"Let Me Carry You Home, Let Me Carry You Home"

Let me get this straight, Tiesto, Stargate, and Aloe Blacc went in on a track together? Star-studded (pardon the pun) doesn't scratch the surface on the ceiling of the talent on Carry You Home. Ignoring my impossibly high expectations for the track, it's a really chill track. Aloe Blacc's vocals always fall easy on the ears, especially when he's able to hit those high notes on the hook.

The mix of styles between Tiesto and Stargate proved to be an interesting mix. You've got a progressive house influence from Tiesto and a smooth pop vibe from Stargate. Simply put, Top 40 is going to have a hell of a time trying to ignore this one. Chalk it up as a rare, elite level collabo that actually didn't disappoint... #CarryYouHome



Tiesto feat Stargate & Aloe Blacc - Carry You Home

Videos of the Week April 1st

All in all, it was an eclectic mix of videos this week. There wasn't a real discernible pattern to the top five, just a bunch of randomness, which is fun if you're in the mood. Leading the way was the internet bending Ariana Grande video for Dangerous Woman. That video needs no intro if you're a guy as you may find some enjoyment in seeing Ariana in lingerie for about four minutes straight. A natural segue from that video is to another woman who is equally sexy, Jennifer Lopez. She, on the other hand, is clothed for the entirety of the video, but her and James Corden had a lot of fun singing karaoke and texting Leo DiCaprio.

If Hip Hop and animation is what you're after, you'll enjoy the more than a little weird double video for Big Grams' Born to Shine and Run for Your Life. Simply put, nobody does weird like Adult Swim. Moving on to the world of live performances where Zedd and Aloe Blacc performed their latest hit Candyman on GMA. The horns section with Zedd on the keys was definitely a good look. And rounding out the top five was a new gem from Skylar Grey in the form of Moving Mountains. I'm not used to hearing her sing over acoustic guitar, but that's not a problem when you've got her voice...#MovingMountains
Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman (Video)

Jennifer Lopez & James Corden Carpool Karaoke

Big Grams + Run the Jewels - Born to Shine/Run for your Life

Zedd & Aloe Blacc Perform Candyman on Good Morning America

Skylar Grey - Moving Mountains (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Zedd & Aloe Blacc's Candyman Remake Feels So Good

As much as I find it incredibly annoying that corporate America is now treating EDM like their new best friend all the sudden, I'm going to choose to spin it in a positive light. At least we get more new music, right? And not just new music, an awesome new collaboration between two artists at the top of their respective games. Before I get into the who and what, give a listen to Sammy Davis Jr's cover of the original M&M's theme song The Candy Man...

Suffice to say you probably remember Sammy's jingle above or the original from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. What I can promise you is that Zedd and Aloe Blacc's new cover of Candyman sounds nothing like those versions. In fact, the Future Bass vibe of the new version is undeniably catchy. Aloe's vocals bring the soul necessary to do justice to Sammy's cover and the bright, bouncy post-drop release is a perfect example of how electronic music is becoming more accessible by the day. Despite the corporate ties, I can't but help get all caught up in the awesomeness of this new one...#Candyman

Zedd & Aloe Blacc - Candyman

"Finding the Right Fabric to Keep Your Family Knit"

Taking it to the underground Hip Hop scene tonight with a new collabo off Alchemist & Oh No's upcoming Welcome to Los Santos. If you're into funky, jazzy, enlightened Hip Hop, you'll be able to vibe out to Ab-Soul's Trouble. The rolling bassline and ethereal twinkle of the keys set the tone from the start. Aloe Blacc sweeps in for to deliver a soulful hook that serves as the R&B glue between verses. All in all, it's a breath of fresh Hip Hop that will take you back to the days of Slum Village and J Dilla where live instrumentation paved the way for true lyricism. Welcome to Lost Santos is due in about a week and it's chalked full of goodies featuring the likes of MNDR, Phantogram and E-40...#WelcomeToLosSantos

Videos of the Week December 5th

Man, Jimmy Fallon takes a couple days off to welcome his second child into the world and all the sudden videos of the week shifts toward pop. I'll admit, it was a struggle finding anything funny this week. As a result, there's a whole lot of entertaining in this week's top five, but it's devoid of the normal Hip Hop and EDM influences.

Color me curious, but how entertaining will James Franco and Nicki Minaj be hosting SNL this week? Also, is it me or has Gwen Stefani become relevant again all of the sudden? I'll never forget her No Doubt days, but even now, she's been releasing some great music of late between Spark the Fire and Baby Don't Lie. It was great to hear some more soulful music for Aloe Blacc on Can You Do This? I'm a little biased since I'll be seeing Straight No Chaser in a few weeks, but I found their new claymation video with movie star Kristen Bell an interesting watch. Yes, the gist of the track is corny as hell, but what holiday song isn't a little cheesy? Finally, in order to maintain a little bit of sanity, I included the Electric Forest 2015 trailer. The festival proves that you can match literally any setting with psychedelic drugs EDM music, deem it a festival and everyone will flock to it...#ElectricForest
Nicki Minaj & James Franco SNL Promo

Gwen Stefani - Spark the Fire (Video)

Aloe Blacc - Can You Do This? (Video)

Straight No Chaser feat Kristen Bell - Text Me Merry Christmas (Video)

Electric Forest Trailer 2015

Photo Credit: YouTube

After a Long Hiatus, Welcome Back Dialated Peoples

I’ll admit, when I saw Dialated Peoples featuring Aloe Blacc, I did a triple take. The first reason being, it’s been seven years since DJ Babu, Evidence and Rakaa banded together to create music together. The second reason, I have yet to hear Aloe Blacc contribute to a Hip Hop track. All elements combined piqued my interest in a real way.

After listening to the track, I was whelmed. Not over-whelmed or under-whelmed, the track is a really listenable Hip Hop track, which hard to come by these days. Aloe Blacc sounded at home singing the hook too, which was heartening. If you’re a fan of real Hip Hop that doesn’t concern itself with commercial viability, my suggestion is to catch up on the Dilated Peoples discography. In particular, my favorite track of theirs is No Retreat featuring B-Real of Cypress Hill. Word has it, the Dilated Peoples have an album coming out soon. Keep an ear out for Director's of Photography, it'll be in a store near you on August 12th...#ShowMeTheWay

Dilated Peoples feat Aloe Blacc - Show Me The Way

Videos of the Week July 11th

As per usual, a bit of funny and strange mixed with great music videos. Let's start with the strange, how about Marcus Tisdale (pretending) to blatantly smoke crack on the streets of San Francisco with little or no reaction from anyone...including law enforcement. Man, the Bay Area takes liberal to a whole nother. Continuing with the odd, it was nice watching Jimmy Fallon look up Halle Berry's skirt do the human hamster wheel just for fun. There's probably good reason why he couldn't keep from smiling and everyone in the band was giving that "ooohhh sh****t" look.

Music wise, a whole lot of well put together R&B with some new Bobby Ray off his recently released No Genre 2 mixtape. Aloe Blacc's version of Hello World is better than the overly harmonious World Cup version IMO. On the serious side, it's tough not to get emotional while watching John Legend's You & I video. Lots of people enjoying companionship and conquering life together, which is a uplifting to see when given the right soundtrack...#NobodyInTheWorld
Comedian Smokes Crack in San Francisco, Nobody Cares (Videos)

Aloe Blacc - Hello World (The World Is Ours) (Video)

Jimmy Fallon & Halle Berry's Human Hamster Wheel

B.O.B. - Follow Me (Video)

John Legend - You & I (Nobody in the World) (Video)


Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week June 13th

So the Dumb and Dumber To trailer has been out for less than 72 hours and it has almost 17 million views already. Ya think people are excited for the resurrection of Harry and Lloyd? I'm going to try my best to remain skeptical since sequels usually fall flat on their face, but if there were ever a duo that could pull it off, Jeff Bridges and Jim Carrey would be the ones. Speaking of resurrection, Dave Chappelle is back and getting read to perform for a week in New York. It was fascinating hearing him talk about how he abruptly quit his television show and subsequently, millions of dollars.

Just in time for the World Cup comes the Coca-Cola sponsored video for David Correy and Aloe Blacc's The World is Ours. I watches a little bit of Brazil's opening game and they seemed to poised to make a run for the cup behind Neymar. If the first trailer didn't make you laugh, have no fear, between the Psy/Snoop Dogg Hangover video and SNL's Vanessa Bayer giving dating advice to Drake, you should find at least a few laughs in this week's top 5...#Hangover
Dumb and Dumber To (Trailer)

Dave Chappelle on Letterman (Video)

David Correy & Aloe Blacc - The World is Ours (Video)

Psy feat Snoop Dogg - Hangover (Video)

Vanessa Bayer Gives Drake Dating Advice

Photo Credit: YouTube

World Cup 2014: The World is Ours

With the excitement gradually building for the World Cup, which is now 56 days away, more music from the One Love, One Rhythm: The Official 2014 FIFA World Cup™ Album is starting to emerge. Last week I posted the inspirational anthem by Pitbull and J Lo and this week it's Aloe Blacc and David Correy stealing the show with The World is Ours. Before I say more, you need to watch Aloe Blacc in studio recording and reflecting on the track...
Whoever decided to recruit Aloe to remix the original version by David Correy deserves a lot of credit. The inspirational power ballad benefited from Aloe's soulful vocals. I'm pumped this makes the final tracklist because the world as a whole could use a lot more Aloe Blacc...#WorldCup2014

Aloe Blacc & David Correy - The World is Ours Remix

Videos of the Week March 7th

Definitely an entertainment centric top 5 videos of the week, but it's hard to argue against Batman and Transformers. Yes, Mark Wahlberg > Shia LaBoeuf, but just put Optimus Prime against a band of bad guy robots and I'm in. Aside from the awesome movies that are coming out, I'm also excited about the Monster Go DJ that araabMusik expertly demoed. Shoot, you might as well call it a baby MPC, which is wild considering how transportable it is.

In other news, Aloe Blacc finally created his own video for The Man. It'd been so overused by so many commercials that the real release is anti-climatic. The real surprise of the week came from the Game of Thrones...mixtape? What wait? Interesting move, but I can't complain one bit because Wale, Big Boi, and Common to name a few...#GameOfThronesMixtape
Transformers Age of Extinction (Trailer)
Batman Arkham Knight (Trailer)

araabMusik for the Monster Go DJ (Video)

Aloe Blacc - The Man (Video)

Catch the Throne - Game of Thrones Mixtape


Photo Credit: YouTube

"It Ain't That Hard When You Got Soul"

I've mentioned him a few times on the blog of late, but Aloe Blacc might be the biggest unheralded superstar of 2013. He was the driving force behind one of the three best songs of 2013 in Wake Me Up, but his story doesn't end there. He also did a really dope track with Pharrell (Love is the Answer) and more recently had one his tracks featured on a Beats by Dre commercial with Colin Kaepernick. As if you didn't already love your Beats headphones, they can also shield you from the outside world when everyone is against you...

So yea, it doesn't get more soulfully uplifting than The Man. It's just humble sounding enough to not come off too ego driven, which is a fine line. The closer you can get to the line without crossing it the better. This tip toes the line, while taking you to church to celebrate the feel good, confident message. If Aloe isn't already part of your discography, shame on you, his debut EP is way to good to be ignore...#WakeMeUpEP

Aloe Blacc - The Man

Videos of the Week November 22nd

I'm going with the lead with Hip Hop, end with novelty angle on this week's rendition of videos of the week. Ever since the Rihanna twerk video, I've become fully enamored with T-Pain and B.O.B.'s new single Up Down. Twerking aside, DJ Mustard (who produced the track) is my leading candidate for Hip Hop DJ of the year. Between the beats from Headband and Up Down, it's clear that he's got a knack for getting people to shake it.

Interesting that Kanye and Kim decided to film a soft core porn for everyone to see. And that wasn't to be outdone by Lady Gaga and R Kelly on SNL either. Whole lot of affection this week y'all, buckle in and I'd even go as far to suggest that a few of these are NSFW. The good news is, for those who don't enjoy salaciousness, Disclosure and Aloe Blacc are here to save the day with a live performance and new video...#PitchforkParis
T-Pain feat B.O.B. - Up Down (Video)

Kanye West - Bound 2 (Video)

Lady Gaga And R. Kelly Perform “Do What You Want” on SNL Disclosure Performs at Pitchfork Paris
Aloe Blacc - Love is the Answer (Video) Photo credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week October 23rd

You look like you're in the mood for some electronic music, how bout a tall glass of EDM? Between the Calvin Harris and Nicky Romero/Krewella visuals, you should be able to find your way this week. Also, you don't have to be a Swedish House Mafia fan to find their upcoming documentary interesting. They recently hung up their synthesizers and before anyone could blink, here comes a story of their career. They are really good at what they do, so I expect the finished product to be pretty cool to watch.

If you're not in the mood for EDM, then you're really gonna enjoy Aloe Blacc's own video for Wake Me Up. Now that the Avicii version of Wake Me Up has run it's course, the bluegrass version is a very welcome addition. It's like finding a new flavor of you favorite cereal on the shelf. You know what it takes like, but it's a different flavor that make me fall in love with it all over again. Oh, and the next chapter of Captain America is coming out soon, so heads up on that...#WinterSoldier
Aloe Blacc - Wake Me Up (Video)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Trailer)

Calvin Harris & Alesso feat Hurts - Under Control (Video)

Swedish House Mafia - Clip One (Documentary Trailer)

Nicky Romero vs Krewella - Legacy (Video)


Photo Credit: YouTube

Aloe Blacc Wakes the World Up

Even though Avicii has gotten all of the credit for his genre bending marriage of bluegrass and electronic music on Wake Me Up, Aloe Blacc is the one who deserves the lion's share of that pie. Not only did he do his thing vocally with his ever so soulful vocals, he also wrote the track, creating the foundation for its success. Long story short, he's got an 4 song Wake Me Up EP that just hit iTunes yesterday. On it you can expect a toned down, more bluegrass-y version of Wake Me Up (bottom of the post) that gets at the roots of what made the one you hear on the radio awesome. There's some fiddle and a touch more piano on his version, producing a reduction of the electronically driven radio version you're familiar with.

For icing on the cake, he went in studio this week and did an acoustic version of Wake Me Up, which does a great job of showcasing his talents in a live setting...

Do your boy a solid and support Aloe out by copping his EP for $2.76 on iTunes so that he can finally get the scoop of success he helped Avicii earn through the success of his latest album, True...#WakeMeUp

Aloe Blacc - Wake Me Up (Album Version)

"You Got a Dream, It's Simple, Live It, Wake Up"

You could imagine how I had to pick my jaw up off the floor when the remix below found it's way into my inbox today. Mr. Worldwide on Avicii's Newgrass hit? Hmm...I wonder what this is going to sound like.

Well...it's about what you'd expect. It's more or less the same as the original, but with a Pitbull lead in and brief verse during the electronic cresendo of the track. Make no mistake about it, there are very few artists who can calmly hype a track during the intro like Pitbull. He's led off so many great, crowd inspiring tracks that you almost expect to be awed by the outcome. That being said, his energy was almost too hype for the beat on his verse. While there were more than a few quoteables to go around on well constructed verse, the verse as whole felt a bit cut and pasted. Still, it was cool to hear Pitbull take a swing at one of the best songs of 2013...#dale

Avicii Ft Pitbull and Aloe Blacc - Wake Me Up (Worldwide Remix)

Videos of the Week August 2nd

Tough call on top video this week, but if I had a vote it would be between Krewella, JT and Avicii. I'm glad that the world is finally catching on to Avicii's Newgrass to the tune of a top 5 iTunes showing. If you haven't caught on to Krewella yet, you should probably hop on that bandwagon before it's full. They make fun music. Period. If you'r in need of a Hip Hop video fix, worry not Jay Sean and Nelly have you covered...assist to Nicki for the twerking...#Twerk
Krewella - Live For the Night (Video)

Justin Timberlake - Take Back the Night (Video)

Avicii feat Aloe Blacc - Wake Me Up (Video)

Jay Sean feat Rick Ross - Mars (Video)

Nelly feat Nicki Minaj - Get Like Me (Video)

Photo credit: YouTube

Avicii is About to Wake Up the Music Industry

I know, I know Yeezus leaked last night so you're probably expecting me to have picked out a favorite to post today. I'm leaning toward Blood on the Leaves, but On Sight goes pretty hard. Stay tune for tomorrow, but for today, in light of Kim and Kanye's baby being delivered five weeks before it's due date the day after his album leaked, the internet has jokes. Shout out to P&P for being Johnny on the spot and bringing to light gems like the one below...

Kanye's baby didn't want to get outshined by the Yeezus leak. The baby clearly has his father's sensibility.
— Matt Komar (@KomarKomar) June 15, 2013

Kimye aside, I'm actually a lot more excited about the radio edit of Avicii's long awaited lead single to his upcoming yet to be titled album. For those who weren't at UMF (Ultra Music Festival) and missed my post on Hey Brother, Hey Sister, Tim is making an attempt to combine electronic music and country. While a whole lot of hardcore electronic fans quickly ran to social networks to bash him for his trail blazing efforts, I thought the move was brilliant. Personally, I've never been a fan of the country sound because of it's lack of flair. Sure there are a ton of different types of country songs that have a wide range of styles and tempos, but the genre has always hovered around the same sound and style for decades. It's about time someone like Avicii tried to take the acoustic/banjo with bluegrass elements out of country and apply it to a more dynamic genre of music. According to an anonymous comment on the last Avicii post I had, the new sub-genre is called "Newgrass." Can't confirm whether that's true, but with the soothing vocals of Aloe Blacc and the genius of Avicii, something new is coming to life in the form of Wake Me Up and I really like it...#WakeMeUp

Avicii feat Aloe Blac - Wake Me Up (Radio Edit)