Videos of the Week June 16th

I'm bringing a truly unique top five this week. Led by some quirkiness, a few music videos, and a whole lot of race related content, it was an eclectic week. As long as you can get over the fact that Jimmy Fallon and Miley Cyrus didn't do the best job at concealing their true identities, their NYC Subway performance was one of the stand outs from this week. Pretty crazy how quickly a crowd gathered, mostly for Miley, but when Jimmy unmasked himself, people started losing it and breaking out their iPhones.

In the world of music videos, The Weeknd and Buddy released new videos for singles. Of the two, I enjoyed Buddy and Kaytranada's dance heavy video the most. Regarding race it was apropos that the Black Panther trailer came out the week that Ice Cube went on Bill Maher's show to school him on use of the N word. To Bill's credit, he owned up to his mistake and seemed like he was open minded enough to listen to what Cube was saying. As a side note, I really hope Black Panther continues Marvel's dominance in comic book cinema in 2018. Thanks to Wonder Woman, they actually might have competition from DC moving forward...#BlackPanther

Miley Cyrus and Jimmy Fallon Pose as Subway Singers

The Weeknd - The Secrets (Video)

Buddy feat Kaytranada - World of Wonders (Video)

Ice Cube and Bill Maher Have a Real Talk About Race and the Use of the N Word

Black Panther Trailer

Photo Credit: YouTube

"And I Lust For Life, Keep Us Alive"

It doesn't get more dramatic and theatrical than a Hollywood themed duo from Lana Del Rey and The Weeknd. Picture both crooning back and forth for four and a half minutes. Nothing but pillowy soft vocals focused on appreciating the little things in life is what you can expect on Lust for Life. It's the title track on Lana's upcoming Lust for Life album that will presumably be hitting iTunes in the coming months. It's not very often I post a serious, hardcore ballad like this, so I'm going to appreciate it for filling the void of ballads on this week's playlist...#LustForLife



Lana Del Rey feat The Weeknd - Lust For Life

Videos of the Week March 17th

Another week in the book and another music video heavy top five. Those rumors about Fallon falling off a bit since Colbert won the election must be somewhat true considering the dearth of funny content coming across the radar of late. Nevertheless, the show goes on starting with crisp new videos from The Weeknd and Linkin Park. The former is what you'd expect from a video shot on another planet, while the latter is emotionally charged and dramatic as the lyrics suggest. BUT, it all paled in comparison to the massive uproar that Snoop caused with his slightly more than suggestive shot at Trump. He even got the old Donald to lash out on Twitter, which is nothing new, but interesting that the video was taken seriously.

Outside of the world of music videos, we got some fresh reaction from Chance the Rapper off his recent Grammy win. Hip Hop is lucky to have a well-spoken, genuinely good dude like him leading the way. He does a lot of good things and that's all in addition to the amazing music he's been churning out of late. Lastly, we got a fun behind the curtain look at how Ed Sheeran and UK rapper Stormzy feel about internet trolls. There's a lot of negativity in the world, so it's nice to see an example of how artists let it roll off their back. It may not quite have lived up to a Kimmel Mean Tweets, but it was a fun watch anyways...#InternetTrolls

The Weeknd feat Daft Punk - I Feel It Coming (Video)

Linkin Park feat Kiiara - Heavy (Video)

Snoop Dogg feat BADBADNOTGOOD & Kaytranada - Lavender (Video)

Chance the Rapper Complex Interview

Ed Sheeran and Stormzy Respond to Internet Trolls

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week February 17th

Man, I'm not sure what the deal is with 2017, but it's been one stellar week of videos after another. This week I legitimately had about 15 videos that I had to narrow down to a top five, which proved to be a thankless task. It was a tough decision, but if I didn't include Melissa McCarthy's latest SNL skit where she roasts Sean Spicer, I wouldn't be doing this list any justice. Maybe our political system is a bit messy right now, but it's creating such an onslaught of comedy gold that we've got more than enough to be distracted with. Similarly, I probably could have created an entire post dedicated to The Grammys, but instead I've been sprinkling the videos across posts this week. I particularly enjoyed Weeknd's performance of I Feel It Coming with Daft Punk, though.

In the world of regular videos, The Weeknd made sure to keep his name circulating with visuals for Reminder. In the video you may see Drake, Travis Scott, and A$AP Rocky partaking in the expensive cars and private jet with Abel. Must be nice to have so many friends in high places. In case you forgot about Alex and Drew for a minute, they got back in the limelight with their new video for Paris. Man they really meant that "if we go down, then we go down together" line because there was a lot of falling from heights in their new one. Luckily there was a soft landing, sort of like the couch in NxWorries performance of What More Can I Say on Fallon (see what I did there?). Who says you can't perform on stage in your jammies? I know Anderson .Paak doesn't care and neither should you...#NxWorries
The Weeknd and Daft Punk Perform Star Boy and I Feel It Coming at The Grammys

Melissa McCarthy IS Sean Spicer on SNL

The Weeknd - Reminder (Video)

The Chainsmokers - Paris (Video)

NxWorries Perform What More Can I Say on Fallon

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week January 13th

Strange week for videos in that it was dominated by odd music videos and quirky cover performances. Leading off is marshmello's video for his new single Summer where he shares a moment with Vine star Lele Pons. It's hard to hate on any video at a skating rink, but the added eye candy is always appreciated. Then there was the over the top 80s and creepy video from The Weeknd for Party Monster. Put it this way, his videos make you think that there may be some things going on in his head that we find hard to imagine.

Moving on from music videos with an endearing Fresh Prince Theme cover from Ed Sheeran. His new music is downright dope, so I'll be tuning in to anything his name is attached to in the near future. Speaking of a Midas touch, The Chainsmokers felt the need to release a hype video to drum up some excitement for 2017. No disrespect, but I have a hard time imagining this being as successful as 2016 was. They've proven me wrong many times, though, so I guess nothing should surprise me at this point.

Just when you thought this was turning into a music only post, you knew I had to mix in some silly with Fallon. This time he was on stage with Kevin Bacon doing a word spelling parody of The Kinks 1970s hit Lola. Before you listen, I challenge you to think of as many words that rhyme with Lola. Let's just say they came up with a few more creative things to rhyme than the mental list you just came up with. Needless to say, I'm humming Lola now as I write this, so it'll stick with you...#Lola

marshmello - Summer (Video) (feat Lele Pons)

The Weeknd - Party Monster (Video)

Ed Sheeran Covers The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Theme Song

The Chainsmokers Are Out to Slay in 2017

Kevin Bacon and Jimmy Fallon Struggle to Spell Words to the 70s Hit Lola

Photo Credit: YouTube

The Weeknd's Hills Gets Triple Remixed

It sounds silly saying this, but you haven't truly made it until you create a track that someone has triple remixed. What's a triple remix you ask? Good question, it's when you create a track so good that it can be re-imagined three times and still sound fresh. Case in point The Weeknd's The Hills.

Over a year ago, RL Grime slapped his usual Trap treatment on the original, which was deserving of some GWDJ love. The remix must have been awesome because Porter Robinson then took it upon himself to flip it once more into what I'd describe as an ethereal, borderline epic reboot. Then, a YouTube user by the name of Red_ Hokkaido took Porter Robinson's version and transformed it into an even more epic, face-melting version. Better buckle up and hold on before subjecting yourself to the drop on that third mix, kids. This one runs the entire gamut of intensity, which somehow allows it to distinguish itself from the previous two versions. If your head is spinning, that makes two of us, but the good news is you've got three electronic versions to pick from now...#TheHills

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week December 23rd

What an entertaining week of live performances! First off, apologies if you caught SNL last week because it was dominated by Chance the Rapper...who then dominated the top five this week. Thanks to SNL, we got glimpses of a few recent singles, Finish Line and Drown, from The Coloring Book. Oh and who could forget the SNL holiday time capsule track, Jingle Barack? Pay attention to the lyrics, there's plenty of cultural and political references like gay marriage, marijuana legalization, Trump, etc. My guess is, when we watch that in about a decade, it will inspire quite a bit of nostalgia.

Before I move on from performances, I'd be remiss not to mention Weeknd's live debut of Sidewalks with Kendrick Lamar. If you're curious whether people are digging his new music, press play on that one and witness everyone singing along. Switching gears, Fallon debuted a pretty futuristic, Tilt Brush version of Pictionary this week with guests Michael Che (of SNL) and Andrew Rannells. I'm not sure whether to be amazed or freaked out that a whole studio audience would be watching you create drawings out of thin air as if they were in your head. Definitely a cool concept that takes communication to another level, but a bit hard to wrap your head around performance wise. Finishing off this week's top five was my favorite video of the week. Evidently there's a three year old kid named Lethan who is a proud member of the Mellogang. A few weeks back, Marshmello posted a video of Lethan dancing to his music. So, being an awesome person, he surprised Lethan in a hotel room where they both got to wild out to Alone together. Priceless is the best I got, but it's fitting for the holiday season...#Mellogang
Chance the Rapper Performs Finish Line and Drown on SNL

Chance the Rapper Performs Jingle Barack on SNL

The Weeknd Performs Sidewalks With Kendrick Lamar (Presented by Vevo)

Jimmy Fallon Debuts Virtual Reality Pictionary with Michael Che and Andrew Rannells

Marshmello Surprises 3 Year Old Fan Lethan From Dallas

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week December 2nd

There wasn't really any rhyme or reason to this week's top five, so without further organization, here goes. Leading the way are visuals from everyone's favorite radio hit from DJ Snake and Bieber. Sure, Let Me Love You is catch af, but something tells me you might see an even better version of the track posted on here tomorrow (#foreshadowing). Moving along, someone finally managed to corner The Weeknd in a studio long enough for an interview. Hearing Zane Lowe interview Abel made me realize how my perception of him as some cracked out Starboy isn't entirely accurate. Sure, there has to be loads of talent in deck to get him to where he is now, but hearing about his process of making music and how his new album came together was an interesting watch. Mad respect Weeknd.

For a bit of concert porn, mau lovers got themselves something to get all excited about when Joel unveiled a new cube design for his live set. Knowing how much he nerds out over technology, I'm sure no expense will be spared in making it nothing short of awesome. For a bit of novelty, we got to see Flume re-imagine Ghost Town DJs My Boo live in studio with Vince Staples. Dude is a wizard on the MPC, so you could imagine how interesting his choppy, instrument driven remake sounded. And last, but never the least, MGK came through with Camila Cabello with some love/hate visuals that bring to life the story told on Bad Things. All I can say is, find me a more sexy and catchy hook out right now...#BadThings
DJ Snake feat Justin Bieber - Let Me Love You (Video)

Zane Lowe Interviews The Weeknd in Studio

deadmau5 Reveals His New Cube For Live Performances

Flume Covers Ghost Town DJs - My Boo With Vince Staples Live

Machine Gun Kelly feat Camila Cabello - Bad Things (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

"We Can Just Be Rockin'"

Based on initial fan ratings, The Weeknd's new Starboy album has been a success so far. According to Metacritic, there have been 183 people who reviewed the album and out of those 183, 154 of them were positive reviews. I don't need to sell you on his collaborations with Daft Punk because I've gushed about them already here and here, but after giving it a deeper listen, I've got a new favorite. Rockin' is chalked full of speaker rattling bass, funky house rhythms, and smooth vocals. It's the upbeat pop, club track that comes off more feel good than the edgier album favorites like Starboy.

Simply put when it comes to setting the bar for R&B/Pop music, The Weeknd is still leading the way. And it's not just releases, his performances in concert keep getting better and better. Case in point his latest performance of I Feel It Coming/Starboy on Fallon this week. His stage presence is something he's had to work on, but the results are starting to really show...#Starboy

The Weeknd - Rockin'

The Weeknd & Daft Punk Are At It Again

It's becoming easier and easier to close you eyes when listening to The Weeknd and hear the ghost of Michael Jackson. It never feels right comparing anyone to MJ, but vocally and stylistically, the sound is strikingly similiar. Take for example his new one, I Feel It Coming, featuring Daft Punk. The track has a lullabye ballad sound similar to so many MJ hits like Will You Be There, for example. Instead of the soft, choir vocals on the MJ track, you get the digitized, Daft Punk vocals. It doesn't have the sexy pizazz and addictive bassline like it's predecessor Starboy, but it showcases the softer, well-rounded skills of The Weeknd as an artist. With the release of Starboy less than a week away, here's a whole list of reasons to continue getting excited for it...#IFeelItComing

OFFICIAL TRACKLIST : https://t.co/LZqp1rFBnd pic.twitter.com/foEgtjPlSi

— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) November 17, 2016

The Weeknd feat Daft Punk - I Feel It Coming

Starboy Goes Trop House Thanks to Kygo

It's been a minute since we've been privy to some newness from Kygo, so his new remix for The Weeknd's Starboy was a welcome surprise. It's hard to mess with the original version, but Kygo amplified the sexy by layering his piano and Trop House chords on top of the original. One thing that fell a bit flat on the remix is the edginess of the lyrics. The force and gravitas that Weeknd's vocals brought on the original weren't quite as emotion packed over the gentle chords. Nonetheless, it's an interesting take on a track that everyone seems to have fallen in love with, which gives plenty of room for it to live a second life on the remix circuit after the original eventually fizzles out...#StarboyRemix

The Weeknd feat Daft Punk - Starboy (Kygo Remix)

Videos of the Week September 30th

The past few weeks have been relatively unbalanced in my eyes. When I say unbalanced, I mean it's either been mostly music videos or mostly funny/novelty videos. This week's top five got back to a nice 60/40 split between music and funny. Leading the way for videos was without a doubt The Weeknd's new video for Starboy. The more I listen to the track, the more impressed I am with the Daft Punk collabo's lyrically edgy, retro funk vibe. As a bonus, you get to see Abęl go to town on some expensive memorabilia with what can only be described as a crucifix glow stick.

In other musical efforts, you had a live cover of twenty-one pilots' Heathens from Bebe Rexha and Martin Garrix. It's crazy how much traction the Suicide Squad Soundtrack ended up getting and this collaboration is further proof of it's wide spread appeal. If you're looking for more trippy, Sci-fi stuff, you'll appreciate the zero gravity video put together by Flume and Tove Lo. Now I know what it would be like to walk on the sides of buildings with a space suit on.

In the world of funny and ridiculous, it doesn't get more extravagant than 2 Chainz's new season of GQ's Most Expensive $hit. In the past, we've seen him taste high end bottled water or expensive kittens, but this year he's expanding his tastes to coffee. So why not explore the Kopi Luwak civet coffee that cost $600 a pound? If you don't know what type of creature a civet is or even why I'd be mentioning an animal when talking about expensive coffee, just give it a watch and prepare to be slightly grossed out. If lavish isn't your bag, then you've got the good 'ole conventional funny from Jimmy Fallon and Sting who played everyone's favorite game, Textual Experience. Even though it might not have lived up to the awkwardness that Aziz Ansari brought to a previously posted episode, both Sting and Fallon brought their A game vocally, which made for a fun watch...#TextualExperience
The Weeknd feat Daft Punk - Starboy (Video)

2 Chainz Drinking $600 Cat Poop Coffee on GQ's Most Expensive $hit

Martin Garrix & Bebe Rexha Cover 21 Pilots Heathens on BBC 1

Flume feat Tove Lo - Say It (Video)

Jimmy Fallon & Sting Have a Textual Experience

Photo Credit: YouTube

"We Don't Pray for Love, We Just Pray for Cars"

Well...feel free to file this one under the "set the internet ablaze" variety of hyped singles. It doesn't get more buzzy than a collaboration between one of the hottest vocalists (The Weeknd) and a legendary EDM duo (Daft Punk). Still, Starboy manages to stare those lofty expectations in the face and live to fight another day.

The first thing I noticed was the "Kanye-like" kick on the drums that seems to punch and keep punching with increasing intensity throughout the entire track. Like most Weeknd tracks, it rides the fence between soulful and edgy with pleading vocals and unapologetic lyrics. It may not be as "electronic" as you'd expect from a Daft Punk collabo, but I was pleasantly surprised given how it all came together. As it stands now, this one will be the lead track on Weeknd's upcoming album due out on Thanksgiving. I find it entertaining that two of the tracks have names so far with the rest being shrouded in secrecy by being labeled as generic track numbers...#Starboy
The Weeknd feat Daft Punk - Starboy

Cashmere Cat Ventures Off the Reservation With Wild Love

I'm the kind of person that's fascinated with different. When others are turning away or hating on music because it's not something they're used to hearing, I'm wondering why and moving toward it. Cue up that new "experimental" track by Cashmere Cat that plays more like a interlude than a single. Wild Love attempts to flip on it's head your formulaic mental model of a song by layering synths, hymn-like repetitious harmony, and plenty of vocal distortion. It's the type of sound I'm starting to associate with Francis and the Lights music because the vibe reminds me of their recent single, Friends. If you're itching for a standout performance from The Weeknd, check your expectations before pressing play because it's more of a cameo than a feature. Still, I can't help but listen to it and appreciate its uniqueness. Will it be a song I seek out to listen? Probably not, but it'll be a song I share with others and make them listen to because I'm interested in their reaction. Feel free and deploy it as such or hate on it like your friends, whatever floats your boat kind reader of this post...#WildLove

Cashmere Cat feat The Weekend & Francis and the Lights - Wild Love

Videos of the Week February 26th

Definitely a Hip Hop and R&B heavy week with a few unexpected quirks thrown in the mix. First and foremost, it would have been hard to not give love to Drake and Rihanna's new video for Work. Playing off their playful sexual chemistry, it makes for an interesting watch. In case you were wondering where Lauryn Hill went, she made an unexpected cameo with The Weeknd on Fallon. So great to see her back on stage doing what she does on the mic.

Speaking of Fallon, if you grew up in Big Ten country like me, you respond favorably to the familiar rat-a-tat-tat of the marching band's drum line. When you throw ?uestlove in the mix, it makes for a special minute of entertainment. In other news, if you've ever wondered what it took for DJ Khaled to become such a big deal on Snapchat, you'll find his interview on ABC's Nightline an interesting watch. So many catch phrases, I'm still in awe of how he became such a thing. At least he spits nothing but positivity, which the world could always use more of. And last but not least, Bart Simpson's Started From the Bottom montage was nothing short of epic. The whole slumlord, turning a dollar into baller status over the track was a thing of beauty...#StartedFromTheBottom
Rihanna feat Drake - Work (Video)

The Weeknd feat Lauryn Hill Performs Into the Night on Fallon

Questlove Plays With the USC Marching Band on Fallon (Video)
DJ Khaled Explains Snapchat Success on ABC's Nightline

Bart Simpsons Does Drake's Started From the Bottom

Photo Credit: YouTube

Disclosure Takes Nocturnal to the V.I.P.

What's better than a Disclosure original? A V.I.P. mix with slightly more tempo than the original. If you didn't catch the original version of Nocturnal off their recent album Caracal, then catch up before you enter the V.I.P...
I'd call the original a fresh slice of funky house music that The Weeknd shines all over. The tempo is measured, to a point that it's almost difficult to dance to. And as you should know by now, Disclosure is all about the womp womp style Deep House that you'll find on their V.I.P. mix. The new version is much more their tempo, showcasing bouncy bass and a playful repetition. Basically if you liked the original, but just wished it had more tempo, they did you a solid on the new mix...#Noctural

"Oh My, Oh My What a Wonderful Time"

It's as if The Weeknd was starting to worry that the public perception of him was full-on-pop the way he's been attacking the Hip Hop scene the past week. First it was his collaborations with Future on Low Life and Jeremih on Pass Dat, now it's Travis Scott.

With all due respect to the first two tracks, Wonderful is by far my favorite of the three. It has that type of gritty, bass heavy production that Kanye West fell in love with when he started shouting out Travis. Normally I get annoyed with the use of autotune, but there's something tasteful about the way Travis utilizes it that adds to the value of the track. It's hard to mess with a bangin' beat (shout out to T-Minus and Boi-1da), a couple catchy verses and a hook that listeners can latch onto with ease. Love everything about this collaboration because of how well these two artists' styles work together...#Wonderful

Travis Scott feat The Weeknd - Wonderful (prod by T-Minus & Boi-1da)

"Cause I'm Always Repping for That Low Life"

Generally speaking, this internet property is a Future free zone. It usually takes a substantial effort from another artist to push a track to listenable status when they have to make up for his lack of talent. In this case, The Weeknd and Metro Boomin stepped their game up to make up the otherwise garbage filled, sing-songy verses. The gentle thunder brought by the rolling bass line combined with The Weeknd's feathery soft vocals that pack a punch are what make Low Life worth the listen. It's yet another bit of evidence as to why The Weeknd has us all eating out of the palm of his hand right now...#LowLife

Future & The Weeknd - Low Life (prod by Metro Boomin & Ben Billions)

Videos of the Week December 11th

Overall a fun and crazy diverse top five this week. I can safely say that all videos not including Lexy Pantera will be fighting for the runner up spot this week. No words are needed to set up Lexy's twerkfest to DJ Snake's Middle. I mean even ladies gotta slow clap to her ability to dance and put on a show, right?

In the land of music videos, The Weeknd went all artsy on us with his In the Night video that featured his girlfriend Bella Hadid. Speaking of the night, Nero blessed Into the Night with some animated, futuristic visuals. Then Baauer blew all of our minds with what appears to be free falling car sex? Not sure about all that craziness, but what I am sure about is Jim Gaffigan's ability to produce gift ideas. Needless to say, this week's top five ends on a lighthearted note...#HolidayGiftGuide
Lexy Pantera Twerk Freestyling to DJ Snake's Middle

The Weeknd - In the Night (Video)

Nero - Into the Night (Video)

Baauer - GoGo! (Video)

Jim Gaffigan's Holiday Gift Guide on Fallon

Video Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week October 16th

There were a few live performances that stood out in this week's top five. The first two having to do with The Weeknd's visit to SNL. He's been one act that has alluded me in a live setting, so seeing him on SNL was pretty cool. I'm really digging both of his remixes for The Hills and seeing Nicki's dramatic performance was icing on the cake.

In other live performances, Pharrell got everyone and their mom singing along with his performance of Freedom on the Ellen Show, which was cool to see. The mystical ZHU also released some shocking new visuals for Automatic. I won't spoil the plot, but let's just say, I definitely did not see it ending the way it did. And last, but definitely not least, the fake Barack Obama spoof of Trump using Drake's Back to Back beat delivered a nice climax to an eventful week of videos. Much love to the authentic Barack delivery and on point lyrics...#BacktoBack
The Weeknd feat Nicki Minaj - The Hills (Live on SNL)

The Weeknd - I Can't Feel My Face (Live on SNL)

ZHU feat AlunaGeorge - Automatic (Video)

Pharrell Performs Freedom on Ellen

Barack Obama Back to Back (Drake Spoof)

Photo Credit: YouTube