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.
UPDATE: An attorney for Sony Music has released a statement denying that there was an admission to the use of a Jackson impersonator.
When it comes to rap, I can’t say no to quick, clever lyrics over a danceable beat, and Positive K’s “I Got a Man” gives you just that. Released in 1992, this classic is about an overly aggressive dude who takes “I’m good luv, enjoy” as an invitation to try again — in other words, something of a creep. There has been conversation about whether or not the scenario in this song amounts to street harassment, but that’s not why we’re here today.
“I Got a Man” samples a number of songs that have sampled other songs — its Wikipedia page doesn’t quite list all of the borrowed melodies and beats — but the end-result is pure magic. The song peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 500,000 copies. Check it out below.
PS: The woman on the track is actually Positive K’s voice raised higher with studio technology.
PPS: Aretha Franklin loved this song so much that she flew Positive K out to perform it at her birthday party.
What’s the hook, then? Chance the Rapper provides an assist on Reeseynem’s “What’s the Hook,” a feel-good song about escaping jail time. The video features a whole bunch of dancing-ass niggas and I love it more than I could tell you. This song came about two months too late because my summer could’ve used this chune, but it’s okay; I’ma ride it out for this last month of the season. Watch the video below.
A good beat and a strong melody go a long way; add dope lyrics and you have yourself a stone cold winner. Bas and J. Cole join forces for “Tribe,” the third single from Bas’ third album, Milky Way (which drops tomorrow), and the results are stellar. The track samples Edu Lobo’s “Zum Zum” and the video was shot in Miami’s Little Haiti. Peep the clip below.
The “Workin Me” video has Quavo feeling the wrath of an OG who warns him not to get involved with his niece. There’s a plot twist at the end of the video. Check it out below.
This 2018 MTV Video Music Awards went down last night and it was meh at best. Nothing was spectacular and a lot of it was downright trash, with Madonna’s non-tribute to Aretha Franklin taking first place.
Madge, who was there to present the award for Video of the Year, gave a long speech about the early days of career, which included an anecdote about how she supposedly sang Aretha’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” at an audition, which is a goddamn lie. Other than that and maybe one other sentence, the entire thing was about Madonna, and the internet was not happy. I think the speech was probably supposed to mark her 60th birthday (which coincided with Aretha’s passing), and the VMA producers thought to merge the two — a terrible idea that could have very easily been avoided if there were any black people in decision-making positions.
Anyway, Camila Cabello took home the awards for Video of the Year (for “Havana”) and Artist of the Year, and I was ready to run up on MTV headquarters until I remembered that VMA winners are now chosen by online voters. Cardi B won for Best New Artist and Best Collaboration (with Jennifer Lopez and DJ Khaled), and Nicki Minaj won for Best Hip-Hop. For a full list of winners, click here.
My pick for performance of the night is a tie between Lauv and Jessie Reyez, who both got the sideshow treatment because neither have broken through quite yet. Watch their performances below.
Whenever I think of iconic VMA performances, this one comes to mind first. Still a fledgling solo artist at the time, the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards was the first time Beyoncé got to show the world what she was working with; there had been great performances before this one, but this was the first time she had done something of this scale and with this large of an audience. It was her declaration of being one of the greats, and for me, my official induction into her fan base. Watch this piece of popular music history below.