It's official ladies and gentlemen. After constantly teasing us through his twitter page, Justin Timberlake released his first single since he released Summer Love 5 years ago. The song (titled Suit and Tie) sees JT teaming with rapper Jay-Z for a five minute song that is sure to be played endlessly in the coming months.
As a fan, I'm actually surprised that this song didn't leak sooner. We live in an age where song leaks are the norm so it's a major accomplishment for Justin (and in turn, the music industry) to work on AND release a song without anyone knowing about it.
You can hear Suit and Tie below and if you like it enough, I recommend you go over to itunes and buy the single. While you do that, you can also read JT's open letter here.
It's safe to say that 2013 is off to a great start! First, we were given a gift from David Bowie on his birthday. On January 8th, the Thin White Duke released his latest song Where Are We Now. If that wasn't enough, he also gave news that the song will be featured on his upcoming album The Next Day. If you've somehow managed to not listen to Where Are We Now, click below.
Now, while news of new music from David Bowie is exciting, today we found out that we're getting new music from two other acts that have been absent from the music scene. The first is from none other than Justin Timberlake. Yesterday, JT tweeted "Thursday, January 10th, 2013 at 9:01 am PST". While the tweet is cryptic, it led many to believe that the singer would start working on music again. To shed a bit of light on the mystery, the singer/actor released the following video:
This video all but seals the deal that we're getting new music from JT and I say, it's about time! It's been almost 7 years since FutureSex/LoveSounds was released and I have been itching for new music from this multitalented artist for a while now. Glad to see he hasn't forgotten his roots and neither has Destiny's Child.
That's right, Destiny's Child. Through her Facebook account, Beyonce let fans know that the R&B trio will release a new song titled Nuclear. The song will be featured on a compilation album titled Love Songs and as of right now, Nuclear is the only new song that on the album.
Again, that's new music from David Bowie, Justin Timberlake and Destiny's Child all in the span of 3 days. If this is any indication of what music will be like in 2013, it's safe to say that my iPhone is going to get a workout!
This post was originally supposed to be about one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, Jeff Buckley. However, as the days passed I began to notice that one of the songs that he was known for was getting a lot of attention. The song is "Hallelujah".
Originally written and performed by Leonard Cohen in 1984, "Hallelujah" has taken a life of its own. So many musicians have performed this song since its release that every interpretation brings new life & meaning to the song. However, Leonard Cohen's original version stands out because of the lyrics. With references to David, Samson, and lyrics like "I'll stand before the Lord of song with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah", this version is probably the most religious.
While the original version is amazing, the cover that most people know is Jeff Buckley's. For his cover, Jeff went with John Cale's version (released in 1991) as opposed to Leonard Cohen's original. The new version kept the first two verses, but swapped the final verses for more sensual, erotic lyrics. This transformed the song from a somewhat religious piece into one about the intimate love between two people. Couple these lyrics with Jeff's performance and you have a song that's both spiritual and romantic.
Countless artists went on to cover "Hallelujah" after Jeff Buckley's version became a massive hit. Of all the covers that I've heard of this song however, Justin Timberlake's version is my favorite (after Jeff Buckley's of course). Justin performed this song with Matt Morris in the Hope For Haiti benefit concert in 2010. While the lyrics remained the same, this version doesn't have the sensual feel of Buckley's cover. Instead, this feels redemptive.
As an added bonus, here is more recent cover by 13 year old Carly Rose Soneclar on the singing competition show X-Factor. Not too shabby. Credit to fellow music blogger NYC Melody for bringing this cover to my attention, I owe you one.
December 8th is a special day in rock music. Why you ask? It marks the birth of one rock and roll icon and the death of another. These two icons are Jim Morrison and John Lennon.
Jim Morrison was born on December 8th, 1943. The man who would become the frontman of The Doors spent most of his youth looking up to poets such as Charles Baudelaire, Jack Kerouac, and Jean Cocteau. Inspired by these and many other writers, Jim began to write his own poems. These poems would later become the lyrics to many of The Doors' music. This music, much like John Lennon's, would inspire a generation of people.
John Lennon. What hasn't been said or written about this man? Founder of The Beatles, John wrote (and cowrote) songs that would redefine rock and roll music. After he effectively disbanded the group, John teamed with his wife Yoko Ono and formed The Plastic Ono Band. While not as successful as The Beatles, The Plastic Ono Band produced songs such as "Imagine" and "Instant Karma". John later decided to take a break from music after the birth of his second son. Tragically, the year that he returned to music (1980) was also the year that he was killed.
Hip Hop is in an interesting place right now. We live in an age where fans look forward to mixtapes with more anticipation than a major label release. This change has been a huge help for underground artists. One only has to look to artists like The Weeknd to see how releasing free mixtapes can help build an insane following. However, let’s be serious for a second. It’s obvious that the internet is flooded with many people who call themselves artists. They download an instrumental from Youtube, lay a couple of lazy vocals on top of it and then spam you until you finally decide to hit the “block” button. This is why it’s special when you come across someone who treats the craft with love and dedication. Trip Crowley is such an artist.
Listening to his mixtape “Bronco”, it’s easy to pinpoint Trip’s inspirations. “Model in the Dark” and “Lay Awake” have a very Kanye West feel to them (complete with the strong exclamation “I ain’t been asleep in WEEKS!!” on “Lay Awake” ) while “P-O-T-Y” is heavily influenced by Drake. Relying so heavily on his inspirations could’ve been bad if that’s all this album was, thankfully it’s not. Trip’s personal style shines on the stand out track “Wicked”. Another thing that’s great about this album is the production. Trip and his team put together great tracks by sampling songs such as “If I Can’t Hold You” by Desire (for Lay Awake), “Blood Diamonds” by Heart (for Hear I Come) and “Let Me Be The One” by Angela Bofill (for Don’t Say Love). However, there lies one small problem for me. At times it appears that the beats on this mixtape jump from one style of music to another before finding a way to flow seamlessly from song to song. Once it hits it though, it works perfectly.
So, should you download and listen to this mixtape? Definitely. Trip has managed to do something that few unsigned underground artists do. He put together a well produced, catchy mixtape. Hell, maybe you’ll find yourself singing one of the songs as you go about your day like I did.
