What?! You thought I was gonna leave y’all without a brand new showdown just ’cause it’s Thanksgiving tomorrow?!? You must not know who am I!!!
The Champion – Oluchi Onweagba
The Challenger – Skin Diamond
Props to Smoking Section for reminding me about this lady, ’cause I remember PCS’ own Reubin Montgomery tellin’ us all about her earlier this year. Definitely diggin’ the ink, and I think I may just start showcasing more significantly tatted up ladies in the near future. (And yeah, I’d have loved to post a pic with her wearing slightly more than her fancy undies, but this girl . . . she don’t like da clothes too much. . . )
If you’re a J’Davey fan, or you just like get stuff on the cheap, you should head over to J’Davey’s website, and download their new album, New Designer Drug (click on “Get Your Fix” at the homepage), for $2.99.
Artists Peter Chang and Brandon Hill have been building their rep in Washington, DC, as part of No Kings Art Collective, and recently held an opening for their most recent exhibit. Check out our interview with Peter and Brandon and more photos after the jump.
I was wondering how this one was gonna turn out, on account of it being a tie for the last two days. What? Call it a draw, you say?!? Screw that! What y’all think this is, hockey?!?! Two women enter, only one leaves!!! ALWAYS!!!!
(NEW YORK, NY – Nov. 15th, 2011) – Breakout electro inspired hip-hop duo Chiddy Bang, comprised of rapper Chidera “Chiddy” Anamege and producer Noah “Xaphoon Jones” Bersin whose addicting breakthrough hit “Opposite of Adults” put them on the map, is proud to announce that their highly anticipated debut full length album, Breakfast (Virgin Records), will be released on February 28th, 2012. The much buzzed about album, which venerable music magazine Spin declared as “one of the most anticipated debuts” was written over the course of the last year while extensively touring throughout the US, Europe and as far as Australia. Their maturing interests and influences while traveling coupled with their infectious party spirit resulted in a body of work that will undoubtedly expand their fanbase on a global level.
“We have spent the past two years going from performances in frat house rec rooms to the mainstage of festivals like Glastonbury and Bamboozle” says Noah “Xaphoon Jones” Beresin. “We have spent a lot of time honing our sound and creating the best beats and rhymes. To be able to release a proper album for our fans is the greatest feeling.”
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, says frontman Chiddy “Chidera” Anamege.
“Our Breakfast is going to be the breakfast of champions. Who wouldn’t want that?”
Chiddy Bang’s first official single off Breakfast, “Ray Charles” is available commercially today and will impact radio on Jan 9th. “Ray Charles” is a soulful but fun track with a playful party vibe, featuring a Gospel choir, bluesy piano and a smattering of drum breaks. The full song can be heard on rollingstone.com at http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-stream-chiddy-bangs-soul-homage-ray-charles-20111114, where it premiered last night. Produced by Noah “Xaphoon Jones” Beresin and Grammy nominee Sam Hollander (Train, Cobra Starship and Kelly Rowland), the track was recorded in New York City. Keeping with the spontaneous nature of the track, Chiddy Bang performed an early version of “Ray Charles” to the delight of fans during their recent set at Austin City Limits. The album which also includes production by John Hill (M.I.A., Shakira) will feature the buzz track “Mind Your Manners” featuring Icona Pop. “Mind Your Manners” was released in June along with the viral video that featured pro skater Billy Marks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4wCxTQFHmk. Chiddy is also featured on V V Brown’s new song “Children”, which is the first single from her upcoming Lollipops & Politics that is due out early next year.
2011 has been an incredible year for Chiddy Bang, leading up to the release of “Breakfast.” Their breakout single “Opposite of Adults” surpassed sales of 500,000 downloads and was certified gold by the R.I.A.A in August. “Opposite of Adults”, an infectious dance anthem garnered Chiddy Bang their first round of glowing press from publications such as Blackbook, Billboard and Nylon amongst many others and was quickly added into rotation by influential radio stations around the country, including KAMP in Los Angeles, KYLD in San Francisco, KISS in Chicago, WJMN in Boston, KUUU in Salt Lake city and more. In March, Chiddy Bang won the Best Video Woodie Award for “Opposites Of Adults” at the 2011 MTVU Woodie Awards. The video has over 16 million youtube views.
Additionally, Chiddy Bang had reason to celebrate in April as they solidified their place as an act to wreckon with by breaking not one but two Guinness Book of World Records. On April 29th, while live streamed during MTV’s inaugural Online Music Awards, Chiddy set the Guinness World Records title for the Longest Freestyle Rap while also simultaneously breaking the Longest Marathon Rapping record. After rapping continuously for 9 hours, 18 minutes and 22 seconds, never breaking for more than three seconds, Chiddy concluded the impressive feat by joining Xaphoon on stage in front of a crowd of several thousand for the blistering debut performance of “Mind Your Manners.”
The band’s growth over the past year is also due in part to the appeal of Chiddy Bang’s music with both brands and video game companies. Chiddy’s music was an integral part of major national campaigns for both Taco Bell and Jeep – and their songs were featured in multiple video game releases in 2011, including “Madden 12, ”Need For Speed,” and “Fight Night.”
The duo spent the majority of the year on the road and played festivals around the globe including Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, Bamboozle, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.
I am not a big fan of Drake, but Take Care is a solid album, I rate it a B- and here is why…
I really enjoyed the “loneliness of a *king on top” theme to this album; however the composition of the track list is inconsistent. Take Care is a rollercoaster of “emo” lyrics and catchy production with a few out of place tracks that break the flow of the album. For example the first two songs Over My Dead Body and Take a Shot for Me are very somber; the production is calm with heavy drum bass. Following those songs are Crew Love and Headlines, two songs that are so far apart from Over My Dead Body and Take a Shot for Me on the emotional spectrum. I will say I enjoyed the introduction of this album. However, I do not like the lyrical content of Headlines, Crew Love, and few other songs. They’re crude and typical; give us a little more subject matter, instead of then same old money, hoes, clothes, and cars.
I don’t mind Drake being an “Emo King” by singing/rapping about his emotions and women. On the other hand I could do without songs like Lord Knows and Underground Kings where Drake is portrayed as a tough guy. Take Care could have done without these tracks for two reasons, the “tough guy” persona does not match Drake’s personality through his music, and the songs disturb the flow/theme of Take Care. They’re not bad songs overall, but they could have been omitted from the album. Songs like Crew Love, Headlines, Underground Kings, We’ll Be Fine, Make Me Proud, Lord Knows, and Cameras disturb the flow of this album. Those songs are little too hard-hitting and raw to be on the same album as Marvin’s Room.
On the bright side! The production on this album is beautiful! Noah “40” Shebib is on point. Each of my favorite songs on Take Care are the ones he produced. In my humble opinion, he is the key to Drake’s success. His production really compliments Drake’s style. Drake isn’t a great lyricist but he’s a great song writer and that shows on “40’s” production. There are quite a few tunes that I enjoy on this album like Marvin’s Room, Take Care and Look What You’ve Done, just to name a few. I enjoy the personal, somber lyrical content in these songs; giving me a new view on Drake. Before listening to this album I never understood Drake as an artist but in Take Care he conveys his emotions and personal hardships very well. Which brings me back to his song writing skills. The composition of his actual songs is perfect. Doing It Wrong, for example, has beautifully dark lyrical content, the atmosphere of the song is heartfelt, and the harmonica is like the icing on a delicious cake. Songs like Over My Dead Body, Shot for Me, Take Care, Marvin’s Room, Buried Alive, Good Ones Go, Doing It Wrong, The Real Her, Look What You’ve Done, and HYFR are the perfect songs to set the theme of a lonely king. Those songs give the listeners a glimpse of Drake’s deep emotions. To highlight one song, Buried Alive, featuring Kendrick Lamar, was an excellent track to include on this album. Buried Alive is one of the best songs based on its content alone. The song speaks of an up and coming rapper wanting the same things that the “king,” Drake has: fame, women, and material things. Lamar’s flow is a bit similar to Drake’s, but Lamar is an actual lyricist who is able to ride the melody of a song. In my opinion, Buried Alive was the perfect song to convey the theme of a “king” and another rapper who is thirsty to be the next king of Hip-hop.
Take Care is a solid album, not great, but good enough album to give a listen. From beginning to end Take Care is a somber album with calm beats, heavy drums and a few hiccups in the flow. This album has made me rethink my current relationship like three times, consider yourself warned.
Incidentally, here’s an arranged list of the tracks I would have used for Take Care:
Over My Dead Body
Shot for Me
Dreams Money Can Buy
Take Care
Marvin’s Room
Buried Alive (Interlude)
Club Paradise
Trust Issues
Doing It Wrong
Good Ones Go (Interlude)
The Real Her
HYFR (Hell Ya F*ckin’ Right)
Free Spirit
Practice
The Ride
This arrangement of songs would flow much better with the “king” album theme. Plus, seventeen tracks of Drake being bi-polar aren’t too fun to listen to continuously.
Hey, you don’t have to take my words for it; give Drake’s Take Care a listen for yourself. You can be your own critic.
Enjoy!
Take Care now… (No pun attended.)
*Sidebar: I am not calling Drake a king, nor do I believe in the hype of Drake being the “king” of hip-hop.
Recently, I got a chance to hang with DC-based hip-hop group, Gods’Illa, on the set of their latest video for their track, “You Don’t Have To Be A Star”. Made up of three actual brothers, Powerful, Truth, and Acem, talked about their music, their motivation, and being part of the growing music scene in Washington, DC.
Check out more from Gods’Illa on Facebook, and download their music on Bandcamp.com
Janina took down some tough competition to earn the title last week, and I’m definitely not going easy on her now.
Janina Gavankar
VS.
Oluchi Onweagba
Don’t ask me how I hadn’t already featured this lovely lady here, but I’m trying to make up for that now, cotdammit!!! Dat’s dat dark chocolate kinda fine, right there! Good for your heart! Rich in antioxidants and shit!
I only have a casual knowledge of Glitch Mob, but I’m more than willing to give Kraddy a shot after checking out the video for his latest single, “Black Box”. All this electronic, dubstep, dancehall music used to hold me down back in my younger days, so I try to get back into it from time to time. And you can’t go wrong with a house party video that explodes into an all out catfight when the grunge-lookin’ blond shows up, clearly uninvited.
