drake
Watch: Drake – “Headlines”
Drake revealed the album art for his upcoming sophomore album Take Care a few days ago and now we have the first set of visuals for the album as well. Shot in Drizzy’s hometown of Toronto, the video for first single “Headlines” features him parading around his hometown, rapping, smoking cigars, and enjoying the company of his posse. OVOXO.
Take Care will be released on Drizzy’s 25th birthday, October 24, 2011 via Young Money Entertainment and Cash Money Records.
Listen: Pusha T – “Don’t F*ck With Me”
Pusha T ventured into the booth and recorded a new banger over Jai Paul‘s electric joint “BTSTU”, rhyming over the same beat as Drake‘s “Dreams Money Can Buy”. The Clipse rapper argues that no shots were fired on, but it’s pretty obvious that Push has more than a mouthful to share with the world. Perhaps the GOOD Music/Def Jam vs. Young Money feud is really going to heat up now? Check out the song for yourself below.
MP3: Pusha T – “Don’t Fuck With Me”
“No shots… (laughs) but nothing goes unseen.” – Hmm…
“Rappers on their sophomores, actin’ like they boss lords. / Fame such a funny thing for sure when niggas start believing all those encores. / I’m just the one to send you off, bonjour.” – Sounds like Push is going in on Drake here, especially with Drizzy’s sophomore album, Take Care, coming out next month.
Listen: Drake – “Club Paradise”
“Dropping this for our boy Avery…this was his favorite shit during the recording process. 2 more songs coming tonight as well. ovoxo”
Only one month to go until October! After hopping on The Weeknd‘s “The Zone”, we now have another track from Drake. The new cut, titled “Club Paradise”, just dropped on Drake’s October’s Very Own blog and is from the Take Care recording sessions. No word on whether or not it will appear on the album though, which is set for release on Drizzy’s 25th birthday, October 24th.
“Club Paradise” is produced by Noah “40” Shebib and the download file provided by Drake himself has the song listed as “01 Club Paradise”, a possible hint that the song may be the opening track on Take Care.
Listen: Drake feat. Justin Bieber – “Trust Issues (Remix)”
Two of Canada’s finest (or at least most popular) team up on this new remix of Drake‘s “Trust Issues”. Justin Bieberhops on the mic to record his take of Drake’s song. Bieber’s voice seems to be taking a hit as he matures and it looks like he more than just trust issues to deal with, hitting relatively lower registers on this song compared to that of his previous work. Check it out for yourself below.
Mixtape: The Weeknd – Thursday
The Weeknd makes his highly-anticipated return with the release of the second part of his planned mixtape trilogy, following up House of Balloons with the brand-newThursday. After mysteriously bursting onto the scene with his first mixtape, Toronto-raised Abel Tesfaye has been busy with October’s Very Own, working with fellow Toronto artist Drake and even performing with him at the OVO Fest. The nine-track mixtape can be downloaded at his website here. Alternatively, you can use thisMegaupload link as well.
Echoes of Silence, the final part of the mixtape trilogy, is planned for a release this fall.
Thursday Tracklist:
01. Lonely star
02. Life of the party
03. Thursday
04. The zone
05. The birds part one
06. The birds part two
07. Gone
08. Rolling Stone
09. Heaven or Las Vegas
Listen: Drake – “Headlines”
With the release of “Dreams Money Can’t Buy”, “Marvin’s Room”, and “Trust Issues”, Drake‘s forthcoming Take Care has quickly become one of our most anticipated releases of the year. October’s Very Own has finally released the first official single, which is called “Headlines”. The Toronto rapper linked up with his long-time friends Boi-1da and Noah “40” Shebib, who team up to produce the track.
The two previously collaborated on the rapper’s debut album Thank Me Later, working on quite a few songs including “Miss Me”.
MP3: Drake – “Headlines”
“Headlines” features more sung vocals than rapped ones from Drake. The song will be most likely be released officially on iTunes next week, but Drizzy released the song for free on his blog earlier today. You can listen or download above.
Listen: Drake – “Dreams Money Can Buy”
Drake, who is currently working on his sophomore album Take Care, has debuted a brand new song on his blog this morning entitled “Dreams Money Can Buy”. The song samples Jai Paul‘s “BTSTU” and according to Drizzy is simply “A song that I felt the need to share. Not my single. Just a piece of my story. Hear me out though…” Listen or download the track below.
Track: Frank Ocean – “Novacane”
Track: “Novacane”
Artist: Frank Ocean
Release Date: February 18, 2011
Label: Self-released
Contrary to what you may have heard, hip-hop collective OFWGKTA are an incredibly diverse group of musicians. The debut release from Odd Future’s Frank Ocean, titled Nostalgia, Ultra., makes this point undeniable; Frank Ocean’s music centers on his smooth, groovy vocals instead of rapping like the rest of the crew. “Novacane”, a standout from the incredibly ambitious self-released record, features Frank Ocean wearing his heart on his sleeve, spinning a tale of his confusion and frustration with a woman aspiring to become a dentist; hence the title of the song and chorus lines “Novacane, numb the pain.” Pitchfork compares his loverboy, R&B persona to that of Drake – Frank Ocean is raw, honest, and can sing his heart out. Stripped down to the core, the youthful spirit and self-confident “swag” of Frank Ocean embody everything that Odd Future represents, even if the music is noticeably different.
“Novacane” is from Nostalgia, Ultra. out now. You can download it for free here.
Rating: 9/10
Review: J. Cole – Friday Night Lights
J. Cole – Friday Night Lights
Released: November 12, 2010
Label: Roc Nation
“So here we are…”
Here we are, indeed. Say hello to the third mixtape from North Carolina’s J. Cole, approved by Hova himself. With his debut album scheduled for a 2011 release, it certainly is Cole’s time to shine. This is “his moment”: his chance to achieve the success that is the subject of almost every one of his songs.
If you aren’t already familiar with J. Cole’s life story, Friday Night Lights can certainly fill you in. Like the TV show of the same name, the mixtape focuses on the struggles of small-town folk struggling in the larger world; in this case, Cole’s poverty growing up in Fayetteville, North Carolina and his transition to the world stage as a rapper. Cole, who graduated from St. John’s University magna cum laude, is a deep-thinking, well-educated lyricist, taking nothing for granted. It is obvious Cole works extremely hard for everything in his life and he does everything in his power to force you to realize that.
Keeping that in mind, Friday Night Lights contains nothing inherently new in terms of Cole’s choice of subject matter. This, however, also means that Cole is doing what he does best: rapping about himself, his dedication to the “game”, and his rise from obscurity and small town North Carolina. Complimented by the bright, twinkling piano lines of the mixtape, J. Cole spits smoothly and with modest self-confidence.
Friday Night Lights features twenty tracks of rap in its most unadulterated form. Cole handles almost all of the production himself and only includes three rapping features, excluding Kanye West‘s G.O.O.D. Friday track “Looking For Trouble”. The highly anticipated Drake collaboration, “In The Morning”, is a solid showing from both young rappers, with both donning ‘thoughtful loverboy’ personas. J. Cole’s girl is “summertime fine”, while Drizzy’s is “wintertime cold”, but in the end, this makes no difference. Both are troubled by the same internal question that is plausible only because of their meteoric rises to stardom.
Is the mixtape fun? Sure, listen to the energetic “Higher”. How about serious? Cole definitely has that taken care of. Coherent? Absolutely. Friday Night Lights is a great effort from Cole all around, showcasing both his lyrical and production talents, but still addressing all of the emotional issues that have become the ‘bread-and-butter’ of Cole’s musical repertoire. If you’re looking for the future of hip-hop, this is it.
Cole World, here we come.
8.6
Standout Tracks: “Before I’m Gone”, “Higher”, “In The Morning (feat. Drake)” and “Home For The Holidays”
Drake Works With The xx and Florence and the Machine
According to NME, Drake is working with The xx‘s Jamie Smith and Florence and the Machine‘s Florence Welch. Smith says that he has been working with Drake on the rapper’s upcoming album Take Care. Drake has also announced that he may appear on the new Florence and the Machine record.
As of now, no release dates have been anounced. To tide you over, you can watch a fan video of Florence performing “Fireworks” with Drake in London below.
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