Long live the King of Pop. Today marks three years since the legendary, incomparable Michael Jackson passed away leaving the world to mourn his death. Everyday we miss the greatest to ever do music. He isn’t called the King for no reason. MJ has sold over 750 million records according to some reports. His 1982 Thriller album is the best-selling album of all time. His accomplishments are too numerous to list, and his influence too great to measure. MJ was single handedly responsible for integrating MTV. The little boy from Gary, Indiana that began singing with his brothers in The Jackson 5 turned out to be Michael Jackson who has changed music forever. Although it’s impossible to name all of our favorites because he has so many great ones, enjoy the five we picked. Read more…
Emeli Sandé’s Our Version of Events has been a constant fixture in the iPod for weeks now. The beauty of her voice matches her incredible songwriting that has the power to make random strangers cry for no other reason than her magical sound. As our June YOK artist we’re happy to share some of our favorite cuts from the album like “Next to Me” or style photos that show her boisterous personality. Today we gift you with her cover of Blur’s “Country House.” Read more…
If rocking out to everything from hip-hop to rock to dance to indie music is your forte, Governors Ball this weekend was the place to be. Slews of music lovers headed to Randall’s Island over the weekend for the annual two day music festival that showcased acts such as Passion Pit, Kid Cudi, Fiona Apple, Beck, Modest Mouse, along with several other acts. Live bands were plentiful, and multi-talented artists were in abundance. Good music and fun seemed to be the Saturday and Sunday theme. Crowd surfing wasn’t an unusual sighting for the amped up concert goers; and when artists jump into the crowd it’s usually a sure fire sign that a blast was had. Check out our gallery of artists performing at the Governors Ball. Read more…
Upsetting Erykah Badu, again, must be the furthest thing from Wayne Coyne’s mind. In an interview with Rolling Stone he had a few choice words about the feud between him and Badu that played out quite interestingly on Twitter. If you don’t dabble in the world of social media here’s a brief recap: Badu and The Flaming Lips teamed up for a remake of Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” Coyne directed the video, which featured Badu, her sister, nudity, glitter and some thick (questionable) substances. Badu initially seemed excited until the video received backlash and criticism for its content. E. Badu took to Twitter to slam Coyne for allegedly releasing the video prematurely and eventually released an official statement telling Coyne to “kiss her glittery a–.”Read more…
Things you don’t expect to see: Lebron James partying and rapping with LMFAO. Well, that’s exactly what happened last night after the Miami Heat won the NBA Championship game against OKC. Sidebar: now that Lebron has a ring we wonder what will happen to all those “Lebron doesn’t even have a ring, so he’s not that great” memes. To celebrate their new championship title the Heat headed to club LIV for spirits and libations. On one end of the stage was electropop group LMFAO. On the other end was James, Dwyane Wade and other teammates. When the DJ puts on 2 Chainz “Riot” LMFAO starts rapping and so does James. Read more…
A Nas and Rick Ross collaboration has a track record of being certified smash hits. Let’s see, “Usual Suspects,” It’s A Tower Heist” and “Triple Beam Dreams.” Now the pair can add “Accident Murderers” to the list. Despite Nas’ Life Is Good not dropping until July 17, another single from what will be the emcees 10th studio album was released (possibly leaked) today. It’s just not fair how Nas is murdering the game right now. Read more…
So, Slaughterhouse’s “My Life” video is awkwardly weird…at first. There, we said it. Yet even with all of its awkwardness it’s lovable. Sure, instead of a six and a half minute video it could have been four. At the start of the video Joell Ortiz is watching Eminem on Rappers Are Richer Than You, a Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous-esque program. Since Eminem doesn’t have a verse on the track we probably could have bypassed the wonky show where Em owns 300 Chrysler 300s, and is chills with T-rex dinosaurs as pets in his mansion. But then we wouldn’t have the classic clip of Em dipping his hands in a white bowl while the narrator says, “By bathing in the tears of other rappers.” That alone is worth the two minute Eminem Show intro. Read more…
Grab your Kleenex, folks. Even as a social media novice, Beyoncé reigns supreme in the way she uses Tumblr. Although one aspect is to give fans an intimate glimpse into her incredibly private life, the other is to inspire. Bey recently used her Tumblr page to pen an open letter to Timmy Kelly, a blind fan with cerebral palsy. She met Timmy Kelly backstage at the GRAMMYs when he was only 13. According to her letter, he inspired her because of his love of music. Five years later Timmy has graduated high school and was accepted to Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance. Queen Bey wants everyone to know, if Timmy can do it, you can too. Read more…
Everywhere Justin Bieber shows up you can expect a host of screaming young girls hoping to have one glance at the 18-year-old heartthrob. But young girls aren’t the only admirers of the pop sensation. When Bieber stopped by The View the admiration of the hosts was as obvious as his teeny bopper fans. Biebs kept it simple for his performance of the ballad “Die In Your Arms,” which seems to be the fan favorite from his album. Instead of gliding across the stage as he did for “Boyfriend,” he sits on a stool next to his guitar player and sings. The girls in the audience cry, sing along and reach out to touch him. Read more…
Along with cocktails on rooftops and sunbathing by the pool, summer grants the official ok to zip by in your car with windows down blaring music from the speakers. Whether hearing someone’s music blasting from their headphones on the A train, or eating outdoors at my favorite low-key Brooklyn cafe, I look forward to observing what music gets the people going. Only hours into the official first day of summer there are already countless songs that are on constant replay on iPods or car stereos. For whatever reason, warm weather tends to bring proper music odes to the beauty of the new season. Cheers to this summer being one of producing music that makes you feel something. Here are three songs that I plan to have in heavy rotation over the next few months…
NOMINATION: Meek Mill ft. Drake & Jeremih, “Amen”
EXPLANATION: Summer time is when I indulge in rap music. The beats, instrumentation, samples and lyrics boost my energy for jam packed days. Unless you were a music journalist or a diehard hip-hop fan, it’s likely you hadn’t heard of Meek Mill at this time last year. That all changed with his successful single “I’m A Boss” and later the Dreamchasers mixtape. The buzz around the Philly rapper grew with praises of his storytelling ability in tracks from the mixtape like “Tony’s Story.” He signed to Maybach Music Group where his buzz blossomed due to his first mixtape, but it’s the followup, Dreamchasers 2, that was the real attention grabber. “Amen’s” church choir sound can be attributed to the organ, a common instrument that has been used in black church spirituals for forever. Although “amen, preach and church” are rattled off through the chorus, don’t expect to hear anything church-y. The only thing spiritual about “Amen” is its divine sound.
