Videos of the Week September 23rd

Normally I'm a Jimmy Fallon guy, but kudos to Jimmy Kimmel for bringing the heat this week with performances from Usher and Desiigner. Both brought the heat with brief sets and they did it their own way. On one hand you had Usher doing his usual dance routine while spicing it up with videos of fans around the world dancing to No Limit. And on the other hand you had the raw energy of Desiigner performing his hype new single Timmy Turner. To be blunt, I'm still on the fence about Desiigner as an artist. He walks the line between hype and over-the-top, which is why I want to like him, but in manageable doses.

If you have five minutes and have to choose one video to watch this week, there's no doubt that it should be Elton John and Gallant performing Weight in Gold. It's an awe inspiring performance by a legend and an up-and-comer whose voice is on another level. If escaping reality through animation and adventure is more what you're looking for, then you'll dig Zeds Dead, Diplo and Elliphant's collabo on the video for Blame. And last, but not least, there was the time Hillary Clinton went Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis. If you've seen any of the episodes in the series, there's a level of awkward situational humor that always ends up being surprisingly funny and this one did not disappoint...#BetweenTwoFerns
Elton John & Gallant Perform Weight in Gold

Desiigner Performs Timmy Turner on Kimmel

Zeds Dead & Diplo feat Elephant - Blame (Video)

Usher Performs No Limit on Kimmel

Hillary Clinton Goes Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis

Photo Credit: YouTube

Astronauts Etc and Chaz Make Rocket Man Their Own

What better way to cap off the week than a journey off the usual electronic path to revisit a classic. First and foremost, it should be stated that nobody can touch Elton John's original version of Rocket Man. That being said, I couldn't help but get excited to see Toro Y Moi's name associated with a cover version. Following the lead of Astronauts Etc, Chaz provided a much needed assist on a surprisingly throwback, heavily funk fortified rendition of Rocket Man.

Yes, the cool, jazzy vibe is addicting, but my favorite part of the track is the 45 second snippet around the 2:45 mark where the instrumental takes front stage. The strong, but steady bass line does an excellent job of being the north star, guiding the listener through the track. Given the monumental task of rethinking Elton's classic, I'd say they did a solid job of making it their own without stretching it too far from it's original sound...#RocketMan

Astronauts Etc feat Toro Y Moi - Rocket Man

"You Are What You Love, Not Who Loves You"

Ya know what I said yesterday about my favorite track on Fall Out Boy's upcoming album being their recent collabo with Big Sean? You can flush that BS right down the toilet today after I gave a few listens to FOB's new title track for their new album Save Rock and Roll. The track is engaging from the start, marked by a rolling beat clap that leads to a vulgar tirade around the 40 sec mark. Definitely didn't see that coming, but unpredictable is usually the lyrical norm for FOB.

Sure, the hook is awesome and finds a way to embed itself in your brain on first listen, but after the first verse you begin to wonder when Elton is going to make an appearance. Then, like a closer walking in from left field, he settles in on the track. From there on, the track ultimately morphs into a powerful duet between Patrick Stump and Sir Elton (pictured above), which is one of the more awesome vocal combinations in recent memory. After the past two days, I've elevated FOB's album to must listen status, so keep that in mind next Tuesday when their album drops...#saverockandroll

Fall Out Boy feat Elton John - Save Rock and Roll

Twista Begins Whitney Houston Tribute

One of the aspects of Hip Hop that really annoys me is when like 15 different artists jump on a remix of an already over-played track to create a 10 minute megamix. Keep it to less than four features because I'm going to hit next track if it goes beyond that, no matter how great the beat is. There shouldn't ever be a Hip Hop track that is over 5 minutes long and having more features than needed puts that at risk.

What does this have to do with @twistagmg's tribute to Whitney Houston you ask? Well, I'm more than willing to make an exception to the bold statement I made above regarding the number of artists on a track with the tribute below. To this date, I haven't heard of any Hip Hop artist buying a card, writing his condolences on it, then passing it on to anybody willing to lend their thoughts over 16 bars. I say that because that's exactly what Twista did with the help of @traxster who did the beat. Not only did Traxster sample Whitney with class, but the heavy piano and rat-a-tat of the percussion was spot on.

I hope every rapper in Hip Hop leaves a mark on this open letter and blesses it with their own moving memories and thoughts on one of the most influential voices in R&B history. I'm crossing my fingers that a few in my live starting five like @Drake, @JColeNC and @bobatl take to the mic and celebrate her memory by joining Twista in grieving on wax. Keep it going y'all, don't be the dude who keeps passing the card because he "didn't know her well enough." You'd be fooling yourself if you weren't in some way moved by her legendary voice.

Bonus: Elton John speaks on Whitney's death and dedicates Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me to her...


Twista - Whitney Houston Tribute (prod by The Legendary Traxster)

Sample Justice: Mike Posner Takes on Elton John & Oasis

Want in on a little secret? There's a reason why mixtapes can sometimes trump studio albums when it comes to quality. Two words...Sample...Clearance. Ask yourself, do you think @Oasis and Elton John would allow @mikeposner to sample their biggest hit for free out of the kindness of their heart? FOH! Course not!

So what's the best way to get around it? Make a free mixtape featuring a bunch of great artists and offer it for free on datpiff on a customized page with a countdown to hype it up. Today it will drop in it's entirety and it's an absolute beast as a whole. I can say that without hearing all of the tracks because I already really like four of the tracks. They're not only noteworthy samples of classic tracks featuring some of my favorite rappers (@bigkrit & @BunBTrillOG), but even more amazingly, they're produced by Mike Posner himself. To a layman, that may not mean much, but flipping two classic and trying to mold them into your own sound is not a small task.

Even better, Mike understands the value of making great music to increase his buzz. How did the tracks leak prior to the release of the mixtape? See below, it's simple...

Suffice to say he's making a lot of good music of late and making my job as a blogger easy as hell. There's no telling when Posner's sophomore album Sky High will drop, but if it's half as awesome as his newest mixtape, it'll be pretty epic. After one lap around The Layover, I see no reason why it can't be in the discussion for best mixtape of the year. To put it simple, Sample Justice was served in both instances below, no hatin' over here, he did that...#BunBVoice

Mike Posner feat Bun-B - Rocketman (prod by Mike Posner)

|Download Mixtape

Mike Posner feat Big K.R.I.T. - Wonderwall (prod by Mike Posner)

|Download Mixtape

Who Rocked it Better? Elton John vs DJ Ill Will/K Young - Tiny Dancer

On first, second and third glance this is somewhat of a laughable comparison of an upcoming R&B singer to a iconic, legendary singer, but humor me for a second. If you give the latter a listen, you'll gain an appreciation for a budding talent that, while not on the epic scale of Sir Elton Hercules John (yes his middle name is in fact Hercules if you ain' know). Everyone loves themselves some classic Tiny Dancer, check it out if you want to take it back...

Elton John - Tiny Dancer


While it's a little audacious to have the huevos to perform a cover of the classic track, doing a noteworthy job of covering a well known song is becoming an instant opportunity. Just ask Jim Jonsin and especially JR Rotem, who have launched careers off classic covers.

You'll notice, K-Young, straight out of Hacienda Heights, CA in Los Angeles, does a good enough job on covering Elton's track that you're left wondering if he's capable of making original material this melodic. I've got a partial answer to that question with a couple tracks you may enjoy like Please Me and the more uptempo Do It. Not an easy feat getting over 1.5 million views on any YouTube track, let alone two. Yet you haven't heard of him?

I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel by slapping Elton in the face by comparing him, but take it for what it's worth, a decent, fresh new spin on a classic track. K-Young does most of the legwork on the track with the vocals, but shout out DJ Ill Will and Essay Potna on the production. Their ability to match the beat without overdoing it and screwing it up is what makes this listen-able. Be sure to cop Ill Will's new album The Alumni. Betcha didn't know he was the one behind the boards when Tyga and Chris Brown got together for their new Fan of a Fan Mixtape...check it out...

DJ Ill Will Ft. K Young Tiny Dancer Prod. By Essay Potna
| Download