, was a copycat and that the bass was lifted from some other song. Nothing to see here.

“I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” would end up ruling the Billboard Hot 100 for a week in 1982, becoming the fourth of the duos eventual six chart toppers. It also topped Billboard’s R&B chart, which is a rare feat for a white act.

07 Apr

Posted at 19:28h in Music, Throwback
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In June of ‘98, Tamia released “So into You” as the second single from her self-titled debut album, which was released in April of that year. Co-written by Tim Kelley, Bob Robinson and the singer, “So into You” is based on a sample of “Say Yeah” by The Commodores, which was written by group members Lionel Richie and Ronald LaPread.

Fun fact: There is an unreleased version of the song recorded by Brandy (with background vocals from Mario Winans).

“So into You” only managed to peak at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, but in the years since its release, it has grown in popularity and is now considered a classic. Just five years after its release, the song had another go at the charts when Fabolous used the beat and hook for “Into You,” which features Tamia on the radio version (and Ashanti on the album version). This rendition of the song peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

05 Apr

Posted at 13:54h in Crime, Music
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During a court hearing earlier today in #LosAngeles, Tory Lanez and his veneers were placed in cuffs for violating the protective order between him and Megan Thee Stallion. Judge David Herriford found that the singer (born Daystar Peterson) violated pre-trial protective orders by contacting Meg and sharing discovery related to the case. His subtweets directed at Megan were found to constitute contact — the judge is said to have pinpointed the ones where he referred to her as “U.” And remember that messy, erroneous tweet from DJ Akademiks about the case? Well, it turns out that it constituted sharing discovery — the prosecution believes Tory’s team was passing info to Akademiks.

The singer, who has been charged with felony assault for shooting Megan, was given a bail of $350,000 — according to Rolling Stone, he had a bondsman with him and is expected to be walking free soon. TMZ reports that prosecutors requested that the court either holds him without bail or raises it to $5 million.

When you do CLOWNERY, the clown comes back to bite.

As a new condition to his release, the judge asked Tory to not “mention the complaining witness in this case in any social media.” True next trial date is set for September 14.

31 Mar

Posted at 22:55h in Music, Throwback
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In March of ’92, Mariah Carey was just under two years into her career, but she had already released two albums and logged five No. 1 hits. Her entry into the game remains unmatched, and while fans were raving, there were bitter music critics suggesting that she wasn’t capable of replicating her recorded vocals in a live performance, despite ample evidence to the contrary.

To answer the nut-ass critics, her record label devised a plan for her to perform on MTV Unplugged. Her sophomore set, Emotions, was released six months prior, so this was also seen as a promotional tool for that album. The performance, recorded on March 16, 1992, initially only included two songs from her self-titled debut and four from her sophomore LP, but at the last minute, MC was told that it was customary for artists to do a cover in the Unplugged set. And just like that, we got an iconic cover of the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There.”

For the cover, Mariah sang Michael Jackson’s parts while her backup singer, Trey Lorenz, sang Jermaine Jackson’s parts. The original version, released 22 years earlier, is amazing in its own right, but MC and Trey took that song to new heights.

When it finally premiered in April 1992, Mariah’s MTV Unplugged performance was so popular that the network aired it three times more frequently than they normally would for other episodes. Columbia Records capitalized on this popularity by releasing the performance as a live album — it would go on to sell over seven million copies. Also, “I’ll Be There” ended up being released as a single, and much like the original, it topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Mariah’s sixth No. 1.

31 Mar

Posted at 22:26h in Movies, Television
1 Like

Unless you’ve been living under a rock all week, you’re probably very aware that Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Academy Awards this past Sunday for telling a relatively tame joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, where he suggested that she’d be staring in a sequel to G.I. Jane.  Since then, we have been inundated with think pieces and commentary that run the gamut from insightful to downright raggedy. Everyone from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Jim Carrey to friggin’ O.J. Simpson has something to say.

In the days since the slap, Will Smith has issued an apology to Chris Rock and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Chris briefly commented on the incident at his first post-slap show, but explained that he is “still processing” the incident and will address it more extensively in the future. Ticket tales for his Ego Death World Tour skyrocketed after the unfortunate incident.

On the night of the Oscars, we learned that Chris declined to press charges against Will, and earlier today, we learned more details about his interaction with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), thanks to an ABC interview with Will Packer, who produced the award show this year.

We have also received conflicting reports about how the Academy chose to handle Will Smith’s behavior. Initial reports suggested that they thought of asking him to leave but couldn’t make a decision soon enough — he won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role about 30 minutes after the slap. Later, there were reports that Will was asked to leave but refused; and now, there are new reports that that never happened. What is the truth?

Will Smith is said to have met with leadership at the Academy in a 30-minute Zoom call, where he reportedly apologized and was told that there will be consequences. The day after the incident, the Academy announced that it had launched a formal review into the slapping incident, and then on Wednesday, announced plans to take disciplinary action, which may result in suspension or expulsion.

The story is still developing, so watch this space.

17 Mar

Posted at 22:56h in Music, Throwback
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This week’s TBT selection is for all the dreamers out there.

In the early ’90s, a woman named Louise Gabrielle Bobb was a struggling singer who performed regularly at a London nightclub. One night, after performing Luther Vandross covers, one of the club’s patrons said, “This is as good as it’s going to get for you.” Devastated but still full of hope, she opened her diary and wrote the first lines of what would end up becoming her debut single, “Dreams.”

After meeting producer Tim Laws during a recording session, he was so impressed with Ms. Bobb’s voice that he invited her back to record. She would go on to record the lyrics of “Dreams” over his a track he produced — he would end up being credited as a co-songwriter. If the song reminds you of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” that’s no coincidence. The original version of the song actually samples the folk classic, but it was never cleared because Ms. Tracy don’t play dat.]

That original version, which had a decidedly thumpier beat, was so popular at the clubs that it landed Ms. Bobb — now known as just Gabrielle — a record deal. With the help of producer Richie Fermie, a new version of the song — sans Chapman sample — was made. When “Dreams” got its official release, it was an instant hit, debuting at No. 2 on the UK charts, which was a record for a debut single at the time. It would later rise to No. 1, staying there for three weeks.

Gabrielle’s dream was finally fulfilled, and while she was at it, she gave every dreamer a poignant yet upbeat reminder that we aren’t dreaming in vain. If you ever doubted that profound lyrics can be embedded in a catchy production, here is yet another example to the contrary.