Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It” must be one of Fat Joe’s favorites because this is the second time he is using it as a reference. “Attention” actually samples the song, but the chorus in “What’s Luv?” (featuring Ja Rule & Ashanti) is also based on the Tina Turner song. Speaking of Ashanti, she makes an appearance in this video, as does Scott Storch, who fake-plays the piano the entire time. I know Fat Joe did not come out the pocket for this video because it is chock-full of product placement — Postmates, Jersey Mike’s and few others. Watch below.
Donald Glover (street name Childish Gambino) is back with another video that is nakedly intentional in its bid for viral success. “Feels Like Summer” depicts this black celebrity utopia where everyone seems to be getting along: Michelle Obama embraces Kanye West; Dr. Dre, Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa and Jay-Z do a dance routine while Gucci Mane sunbathes; Oprah and Tiffany Haddish braid Lil Uzi Vert and Kehlani’s hair, respectively; and my personal favorite, Nicki Minaj builds a house with toy blocks only to have Travis Scott pull one of the them, sending the whole thing crashing. The shade.
There are a ton of other celebrities in it (all of whom have been tagged in this post). As expected, the internet is already rushing to the “genius” label because Donald Glover clearly has a spell on you people. That being said, I’ll concede that I like the video a lot — if only for the fact that it distracts you from the song, which I have never liked. I definitely prefer it to “This Is America,” which had the whole internet cappin’. Peep the clip below.
LSD — a group made up of Labrinth, Sia and Diplo — just dropped a video for its third single, “Thunderclouds,” and it lives up to the group’s name in every way. The video is full of the kind of things I’d imagine you’d see while high on acid, so if you ever wanted some kind of virtual reality experience without actually having to do the drug, here’s your chance. Click play.
LSD’s debut album is expected to drop later this month.
It was the summer of 1993. With two studio LPs and one live album under her belt, a then-23-year-old Mariah Carey was now an established artist; and on this day in that year, she released what would become her best-selling album to date: Music Box.
In numerous interviews, Mariah has mentioned that her label would always try to steer her towards ballads in the early years of her career — it was the era of big vocals, so in many ways, this made perfect business sense. And with seven out of the 10 tracks on Music Box — and three of its four singles — being ballads, the evidence is on Mariah’s side. As you can imagine, the critics had their panties in a bunch, calling the album “calculated” and all of the other bullshit terms reserved for popular artists that aren’t feigning an earthy persona.
For all of the supposed calculation, Music Box saw Mariah venturing further into new artistic territory. She was showing more of a propensity towards contemporary R&B than ever before; the single version of “Someday” is, in my opinion, the earliest evidence of this, but she makes a bolder artistic statement with “Dreamlover,” which samples the Emotions’ “Blind Alley” (which had also been sampled on Big Daddy Kane’s “Ain’t No Half-Steppin'” just five years prior). If you have any doubt that “Dreamlover” was any indicator of what was to come, I’d like to call your attention to the fact that it was co-written and co-produced by Dave Hall, who had worked with Mary J. Blige, Heavy D and Brand Nubian.
Unfortunately, the album’s legacy seems to be defined by “Hero,” a song Mariah had written for Gloria Estefan but was convinced to hold onto by her label. It’s not a bad song, but if there was any track that actually deserved the “safe” label, it’d be this one. The song has taken on a life of its own, becoming sort of a soundtrack to the healing period after major tragedies.
Music Box is a solid body of work, and no matter what anyone says, it will never change the fact that it is Mariah’s biggest commercial success. And with over 30 million copies sold worldwide, it is one of the best-selling albums of all time. My favorite song on the album, “Dreamlover,” also happens to be the first Mariah song I ever knew, so it has a special place in my heart. Watch the video below.
Few songs get the party started quite like this one.
Today in 1997, “Mo Money Mo Problems” ascended to the No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the second single from the Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death album and his second No. 1 hit — his two No. 1s occurred in the months after his passing. The song samples the Diana Ross classic, “I’m Coming Out,” with Diddy and Mase providing a verse each and an uncredited Kelly Price providing guest vocals.
(Sidebar: I have a huge issue with rap songs that don’t credit featured vocalists because, often times, it is the sung chorus that sticks with the listeners.)
“Mo Money Mo Problems” was about the envy and hate that comes with being a young rich nigga. Its video is a marker of the Shiny Suit Era — when Diddy was on his new money shit and didn’t know how to act — and of a time when rappers weren’t ridiculed for just having fun with their music and videos. These days, everybody has to be a member of the Talented Tenth or face the wrath of the “custodians” of the culture — we’re looking at you, Mr. Budden. I consider this song one of the greatest of all time and count myself lucky for being alive at the time of its release. Check it out below.
Today would’ve been Michael Jackson’s 60th birthday. Unfortunately, the King of Pop is no longer with us, and in the years since his passing, his estate has been careless in the shepherding of his legacy. However, the music he made while he was alive — songs we know he actually sung — remains evergreen, and that is what his legacy will be judged by.
In celebration of his 60th birthday, below are six of my favorite MJ chunes. Long live the King!
Miguel dropped the video for “Banana Clip” a few days ago, and because releasing the English version would’ve been too big of an ask, he only released the Spanish — Spanglish, if we’re being honest — version of the track. Hurray.
Luckily, the song is so good that it doesn’t matter that I barely understand any of it. Peep the clip below.
Tory Lanez is all about that PJ life in the “Kylie Jenner Music.” No #BowWowChallenge over here! The track, presumably from an upcoming album, pokes fun at social media poseurs…you know, because Tory is rich for real and he stays Gucci’d down. The video is as unimaginative as it gets, but as I always say, good videos are hard to come by, so it’s all good. Watch the video below.
Jason Derulo, David Guetta, Nicki Minaj and Willy William join forces for “Goodbye,” which sounds like someone took the “Mi Gente” beat, played around with it in the studio, and then came back like “Tada! New beat.” The song is trying to be too many things — EDM, pop, rap, R&B, reggaeton– at the same time and it doesn’t quite work. Check it out for yourself.
Today in 1998, Lauryn Hill released her one and only studio album as a solo act: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. In the two decades since its release, the legacy of the artist has been marred by tardiness, no-shows, a stint in jail for tax evasion, and even accusations of plagiarism; however, the music has maintained preeminence as one of the greatest of that decade — and even of all time.
Miseducation was born out of personal tribulations, so people that live for that kind of music — the critics, the voting members of the Recording Academy, fake-deep people, and hipsters at large — ate it up. However, the music was also irresistibly good, so us normal people who just appreciate a good song were able to enjoy it as well. The album touched on everything from pressure to abort the pregnancy of her first child, her troubled romance with ex-boyfriend Wyclef Jean, and social issues within the black community.
Her refusal — or, depending on who you ask, inability — to produce another studio album has almost helped preserve Miseducation‘s legendary status. She released a live album of new material (MTV Unplugged No. 2.0) in 2001, which counts as a second album in my book, but most people seem committed to pretending it never happened, and I totally understand.
Miseducation has sold almost 20 million copies and won five Grammys, which was a record for a female artist at the time (Beyoncé has since broken that record and Adele matched her two years after). It won the award for Album of the Year, which was a first for an “urban contemporary” album — I’m hesitant to call it hip-hop since half of it was sung. It was a major moment for the culture, but if you’re familiar with how the Grammys have moved since the Milli Vanilli scandal, then you understand that Lauryn Hill fits a few of their preferred prototypes.
Miseducation’s lead single, “Doo Wop (That Thing),” was only the tenth song to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for two weeks. And while its two other singles weren’t nearly as successful on the charts, their quality isn’t up for debate. Any question about their timelessness can quickly be settled by the fact that two of the year’s biggest hits — Cardi B’s “Be Careful” and Drake’s 8-week No. 1, “Nice for What” — sample “Ex-Factor,” which also happens to my favorite song from that album. Watch the video below.
PS: The discussion about love on the album version of “Doo Wop (That Thing)” is one of the best things ever.
