“Bootleg Fireworks (Burning Up)” – Dillon Francis
Dillon Francis’ latest single mashes house music and reggaeton into an absolute club banger. Seriously people, this is the stuff you want to get down to on the dance floor. The video for the track is just as crazy as the song, with Francis’ giant bobblehead superimposed with lazers and a detachable mouth. It’s a little creepy but bobblehead Francis is having so much fun you’ll just want to party next to him.
“5AM in Toronto” – Drake
Drake performs an ode to his hometown, Toronto, in his latest track. The production is nice and low key, letting Drake’s smart rhymes shine through. It appears as though Drake snapped and finally wanted to address his haters as he talks about his rise to stardom, his talent, and calls out those against him.
“Watch out for this (Bumaye)” – Major Lazer
Major Lazer’s new album Free The Universe seems to be perpetually delayed, with a final release date still to be officially announced. But in the meantime, producers Diplo and Switch released a new single to keep the masses entertained. “Watch out for this” is pure Major Lazer with a fun dancehall/house mashup with a beat that will transport you straight to a Jamaican party.
“Sacrilige” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Karen O and the gang are back in full force with a new single off their upcoming album Mosquito. The track starts off with some great lo-fi effects and simple instrumentation, building up with backup singers and finishing off with an epic gospel chorus that will pump you right up. Mosquito is released April 15.
“Nobody’s Business” – Rihanna & Chris Brown
Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for (or hoping would never happen)…the reunion of Rihanna and Chris Brown! RiRi and Brown’s new duet is definitely going to cause a stir as they sing about their undying love for each other and the fact that their relationship is nobody’s business but their own. The track samples Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel,” and as much as I hate the thought of Rihanna reuniting with Brown, the track is pretty darn catchy. Listen for yourself. Rihanna’s new album Unapologetic is out now.
“Wild” – Beach House
Baltimore indie duo Beach House have a new video out, and *warning* this one’s a downer. So if you’re feeling unusually sad today, I would suggest holding off on watching the new video for “Wild,” off their latest album Bloom. The video features dark imagery with a young man indulging in all sorts of drugs and such, essentially losing control of his life in one big mess. It goes perfectly with the swelling vocals and gloomy guitars that Beach House is known for and could be the perfect track to study to.
“The Prodigy” – Smack My Bitch Up (Major Lazer remix)
Electronic group The Prodigy released “Smack My Bitch Up” 16 years ago, but I will admit it’s still a relevant song in my iTunes library. So imagine my excitement when I learned Major Lazer remixed the high-energy track. The song is already heavily laden with synth and hard beats, but Major Lazer added some more buzzing synthesizers, and sped up the bridge to keep the whole track’s tempo up. Next month, The Prodigy will reissue their best selling album “The Fat of the Land,” with a bonus remixes EP, which will feature Major Lazer’s track.
“Blue” – R.E.M. Read more…
“Something New” – Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud came together a decade on the UK TV show Popstars The Rivals. To commemorate their 10 year anniversary, the girls will release a greatest hits album, “Ten,” which will include the brand new track “Something New.” In the video, the girls strut their stuff in some fierce orange dresses and matching hair buns, reminding everyone that they run the show. It’s flashy, it’s sexy, and 10 years later, the girls definitely still know how to work their assets. Catch Girls Aloud’s greatest hits album, “Ten” on Nov. 26.
“Swimming Pools” (Black Hippy remix) – Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar’s highly anticipated debut album “good kid, m.A.A.d city” is out now, and he enlisted the help of his Black Hippy crew to remix the lead single “Swimming Pools.” The track doesn’t change much except when Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, and ScHoolboy Q add their own verses to the track giving it a different spin than the solo Lamar version. Pour yourself a drank, sit back, and enjoy.
Believe It – Meek Mill ft. Rick Ross
With Meek Mill’s newcomer counterpart Kendrick Lamar dominating headlines, Meek has some stiff competition with his own debut. Lucky for him, Rick Ross is right by his side to help him out. Meek and Rozay collaborate on the new single Believe It, rapping about their over flowing bank accounts, new phones, and all around great lives. I’m not one to decipher the elaborate metaphors some rappers think of, but I heard the Rozay drop the words Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus in the track and that’s good enough for me! Meek Mill’s debut album Dreams and Nightmares is out Oct. 30.
I’m not your hero – Tegan and Sara Read more…
Dance duo Major Lazer never fails to both entertain and puzzle people at the same time.
Their latest music video for “Original Don” is set in what looks to be Florida in the ’80s, and features two dancers with gigantic swords. Not usually the most popular choice of prop in a dance number but hey, this is a Major Lazer video and pretty much anything goes.
The band enlisted the help of a YouTube star, “temperature3″ as one of the dancers. Most of the dancing is filmed in one take, which is pretty remarkable in this day and age of ‘blind and you’ll miss’ shots. The sword hoedowns are broken up by shots of an old woman fumbling around in her old retirement home. It’s incredibly random but then again, so is the sandwich break towards the end of the video.
If Major Lazer are good at one thing it’s making us all think ‘What the…?!’ Have a look at “Original Don” posted below.
