"Home is What You Are to Me Girl"

As someone who just went through planning and executing a wedding, I can appreciate a fresh new wedding song. It's amazing how many re-tread songs there are out there from first dances to daddy/daughter dances to the reception, it's a whole lot of the same catalog being picked over for decades. And that's exactly why Ne-Yo deserves so much credit. Being equipped with the songwriting and vocals made him uniquely qualified to sing his own wedding night ballad. Sure, it's all good in studio, but then the emotions from the day of the wedding kick in and you get a genuine moment. Fast forward to the 8:26 mark of the video below to see Ne-Yo start to perform the song and get a bit choked up...

That was a touching moment and to make it all more impressive, he released a studio quality version of the song on his Soundcloud this week. He didn't have to release something so personal for everyone else to benefit, but he did and now anyone planning a wedding should be giving this a look. Especially if the couple has been through some "I wonder if they're going to make it through this fight" types of trials and tribulations as a couple. The song focuses on the importance of having a connection between two people and anything else beyond that not mattering one bit. It's a touching track y'all, I hope you were as moved as I was by it all...#Two

Ne-Yo - Two

"Show Me to a Higher Place, Take Me to Outer Space"

Chalk this one up to one that slipped by the goalie about a month ago. Anytime you get Ne-Yo on an EDM track, I'm all ears. In Dmitri Vegas and Like Mike's case, if you throw in a few attractive women in the video, then we're really talking. Check it out below if you're curious...

All in all, it's an easy listening dance track that is equal parts pop ballad and top 40 EDM hit. It will remind you a bit of Calvin Harris's Feel So Close with a soothing, repeatable lead-in. Picture this one as a solid addition to a road trip playlist, where you're not looking for anything too flashy or loud, just something blend in and make the car ride go by quicker. Feel free and head on over to iTunes to cop this one and add to the aforementioned playlist...#HigherPlace

Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike ft Ne-Yo - Higher Place

Ne-Yo and Guetta Know Who is Taking You Home

I'll admit, when I first learned of a new collaboration between Ne-Yo and David Guetta, this was not at all what I expected. Usually when you think of David Guetta's influence on a track, uptempo synths made for the club and top 40 radio come to mind. Not so much the case with Who's Taking You Home, which is 100% melodic ballad from front to back. Despite the attention grabbing title, the tone of the track follows the peacefulness of the gentle chord progression that leads the way. The track will be one of the many singles that will litter Ne-Yo's new Non-Fiction album that will be hitting stores on January 27th. If anyone was wondering how to pull off an interesting lyric video, press play and enjoy the kaleidoscope visuals that compliment the audio quite well...#NonFiction

Videos of the Week December 26th

Simply put, there were way too many 2014 year in review and holiday videos this week that is was impossible to whittle down videos of the week to a top 5. So as a belated Christmas gift, I'm delivering a top 10 this week as a special year end gift. In the post you'll see the past year in search, viral videos, extreme videos and even an Orange is the New Black version of the 12 days of Christmas.

Beyond the year end videos, there's a Coachella recap, a new full length trailer for the upcoming entourage movie and a Dr. Evil cameo on SNL. On a serious note, I appreciated how well the SNL writers pulled off the critique of The Interview vs North Korea situation. The whole controversy brought about a slew of firsts in both hacking and pop culture bleeding into politics, but Dr. Evil made a lot of great points about just how absurd the whole thing was on a lot of fronts. In case you needed an actual music video fix, the Dade County artists (Pitbull & Flo Rida) had your back with new videos for Time of Our Lives and GDFR. Hope everyone had a great holiday season and is looking forward to New Years as much as I am...#2014YearinReview
Google's Year in Search 2014

People Are Awesome 2014 Year in Videos

Coachella 2014 Recap Video

Orange is the New Black Cast Remake the 12 Days of Christmas

Top 25 Viral Videos of 2014

Entourage Trailer Teaser

Fall Out Boy - Immortals (Video)

Dr Evil Makes a Cameo on SNL to Talk About Sony/North Korea

Pitbull feat Ne-Yo - Time of Our Lives (Video)

Flo Rida feat Sage the Gemini - GDFR (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

"Give Me the Time of My Life"

Somehow, some way, Pitbull continues to find a way to make great new music year after year. You would think he would have had to reinvent himself at least a few times over the past decade to continue releasing new albums yearly. With seven albums in the books and one more in the oven, there's no sign in sight of this unstoppable train slowing down.

His newest single featuring Ne-Yo is as fun and repeatable as you'd expect from Dade county's finest. Between the hook from Ne-Yo and the smooth dance beat, it's the perfect end of the week, T.G.I.F. track. The best part about it all, Globalization is hitting the internet in less than a week. My guess is he'll find a way to churn out at least five singles out of the eleven songs on the album...#Globalization

Pitbull feat Ne-Yo - Time of Our Lives (prod by Mr. 305)

Videos of the Week October 10th

Unlike most weeks, there is a clear favorite video in this week's top 5. I don't know whether to applaud it for it's weird wilderness vibe or continue to question why Pharrell has some huge clothespins on his shirt. What I do know is that Gust of Wind is a great track and seeing huge prehistoric looking Daft Punk heads come to life to sing the hook felt appropriate. Beyond that, there was quite a bit of Hip Hop released this week with Logic's epic crime spree short movie and Ne-Yo's ode to pole dancers leading the way. The surprise of the week came from Ed Sheeran's dance moves. Evidently dude isn't just a great singer, he can also cut a rug when given a chance. Finishing out the week is the obligatory silly and entertaining Jimmy Fallon video featuring Steve Carell. In the video they take random quirky words and try to fit them into casual conversation. Hilarity ensues, making it a great pick to round out the top 5...#FallonTonight
Pharrell feat Daft Punk - Gust of Wind (Video)

Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud (Video)

Jimmy Fallon & Steve Carrell Play Word Sneak

Logic - Under Pressure (Video)

Ne-Yo feat Juicy J - She Knows (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week May 10th

Run of the mill offering this week with a lot of Hip Hop and R&B. Evidently Lana Del Rey has become the icon for The Great Gatsby, which is fitting given her throwback style. Oh and this just in, Mariah Carey is still smokin' hot. Also, is it just me or are lyric videos now the new thing? I don't mean only lyrics as the video, I meant interaction style lyrics embedded into real videos like on T.I.'s Hello? Maybe it's the interaction designer in me, but I appreciate it...#UXMakesTheWorldGoRound

Mariah Carey feat Miguel - #Beautiful (Video)

T.I. feat Cee-Lo - Hello (Video)

Lana Del Rey - Young and Beautiful (Video)

DJ Felli Fel feat Ne-Yo, Tyga, Wiz Khalifa - Reason to Hate (BTS)

The Wanted - Walks Like Rihanna (Video)

Videos of the Week April 26th

Alright now that making promo videos for festivals is becoming "the cool thing to do", it's starting to wear on me. Not only are these awesome festivals generally nowhere near me, now I get to see the highlights and promos for them...awesome! The newest one being the Hard Summer concert taking place in LA August 3rd-4th. The lineup looks to be pretty killer.

Aside from that, there are two entertaining behind the scenes videos below to go with David Guetta and T.I.'s new visual creations. Quick sidebar, I'll be in Paris the next ten days, so apologies if seems like I've all the sudden developed a new music blind spot. I'll do what I can to keep up with the daily routine, don't you worry...#NoDaysOff
Hard Summer Concert in LA Trailer

David Guetta feat Ne-Yo & Akon - Play Hard (Video)

T.I., B.o.B, Kendrick Lamar - Memories Back Then (Video)

Stafford Brothers feat Lil Wayne & Christina Milian - Hello (BTS)

J Cole feat Miguel - Power Trip (BTS)

"Here's a Toast To My Ladies With Class"

God bless @NeYocompound for his consistency on lyrically uplifting, mid-tempo ballads. What I like most about his style is that he takes your garden variety "toast to the ladies" track and delivers it in such a exultant way that begs the audience to get into it. Taking it one step further, @RealWizKhalifa was a the perfect feature on Don't Make Em Like You. He clearly had Amber fresh on the mind when putting together his verse and the genuine-ness shined through.

Ne-Yo's new R.E.D. Album is due out on November 6th and he's already released three singles off the album I'm really excited about (Lazy Love and Let Me Love You. And yes, he does have a duet with @TheTimMcGraw, which should be worth the price of admission itself...#REDAlbum

Ne-Yo feat Wiz Khalifa - Don't Make Em Like You (prod by Harmony)

Videos of the Week July 20th

The onslaught of high powered videos continues this week with plenty of Hip Hop videos to go with a @nodoubt comeback video. I'm still wondering just what in the hell is going on in @liltunchi's My Homies Still video. Think of the most random yard sale ever and on top of that the most random things you could do with those objects. That's the video in a nutshell. You can expect the more typical Hip Hop videos from @meekmill and @MrTeriusNash, with more than a fair share of video girls.

On the other hand @neyocompound will satisfy those looking for a higher degree of visual entertainment and skill. Likewise for No Doubt, who seem to have maintained their sound through the years. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little anxious to explore their new album...#DontCallItAComeback

Lil Wayne feat Big Sean - My Homies Still (Video)

Meek Mill feat Drake - Amen (Video)

Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself) (Video)

The Dream feat Pusha T - Dope B***** (Video)

No Doubt - Settle Down (Video)

Videos of the Week July 13th

Interesting week for videos in that the two most interesting videos came in the form of interviews rather than videos. The most interesting by far borders around the potential ramifications of the $10 million lawsuit filed by @LordFinesseDITC vs @MacMiller. The dispute it over Mac's Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza track that sampled Finesse'sHip 2 Da Game from 1995.

This past week, they have traded social networking shots first claiming that they hadn't talked and then talking, but now the situation has deteriorated on twitter. The track was never on a studio album, but on Mac's 2010 K.I.D.S. mixtape. While neither song really made huge waves, in the court of law it's all about setting standards and in Hip Hop the sampling/copyright standard on beats has been non-existent. Think about how many rappers have freestyled over beats that weren't theirs on mixtapes. Can you imagine a world without free sampling in Hip Hop? That world is not somewhere I want to live...#FreeSampling

Timbaland feat Ne-Yo - Hands in the Air (Video)

Werner von Wallenrod Breaks Down Mac Miller vs DJ Finesse $10 million lawsuit

DMX feat MGK - I Don't Dance (Video)

B.O.B. Freestyles in The Backroom (Video)

Narduwar Interviews DJ Premier

Timbaland & Ne-Yo Want Your Hands in the Air

Prior to listening to the track below, I already knew I was going to end up writing about it. That's mostly because @Timbaland and @NeYoCompound are generally must listen artists for me, but even better, Hands in the Air is going to appear on the soundtrack for the newest Step Up movie soundtrack. Some know is as Step Up 4 or Step Up Revolution, but once you've seen one, you've seen them all. Trailer below for the curious folks...

Upbeat Hip Hop, lots of dancing, plenty of sexual tension and some type of love story to top it off. The in your face, loud, audacious beat provided by Timbo sets the tone well for the movie as a whole. It helps when your brand name sells regardless of quality, but for the two professional artists below that's never a problem.

Coming to a club near you soon enough, keep them hands up y'all...#StepItUp

Timbaland feat Ne-Yo - Hands in the Air
|iTunes

Ne-Yo's Got That Lazy Love

Like death and taxes, there are a few things you can count on in life. Another truism you can add to that list is @neyocompound producing consistently top notch R&B music. From producing to writing to performing songs himself as a vocalist, he's really good at what he does. Thankfully, in an effort to post a few more R&B tracks per month and get back to the Slow Jam of the Month post, he came through with a new single that fits in nicely with what I'm trying to do.

From the whiny instrumental lead in to the slow, heavy drum and bass mixing with soft piano, the ingredients for a great slow jam are there from the start. It helps that Ne-Yo's lyrics on the verses tug on the heartstrings and the easy to relate to hook is delivered so soulfully that you can't help but sing it yourself. Dude just knows how to craft a slow jam from start to finish by getting the most out of the trifecta of hitmaking (writing, producing, vocals).

Lazy Love is set to be the lead single on his upcoming album, R.E.D. (Realizing Every Dream), which is set to drop on Sepetember 18th. You may be wondering, wait a minute, didn't @thegame just release a R.E.D. album? As it turns out, Ne-Yo's R.E.D. stands for Realizing Every Dream, while Game's R.E.D. stands for Rededicated. The good news is, they're friends and cool with sharing the album title, so no beef will result.

Cheers to all the lazy lovers out there who got that I don't wanna, that I don't wanna do nothin'!...#LazyLove

Ne-Yo - Lazy Love

|iTunes

Videos of the Week May 18th

It's not everyday I post a passionate kiss as the hero image for a post, but this one was a little too interesting to pass up. I don't think anyone could have predicted @NICKIMINAJ casting @Nas as her romantic interest in her latest video Right By My Side. That being said, Nas seems to be all over the news lately dropping tracks left and right and showing up in videos, so the timing makes it seemed planned. Still, topping off the video with a passionate kiss at the end was interesting to say the least.

Also, it is me or have the animated video become the cost effective way to go now? That's two in a week counting Wolfgang's new one, @THEREALBANNER's video with @Chrisbrown's new video for Amazing. I'm still waiting for @calvinharris's new one with @neyocompound to start taking over top 40 radio. To top it off, check out the two videos at the bottom that show how white people and alcohol mix quite well. Speaking of which, holler atcha boy if you're at Bamboozle tonight...#Bamboozle

Nicki Minaj feat Chris Brown - Right By My Side (Video)

Calvin Harris feat Ne-Yo - Let's Go (Video)

David Banner feat Chris Brown - Amazing (Video)

Kid Rock, Paradime and Yelawolf Perform Fight For Your Right (Live)

Mayer Hawthorne - Henny & Gingeale (Video)

Videos of the Week April 13th

Solid mix of Hip Hop, EDM, R&B and Pop on this week's lineup of videos. @bassnectar's Vava Voom video is like looking into a kaleidoscope with a @lupefiasco image at the end of it. Slightly trippy, not for epileptics, but overall does an adequate job of capturing the craziness of the track. Shout out to Malibu Red for the alarming disclaimer and subsequent product placement in the new @neyocompound video for Burnin' Up. Also noteworthy is @KENDRICKLAMAR talking up Coachella and @drdre's presence at the event. I'm more than a little intrigued to hear how they're going to pull off this Nate Dogg performance from the grave. You can expect that on next week's video post, but for now, stay safe tonight!...#Fridaythe13th

J Cole - Sideline Story (Video)

Bassnectar feat Lupe Fiasco - Vava Voom (Video)

Ne-Yo - Burnin' Up (Video)

Jesse J feat David Guetta - Laserlight (Video)

Kendrick Lamar Speaks on Coachella, Dr. Dre, The Recipe etc.

Calvin and Ne-Yo Let's Go

Now that everyone is familiar with Scotish DJ @calvinharris through his work on tracks like @rihanna's We Found Love and his track with @iamkelis, Bounce, it's time he starts to put together a streak of solid singles. It's probably a good thing that his new single with @neyocompound sounds like We Found Love Part 2 because that track is still burning up iTunes as we speak. It's every bit as uptempo and dance-worthy as it's predecessor with enough electronic rhythms to carry a whole club for a solid four minutes.

No word yet on what Calvin's sophomore album will be called, but the lead single below should provide more than enough positive momentum to send him on his way toward another gold album. This will make a fine addition to my newest cardio mix and an equally viable party starter for DJ-ing this weekend...#LetsGO!

Calvin Harris feat Ne-Yo - Let's Go

|iTunes

Videos of the Week March 2nd

For one, I've evidently been riding the short bus because I totally missed that @JASONDERULO and @jordinsparks were dating. Put it this way, anyone who didn't realize they were dating, definitely does after watching their new remix duet video for It Girl. Other than that little tidbit of knowledge I gained this week, you may have missed @wizardcud's rant vs his record label as a result of the lack of promotion his new album WZRD received. It sounds like his label undersold the potential of his newest record and the estimated 80K sales that it's projected to get first week may even be a little low as a result. As per the usual, I mixed in the obligatory Drizzy concert video and even snuck in a #kendrick_lamar performance. It only their tour looped around to Philly somehow before going overseas...#Fail

Jason Derulo feat Jordin Sparks - It Girl (Remix)

Drake Performs Crew Love in New Orleans

WZRD Listening Sessions in NYC at W.i.P. Feb 23rd

Kendrick Lamar Performs Hii Power in New Orleans

Young Jeezy feat Ne-Yo - Leave You Alone (Trailer)

Jennifer Hudson feat Rick Ross & Ne-Yo - Think Like a Man (Video)

"I Gotta Get Ya, Can't Let You Get Away"

Will somebody tell @official_flo to slow his roll a lil bit and give the rest of the game a chance? Good god almighty! Counting the track below, he's now got three, count it, THREE number 1 caliber singles floating around right now. I know I'm a little premature on Gotta Get Ya (below) being a #1 hit, but it's better than the released version of Good Feelin' (but not as good is the Avicii version) and comparable to his newest single Wild Ones.

What's so good about the tracks? For starters, I'm having a really hard time articulating how awesome the @davidguetta beat is on this track. The initial syncopated electro rhythms that steadily gain in intensity and lead up to the above average hook provided by @neyocompound is a perfect blend of greatness. I'm not sure if you were planning on copping the sequel to Flo-Rida's Only One Flo (Part 1), but if you weren't I'd challenge you to find me another album in 2012 that has three singles that can match what Flo has put out this year. Good luck with that...#CantTopIt

Flo-Rida feat Ne-Yo - Gotta Get Ya (prod by David Guetta)
|iTunes

Videos of the Week

Lots of @JColeNC in the videos this week, which is always a good thing. Is it just me or is anybody else absolutely memorized by @araabmuzik every time he touches an MPC? Dude is a beast and I was happy to hear he iscoming to Philly soon so I can see that magic in person. As a sidenote, I'm still salty over the end product of Flo Rida's Good Feelin'. Let the beat free @Avicii!!! Either that or put your own track on iTunes dude! I digress...have a good weekend y'all!

Beyonce feat J Cole - Party (Video)

Flo Rida - Good Feelin' (Video)

Mac Miller - Party on 5th Ave (Video)

J Cole - Lost Ones (Video)

Ne-Yo feat. Trey Songz & T-Pain - The Way You Move (Video)

araabMUZIK Metal MPC Solo (Video)

"Sugar, Don't Call Me When You're Lonely Again"

I'm not sure whether this was a demo or just another version circulating with the Love Suicide beat that @CHRISBROWN first did, then @TINIETEMPAH eventually put on his new album. Rather than sticking to the original lyrics of Love Suicide, @neyocompound flipped the track into his own R&B version that is just as emotionally invested, but is instead written from the perspective of a lover who is tired of being taken for granted. Regardless of who did it first or who did it better, Stargate deserves some dap for putting together such a promiscuous and well received beat.

If I were to pick, I'd put Ne-Yo's version up there with Chris Brown's original Love Suicide as far as who did it best. The silky smooth delivery and well executed hook on Lonely Again are hard to ignore. Put it this way, I was humming "Don't call me when you're lonely again" long after first listen today and that was after I had given it top billing on today's iPod playlist. Oh you don't make playlists daily for workouts, yard work, etc>? To me that's like reading yesterday news man, gotta keep up with the daily newness so I can share it with y'all.

It's been a while since I've posted some quality R&B anyways, so here's a top shelf dose...#NoChaser

Ne-Yo - Lonely Again