VIdeos of the Week May 27th

Like many weeks, this one was ruled by a slew of new high profile EDM released. My personal favorite of the bunch was Odesza's Late Night video put together by some of their most adventure seeking fans. Whether it's jumping out of planes, dangling feet off of cliffs or scaling mountains, the experience they put together was pretty awesome. Nipping at the heels of #1 was Kygo and Ellie's video for their recent collabo First Time. Plenty of sorrow and memories mixed with fire and ashes, which makes for an emotional video. Rounding out the EDM videos is Martin Garrix and Troye Sivan's new one for There For You. Shot in beautiful San Francisco, they couldn't have picked a better setting for their new track. #ImBiased

Outside of EDM, it was cool to see an updated trailer for Marvel's next money pot, Spiderman: Homecoming. It's going to be hard to continue the roll the franchise, but they've got an optimized formula for making movies that has everyone eating out of the palms of their hand. And round out the top five was a hell of duet from John Legend and Gallant. If you weren't already considering seeing John in concert, you should reconsider that decision because Gallant will be joining him as the opener. Their rendition of In the Room was well worth the price of admission...#DarknessAndLight

Odesza Fan Created Video for Late Night

Kygo feat Ellie Goulding - First Time (Video)

Martin Garrix & Troye Sivan - There For you (Video)

Spiderman: Homecoming (Trailer)

John Legend & Gallant Perform Overload In the Room

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week February 10th

Yet again this week, it was a thankless task narrowing down a top five videos. If there was one underlying theme this week it was the presence of soul. Starting with Chance the Rapper's video for Same Drugs where he delivers a duet with what can only be described as a muppet. Trippy video, but nonetheless, a stellar track. Then there was that time John Legend invited over Gallant so they could sings some songs acapella and answer questions with fans. Hate on Facebook live all you want, but if it leads to more intimate sessions like this, I'm all aboard.

Moving on with Run the Jewels who seemed to fill every nook and cranny of NPR's Tiny Desk space. You can't hate one bit on their ability to hold the crowd (regardless of size) in the palm of their hands, but I question whether the type of music they make is suited for the Tiny Desk setting. Don't get me wrong it was hella entertaining, but it was akin to watching two dudes practice rapping, which isn't the most interesting thing. The good news is, Stephen Colbert and John Oliver have all the interesting you need as they exchanged political humor and banter for a good ten minutes. And last, but certainly not fifth on the list, was Anderson .Paak's church choir fueled rendition of The Come Down. At this point it would be foolish to question how talented of a performer Anderson. Find me another artist in Hip Hop that can lead a choir while playing the drums and singing...#TheComeDown
Chance the Rapper - Same Drugs (Video)

John Legend and Gallant Perform Penthouse Floor and Overload on Facebook Live

Run the Jewels Tiny Desk Concert at NPR

Stephen Colbert Interviews John Oliver on The Late Show

Anderson .Paak Delivers a Gospel Performance of The Come Down

Photo Credit: YouTube

Chance the Rapper Delivers Uplifting Knock Knock Jokes

Damn...it's been a while since I've heard some smooth, vocal driven R&B. No synths, no build up and drop, just a funky bassline and some stellar vocals. That's what you can expect from John Legend on his new one Penthouse Floor. It's an uplifting ballad that takes a turn for the silly thanks to Chance the Rapper who detours around the 2:48 mark straight into a knock knock joke. It was one of the most random segues into a verse that I've ever heard, so you've got that novelty to look forward to if you have the patience to give it a full listen. For those true John Legend fans, and I know you're out there, you'll be interested in knowing his new Darkness and Light will be landing on e-tailers in about two weeks on December 2nd. Until then, you'll just have to continue wondering what his collaborations with Miguel and Alabama Shakes' own Brittany Howard are going to sound like...#PenthouseFloor

John Legend feat Chance the Rapper - Penthouse Floor

Videos of the Week July 15th

With late night TV continuing to be on a bit of a summer break, music again dominated the top 5 videos this week. First off, if you didn't catch the ESPYs, it turned out to be a heavy show overall. Lots of cultural messages and heartfelt stories throughout. Among those stories was a new song by Chance the Rapper's new song he made as tribute to Mohammed Ali. What a great performance to properly commemorate a true legend.

In the land of music videos, DJ Snake, BANKS and Tiesto came through with new videos. In DJ Snake's case, conflict led to a fiery ending. In Tiesto and John Legend's case, there was some cost saving holograms and dirty dancing in the streets. Then there was the BANKS video. Not sure I have words for what that was all about. Lots of creepy images, caressing of manakins, and an overall sultry vibe, which she's become known for. She's the queen of dirty, seductive lyrics and she delivered just that with her new video. Last, but not least, there was the ODESZA after movie at Red Rocks. Having now been to Red Rocks and seen a show, I can now sort of imagine how awesome it would have been to see them perform a set there. Such a great performance at a legendary venue...#RedRocks
Chance the Rapper Peforms New Song as Muhammed Ali Tribute on the ESPYs

DJ Snake feat George Maple - Talk (Video)

BANKS - F*ck With Myself (Video)

Tiesto feat John Legend - Summer Nights (Video)

ODESZA Aftermovie from Red Rocks Performance

Photo Credit: YouTube

"Summer Nights Get Me High Like the First Time"

Seeing that today is the Summer Solstice, it's only fitting that Tiesto and John Legend put their stamp on the season with Summer Nights. Saying its Pop wouldn't even begin to explain how easy listening the track sounds. The gentle chord progression is memorable and mellow, providing plenty of space for the mellow electro ballad to flourish. Between this track and the famous Birthday Mix of All of Me, Tiesto and John Legend go awfully well together. I know I'm not going to end up liking this track beyond the first couple listens because of how catered to the masses it is, but that isn't going to stop me from enjoying the hell out of it currently...#SummerNights

Tiesto feat John Legend - Summer Nights

"Monday Left Me Broken..."

Here's another one of those rare occurrences when a high quality festival rip is good enough to post. A night before Martin Garrix debuted the track at Ultra Music Festival, Avicii came through and played it during his set. For a festival rip, this is damn good quality, so don't let that scare you away. I will say this, John Legend's vocals on the track sound incredibly similar to Coldplay's Chris Martin. Beyond the vocals, you can detect Avicii's paws all over the track with bubbly, measured chord progressions dominating the sound.

It these type of huge debut tracks that have landed Ultra firmly on my concern bucket list. In case you missed the livestream of the festival, feel free and check out the many highlights via the UMF TV YouTube channel. For the record, Jack U absolutely closed it down with the help of Kiesza and many others...#UMF2015

Martin Garrix & Avicii feat John Legend - Waiting For Love

Duets Don't Get Better Than Sam Smith with John Legend

The video below seemed waaaay too good to be true when reading the headline "Sam Smith featuring John Legend." It was one of those, "am I going to regret clicking on this link because a Buzzfeed story is behind the door?" Strangely enough, it wasn't clickbait, it was the exact opposite of what I expected. In an effort to raise money for poverty via Red Nose Day, Sam and John did an in-studio performance of Sam Smith's Lay Me Down. What follows is picturesque brilliance...

You want to talk about an epic amount of vocal and performance talent...holy cow! For those of you who want to participate in the movement, Red Nose Day is this Friday, March 13th in the UK, while it's going to be celebrated in the US sometime in May. In general, great music that serves a bigger purpose is the ultimate win in my eyes. Kudos to everyone involved in the making of this...#RedNoseDay

Photo Credit: Vevo

Videos of the Week February 13th

The Grammys were without a doubt the big ticket item this week in the world of videos. While I was tempted to do a top 5 Grammy videos, I felt like picking a top two out of the many videos would be more impactful. That being said, it was a tough decision, but Sia's Kristen Wiig and Maddie Ziegler assisted performance of Chandelier and Common & John Legend's emotional rendition of Glory were my favorites. What pushes Glory to the top are the real life social issues that continue to make the lyrics and message of the song extremely apropos for 2015. Honorable mention performances include Sam Smith and Mary J's performance of Stay With Me and Ed Sheeran performing Thinking Out Loud With John Mayer, Herbie Hancock & Questlove.

Grammys aside, the Imagine Dragons video for Shots was extremely well done. Watching the Incpetion-like visuals made me like the song more, which is exactly what a video should do. In other news, Charles Barkley still is comical anytime he swings a gold club, especially when Jimmy Fallon is there to observe. And last but not least, I'm still trying to wrap my head around Drake's new short film Jungle. I appreciated the nostalgic look back at where he came from and getting to see firsthand how his music began opening up doors. If it's meant to show what a day in the life looks like for him to generate empathy, then mission accomplished. Either way, it's thought provoking, which isn't a bad thing...#Jungle
Imagine Dragons - Shots (Video)

Drake - Jungle (Short Movie)

Sia - Chandelier (Live at Grammys feat Kristen Wiig & Maddie Ziegler)

Common & John Legend - Glory (Live at the Grammys)

Jimmy Fallon: Hallway Golf with Hugh Grant & Charles Barkley

Photo Credit: YouTube

"One Day When the Glory Comes, It Will Be Ours"

Man, just when I was about to give all the credit to Alicia Keys for penning the most inspirational ballad of the week, here comes John Legend and Common with an extremely powerful new track. The track was created for the upcoming movie Selma, but you can't help but draw parallels to the protest movement surrounding the police violence lately. Common's direct reference to Ferguson around the 1:08 mark built a direct bridge to the recent protests, paving a perfect path for it to become a unifying anthem moving forward.

The build up of emotion lead by the soulful vocals of Legend and powerful delivery from Common are what make this track hard to ignore. The choir background did their part too, delivering just the right amount of soul in backing up Legend. I'm not familiar with Selma, but I do know that if the protest movement had a soundtrack, this would be the first track...#Glory

John Legend & Common - Glory

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

"I'm Your Magical Mystery Ride"

Every so often, maybe once a month, I hear a song that perfectly suits the mood I'm in at the moment. Tip of the cap to Tiesto who knew that some calming synths and some smooth John Legend was what the doctor ordered tonight after a long day. Lucky for us, it was his birthday last week, which meant he... made... us... a... remix? A bit strange because on my birthday, I RECEIVE presents, I don't usually give them out. Whatever the case, y'all should be grateful that music this great is made readily available for no cost...#Tiesto

John Legend - All Of Me (Tiesto's Birthday Treatment Mix)

"How Can You Dance the Pain Away?"

On Memorial Day it's all about showing love to the men and women who have served our country over the years. There isn't much that is completely free in the world these days and that couldn't be more evident with the concept of freedom. Everything that is worthwhile comes with sacrifice, so tip of the cap to the service men and women of our country who do a lot of thankless things on a daily basis that don't get recognized.

In an effort to keep the feel good vibe going, below is a new potential summer anthem from two industry heavyweights, Benny Benassi and John Legend. For a quick visual, check out them debuting the track at Coachella about a month ago...

The track is an interesting mix of melancholy vocals and upbeat synth rhythms. The mainstream appeal is undeniable, but beyond that it's really cool to see two artists who are great in their own realm, do it together. Can't say for sure whether this will be on John's upcoming Love in the Future album due out on June 25th, but if I were a betting man I'd put money on it. Regardless, hope y'all have a relaxing day off today...#HappyMemorialDay

Benny Benassi feat. John Legend - Dance the Pain Away

Merry Christmas!

Couldn't have put it more soulfully than @johnlegend and @mariahcarey...

Merry Christmas to you and yours! 

Mariah Carey feat John Legend - When Christmas Comes

Who Rocked it Better? Adele, Mike Posner, John Legend - Rolling in the Deep

Continuing the week long promotionfest of @officialadele's music, I'm feeling foolish for not having posted her most widely recognized, lead single off 21, Rolling in the Deep. In case you've been living under a rock aren't one of the 28 million people who saw the video on YouTube, check it out along with the track below for your convenience...

Adele - Rolling in the Deep
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There's no secret that the way she pulled off the original version by channeling the deepest soulful harmony imaginable, it'd be hard to top it. Enter fellow Grammy award winner @johnlegend, who adds his own classy brand of soul on the cover. Did he do it justice? I'll take Adele's original, but I appreciate the male version and would still put it on a mix for either of my parents...#OnlyTheClassyHipHop

John Legend - Rolling in the Deep (cover)
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That leaves the wild card, @MIKEPOSNER who adds has his own gentle swagger to the original. I'm a bigger fan of his version than John Legend's because I dig the electronic vibe and scratches added in, making it sound completely different. In other words, it had to sound completely different to even compete because there isn't a voice out there that can compete with the 1000 cc's of soul injected into the original version. Call it runner up or best alternative version, either way, thumbs up, like button...all that ish, it's well done...

Mike Posner - Rolling in the Deep (cover)
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"I’m the Authority of Model Seniority, They Call Me Les but They All Need More of Me"

This whole G.O.O.D. Music Friday (or Saturday in this instance) is turning out to be a pretty badass weekly gift from Ye. I thought last week's edition with Jigga leading the way with a strong effort from the unheralded @cyhidaprynce was a solid cut, only to be bettered this week by another marathon of lyricism put on by a similar, but slightly different crowd. You'd think there would be potential for @kanyewest, @pusha_T or even Cudi would take this track over and win the top verse...but then outta nowhere swoops in @ryanleslie for the kill.

Best part of the track by far is when the beat transforms from a bouncy, rolling upbeat vibe to more of a b-boy style beat with more percussion leading up to the beat calming completely for R Les to absolutely murder his verse. My guess is that Kanye let R Les have more than a little creative control over the beat. I hope that was the case anyways because they're both production geniuses in their own right and this song is a perfect example of a tale of two beats meshing together for an epic collaboration of Hip Hop talent. It's as if they divided it up 50/50 with Ye and Pusha T taking on the bouncier 808 flavor before the beat gave way to a slower, more deliberate feel which catered to Banks, R Les and Cudi's style more.

Check R Les's verse below:

"It’s time for a lesson in model behaviour
Damn, look at all the bad b-tches I gave you
Man, I can see the flaws to your flavor
Look like wonder woman and still need a savior
Maybe its a billionaire maybe its that cocaine
I done seen drugs and money run the whole game
A good girl lost in the city life
Agent Provocateur holding titties right
I’m haute couture of hoes galore
Give my girl a newport ’cause she’s smoking yours
I’m the authority of model seniority
they call me Les but they all need more of me"

Beautifully crafted and delivered sir Ryan Leslie, you continue to fly under the proverbial radar, leaving fans with tracks like this that leave Hip Hop fans all dumbed out wondering why he doesn't put out more material. I'm not tryin' to give him all the credit neither 'Ye, you've still got us all eating out of the palm of your hand every Friday anxiously awaiting another track that will probably be better than the last and leave us salivating for your materpiece eloquently titled Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Kanye West ft Kid Cudi, Pusha T, John Legend, Lloyd Banks & Ryan Leslie – Christian Dior Denim Flow
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