What I'm Listening To

I can say that the end of 2010 into the beginning of 2011 has started off on the good foot as far as music is concerned. There have been some good albums to have been dropped in the last 6 months, as well as some bad ones, but the ones that I consider as good have been on serious rotation. I know I'm not gonna touch on them all, but I wanted to at least touch on a few of them that are getting mad play on the iPod.

Starting off with a group that I didn't expect to wow me like they did.


I gotta admit, I was late on gettin with The Foreign Exchange. I had heard them before while working PT at Express, but I didn't know who they were, until last year (or maybe '09) when a couple of homies (shout out to Mels and Reecie) put me onto their second cd, Leave It All Behind. So once I peeped that out, I was instantly a fan...and now in hearing their 3rd joint, Authenticity, it has definitely made me a fan for life. My favorite from this project is the title track.




Moving onto a perennial favorite, I actually did a post last year about him here, so but that cd is so tight, that I had to include it again.


Ne-Yo does very little wrong in my book as far as music is concerned. Granted it can be a little pop-ish at times, but he continues to put out a solid cd, and at project #4, we know that music can get to be a little lacking and/or repetitive. That's one thing that I can say about him, his music is always refreshing.




Of course, the cd that the world was waiting for....


This half of the fire power group Floetry finally dropped her long awaited cd after 3239873490270 months of waiting, and it was worth every moment. Marsha definitely came out the gate with the bangers...and before you know it, you was in love with her the singer, not just her as part of the group. She brought back what it meant for good music, not just some randomness hollering over a bangin track. That lady got some classics on her cd, but this one has been speaking to me lately:




Mr. Cool himself, Lupe Fiasco is up next


This cd wasn't as hot as past projects to me, but this song right here makes it onto the playlists.


Lupe rhyming over a hot beat is what drew me to this...not to mention he's doing what he does best, spittin rhymes of consciousness. Be aware while noddin your head.

Of course, I couldn't finish this post without including Mr. Beat Her Up himself...


This dude can't stay out of the news for somethin or the other, but this song here can't stay off my iPod. It's just as hot as the other one I posted about here:



There were a few tracks on this cd of pop influenced cd that were head nod worthy...this definitely one of them. Congrats to Mr. Brown though for his first #1 cd...guess all that publicity helped him out eh?

I know I've left some off...shout out what music is flowing through your ears!

Will All the Real G's Please Stand Up

And all be accounted for?
And if you don't give a fuck
About a bitch
Then you rollin with the Row



Yesterday we lost a great voice in the genre of hip-hop/r&b. Nate Dogg, one of the members of the Dogg Pound, passed away. He definitely was a great addition to the world of West Coast music...collaborating with the likes of Snoop, Dr. Dre, and Warren G to name a few.

Here are some of my favorites that he did with other members of the DPG:



I know we've all said this at one point or time in our lives...some of us probably still saying it. lol



From the Chronic II, Dre's sequel to his best seller The Chronic, this one features not only Nate Dogg, but Snoop and Kurupt as well.



How many of you was naming off different folks in different area codes that you had on the team?

And the song that made him most famous:



Regulate. Everyone knew this song. EVERYONE...if you didn't, you was losing. This came out in the midst of puberty, so all the young dudes was tryin to hit the deep note. Ha!

And to see how many of yall really listened to West Coast Music, a song that featured Nate by himself:



One More Day - from the Murder Was the Case Soundtrack. This was a very undercover soundtrack (and movie as well), but it was bumpin nonetheless.

Nate, the game is gonna miss you, but when you connect with your boys up in Heaven, yall gotta get one more in for old times sake. RIP Nate Dogg

The New Banger

The new C. Breezy - the cd that everyone has been waiting for. Finally got a chance to peep it out, but I can't say that it's what I was expecting. It's different...and I say that because it has more of a pop edge to it than anything I've ever heard Chris put out before. But in the midst of all that's good and Justin Bieber (and I still can't believe that he did a song with that dude...*smh), Chris came back to the hip-hop side and produced something that saved his whole cd from joining the ranks of the N'Sync movement:



Hot beat, hot lyrics, and a trio that hasn't been done before. I gotta give this 4 mics (shoutout to the old Source).

This beat is so simple, but it works for what they are going for. Bussa Buss is bustin a hard rhyme as always, Weezy is doing what he does best, and even C. Breezy is trying to handle his own in the midst of two pros in the game. Definitely the best (or at least one of) the best on the CD that didn't necessarily get to me the way his previous cds have.

Breezy, the entire cd isn't something that I would go out and promote to the world, but this song right here, needs to be on everyone's radio, iPod, cd, or somethin. I see this being a headknocker for some time! Good job Son!

Ever Had the Feeling

So this is a cd that's been on the rotation for a few days now....people knew that Marsha was gonna bring out a banger, but I don't think that many people understood just how good this cd was gonna be. The song below is one that's one of my personal favorites.



I love it because it has an old school Michael Jackson feel. I know that she and Michael have done some collaborations over the years, so I'm not surprised that she would do a track like this. But it makes me feel like Mike is still alive and well, and music is still good. I know there are others on the cd that should (and probably would) be favorites to others over this song, but it's just something about this song that makes the world alright with me.

The lyrics themselves aren't inviting. She's lamenting over a lost love...one that she wasn't ready for to leave. The words she speaks are the truth tho:

cause your don't love me anymore..
tell me why'd you go away....
I would give you anything..
it is you that I adore...
please baby..baby take my hand...
and I would show you the way...

I'm sure we've all been there before...may not have said it, but we know the feeling. If not, then someday, you'll see what she's talkin about.

Just as an aside, here is another song that she wrote for Michael, and it was a banger too (glad he did it, cause her version of this same song doesn't move me at ALL lol)