Top 10 Songs of 2015

After a great 12 months of music, 2015 has come to a close. To celebrate, here's the top ten best songs of the year in no particular order. Enjoy more after the jump...

1. All My Friends - Snakehips feat. Tinashe, Chance the Rapper

British production duo Snakehips brought us this gem late into the year. With a mellow ambiance and silky vocals from Tinashe, this banger demanded to be sung-along-to with its anthemic chorus. Raise a glass to Snakehips for making loneliness sound like a good time. This song hasn't broken the Hot 100 quite yet, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't at the top of your playlist.

These trippy visuals are appropriately mesmerizing...but where's Chance?!

Grammys 2015 Recap: Ballads & Ballgowns

     Well, Grammys 2015 has officially wrapped. The Sunday night (02/08) ceremony honoring achievements in music featured a surprising amount of ballads. From Madonna to Ed Sheeran, almost everybody who's anybody in music was there. Missed the show? Don't worry, I've got ya covered. Check out my recap of some highlights below:

Grammys 2015: Complete Winners List

      That's a wrap, the grammys came and went for 2015.  Below is a list of all the winners:

Top 10 Songs About College

With winter winding down, college students everywhere are about to enter the dreaded “spring slump” - that uneventful season when summer seems out of reach. Below is a compilation of the top ten songs (in no particular order) that’ll help you power through school by singing about it.

1. School Spirit - Kanye West       

How can you go wrong with Yeezus? With The College Dropout, Late Registration, and Graduation, it’s clear Mr. West has an affinity for college themes. The “Runaway” rapper relates personal stories of growth by relating himself to students like us. We can always count on Yeezy when we’re feeling misunderstood.

Iggy Azalea and Keyshia Cole "Come Out" for "The Other Woman"

                                     

      Upcoming "Fancy" rapper Iggy Azalea and R&B singer Keyshia Cole released their version of Diana Ross's 'I'm Coming Out" in honor of "The Other Woman", a Nick Cassavetes film due out in April. Fans got a taste of the track 3 weeks ago when producer Irving Lorenzo (more famously known as Irv Gotti) gave his Instagram followers a sneak preview at the track being mixed in-studio.
                                 

      "The Other Woman", starring Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann, seems to be banking on an appeal to an urban music audience to fill theater seats. Added in with the fact that Nicki Minaj is poised to make her on-screen debut as a minor character in the film, it's clear that big names and star-power is the key to "The Other Woman"'s marketing campaign. Check out Keyshia and "I-G-G-Y"'s lady anthem below. UPDATE: The track seems has been taken offline. Seems as though the song didn't do as well as hoped, so it was scrapped as a single for the two altogether.

Kanye Gets "Drunk in Love" on Valentine's Day

After a whirlwind week in music with Nicki showing dudes up on "Lookin' Ass N*ggas", Drake and his Rolling Stone quote debacle, and new music from Common and Mariah Carey, Yeezy swooped in to end it with a bang.

 On Valentine's Day afternoon (2/14), Angie Martinez premiered an exclusive on her new website: angiereview.com. The exclusive was a remix to Beyonce's "Drunk in Love" with some news bars from Kanye (Jay's verse stayed on the track as well). Yeezy takes time to reference "Bound 2" and "Flashing Lights" on the remix. Thankfully, the aggressive and abbrasive West from "Yeezus" is a bit subdued here. Just a bit. Check out the remix below.

Busta's "Twerk It" Video Finally Surfaces

     Days after the video's supposed original release date, "Twerk It" finally made it's debut on MTV Jams late night Tuesday (7/23). Busta Rhymes has some fun with animation in the video, and jams along with Nicki Minaj and DJ Khaled. Ms. Minaj puts all other twerkers to shame as she shows off her moves. The song isn't very good, the video isn't very original, but when taken lightly, it's all good fun. Check out the video and some behind the scenes footage below.

        

"Twerk It" Music Video

New Albums: Birdman Enlists the Help of Some Friends and Selena Gomez Makes the Stars Dance

     It's Tuesday (7/23) again, which is when the biggest albums of the week usually drop in the music industry. This week we've got Birdman's first album in a while, as well as Selena Gomez's first credited solo effort (her previous albums were credited to her band as well, known as 'The Scene"). Enjoy a quick summary of the albums below. I'll review both albums in my vlog music review, to debut this Friday!

     "Richgang", the title of Birdman's collaboration album, is exactly the kind of album you'd expect. Jam-packed with features ranging from Kendrick Lamar to Chris Brown, there's not much music innovation happening here. Instead of coming together like a coherent project, the album seems like it was mashed together on some teenager's playlist. You've probably heard the song "Tap Out" featuring Wayne, Future, & Nicki Minaj, but this whole album is all spectacle with no real meat. Yes, it's exciting to have lots of features. But the features prove pointless when the chorus of a song lasts longer than the actual verses.

New Music: Chris Brown & Nicki Minaj Just Wanna "Love More"

     The 3rd single from Chris brown's new album, "X", has finally dropped. Breezy performed a snippet of the song with Nicki Minaj at the BET Awards this year, and the final version dropped Monday morning (7/22). Definitely a dancing tune, enjoy it below!

"Twerk It" Video: M.I.A

     Yesterday evening (7/20), Busta Rhymes announced on his twitter that the music video for his single with Nicki Minaj, "Twerk It", would be released at 6am on Hip-Hop video network MTVJAMS. The announcement date of the music video comes multiple weeks after not only the video's filming date, but also after multiple behind-the-scenes exclusives have dropped from the set. In other words, it's been quite a while since it's made sense to drop the video. The announcement can be seen in the tweet below.

Weekly Music Video Roundup (7/12) - Smurfs & Problems

So it's Friday, which means it's time to ogle at the latest music videos out this week. From Youtube sensations to Smurfs, there was quite a variety this week. Check it out below!

"Ooh La La" - Britney Spears

On the Set: Behind the Scenes w/ Nelly, Pharrell, & Nicki Minaj

Nelly's new single featuring memorable production by Pharrell and a reggae infused verse by Nicki Minaj has just impacted radio, and the video is in tow as well. The track, "Get Like Me", features a signature production sound from The Neptunes. Miss Minaj tweeted a link Thursday afternoon (7/11) of a short behind-the-scenes look at the video shoot. Frequent Chris Brown collaborator Collin Tilley served directed the visual. Enjoy the sneak peek below!

Ciara Releases Video Snippets for New Album's Release

While on the set of the music video for "I'm Out", Ciara recorded what she describes as "video snippets" of tracks off of her new album. The snippets play like music samples, as they don't have the full song included with the visual. "I did video snippets of many of the songs on the album for my fans so they can have the best experience of my music possible, explained Ciara, according to Rap-Up.com. Enjoy the 5 snippets released below.

"DUI "

"Sophomore"

"Livin' It Up featuring Nicki Minaj"

"Read My Lips"

"Keep On Lookin' "