Earlier today, Drake dropped a new song called “War,” and he’s fully on his Brit boy shit. The accent, the slang, the everything.
Produced by AXL Beats, “War” has Drizzy referencing the Kendall Jenner rumors and confirming that he and The Weeknd are back on good terms. And of course, there’s a line about beefing with no-names. Guess who that one’s about.
“War” is included on the El-Kuumba Tape Vol. 1 mixtape, which is a collaboration between OVO’s Olivier El-Khatib and Kuumba International. Watch the video below.
In the fall of 1994, Mariah Carey released her first holiday album, Merry Christmas. It was an unexpected move for a young and relatively new artist, especially one as successful as Mariah was. In just four years, she had sold over 75 million albums and earned eight No. 1 hits, and at that time, only one of her 12 singles had failed to crack the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. In short, she was a beast and showed no signs of slowing down.
As with almost everything she has ever done, Merry Christmas was met with mixed reviews, but real ones know not to trust a critic. Mariah’s take on the traditional carols like “Joy to the World” and “O Holy Night” are among the best you will ever hear, as are her covers of modern classics like “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” However, it is her original Christmas chunes that really stand out.
If you didn’t know any better, you’d think “Jesus Born on This Day” was written in the 1400s, but it was actually written by Mariah and her writing partner at the time, Walter Alfanasieff. And then there’s “Miss You (Most at Christmas Time),” a ballad good enough for consumption all year long.
And last but not the least, the juggernaut: “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (a.k.a. Mariah’s 401k plan). The song, whose lyrics Mariah wrote in 15 minutes, sounds like a cover of something from the ’60s, and that is perhaps what makes it feel so timeless. As of 2019, it has become the quintessential Christmas song, which is remarkable, considering that we already had a long-established canon of holiday hits.
Following its initial release, “All I Want” didn’t chart for many years because Hot 100 rules at the time required a physical single issuance to qualify. However, the song was popular on the radio, and would become even more popular over the years, thanks in part to a feature in the 2003 romantic comedy, Love Actually.
Between the constant airplay, covers by other artists, and use in movies and commercials, “All I Want” is now unavoidable. And this past week, a whole 25 years after its release, the song has topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time, becoming Mariah Carey’s 19th No. 1 hit — extending her record among solo acts, bringing her within reach of the Beatles’ 20, and setting a variety of new records.
For a woman who has been through hell many times over and whose new music is wholly ignored, this is a hell of a victory and a testament to the fact that you can’t keep a good woman down.
To mark the song’s 25th anniversary, Mariah released a new video for “All I Want” this past Friday, and it is surprisingly good — music videos have not been her strong suit in recent years. Watch the new clip below.
In the two days since the video dropped, it has been watched over 8.5 million times on YouTube alone, which guarantees that “All I Want” will be spending a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In the 25 years since its release, “All I Want” has made over $60 million dollars in royalties and keeps coming back for the bag year after year. It is quite literally the gift that keeps on giving — to us, the music fans, but especially to Mariah and her bank account.
Merry Christmas has sold over 16 million copies and is the highest-selling holiday album of all time. Every other holiday album ever since has basically tried to recreate its magic, and largely to no avail. The album is truly in a league of its own.
As with every other album retrospective, a favorite must be named, and you know what? I’m really happy for “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” and I’ma let it finish, but “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)” is actually the best song on Merry Christmas (and the best holiday song Mariah ever made). If you haven’t heard this one before, thank me later.
Today is Dionne Warwick’s birthday, and it is also Thursday, so this week’s TBT pick was a no-brainer. In April of 1964, Miss Warwick released “Walk On By,” the first single from her third album, Make Way for Dionne Warwick. That album title is about as ’60s as it gets.
It’s worth noting that Dionne Warwick also has albums called Presenting Dionne Warwick and The Sensitive Sound of Dionne Warwick, to name a few. What a time it must have been.
“Walk On By” was penned by Burt Bacharach and Hal David — one of the greatest songwriting duos ever — and peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Over the years, many have covered the song, including Aretha Franklin and Isaac Hayes, but the original remains supreme.
And as if “Walk On By” wasn’t special enough, it holds the distinction of being one of the few songs from the ’60s with a music video. Check it out below.
If you ever wondered if the name of this website was just a name, I’d like to point out that I never bothered to listen to Billie Eilish’s music until a few months ago because her hipster persona was simply insufferable. However, good music is good music, and luckily, I heard a snippet of “Ocean Eyes” during a TV segment about her. I was so impressed that I downloaded it and then listened to her No. 1 hit, “Bad Guy,” from start to finish for the first time.
“Bad Guy” is not just trash, but it is trash in the exact way I thought it would be.
Anyway, back to “Ocean Eyes.” The song is three minutes and twenty seconds of synth-y goodness, and even though Billie is definitely a bit overrated, she is quite the vocalist.
This past week, Alicia Keys and Billie Eilish got together to perform a piano-driven version of the song, and quite frankly, I need someone to pump it into my veins because it is just that good. Check it out below.
The Queen of Sleeper Hits is at it again with a brand new video for “Good as Hell,” an almost-four-year-old song that already has a video.
Strategically, this video makes sense, but the decision to not include Ariana Grande (who’s on the remix) does not — unless there’s another video in the pipeline for the remix.
The phenomenon of the one-hit wonder is one that has always puzzled me. How can an artist be so successful and then disappear into thin air? How can people love a song so much and then care so little about its follow-up? How can a record label enjoy success with an artist and not try harder to replicate it? So many questions.
These questions come to mind whenever I hear Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz’s “Deja Vu (Uptown Baby).” How come a rap duo this dope was never able to have a second hit? Yes, they were featured on the two other hits — the remix to Mariah Carey’s “My All” and Tatyana Ali’s “Daydreamin'” — but as far as their own releases are concerned, “Deja Vu” was their one and only. The duo didn’t even release a second single, and by 1999, they disbanded due to frustration with the music industry.
The brevity of Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz’s run isn’t the only thing that makes me sad. The other thing is how badly they were jipped by Steely Dan.
“Deja Vu” samples Steely Dan’s “Black Cow.” To sample a song, its copyright holder (usually the people who wrote it) has to clear it for use. When Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz tried to clear the “Black Cow” sample, Steely Dan only did so on the condition of an upfront payment of $115,000 and 100% of the song’s royalties. Basically, Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz don’t make money from their one hit.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, Steely Dan also demanded sole songwriting credit, so “Deja Vu” is credited to Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, the two members of Steely Dan. You hate to see it.
If you’re wondering why Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz agreed to such a disastrous agreement, it’s because they were banking on having many more hits. Little did they know, they wouldn’t even have another single. Life is truly a bitch.
Due to the fact that we’d be dropping more coins in Steely Dan’s pockets, I reluctantly ask you to click play.
Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, was born today in 1969. During the course of his almost-quarter-century career, he has established himself as one of the greatest rappers of all time, a billionaire, and an indelible part of pop culture. Not to mention, he married Beyoncé.
Literally speaking, Jay-Z is your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper, and the beauty of his career is that — despite being immensely successful — he has never been red-hot. Sure, he has more No. 1 albums than any other rapper (or any other solo artist, for that matter) in history, but he has never been a commercial juggernaut. Like MC Hammer in 1990. Or Will Smith in ’97. Or Nelly from 2000-2003. Or Drake today.
However, what Jay-Z has been able to accomplish is unique. He has achieved and sustained a considerable amount of commercial success for 24 years without ever losing critical acclaim. On most days, I would argue that critical acclaim shouldn’t *really* matter, but in a genre that has been dominated by intruders at different points in the last couple of decades, the critic class is not entirely useless.
Hov is a cultural icon, and his marriage to the world’s biggest star is now an institution onto itself. And while his public image might be taking a bit of a hit right now, his place in history cannot be denied.
Join me in celebrating five decades of Jigga.
“Sunshine” (featuring Babyface & Foxy Brown)
“’03 Bonnie & Clyde” (featuring Beyoncé)
“Can’t Knock the Hustle” (featuring Mary J. Blige)
In 2000, the music gods blessed us with a supergroup called Lucy Pearl. The group included Raphael Saadiq from Tony! Toni! Toné, Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest, and Dawn Robinson from En Vogue.
Within months of the group’s debut, there was a lineup change — Dawn was replaced by singer Joi. And within months of Joi’s recruitment, the group disbanded. The music gods giveth and taketh away.
The consolation for Lucy Pearl’s short-lived existence is that they blessed us with timeless R&B. Their debut single, “Dance Tonight,” slaps as hard today as it did 19 years ago, and is easily one of the grown-and-sexiest songs ever. Click play.
Today in 1939, Martha Nell Bullock was born in Nutbush, Tennessee. Yes, you may have heard that her name was Anna Mae, but that was actually a nickname.
Martha would become known to the world as Tina Turner, the undisputed Queen of Rock. Her life’s story is stuff of legend and one that we all think we know — especially those of us who’ve seen What’s Love Got to Do with It a million times — but we actually don’t, and a review of her Wikipedia page will let you know that her life was filled with far more drama than that movie actually shows.
Tina Turner’s voice is raw and distinct, and her live performances have essentially served as the blueprint for some of the greatest performers of the last half-century. Beyoncé would be Exhibit A — from the moves to the outfits to the spoken ad libs. Shit, even the hair.
As she turns 80, Miss Turner remains an exemplar of talent, strength and longevity, and in her decades-long career, she gave us enough jams for me to have eight favorites. All hail Queen Tina.
“Fabulous,” which samples “Wake Up Everybody” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, was the lead single from Jaheim’s sophomore album, Still Ghetto. The song is a touching ode to the experiences of black people living below the poverty line. It talks about all the obstacles to upward mobility (e.g., incarceration, teenage pregnancy) as well as all of the eccentricities (e.g., the fashion, the “funny” names) that make them fabulous.
At the time of its release, I could appreciate the positivity of the song’s message, but 17 years later, its lyrics ring poignant. So many of the people that are judged for “making bad decisions” are simply caught up in the cycle of poverty, and this song speaks to that.
If you weren’t hip to this gem, you’re welcome. Click play.
