It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say that Azealia Banks is the single best thing to happen to rap music in 2012. Her speedy rhymes and sick beats make almost every track she drops instantly danceable, especially the wildly popular “212″.
I’m a huge fan of the song and her music in general, but the purpose of this post is not to praise her obvious brilliance. It’s to show you CUTE BRITISH CHILDREN reviewing “212″ and dancing around to it and it is literally the cutest thing to ever exist in this world. Literally.
Videos like that make me want to go outside and impregnate the first person I see…or kidnap a child…or maybe just babysit for someone. Yeah, I’d say that’s much more likely.
I’m not sure about all y’all, but the world of music was very kind to me over the weekend. THREE of my most anticipated albums of the year leaked, giving me a ton of new tracks to keep me patient for at least another week or so.
It’s been over a year since Drake released his last offering, Thank Me Later, and his follow-up album is certainly something to get excited about. I’ve only listened through it a couple times so far, and the major standout for me is the sexy title track with Rihanna, “Take Care.”
Childish Gambino is Community star Donald Glover‘s rap project and he’s finally releasing his debut album after a string of mixtapes and EPs. Camp has Glover constantly testing out new genres to accomodate his hilarious and poignant raps. “Heartbeat” goes hard with a legit electronic beat and is definitely worth a listen.
Birdy is a 15-year old British phenom that y’all clearly need to know about. She grabbed major attention last year with her cover of Bon Iver‘s “Skinny Love” and she continues that trend of fascinating covers on her debut album (all tracks except for one are covers). My favorite, a beautiful version of The National‘s “Terrible Love,” was nowhere on YouTube, but I was able to find her equally beautiful rendition of The xx‘s “Shelter.”
That’s it for this week, hope y’all enjoyed the tracks!
Midterms have been stressing me out lately, forcing me to procrastinate and find new music to make me all happy again. I’m not too optimistic about the grades I’ll be getting on my exams, but at least I have a few new tracks to repeatedly jam out to.
Prepare to get obsessed!
Azealia Banks, a 20-year old rapper straight outta Harlem, put out club-banger “212” a month or so ago and apparently it’s been earning her major cred in the indie community ever since. The track blends several innuendo-laden verses with a memorable hook and a sick beat. “212” definitely makes me think 2012 will be The Year of Azealia.
Florence and the Machine‘s second album Ceremonials isn’t set to be released until next week, but it did leak in its entirety last week and I’ve been listening to it on loop ever since. Overall, the album is incredible and a step up from her already-impressive debut. “No Light, No Light” is the initial standout, evoking the aethereal quality of Lungs and somehow kicking its epicness up a few notches.
One of my fondest summer memories is sitting on a small Bonnaroo stage as Aunt Martha played an acoustic set for an intimate crowd. I can’t say I’d heard of them before that day, but randomly stumbling upon their performance proved to be majorly rewarding and I was made an instant fan. “Fifteen Countries” comes right off their new album Norway, ME and listening to it breaks my heart every single time (the masochist in my very much enjoys this).
This song has been stuck in my head for over a week. It’s an Italian rap song called “La cassa spinge” by some chick named Dumbblonde, 2 guys named Dargen D’Amico and LuckyBeard. Anywhoozles, I found this thanks to a mix put out by Diplo, called Blow Your Head 3 (you can listen to the whole thing here).
I hope you guys enjoy it! Here is the music video via youtube:
First of all, CONGRATULATIONS, you made it! Perhaps you have not heard, but today is the last day of classes for the Fall semester. Just one more hellish finals week to power through, then we all get to go home and open some freakin’ presents (that’s the only reason X-mas exists anymore, duh). If you are one of the many who celebrate Chanukah you lucky SOBs already got your gifts…
Holiday jibberjabber aside, I would like to talk to you all about a very serious problem occurring nation wide. Every day, thousands and thousands of people, both young and old, fall victim to this terrible drug know as StumbleUpon. Many fall victim to its highly addictive nature, often without any warnings. One student spoke to me about the slippery slope of Stumbling. “When I first tried Stumbling, I said to myself, ‘Just one click, and then I’ll start my homework.’ But I couldn’t stop… I stumbled for 3 hours that day. That was the day I became addicted to Stumbling.”
Stumbling, however, is not all bad. When taken in small doses it can produce profound, life changing results! But be warned It may be a good idea to have someone babysit you while experiencing Stumble for the first time). My experiences have been mostly good ones, although sometimes several hours go by without me even noticing. I have seen my fair share of garbage, but I have also seen some really awesome stuff on the inter-webs. Here are some of the coolest videos that Stumbling has introduced to me. Since this is mostly a music blog, I’ll stick to that category:
1) Violin Hip-hop: Violin + DJ = amazing. (NOTE: I just checked this post, and I’m sooo sorry that there are ads on this video. Blame Dailymotion, not me)
2a) Greg Pattillo: This guy is the probably the best flute player I’ve ever seen. On top of that, he can beat box pretty well too. On top of that, he does it at the same time. This is the better version of the Inspector Gadget theme:
2b) Yuri Lane: Kinda like Greg Pattillo (see video above). Just replace the flute with a harmonica. This is him doing his thing:
3) This guy who doesn’t need a drum set. He has 2 pens instead.
These guys are seriously skilled. Tons of these videos are floating around on the net, you just have to find them. But just remember, the internet is a series of tubes (not like a dumptruck), and it might get full. Use StumbleUpon to help you on your quest.
Welp, that’s all I have for now. I don’t think Ill be blogging anymore until after break, so I’ll see you in a month! Have a merry chrismahanukwanzakah everyone, and a happy festivus for the rest of us!
Au revoir,
Tim
P.S. This is unrelated to anything, but I saw this video the other day and I have never laughed so hard in my life. Please watch it. WARNING: NOT FOR CHILDREN. CONTAINS VULGAR LANGUAGE!!! (Like, lots of it):
Boston is no stranger to homegrown hip-hop, with the young frat rapper/Asher Roth rejuvenation named Sam Adams taking the city under his wing on his flight to iTunes success. His remix of Roth’s “I Love College” (named “I Hate College,” check it out right below) had approximately one million Youtube views when he released his EP on iTunes. “Boston’s Boy” beat out the likes of Lil Wayne and DJ Khaled to hit number one on the hip-hop charts.
Boston also claims Guru, Mattias and a whole slew of other music personalities that call this city their home. Well being that I’m from the great capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Richmond, I have decided that I’m going to show you guys some of the homegrown rappers from my neck of the woods. Hope you enjoy.
P.S. For any clarifications, where to get more by an artist, etc. hit up the comments.
“Pass Da Blunt” by P.O.$.D.
“Matty, Matty, Matty” by Matty Da Kidd
“EightOhFo” by DJ Shake feat. TD, C.Lo, and Charles R.
I gave you enough songs to listen to, so this Weezy Wednesday, I’ll just let you know that he is now in solitary confinement for having an MP3 player earlier on in the year. But he will not be spending any more time in jail. The Carter IV should be on time. Yay.
