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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Fergie

  • Infatueighties: #89: “I Wonder if I Take You Home”

    The cover of "I Wonder if I Take You Home" by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force.

    I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, in a lovely little neighborhood called East Flatbush. Among the many memories of my adolescence, some of the more distinct ones involve playing football or punchball (a form of baseball in which the ball is one of those blue rubber thingies and the bat is your fist) and then having to practically dive back onto the sidewalk as an expensive sports car barrelled down East 45th Street. The driver of said sportscar was often Bow Legged Lou, who you may know as one of the muscle-bound relatives that made up the R&B band and production team known as Full Force. Not only did these guys score a handful of hits on their own (not to mention the fact that they starred in the “House Party” movies with Kid ‘n Play), but they’ve also built up a fairly impressive resume as writers and producers. They’ve had a hand in music by everyone from 80s pinup ho Samantha Fox to teen dreams Backstreet Boys and ‘NSync to TV actress-turned-singer Jasmine Guy to LaToya Jackson. They also discovered a stable of acts that included UTFO of “Roxanne Roxanne” fame and the group that comes in at #89 on this countdown-Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam.

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  • New Music In Stores & Online: 6-10-08: Li’l Wayne, My Morning Jacket, Alanis Morissette and More!!


    A little something for everyone coming out today. No matter what you like, chances are you’ll find something interesting. Here are the highlights:

    Li’l Wayne “The Carter III”: THIS is the guy who’s supposed to save hip-hop? Although I don’t find him as annoying as someone who grew up listening to Rakim and Big Daddy Kane should, I also don’t get what the big to-do is about him. Sure, he has an interesting wheeze of a voice, but in terms of technical skill, nothing really sets him apart from everyone else out there. And I still raise an eyebrow whenever a rapper’s skill takes a fairly sudden drastic improvement. Makes me feel like there’s someone else pushing a pen behind the scenes. Anyhow, this guy has been anointed by tons of internet geeks and hipsters as the rapper-du-jour. Me? I’ll stick to Talib Kweli, thankyaverrmuch.

    http://www.myspace.com/lilwayne

    My Morning Jacket “Evil Urges”: Their live shows are the stuff of legend. They tore “Saturday Night Live” up a couple of weeks back. Now MMJ translates that stage presence onto wax (or plastic, or mp3 files) with their new album “Evil Urges”. Lead singer Jim James jumps from rootsy rock to almost-funk with the greatest of ease, and he’s got one of the niftiest white-boy falsettos I’ve heard in quite some time.

    http://www.mymorningjacket.com/

    Alanis Morissette “Flavors of Entanglement”: Yep, Alanis is still around, and she’s still unlucky in love-although she’s graduated from being an angry mess (and I hope she’s graduated from giving head in movie theaters). Nearly a decade and a half removed from the behemoth that was “Jagged Little Pill”, “Flavors” finds her collaborating with Guy Sigsworth (Madonna, Frou Frou) and adopting some more electronic-sounding elements. Plus, the object of her anger has changed from Dave Coulier to Ryan Reynolds, which is infinitely less creepy.

    http://www.alanismorissette.com/

    Adele “19”: Every week, it seems, there’s a new female Brit singer popping up who combines soul and jazz. Joining the likes of Amy Winehouse, Duffy and Estelle is Adele. Featuring similar personnel as the albums of the previously three mentioned albums, “19” (which has been available as an import and digitally for some time) is a solid listen, better than Duffy, possibly the equal of Estelle, but still nowhere near the perfection that was “Back To Black”.

    http://www.adele.tv

    N.E.R.D. “Seeing Sounds”: After being burned by the hot mess that was N.E.R.D’s second album, “Fly Or Die” and being REALLY burned by the even hotter mess that was Pharrell’s solo album, I’m prtty gun-shy about getting this. The Neptunes’ “rock star” side project has already spawned a semi-hit in “Everybody Nose”, but man, this is a wild card. I’m just not sure Pharrell Williams is meant to sing for an hour and be enjoyable.

    http://www.n-e-r-d.com/

    But wait, there’s more!!

    Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers hits the solo trail for the first time with “Seeing Things”, while Sergio Mendes follows up his Black Eyed Peas-assisted “Timeless” with “Encanto”, which retains Fergie as a guest artist and also features Natalie Cole. Country legend Emmylou Harris is releasing “All I Intended To Be”, her first album in five years, Gym Class Heroes and Li’l Wayne-endorsed rapper Tyga hits stores with “No Introduction”, while Atlanta rapper Plies, currently enjoying a Top 10 hit with Ne-Yo, releases “The Definition of Real” (and as with every current rap album, Akon and T-Pain both make cameos).

    Happy shopping!!

    Ah…full list of releases here: http://www.pauseandplay.com/cdfront.htm

  • 50th Grammy’s: No Coffee

    I’ve blogged this show for the past two years and made fun of it’s usual lengthiness, but am going to change my tune. The last few years caused me to drink copious amounts of coffee to get through the shows. I’m only drinking Diet Pepsi Max (and bobbing my head like LL and Busta) and Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry Vanilla style.

    Let’s just get this out of the way. Kanye is going to be the sentimental favorite tonight. With his mom’s recent surprise passing, I can’t imagine him not performing Hey Mama tonight and just making the tears run down everyone’s faces.

    • The show opens with Alicia Keys singing a duet with Frank Sinatra. And dude is in black and white.
    • Alicia’s dress is way too tight and reminds me of the dress that Donna Martin wore to the Spring dance that made her look like a mermaid. Her breasts must be suffocating.
    • Carrie Underwood is a really pretty girl, but isn’t the kind of girl who should ever wear hot pants of any kind. She has a bad case of noassatall.
    • Alicia Keys just won the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and accepted the award from Prince. Her heels must’ve been higher because dude would’ve had to jump to kiss her.
    • Morris Day and The Time just came out, but only to act as the intro act to Rihanna. Prince was not in sight, but Rihanna still gave him props by wearing her hair the same way as him.
    • Fantasia was in the crowd and she’s rockin’ a blond bald spot.
    • Amy Winehouse won for Best New Artist so they aren’t screwing her just yet for being a nut job.
    • Say what you want about Kanye, but the dude is an entertainer. And he did Hey Mama justice and his mother proud tonight.

     

    • There are some people who actually look great in HD, but poor Fergie Ferg isn’t one of them. She should have it in her contract that they can’t do close-ups on her.
    • First the Oscars did it to Dreamgirls and now the Grammy’s. They gave the Compilation Soundtrack award to Beatles Live. I think I would’ve been ok with Hugh Grant winning for Pop! Goes My Heart, but not to some guys in tight trousers dancing to Beatles songs.
    • Beyonce came out in nothing more than a dress with bikini bottoms and she let the thighs loose. Let’s just say that if Jay-Z ever fell asleep on her lap, he may never wake up.
    • Tina Turner came out and sang with Beyonce and save for one moment where she kicked out her knee and I thought she dislocated her knee cap, that old woman can still get it done.
    • Even though Amy Winehouse won the song writer’s award for Best Song, what is more interesting is that I learned that Jay-Z gets a writing credit for Umbrella, all because he was in a verse at the beginning of the song that no one remembers. Dude didn’t even write, “Ella ella aye aye”.
    • Just as I aimed my buddy Mike that if Nas or Kanye West didn’t win, we riot, Kanye West won for Best Rap Album.
    • The Grammy’s tried to play the wrap-up music on Kanye, but he made it stop. That was classic.
    • I thought the only people who knew who Feist was, were the folks who watched VH-1 early in the morning.
    • Alicia Keys and Johnny Mayer work well together. And thankfully, Mayer cut off the Edward Scissorhands hairdo.
    • In introducing Amy Winehouse (who is live via satellite as she couldn’t get her visa in time), Cuba Gooding said, “Ya know what I’m sayin?” I didn’t know the dude had it in him.
    • Either Winehouse is trying to make us think she’s messed up, or she’s really messed up. Which also begs the question, “How can someone sing so well while messed up?”
    • After winning Record Of The Year for Rehab she shouted out her “Blake incarcerated”. Yep, she said it.
    • Why is will.i.am on my TV singing and rapping a collection of past Grammy’s hits? The crowd didn’t know what to do when he was done.
    • Usher and Kanye West would’ve tied if there was an award for Best Sunglasses.
    • In the biggest upset in the last week, Herbie Hancock beat out both Kanye West and Amy Winehouse for Album Of The Year. It was an Eli Manning-esque comeback. Then, when reaching for his thank you cards, they slipped out and fell, only he didn’t know and kept reaching into his pocket. At least Eli didn’t drop the trophy.

    The rumored Michael Jackson tie-in for the re-release of Thriller never happened. That made me sad. But at least I didn’t have to drink coffee.