Dillon Francis and Halsey Are Bad At Love

Rarely is a song ever so remix-worthy that it deserves it's own EP. Given the success of Halsey's latest album, it's no surprise Bad At Love was deemed worthy of five different remixes. From Autograf to Hook N Sling to Dillon Francis, there were a lot of big names in the mix.

Out of the pool of five, my favorite of the bunch was (unsurprisingly) Dillon's mix. The steady, back and forth knock on the beat and tribal undertones gives the track an added level of intrigue that Halsey's stellar vocals couldn't alone accomplish. It's hard to pull off, but Dillon's mix of rhythmic and chill hits a sweet spot for me. I've been listening to this one non-stop the past two days, so feel free and follow me on over to Spotify or iTunes if you're as big of a fan...#BadAtLove



Halsey - Bad At Love (Dillon Francis Remix)

"Cause You Know the Truth Hurts, But Secrets Kill"

Picture this for a minute...Halsey's vocals over one of Cashmere Cat's experimental instrumentals. Buried deep on Halsey's new hopeless fountain kingdom album is a gem in Hopeless. It's a quiet, subtly electronic slow jam that feels like what a ballad in 2017 should sound like. It has all the quirks you'd expect from a Cashmere beat with a healthy dose of electronically altered vocals. It's not that Halsey's vocals need to be tweaked at all, it's the intrigue of matching the synths with the vocals that stands out. Anyone who has been in a toxic relationship should be able to appreciate the emotional depth the track offers. If this and her new one with Quavo is any indication of the quality of her new album, you should be starting to realize how much you're missing out about now...#Hopeless

Halsey - Hopeless (prod by Benny Blanco & Cashmere Cat)

"If You Don't Love Me No More, Then Lie, Lie"

In case you missed it, Halsey released her sophomore album late last week. Hopeless Fountain Kingdom is a follow up from her debut, Badlands, released back in 2015. If there's one thing you can count on from Halsey it's sexy vocals. Her raspy tone and angelic harmony make for a uniquely potent combo.

Her newest single off the album is loaded with relationship drama and has an overtly theatrical vibe to it. Yet again, we have another Quavo sighting, proving that everyone is still eating out the palm of his hand. Call me a hater, but is he much of an upgrade over auto-tune heavy Future or even T-Pain for the fans of Hip Hop from a decade ago? Love him or hate him, he and his Migos squad is running pop music right now, so you'd better get on the bandwagon soon as it's near capacity. At the very least, this new one has piqued my interest in Halsey's new album. If you need me I'll be diving deep on it the next few days...#HopelessFountainKingdom



Halsey feat Quavo - Lie (prod by Lido)

Videos of the Week October 28th

I'll be honest I was pushed and pulled a lot of different directions this week when putting together this week's top five. I say that because this week ran the full gauntlet of emotions from playful to sad and serious to funny to whimsical and eventually landing on downright outlandish. Starting with The Chainsmokers new video for Closer with Halsey, we got to get another dose of on screen chemistry between Halsey and Drew. Really cool to see the guys portray such a nostalgic story through the video.

Then, the top five took a turn for the serious with Macklemore's gripping video for Drug Dealer. At this point we've all been touched at some point by the opioid epedemic in America, so it's about time we start shining the light on legal drug companies to highlight their contribution to the mess. Kudos for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis for taking the issue head on. I included the Zeds Dead video because this week needed a dose of playful claymation to blend with the other vastly different moods. Different moods like silly when Fallon and Timberlake went back to Camp Winnipesaukee to sing everyone's favorite Alanis Morissette song. And to end on a completely outlandish note, I had to give my buddy John Bradford some love in the top five this week for his role in Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa's new Bossed Up video. For those wondering, he was the accountant who grabs the manila folder from Juicy J at the 19 second mark. It's the most odd, yet stereotypical rap video mixing corporate accountant team shenanigans and strip club scenes. Who knows how the concept came to be, but love to JB for doing his part as a straight edged accountant that gets quickly turnt up...#BossedUp
The Chainsmokers feat Halsey - Closer (Video)

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat Ariana Deboo - Drug Dealer (Video)

Zeds Ded feat Rivers Cuomo & Pusha T - Too Young (Video)

Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake Sing "Ironic" at Camp Winnipesaukee

Juicy J & Wiz Khalifa - Bossed Up (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week September 2nd

Keeping it 100, this was one of the tougher weeks to narrow down a top five videos list. That was mostly there were so many stellar performances at MTV's Video Music Awards (VMAs). There were many more performances deserving to be posted like Rihanna and Ariana Grande's, but my personal favorites were The Chainsmokers/Halsey and Britney Spears/G-Eazy. Chalked full of sexual tension and energy, there were a lot of similarities between the two that made them an entertaining watch. Can we give it up for minute for Drew of The Chainsmokers for his effort as a vocalist? At this point, it's abundantly clear that there is little the duo can't accomplish.

In the land of real music videos, Lupe Fiasco was a clear standout with his video for Pick Up the Phone. The song was already powerful, but when you add visuals to it, the story gets even more vivid. Addiction is a terrible thing and the video shows exactly why it can be such a sad story. If you've been itching for some new Kygo, I don't have anything fresh to offer except that he's got a new clothing line called Kygo Life now. For the debut of the clothing line, he put on a fifteen minute, piano only concert where he weaved in and out of many of your favorite instrumentals from his new album. I almost list my sh*t when he led off with my personal favorite, Piano Jam. And rounding out the stacked top five was a really in-depth deconstruction of Kanye's vocals by Vox. As someone who loves the in-between the lines stuff, I ate up all nine minutes worth of that. Hate on him if you will, but there's plenty of craft to what he does...#Kanye
The Chainsmokers and Halsey Perform Closer at the VMAs

Britney Spears & G-Eazy Perform Make Me Move and Me, Myself, and I at The VMAs

Lupe Fiasco - Pick Up the Phone (Video)

Kygo Performs Solo on Piano to Launch His Own Clothing Line

Kanye Deconstructed: The Human Voice as the Ultimate Instrument (by Vox)

Video Credit: YouTube

"We Ain't Never Gettin' Older"

At this point, it's becoming a forgone conclusion that any new Chainsmokers single will ascend to the top spot on iTunes charts. How far Alex and Drew have come from those guys who could make a great remix to now being in the drivers seat of contemporary EDM. Their new single featuring Halsey goes where no other Chainsmokers song has gone before. More specifically, Drew rocked out the vocals throughout the track. If you're late to get in on The Chainsmokers, they generally outsource talented vocalists for hooks and verses. Not this time, though.

Serious dap is in order for being ballsy enough to say "we got this" by handling everything from the beat to the songwriting to the vocals. Even though their personalities would have you 100% convinced they are perpetually the life of the party, nothing about their talent as a duo is a joke. They can make music and even though they're getting into the vocals now, they never disappoint when it comes with picking vocalists to collaborate with. Basically Halsey is stellar and if you've ever hooked up with an ex and immediately regretted it, this song's for you. You know what they say, the bump into always leads to the backslide. Don't let it happen y'all, it's never worth it...#Closer

The Chainsmokers feat Halsey - Closer

"Am I in Love with You? Or am I in Love with the Feeling?"

Just when you thought this whole Bieber/Skrillex thing was going to be a momentary flash in the pan, here's another log to throw on the fire to keep it roasting for a few months more. Lately I've been trying to resist Bieber coming back into my musical life, but Skrillex is doing everything in his power to break down the preconceived notions and close mindedness. It's one of those battles where you want to separate the persona from the artist because he's capable of making great music, but there's something you just don't like about him.

In the case of Bieber, I literally can't continue hating because the music he's releasing of late is unquestionably stellar. His latest EDM flavored releases, starting with Where Are U Now, are all really catchy blends of the best that R&B, Pop and electronic music have to offer. His latest one, The Feeling, excels in it's emotion soaked angst. Led by a flawless hook from Halsey and a heavy, but somber beat from Skrillex, Bieber is able to chip in a few well executed verses to round out the track. It really reminds me of the golden age of R&B in the 90s when artists were able to tear at your strings with heart wrenching slow jams. In just two days, JB's new album Purpose is going to hit iTunes and my guess is it's going to be one of the rare albums the eventually reach platinum status. Time will tell, but there are at least five singles I've already given the thumbs up to on the 19 song track list, so let's just say he's off to a promising start...#Purpose

Justin Bieber feat Halsey - The Feeling