Listening to as of late

[click here to download]

So, I've been listening to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: The Samples and have fallen in love with a lot of the tracks but I'll only mention a few to save time:

In High Places [Dark Fantasy by Mike Oldfield

It's Your Thing [Power] by Cold Grits

Afromerica [Power] by Continent no 6

The best thing to me was finding this song:

The same track that inspired one of my favourite Michael Jackson songs "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". As I tried to sing the song to my parents, turns out they were already tuned onto the song. After my Mum taught me how to pronounce "Makossa" properly, my Dad told me the story of Manu Dibango.

Apparently Dibango was a "hard-up" (that means broke/struggling) headmaster, who had a talent for music. He was signed by an American label, flown out to the USA, recorded this song and it became a massive hit. I imagine his royalty checks to be bonkers for this song in particular.

PS: Soundtrack to Ghana Christmas '10

My Chick Bad: Glee Audition [video]

The Candy Slice girls are back at it again with their cover of Ludacris featuring Diamond, Trina & Eve - My Chick Bad (Remix):

YouTube - My Chick Bad GLEE AUDITION - Candy Slice

As they said the P*ssy Rules the World version. I love barbershop quartets so this is right up my alley, I love it! Especially the girl at the back, beatboxing + those glasses + the rope chain! Take a look their renidition of Birdman featuring Drake - Money to Blow (with Wynter Gordon) here


Oh and the girl who did Diamond's rap killed it and kills it every time!


xxo, 
Natalie

Excuse Me, I Need to get to my Window Seat

So I am writing this at the dead of night (03:05am) and it's probably why I'm writing this.

First rambling:


Ever feel like you want to get away? It's not that anything and everything around you is too much, but you just want some tranquility. Not even to assess thoughts, reaffirm your goals - but just to be. Be still and by yourself.

I feel like that now. And whenever that happens I want to be somewhere beautiful, quiet, outside, any time of day. Cool, but warm and with an iPod full of Jay-Z (listening to Excuse Me Miss right now). 

Funny, but his music is my "get-away" music.

What's yours?


xxo,
Natalie


PS Erykah Badu's Window Seat shares some of the same feelings:

Living the Life

I love "old school" Living the Life when the boys are back aka Ocean's 7 (JD, Johnta Austin, Trey Songz, B. Cox, Tyrone & Nelly). Pure hilarity.

My favourite episodes/installments are the ones with Johnta, I'm sorry but that man is too funny for words. Just take a look:

That Samuel L. Jackson face is about to be my new trademark. Side-eye on the extreme!

xxo,

Natalie

P.S. Yellow, black and white always look amazing together (see Gucci RTW Spring 2008 and Johnta in the above video)

The [Mixtape] List

Most people would give you a shopping list... but not I! I have a penchant for mixtapes when:

1) They are mixed well and

2) Haven't got the DJ of the mixtape shouting all over it (I got the mixtape to listen to the MUSIC...)

So these are over due but better late than never:

***

Reasons like 1, 2 & 3:

1. DJ Lissa Monét is my favourite DJ.

2. Her mixtapes are so good I forget what the original track sounds like...

3. This mixtape is a Valentine's Day collab. with DJ P-Plus who I hear nothing but good things about. Read about & download here

Curren$y - an artist I'm a little familiar with. I'll tell you what I know: Curren$y ex-Young Money member (no bad blood there), a talented rapper (see here) and DJ Don Cannon (my 2nd fav. DJ) mixed it. Recipe for success. Download here

*sidebar*: Seriously Don Cannon is so good I am refusing to pause "Gone Fishing" by The Cool Kids.

xxo,

Natalie

P.S. Thank you to all you DJs who count bars. My ear drums love you.

On to the next one

Jay-Z retired back in 2003 after the release of The Black Album.

Kingdom Come. 2006.

Jay-Z was worse off when he came back in 2006. 'Kingdom Come'? Whatever "it" is that Jay-Z had wasn't there anymore. Everyone was in uproar not only at his false retirement but also the mediocrity of Kingdom Come.

I didn't understand where "it" had gone.

American Gangster. 2007.

I saw glimpses of Jay-Z's "it" factor coming back and still relevant in songs like Blue Magic and Ignorant Sh*t.

The Blueprint 3. 2009.

As soon as I saw the tracklisting I was worried. I am a firm believer that an album shouldn't be full of features as I am buying the CD to hear the artist whose name is printed on that very same CD. To me TBP3 seems like a Jay-Z & Company CD. Ruins the whole thing for me... and just to prove a point I say that the best tracks on TBP3 are the ones where Jay-Z is flying solo. That being said he is shockingly awful on some tracks.

All in all, I think Jay-Z is progressively getting back to where he was, album by album. I can't wait for the next one... and with that? On to the next one.

Speak on it.