Kulture’s parents just dropped a video for “Clout,” the second single from Offset’s solo debut album, Father of 4. Cardi B plays dominatrix while Offset gives us old school Busta vibes with the dread pigtails. Watch below.
It’s amazing how a song that was a huge hit — a song you that loved at the time of its release — could end up being a song you no longer enjoy. That is the story of my relationship with Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious.” The song was ginormous in its day, becoming the group’s fourth No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. And its title, a neologism that merges the words “booty” and “delicious,” became such a staple in the pop culture lexicon that the Oxford Dictionary recognized it as an actual English word.
Unfortunately, 18 years later, I’ve grown completely indifferent to its existence.
The remix, however, has aged beautifully in my heart. The slowed-down vocals and mellow beat produced a timeless cool that the original just doesn’t have. And that verse from Missy is one of the ages, per usual. Also, the video is just so 2001 that you can’t help but love it. What a time.
Jessie Reyez and 6BLACK joined forces for the remix of “Imported,” which originally appears on Jessie’s Being Human in Public EP as a duet with JRM. The song is about two people who are only involved with each other as a way of getting over a failed romance.
The remix stays true to its original besides slight changes in production and new verses from 6LACK. If I had to choose, I’d say the original is slightly better — mainly because JRM is a better singer. However, the remix is solid in its own right and I wouldn’t have any criticisms if I didn’t have another version to which I could compare. Watch the video below.
2 Chainz has blessed us with yet another music video — his third in the past month or so — from Rap or Go to the League. “2 Dollar Bill,” which features Weezy and E-40, was one of the standout tracks from the album and its video is, as the hook of the song goes, rare.
The clip features a variety of oddballs, including a man holding a slice of raw meat — because he’s rare, if you didn’t already figure it out. Watch the video below.
“As We Lay” is a story about a remorseful side chick. After fucking on someone else’s man all night, the protagonist wakes up to a feeling of guilt. She got a man. He got a girl. It’s nothing but sin in this house!
As far as storytelling goes, it doesn’t get much better than this. And as far as vocal performances go, this song is a treat for any true lover of R&B. The original version of this song, performed by Shirley Murdock, was released in 1986; 14 years later, Kelly Price covered the song for her sophomore album, Mirror Mirror. Both versions are absolutely amazing.
Today is Kelly Price’s birthday, so that’s the version I’ve selected. Also, Aunt Shirley’s version doesn’t have a music video — she does, however, play Kelly’s mother in the video for the cover. Watch below.
Today would have been Marvin Gaye’s 80th birthday. The iconic singer’s life was cut short 35 years ago — just a day before his 45th birthday — when his own father shot him in the chest.
Marvin Gaye was a singer’s singer and an outstanding songwriter. Few artists are sampled as often he is, and if you’re familiar with his live performances, you’ll also know that his style has been copied by many.
Over the course of his 23-year career, he released 18 top 10 hits, including three No. 1s. Below are my eight favorite Marvin Gaye songs.
Happy birthday and rest in peace to the icon, Marvin Gaye.
On the final Thursday of Women’s History Month, we take a look back at Lauryn Hill’s solo debut single, “Doo Wop (That Thing).” We’ve already discussed the legacy of its parent album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, but “Doo Wop” deserves its own entry.
Released as the album’s lead single in the summer of ’98, “Doo Wop” would go on to become the first song by a female rapper to top the Billboard Hot 100. And more than two decades later, we can still count the number of female rappers who have accomplished this on one hand.
“Doo Wop” samples the 5th Dimension’s “Together Let’s Find Love,” and because it is as much R&B as it is rap, it won Grammys for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance — an award that no longer exists because the Recording Academy didn’t like Beyoncé’s accumulation of awards — and Best R&B song.
Today in 2004, Usher released what would become his most commercially successful album: Confessions. Fresh off a breakup with Chilli (after which he publicly confessed to cheating), Usher bamboozled us all into thinking he was releasing a full album’s worth of autobiographical material, but in reality, the album was a brilliant mixture of slow jams and club bangers that were largely unrelated to what was going on in his personal life. And even the few tracks that appear to mirror his personal life were actually based on Usher’s friends relationships.
Sonically, Confessions generally picks up right where Usher left off on 8701, with Jermaine Dupri and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis returning to handle a lot of the production. The key difference between both albums is that Confessions has more production from “trendy” producers of the time (including Rich Harrison, Just Blaze, and Dre & Vidal).
Confessions produced four No.1 hits (“Yeah!” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, “Burn,” “Confessions Part II” and “My Boo” featuring Alicia Keys) and one top 10 (“Caught Up”). The album had one of the highest first week sales of all time (with almost 1.1 million copies sold in the US alone) and has gone on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide. Billboard Magazine ranks it as the 16th best-charting album of all time on the Billboard 200.
Picking a favorite from this album was no easy feat, but at this very moment, I’m rolling with “Bad Girl.” Below is his iconic performance of that with Beyoncé during The Truth Tour.
The year was 1969. The Supremes — now known as “Diana Ross & the Supremes” — had been dominating the charts for five years and Miss Ross was preparing for a solo career. One of the songs she recorded was a cover of “Someday We’ll Be Together,” which was originally released in 1961 by doo-wop duo Johnny & Jackey. The song was supposed to be Diana’s solo debut single, but upon hearing the recording, Motown head Berry Gordy changed plans and had it released as the Supremes’ final song.
(Note: The was a reincarnation of the group in the ’70s, but the ’60s Supremes is the only one we acknowledge.)
The song, which doesn’t feature vocals from the other members of the group, ended up being the Supremes’ 12th and final No. 1 hit. This was a record for a female act until 1998, when Mariah Carey achieved a 13th No. 1 — Mariah still holds the record with a total of 18 leaders. Diana Ross, who went on to have six No. 1s as a solo artist, also has a loose claim to 18 No. 1s.
If there ever was an artist whose image completely undermined her music, it is Teyana Taylor. Every time I hear one of her songs, I find myself feeling surprised — at how good it is, but also that she sings (and beautifully, I might add). For some reason, I keep thinking she’s a rapper even though I’ve heard many of her songs.
“Issues/Hold On” is the second single from Teyana’s 2018 album, KTSE, and it’s a soulful ballad about the ups and downs of a relationship. Its video is set in the ’70s and features A$AP Rocky, who plays Teyana’s flirtatious husband. Lori Harvey plays a potential “other woman,” which is quite fitting given her growing reputation as a man-eater.
Tyler the Creator also makes an appearance in the video. Check it out below.