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
Interesting collection of videos centered around Hip Hop this week. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the sheer awesomeness of Marina Shifrin's "take this job and shove it" video that catapulted Kanye's 8 yr old track Gone to 4th on Billboard's Hip Hop chart. Everybody would love to do this at some point of their life, but kudos to her for actually pulling it off and going viral.
Aside from that business, Eminem got around to make a new video for his video game inspired track Survival and Childish Gambino is starting to ramp up the hype for his upcoming album. Quick side note, that Travie McCoy and Jason Mraz track is dope as hell...#RoughWater
The Video that put an 8 yr old Kanye song at #4 on the Current Billboard Charts
Eminem - Survival (Video)
Childish Gambino - because the internet (Teaser)
Janelle Monet feat Miguel - Primetime (Video)
Travie McCoy feat Jason Mraz - Rough Water (Video)
There have been some fierce, potential chart topping tracks that have surfaced this week and all things considered my iPod has been busy, which has made my time at the gym productive. Y'all know what's up, and when I say this one made it to the top the past two days amonngst the stiff competition brought on by the likes of Drake, Skylar Gray, Coldplay and Bad Meets Evil, you know it's serious. Sure this one is soaked in candy and will ultimately rival @TRAVIEMCCOY's Billionaire single last year that had everyone repeating the hook. I know I know, that'd make it a top 5 Billboard hit, but still, I stand by my audacious prediction because this is every bit as repeatable, fun loving and upbeat.
Ask yourself too, when was the last time you were like man @ADAMLEVINE killed that hook!! I'd say other than Misery last year, probably back in 07 with Makes Me Wonder? Either way ya boy Travie has a knack for recruiting hooks and that's a great talent because it's keeping his solo career afloat merely with the strength of these mammoth singles he's been dropping. Shouts out to @itsbennyblanco on the form fitting backdrop that allowed both Travie and Adamn to drop what will be regarded as one of the most overplayed singles this summer...#SpoilerAlert
Cop it now before the masses start that whole "nah man I was rockin' that song like a couple weeks ago" garbage... #FThatNoise + #KennyPowersVoice ...
Travie McCoy feat Adam Levine - Stereo Hearts (prod by Benny Blanco)
About a month ago, during the heart of March Madness when the VCUs and Butlers were still wrecking shop on the industry heavywieghts, I ventured down to TLA to catch one of my favorite up and coming artists @donnisxdonnis. The irony on the timing of this review is that he just released his much anticipated Southern Lights mixtape yesterday via Karmaloop , which I'm still on my first full lap around as I write this. Sounds pretty dope so far, but you can be sure I'll find a way to run a mile around it before I make any judgments.
Alright, so, rewind back about a month and I find myself walking into Theater of the Living Arts confused as hell as I see @PETEWENTZ onstage with a girl I don't recognize and have never heard of before. As it turns out, he and Bebe Rexha recently former a band called the Black Cards and they were the openers for the opening act. Being a pretty hardcore Fall Out Boy fan at one point, I was happy to see Pete back in action, but at the same time mad as hell all over again because the group disintegrated. If you're curious how they sound, it's very upbeat, punk, reggae influenced music that sounds sorta like No Doubt. Not really my cup of tea, but it was sort of alarming when 90% of the crowd cleared the floor just to get an autograph from him, which left about 50 fans to watch the upcoming acts. Makes sense considering his 2.5 million followers, but to be honest (and he knows and admits this willingly onstage), it's weird to have a guitarist talk just as much or more than the lead singer between songs. Sorta goes against the whole hierarchy of tradition for band performances, but considering his popularity, I guess it's warranted?
For me, Donnis, not @TRAVIEMCCOY was that someone who I'd made a point this year to somehow find a way to see. As he hit the stage with a burst of energy, I immediately felt like it was a great decision to pay the price of admissions. Despite the sound crew sabotaging his entrance by muting his mic and making him literally replay his walk out song, Donnis took it in stride and even joked about it as he continued on. One thing was for sure, the diminutive crowd wasn't gonna hold back the characteristically charismatic MC from creating a party atmosphere. Below are two of my favorite tracks he performed, Tonight and Gone ...
Donnis - Tonight at TLA
Donnis - Gone at TLA
Front to back, it was a greatest hits so far type of performance where he spotlighted damn near every song you may have heard from him. I got more videos of him doing his new track Me & My Boo as well as his first breakout single Over Do It, but the audio is waaay to heavy so it's more for visual. All in all it was a great performance EXCEPT he was capped at the knees early when the powers that be shortened his set for some probably terrible reason. He got to perform maybe 6 or so songs before being CUT, which pissed me off quite frankly. Even worse, I was actually looking forward to seeing @xtothev, but he was completely axed from even getting on stage. I don't know who made that ruling, but it was messed up and ultimately made me feel like the money I spent on the concert was mostly wasted. No disrespect to Black Cards or Travie McCoy, but I didn't come to watch them, I came to watch one of the game's up and coming stars and y'all cut him short. Oh hell-to-the-naw...#VenueFuckery
I don't wanna sound entirely negative either because Travie did his thing, he held down his live-band-style Hip Hop sound, was engaging and funny throughout the performance. You'll appreciate his rendition of Billionaire below...
Travie McCoy - Billionaire at TLA
The energy was high throughout the concert, which kept my attention and gave some entertainment value. Still, I expected more from the lineup and am more pissed off at the powers that be for pulling the wrong strings for seemingly no reason. I came away wanting to hear a lot more from Donnis and feeling like I wasn't as big of a Travie McCoy fan as I thought. To each their own though, if you like his music, you'll enjoy his live act, but it didn't end up bein' my favorite cup of tea.
What you need to do is download Donnis's Southern Lights mixtape though, it's well worth a download and multiple listens...
