Melanie Fiona - "I Been That Girl"

"Heard about the tires on his brand new car,
I knew that he'd drive you crazy..."

I'm the biggest fan of realness....in life, in people, in conversations, and certainly in music. Melanie Fiona is good for that. And she has the voice to convey the realness that she sings about. I haven't been the girl that she's talking about in "I Been That Girl" but I've heard millions of stories about her, so I know that she exists somewhere. Or everywhere.

After listening to "The MF Life" a few times, I kept coming back to this song, and then before I knew it, it was on repeat. So being the music junkie that I am, I just HAD to know who wrote it. I should have known that Drake was responsible for this. I swear that I love that dude even when I don't know that I'm loving him. And the more I listen to the song, it's too obvious that this is his work, the melody, the adlibs, the realness.

I guess that the reason that this is getting a place on the blog is because I just LOVE songs like this. Simple tracks about simple things that happen to simple people in the most complicated ways. It honestly doesn't get any more real than that.

Black. American. Princess.

I finally got a chance to skim through the "Somethin Soulful" and honestly, I didn't hear a song that I couldn't love. But I didn't really get a chance to listen to whole thing because when I tried to skim through "B.A.P.S." I couldn't only listen to a snippet. I ended up listening to the whole thing. And I started it over. Over and over again.

When I saw the title, I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into...but THAT BEAT ....sheeeeeeeeeeeesh.

I love these brothers. I think that they've been flying under the radar for wayyyyyy too long. You can listen to my favorite song below...but you should probably just go ahead and download the mixtape here.

I'm probably going to be SLV's #1 fan.

One of the great things about Valentine's Days, other than all of the spreading of love and flowers and candy and stuff, is that people tend to release new free music. If I remember correctly, I think Chris Brown and Willie from Day 26 dropped dope mixtapes a couple years ago on Vday, along with a few other people. Frankly, I think it's a great gift from artists. (Who doesn't want free music?) This year, not only can you find mixtapes from Raheem DeVaughn and Jake & Papa, but SLV released a new track. (I haven't listened to that Jake & Papa mixtape yet but don't sleep on them...I'll probably post something about that later.)

But anyway, this SLV (which stands for Summer Leather Vest) song called "Tell Him Somthing" has been on repeat for a good part of the day (which is higly inappropriate for work...but whatever lol). I love this group. I've only heard a few of their songs, but I love all of them, especially "Unison."

I like Emanny, but the more I listened to "Tell Him Something", I kept wishing that it was Trey Songz. It just sounds like a track that could have went on Anticipation 2. LOL. But don't get me wrong, Emanny killed it.

The bottom line is: if they dropped an album, I'd make that trip to Best Buy and get my Wells Fargo card swiped for that. Check it out:

P.S - Joey's swag >>>>>>>>

Frank Ocean - "Voodoo"

"He wrapped the whole wide world in a wedding band. And put the whole wide world on her hands."

We can only pray that a longer version of this comes out soon. Until then, this 1:37 will be on repeat.

FlashBackTrack: "Beautiful" by Damien Marley ft. Bobby Brown

First and foremost, I think it should be known that I have always been and will always be a diehard Bobby Brown fan. Apparently, the first concert that I ever went to was New Kids On the Block (that's what my mother told me lol) but the first one that I actually remember was Bobby Brown. Capital Center. 1992. (If I search my house hard enough, I might even find my Bobby Brown bandana from that show...judge me if you want lol)

Either way, through all of the craziness that has taken place in his life, there is still no one who sings quite like Bobby does. So, when he hopped on this Damien Marley song after being gone for awhile, I WAS HYPE. I stumbled across the video a couple days ago and figured that it deserved a spot on the blog. :)

The Kobe System.

"You don't need anyone's advice. That's how I know you need mine."

Kobe haters are gonna HATE this "Kobe System" ad campaign. But surprisingly (sarcasm), I LOVE THEM. I think they're absolutely hilarious. So, as an ode to my favorite basketball player in the game and in honor of his 4th consecutive 40-point game, here's all of the "Kobe System" commercials that I could find. :)

Stay Schemin'. (The Video)

 "You think Drake would pull some shit like that? Ya never know!"

I'm not a huge Rick Ross fan. In fact, I think that this new "Rich Forever" mixtape sounds like one long song. His beats are too predictable and his songs really don't have a concept...or a theme...or any other logical idea that would tie one line to the next. (Unless the theme is that he's a boss? *insert grunt here*).

Well now, that I've got that little bit of Rozay hate off my chest, the REAL reason for this post is to showcase how my boo Drizzy SPAZZED on this "Stay Schemin'" track. The beat is hot. French Montana sounds awful on the hook, and Rick Ross is doing what he usually does, but Drake swooped in, swagged a verse out, and saved the day! lol

One more thing: in my opinion, the song would have been better if Meek Mill wasn't just in the video, but on the song. But whatever. LOL

I Put On: Summer Leather Vest

 "You aint gotta act if...clearly you're attracted. It's much more than a style..."
 

Anybody who knows me, know that I'm a huge fan of the whole "love rap songs" movement. (That's why it's so easy for me to be a Drake fan...duh!) "Body to Body" by Ace Hood? Loved it. "Another Round" by Fat Joe? Super heavy rotation on my iPod. (You see Chris Brown winning right?) So, when I stumbled across this song with Joe Budden singing (yes, singing), I LOVED it. I will admit, the lyrics are a little wild, but musically, this is amazing. His voice is great, the beat is smooth...I don't really know what more a music head could ask for.

Anyway, he's part of this group who calls themselves "Summer Leather Vest". At this point, I'm not really sure exactly who else is in the group or what everyone's role is, but the dude, Emanny is a decent singer and I wouldn't be surprised if the group had hits on deck. "Unison" is my favorite for now though. :) Once again, you're welcome.

 

(I'm gonna put the track here too, just in case the youtube video stops working one day...because that happens too often.)