Cardi B is rapping/singing in Spanish on El Alfa’s “Mi Mami.” I don’t understand more than five words on this song, but I think I love it. I also like the video, which includes disco balls in a shopping cart, a diamond-encrusted banana, talking pineapples and a giant bag of pop corn. Check it out below.
Yesterday was Halloween, so I had to do a spooky one for this week’s TBT post. “Thriller” would’ve been too obvious, so I thought I’d go with “Ghosts,” one of favorite Michael Jackson’s most underrated songs/videos.
“Ghosts” was supposed to be part of the soundtrack for Addams Family Values, but when negotiations fell through, MJ decided to make a short film out of it — it was featured at the Cannes Film Festival n all dat. The storyline was co-written by MJ, Mick Garris and Stephen King, who included the film with selected releases of his 1996 move, Thinner. In a 2017 interview, Garris claimed that the project cost $15 million, all of which came out of Michael’s pocket. Technically, that makes it the most expensive music video of all time, but some would argue that it was a theatrical release rather than a music video.
The song, written and produced by MJ and Teddy Riley, never charted in the US because of the weird chart rules back in the day — songs needed to have retail releases to be eligible. However, it was a major hit all around the world, peaking at No. 5 in the UK. Watch an abridged version of this classic below.
Mariah Carey is putting out good music and it kills me that she’s getting zero play. Ahead of the November 16 release of her 15th studio album (Caution), Mimi has released a fourth song, titled “A No No.” Judging from promotional activity, it’s not clear if this song or its immediate predecessor, “The Distance,” are singles in the traditional sense, but we do know that they are being used to create “buzz,” if you will. This must be what Mariah’s team means when they distinguish “promotional singles” from actual singles.
In any case, “A No No” is dope. Like…DOPE. Even better than “The Distance,” and I thought that was her best song in a decade. The song samples the Jeff Lorber Fusion’s “Rain Dance,” made famous by Lil’ Kim’s “Crush on You” (featuring Lil’ Cease), which is also interpolated in the track.
Vocally, Mariah hasn’t sounded this confident and vibrant in a long time. This might have to do with the fact that the song is supposedly a personal one — it is said to be about Mariah’s ex-manager, Stella Bulochnikov, who allegedly stole money from Mariah and then tried to destroy her after she got fired. That long streak of negative news stories about Mariah in late 2017 — from the lipo to allegations of sexual assault — are widely believed to be the handiwork of Stella. Oh, and remember when Mariah revealed that she had bipolar II disorder? That only happened because Mariah got word that Stella was trying to expose her.
Anyways, now that we have some context, listen to the song below.
A month-and-a-half after the audio dropped, we now have a video for “Wake up in the Sky.” It’s all very retro, so you know this was Bruno Mars’ idea. Watch below.
I love a video that looks like it was made with care. Everything about the “Dip” video is dope. The all white background, the catsuit mannequins, the violins playing themselves, everything. The song is also dope. Check it out below.
In the video for “Dose,” Ciara does what she does best: Dancing her ass off. The video shows Ciara and her squad rocking leotards and dancing on a high school basketball court. Keisha Lance Bottoms, the mayor of Atlanta, makes a cameo. Watch the video below.
I’m many days late, but Kyle dropped a video for “Moment” (featuring Wiz Khalifa). The song is on the soundtrack for Kyle’s Netflix movie, The After Party. Peep the clip below.
Takeoff — who was most definitely not left off “Bad and Boujee” — just released “The Last Memory,” his first single as a solo artist. Parts of the song have that heavy bassline you hear on every Migos track, but overall, I can tell he made an attempt to do something different, and I appreciate that.
I’m not sure what the video about, but Takeoff is seen in a castle with British-style soldiers, model-types in fencer gear, and cats on leashes. Peep the clip below.
His solo debut album, The Last Rocket, drops in a week.
Two weeks after the audio dropped, we now have a video for Little Mix’s “Woman Like Me,” which features Nicki Minaj. The video shows the quartet as students at a charm school (or finishing school, as the Brits would say). Nicki appears as a queen-like painting that comes to life. Watch the video below.
Major Lazer just dropped the video for “Blow That Smoke,” which is quite the chune. Like much of the group’s work over the last three years, the song has strong Afropop influences. Tove Lo provides the vocals, and the in the video, she plays a motel maid who wanders into an imaginary jungle day party while on the job. It’s lit.