"I Got You Keeping Me Afloat, When I'm in Your Waterfall"

I've been writing about Stargate tracks dating back eight years ago when they were producing tracks for the likes of Brandy and Beyonce. The Norwegian production duo have a discography that would put 99% of producers to shame both on the number of collaborations they've pulled together and the star power they've worked with over the years. Just in case you forgot about them, they just released another new noteworthy single with vocal help from Pink and Sia. It's every bit the power duet you'd expect from two of the best vocalists in the game, but the slow and sexy Dancehall vibe is why you'll keep hitting play. It may have taken them years, but Waterfall is the first time Stargate listed themselves as the lead artist on a track. They must like playing the behind the scenes, supporting role because their music speaks for itself. Hopefully they'll put a whole album together so I can continue to speculate why it's taken them so long to play the Batman role...#Waterfall



Stargate feat Pink & Sia - Waterfall

"I'm Free to be the Greatest, I'm Alive"

Normally I wait until the end of the week to post videos, but Sia and Maddie Ziegler take it to another level, which makes them deserving of their own mid-week post. This time they chose a spooky, jail setting for Sia's new single featuring Kendrick Lamar. Before you get all excited about a K Dot verse in the video, temper those expectations because you'll be listening to it a few times before you discover his verse missing on the visuals. You'll need to fast forward two minutes on the Spotify or iTunes version of The Greatest to get another tastefully scripted 16 from Kendrick.

Kendrick verse aside, the track is pretty awesome in it's own right. Sia's unique vocals always play well in an inspirational setting. Sure, it's pop, but it's forceful in it's positivity to a point where you'll find yourself nodding your head and looking forward to singing along with the hook. All in all, it's one of the more energetic, catchy singles I've heard in a while, so enjoy this one before top 40 chews it up and spits it out for the next six months...#TheGreatest

Sia feat Kendrick Lamar - The Greatest

Videos of the Week July 29th

Any week that features a new seven minute video from Kanye is probably a noteworthy week in a lot of peoples' eyes. It's hard to ignore how cinematic his videos end up being, but somehow they all seem to fit the dark, edginess of his lyrics. In his new video for Wolves, he shed tears, he walks around in expensive jackets, his wife makes a cameo and there are plenty of models walking around in black and white attire. Have your opinions about Kanye, but he makes provocative act in a lot of ways.

In the land of other videos, there was a whole lot of entertainment on Fallon. Starting with G-Eazy and Tory Lanez's performance of Drifting on Fallon, Jimmy brought out the A list this week. If actors are more your bag, Will Smith did his best to show what it means to make an epic entrance and Matt Damon is a really convincing liar, but Jimmy has an uncanny ability to sense the truth. If only we could say the same for Matt who fell hard for a lie. Rounding out the week was an interesting collabo between JoJo and Wiz Khalifa. I've always been a big fan of JoJo, so seeing an edgier side of her with Wiz was the most entertaining video of my week. It probably won't be for you, but hey, some of us crush hard and don't let go of said crush years later...#FApologies
Kanye West- Wolves (Video)

G-Eazy and Tory Lanez Perform Drifting on Fallon

Will Smith Makes Multiple Grand Entrances on Fallon

Matt Damon Plays Box of Lies on Fallon

JoJo feat Wiz Khalifa - F**k Apologies (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

"You're Just Another Brick and I'm a Sledgehammer"

It's hard for any Rihanna song to go unnoticed, but when you throw the promotion of a major motion picture into the mix, there's a 0% percent chance the track won't be rammed down your throat. Enter Sledgehammer, the power ballad from the upcoming Star Trek Beyond soundtrack. Even though the movie is a little less than three weeks from being released, that won't stop the hype train from gassing up.

Three interesting things to note about the track. 1) Sia did the writing, which means she needs some dap for setting Ri Ri up for sucess. 2) The video follows the part movie/part music video style that's now commonplace for top soundtrack songs. I was expecting a few more cuts of the movie in the video, but I also appreciate that it wasn't entirely centered around the movie because that's what a trailer is for. 3) Who knew Rihanna was a big Trekkie? If you're interesting in learning more about how she grew up watching Star Trek, give this featurette a quick look...#Sledgehammer

Rihanna - Sledgehammer (written by Sia)

Videos of the Week January 29th

Solid mix of music and sheer entertainment value in this week's top five. Led by an out of this world collaboration between Jimmy Fallon, Sia, The Roots and...Natalie Portman? Random doesn't begin to explain that collection of talent on one stage, but it came together quite well on the Mardi Gras classic Iko Iko. If that's not random enough for you, how about some Obama clips dubbed together to form Justin Bieber's I'm Sorry? I'm not sure it was as good as Thriller or Hotline Bling, but baracksdubs takes attention to detail to another level.

In the world of music, there was high profile EDM collabo, a captivating Wiz Khalifa freestyle and a debut single from Baauer. You might recognize The Right Song from a previously posted song by Oliver and Tiesto (Wombass), but this time Natalie La Rose blesses the bouncy beat with vocals. It's a rare occasion where I think the instrumental wins over the vocal version. It was a tumultuous week for Wiz Khalifa, but that didn't prevent him from showing off his ability to twist everyone's favorite Adele track into a weed anthem. Last but not least was the premiere of Baauer's new single Day Ones. Truth be told it deserved it's own post, but you can bank on plenty more releases from his upcoming album Aa to surface on this portion of the internet...#DayOnes
Jimmy Fallon, Sia, Natalie Portman & The Roots Perform Iko Iko

President Obama Sings Justin Bieber's I'm Sorry

Tiesto & Oliver Heldens feat Natalie La Rose - The Right Song (Video)

Wiz Khalifa Goes in on Adele's Hello

Baauer Performs Day Ones with LeiKeli47 on Colbert

Photo Credit: YouTube

Kanye Chips in on Sia's New Single Reaper

Remember how Kanye announced his presence in a not so subtle way on New Years with Facts? Well, he isn't just making his own music, he's also chipping in by writing and producing other artists' new music. Like for example, Sia's new one Reaper, which isn't nearly as dark as you'd expect from the song title and reputation that Kanye brings with his music. Instead, you're getting a well-executed, mellow, sing-along ballad that is more inspirational than anything. In fact, I'd go as far as saying you would have had a hard time convincing me that Kanye had anything to do with the track. Other than the subtle funk in the bass line, there's nary a breadcrumb from West in the mix. While it's not my favorite song from Sia, it has an uncanny likability to it that's hard to ignore. As an FYI, you'll be able to cop this one on January 29th when Sia'a This is Acting album drops...#Reaper

Videos of the Week November 6th

If you thought that somehow there wouldn't be multiple Hotline Bling themed videos this week, you're sorely mistaken. Funny enough, the best of the bunch was a seriously awesome acoustic cover of the track by Dan Henig. I'm not at all familiar with his music, but I'll definitely be on the look out after hearing his cover. On the other side of the spectrum is Bernie Sanders getting down to Drake's newest single on Ellen. Yes, it's Jib Jab quality, but admit it, you thought to yourself for a minute, is that really what my grandpa would look like dancing to a Drake track?

In other news, Ariana Grande is eye candy and she went all Willy Wonka style on her new video for Focus. Some choose to sell sex, others like Sia sell dance and choreography. There was no Maddie Ziegler sighting, but the martial arts choreography for her new video Alive was intense! Finishing out the week on a funny note was Aziz Ansari impersonating Bobby Jindal. Needles to say, he does look similar and he did a spot on job of poking fun at how terrible he's doing in the polls with his dated views...#FeelTheBern2016
Dan Henig Cover of Drake's Hotline Bling (Video)

Bernie Sanders Gets Down to Drake's Hotline Bling on Ellen
Ariana Grande - Focus (Video)

Aziz Ansari Plays Bobby Jandal on Fallon

Sia - Alive (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week June 19th

Definitely not the usual week for videos with a grab bag of variety being the theme of the week. Is it me or are lyric videos now a pre-requisite to the making of actual videos? Whatever the case, the production quality for lyric videos have gotten a huge boost, making for really entertaining watches. Case in point the use of perspective on the printed lyrics of Eminem's latest track Phenomenal off the Southpaw Soundtrack.

If you're not into reading, Big Sean put together a whole 13 minute documentary surrounding his latest Dark Sky Paradise album. On the real music video front, Travie McCoy and Sia came through with a deserted Western themed movie for Golden. I'm not a country guy, but Timeflies did their thing when they flipped Sam Hunt's House Party into a listenable mix. And for those of you who came for some awkward and a dash of silly, Alan Rickman and Jimmy Fallon took in some helium and hilarity ensued...#Rickman
Eminem - Phenomenal (Lyric Video)

Big Sean's Dark Sky Paradise (Documentary)

Travie McCoy feat Sia - Golden (Video)

Alan Rickman and Jimmy Fallon Ingest Helium and Hilarity Ensues

Timeflies Covers Sam Hunt's House Party

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week April 10th

The top five this week skewed heavy toward Hip Hop this week with three out of the five coming from the genre. Leading off is the third on the trilogy of Maddie Ziegler featured videos from Sia. Big Girls Cry is more of a demonstrative solo filled with plenty of provocative facial expressions and gestures. It's another stunning example of how hard it is to take your eyes of Maddie when she's performing.

In other news, Louis C.K. may have thrown a wrench in Jimmy Fallon's plan to star on the Dana Carvey's show. Hilarity ensues. Then, 2 Chainz and Diplo met up with a water sommelier who treated them to water that cost $100,000. Yes, there's so much wrong with the previous sentence that I'm not even going to touch on outlandish it is. Finally, Chuck Inglish gave us all a huge doss of bass with Damage and Yelawolf continues churn out top notch tracks that will make us forget about his last album. I absolutely can't wait to hear his album as a whole because so far it's been nothing but fire...#LoveStory
Sia feat Maddie Ziegler - Big Girls Cry (Video)

Louis C.K. on Jimmy Fallon

2 Chainz & Diplo Taste 100K Water

Chuck Inglish - Damage (Video)

Yelawolf - American You (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

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

Videos of the Week January 9th

It was a super diverse and entertaining week for videos all around. Led by the very artsy, somewhat sexually controversial video for Sia's Elastic Heart featuring the talented Maddie Ziegler and Shia LeBeouf. I'll admit, I was drawn to it because it was so out there, but I was a bit weirded out by the sensual touching between the 28 yr old and the 12 year old. I kept reminding myself it was acting, but if Sia thought people would interpret that as her two opposing alter egos, then she's sorely mistaken.

In other news Jimmy Fallon and Nicole Kidman almost dated...until Jimmy evidently blew it. The Human Serviette came through with yet another awe inspiring interview, this time surprising Zedd from the characteristically detailed stalking. If you've never seen an artist go through their own YouTube comments, Wiz Khalifa would be a good one to start with. Happy to see him take it in stride with equal amounts of humor and not giving a crap. Finally, in case you hadn't laughed enough, Funny or Die came through with an awesome trailer for the new Chris Bosh movie, Tall Justice 2. Yep, it's just as much of a mockery as you'd expect...#TallJustice2
Sia - Elastic Heart (Video feat Shia LaBeouf & Maddie Ziegler)

Jimmy Fallon Blew a Chance to Date Nicole Kidman

Nardwuar Interviews Zedd

Wiz Khalifa Reads and Responds to YouTube Comments

Chris Bosh Stars in Funny or Die's Tall Justice 2

Image Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week August 20th

When it came to videos this week, there wasn't much buzz beyond Nicki Minaj's soft core porn video for Anaconda. My goodness...it has more buns than bakery on a Sunday morning. Shoot somewhere Sir-Mix-Alot is blushing because of the asstronomical amount of booty viewable in that video. Even tossed in a Drake cameo while they were at it case you wondered how he behaves at strip clubs.

Beyond that, Haim's new Hip Hop flavored My Song 5 was a fun watch, as well as Seven Lions' sci-fi, planetary visuals for Worlds Apart. Oh I see what they did with the whole worlds and planet thing. As if Denzel's presence wasn't enough to carry a trailer, the creators of The Equalizer decided it would be an even better decision to throw in a clip of an unreleased, upcoming Eminem song with Sia. That was a good call and we're all now excited. And finally, Floss gave a short 10 min behind the scenes look at his tour, which was pretty cool to watch. Living on the road has to be tough, but when the audience gets THAT hype to your music, it has to get to a point where he's pinching himself on a daily basis...#HDYNATION
Nicki Minaj - Anaconda (Video)

Haim feat A$AP Ferg - My Song 5 (Video)

The Equalizer Trailer (feat new Eminem song)

Flosstradamus Tour Video

Seven Lions feat Kerli - Worlds Apart (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Come Watch Elastic Hearts Catching Fire

What an interesting collaboration. You've got the high octane vocals of both Sia and The Weeknd over a quirky Diplo beat in what amounts to an emotionally charged track that seems perfectly fit for Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The coolest part of the track is at the 1:40 mark where Abel seems to teleport down and finish Sia's sentence. Not sure how well the two vocalists work in a duet setting, but they both absolutely did there thing in putting together a powerful ballad.

With the premiere still about two months away on November 22nd, I'm starting to wonder the powers that be are going to continue to slow play the soundtrack leading up to movie. In case you haven't seen it, the new teaser trailer below will give you all the visuals you need to get excited about it...

With a diverse and interesting tracklist featuring the likes of the Lumineers, Of Monsters and Men, Lorde and Imagine Dragons, I'm not afraid to cop to being more excited for the soundtrack than I am the movie. Then I get I didn't read the book, so you could say I'm a middle of the road Katniss fan...#HungerGames

Sia feat The Weeknd - Elastic Heart (prod by Diplo)

Great Gatsby Gets Greater

Usually I'd associate Sia with upbeat dance music, but it turns out she can do much more than that. She sounds more like Lana Del Rey on Kill and Run, which is a little strange, but impressive in the same way. At this point it might be time for Interscope Records to start getting some credit for helping construct a front to back quality soundtrack for one of the more anticipated movies this spring. Great Gatsby hits theaters starting on May 10th, while the soundtrack should start hitting shelves early next week...#Gatsby

Sia - Kill and Run

"It's Like Acid Rain in a Hurricane"

I don't care who you are, when you can get Jay-Z to offer you a record deal with Roc Nation, then turn around and release a lead single featuring @JColeNC with production from Stargate and writing by @siamusic, you've got my attention. I hate to make it seem like my blog is a "you gotta know somebody to get in the club" type of website, but since I can only post once a day, I gotta make it good. Unfortunately I get a good amount of music sent to me on a daily basis that doesn't get posted as a result, but no aspiring artist is afraid of competition and I do listen to everything sent my way, so keep it coming.

Anyways, back to the point of this post. It's no secret that associating with certain producers or featuring certain artists who I already have a lot of respect for will definitely help you get posted. With all the star power @AlexisJordan enlisted for Acid Rain, she was able to make her debut on the blog tonight. Best part about it is Stargate even took a piece of @bingo_players' single Rattle on the instrumental, which added a quirky element to the beat. There's no doubt Alexis has a great voice and she showed it off to the max on the hook by hitting notes that only vocalists like Sia could reach. Pretty dope Buzz track all things considered...#RocNation

Alexis Jordan feat J Cole - Acid Rain (prod by Stargate)

Videos of the Week September 28

Between @liltunchi's deposition video leaking and @SamuelLJackson's political parody video that is strikingly similar to Go the F**k to Sleep!, it was a week full of entertainment. For starters, you would have to be the stupidest person on earth to let a high strung suit ask Lil Wayne contentious questions. Sure, it's hilarious to watch, but honestly, did they expect him to just roll over and play nice with them?

As far as the Samuel L. video, kudos to the folks who wrote that. Sure it's completely biased, but that doesn't mean it isn't funny as hell. As a sidebar, it's good to see the Fresh Aer Crew are still getting after it. Dispatch has always been one of my favorite acoustic groups, so to see @TheAerMusic cover one of their best songs was really cool. As a parting note, have you ever seen a wolf hunting hunters? Welp, here's your chance if you're in the mood for some electronica...#WhiteBootyAtTheEnd

David Guetta feat Sia - She Wolf (Falling to Pieces) (Video)

Chris Brown - Don't Judge Me (Video)

Lil Wayne Being Deposed and Not Enjoying it

Samuel L Jackon's Wake the F***K Up

Aer - Two Coins (Dispatch Cover)

"You Loved Me and I Froze in Time"

As if the first release of @davidguetta's latest album Nothing but the Beat wasn't enough, he's back with a re-release that will feature a few new singles. The first of which is the track below featuring @siamusic, which will be the 7th (yep you read that right) single off the album.

So far, only the extended mix and a few remixes have been released via the CDS on Beatport. Speaking of which, Beatport already has the track, but iTunes will not be privy to it until August 24th, which is interesting as it is continuing the trend of electronic artists favoring the Euro-centric Beatport over iTunes. If I were you, I'd fast forward about a minute to when the song actually starts and Sia kicks her high octane vocals into gear. From there, it's every bit of a club rocking dance single as any of DGuetta's past efforts. The track below only solidifies the notion that he can do no wrong and lend credence to the belief that he still has the American dance-pop in his back pocket. #AmericanEDMOnLock

David Guetta feat Sia - She Wold (Falling to Pieces)
|Beatport

Videos of the Week February 10th

Considering how many damn times they play the song in concert, it's about time @kanyewesta and @s_c_ made a video for N****s in Paris! Other artists should take note that all it takes is a little creative editing and some concert footage to make a decent video. Love how we've evolved as a culture to put disclaimers for epileptics too...

I would probably pay a lot of money to be able to see Drake anywhere within a two hundred mile radius of where I live, but unfortunately it's not in the cards this year. I'll settle for the teaser (literally) promo video I guess. Still digging Wilds Ones by the way and if you haven't caught on to Eric Turner yet, then shame on you. Oh yea, Avengers are coming soon too...#SuperheroMoviesWin

Jay-Z & Kanye - N****s in Paris (Video)

Flo Rida feat Sia - Wild Ones (Video)

Drake's Practice/Club Paradise Promo (Video)

Eric Turner feat Lupe Fiasco & Tinie Tempah - Angels & Stars (Video)

Super Bowl Commercial for The Avengers (Movie)

Childish Gambino - Heartbeat (Video)

Videos of the Week

I can't remember a week that had this many high profile videos. From @drake to @thegame to @Rihanna, there were a lot of attention grabbing videos that found their way onto YouTube. Love the Bay Area setting for The Motto and Game's Martians vs Goblins was just as creepy and weird as you'd expect from the title. Nothing creepier that @fucktyler having a striped cat on his shoulder throughout his verse? Anybody else, that probably would be out of the ordinary. Like the @liltunchi image below...

Good luck reeling in those last minute gifts today and tomorrow y'all. Lord knows I'm gonna be busy like a bee no honeycomb...#DrakeQuote minus #TheMoneyTrees

Drake feat Lil Wayne & Tyga - The Motto (Video)

The Game feat Tyler, The Creator & Lil Wayne - Martians vs Goblins (Video)

Rihanna - You Da One (Video)

Asher Roth Performing G.R.I.N.D. in Chicago

David Guetta feat Sia - Titanium (Video)

Lloyd feat Trey Songz & Young Jeezy - Be The One (Video)

"If I Took You Home, It'd Be a Home Run"

When damn near every song of an artist produces sounds the same and has the same tempo, its hard for an artist to continue to grow their sound. With that being said, there are exceptions like @official_flo who don't need to evolve to continue to be successful. It doesn't matter who he features or what producer is on the track, he has the market cornered for the Hip Hop dance genre. His sound consistently plays and sets the bar for the competition. If you're the best in your neighborhood and consistently producing music that sells, why tweak it?

You can add this and his latest dance floor hit Good Feeling to the tracklist for his upcoming album part 2, Only One Rida (Part Two). Rumored to be dropping on January 1st, 2012, the album is shaping up to be just as good as the part 1, One One Flo Part 1. As an aside, doesn't it seem like every new single he drops gives a new R&B artist their first chance at limelight? You had @keshasuxx on Right Round before she had made it big, @WYNTERMUSIC on Sugar and now @siamusic gets her turn to shine on Wild Ones. You better believe Sia shined all over Wild Ones and absolutely did her thing on the hook. I'd expect there's a lot more where that and Titanium came from. She's clearly got a great voice, hopefully more Hip Hop artists will take note and give her some more opportunities.

I'll put it this way, if I still sent out my monthly song list, this one would be #1 for December. It'll be in the iTunes playlist rotation for at least a week, which is no small feat. Can't wait to hear this one in the club and go #HamSandwich...

Flo Rida feat Sia - Wild Ones

|iTunes