Album Spotlight:Take Care

Take Care by Drake

The Sentimental Side

The winner of the Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album in 2013 is arguably Drake's best album. The album includes classics like "Marvins Room", "Take Care", "HYFR (Hell Ya F***ing Right)", and "Take Care". Drake portrays us his sentimental side in songs like "Shot for Me", "Marvins Room" Doing it Wrong" "The Real Her". These songs really showed us the influence that Kanye West had on Drake, and how he opened the door for more rap about love and deep feelings. Drake was able to reach a crowd that most rappers could not in years past, the type of fan who likes rap and a style of RnB. Marvins Room became an instant hit, many singers started making remixes to the slow, nostalgic, heartbroken song. When people talk about being in heir feelings, they often will listen to this song to reminisce of a past loved one. It is a powerful song, it can remind you of good times, and yet make you cry like a baby. Songs "Shot for Me" "Doing it wrong" have very similar effects. 

The More Energetic Drake

Drake is a genius, he reached everyone on this album. He reached the heartbroken people but still had music you could party to. Songs like "Crew Love" "HYFR" "Practice" "Make Me Proud" are bops that you can't resist but to sing along to, bump your head to, and tap your foot to. "HYFR" became the song on many basketball and football warmup playlists. It was a party anthem, everyone was saying "Hell Ya F***ing Right". "Practice" was more of a dance song, really great beat, and club related lyrics. On Drake's songs "Make Me Proud" he partnered with Nicking Minaj and released one of the best collabs that year. It debuted at 97 on Billboard Hot 100 and reached peeked at 9 on the billboard. "Make Me Proud" is tied fourth of all time for the biggest leap in the charts. 

Take Care: Take Care 

The record featuring Rihanna reached number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100. On this song Drake uses a mixture of his sentimental side and uses a beat that is fast and very catchy but yet the lyrics are more about love, and "less hard". To this day Take care is still performing well, Drake and Rihanna sold 162,000 digital copies. The two artist at that time had a thing for each other, which spark the hype for the song and made it so successful. The song is recognizable worldwide, probably the best song on the album. This album is by far one of Drake's best albums, to this day you will hear the album being played in cars, clubs, studios, and in the sad hours of the night. If you are a  Drake's fan you listen to this album over and over and over again because it never gets old. Like fine wine, it gets better with age. 

East vs. West

Most people that listen to rap music have a preferred style. Most commonly, the styles can be split up into two categories; 'East rap' and 'West rap.'

While both sides have many talented artists in this genre, there can only be one great side. Which side are you on; East or West?

Artist Timeline: Anderson .Paak

Brandon Paak Anderson (Anderson .Paak) is a rapper, artist, producer, and musician from Oxnard, CA.  He was a bit of a late bloomer compared to many other rappers as he didn't have an album reach the charts until the year he turned 30 years-old.  However, this has not held .Paak back as he continues to grow and develop.  His signature sound in his music is more soulful and R&B-esque, though he has quite a few songs that are more hip-hop than others.  Take a look at Anderson .Paak's career from his first albums under the persona "Breezy Lovejoy" to what he is today.

Every artist has their own unique journey, .Paak included.  From Violets are Blue to Ventura, Anderson .Paak has grown as a musical artist and a person.  At the same time, .Paak has not forgotten his roots and his signature sound, while still creating original music.  It will be interesting to see what's next for Anderson .Paak as more of the world recognizes his talent and he continues to grow in popularity.

5 Changes in Rap Music Throughout the Years

5 Changes in Rap Music Throughout the Years

Rap music has been an evolving and forever changing genre of music. Throughout its time there have been endless changes in all aspects pertaining to rap music. In this series, we cover five changes from how it was in the past, to how it is in the present day. 

In the end...

Rap music is far from where it first began and we can all agree on that. Whether it is in a better place or not is a topic of opinion left up to only each and every individual. The genre has grown though, and there are several sub-genres along with hundreds of thousands more listeners and fans. The "culture" may be greater than its ever been. And that in itself may be a great outcome of where rap music is today.  

Watch the Throne

Watch the Throne -(Kanye West and Jay-Z)

When I think of rap I think of the greats like Jay Z and Kanye West, and when you think of rap's best collaboration albums you have to mention Watch the Throne. This masterpiece written by two of Rap's biggest icons in Ye and Hov was released in August 2011.The album took the rap community by storm, selling 436,000 units in the first week. It included the fan favorite "N**as in Paris", which Jay-Z and Kanye attempted to perform as many times as they could at several different shows. 

They performed the song a total of 12 times in a Paris show and 11 times in a Vancouver show. "H.A.M." was the first single released from the album and it was a hit, it got people excited for the album. Originally it was supposed to be an EP, but the artist decided to extend it to a full album, and no one is complaining about that. The album also included "No Church In The Wild" "Otis" Lift Off" which all have music videos. Big names like Beyonce, Frank Ocean, The Dream and Kid Cudi all made appearances on this album. Many fans are awaiting a possible sequel, but the two rappers have not been on good terms for the past couple years so the chances of another album are slim. Watch the Throne won BET Hip Hop Award for CD of the year, and with the impact of rap nowadays who knows what kind of awards the album would win now? Let's hope Kanye and Jay Z get together again soon, and release "Watch the Throne 2" because the fans need it. Every collaboration in rap uses this as the standard album to compare to because it was just that good. The older the album gets the more appreciative it is. Will we get another album like this form any other rappers? Drake and Future, "What A Time To be Alive" has gained a lot of attention as one of the better collaborations but still has not reached the level that "Watch the Throne" is on. Who will be the next duo to challenge this masterpiece. 

KIDS SEE GHOSTS by "KIDS SEE GHOSTS"

One of the newest rap groups today is actually a duo of already established rappers; Kanye West and Kid Cudi. With their first album, KIDS SEE GHOSTS, being released just 10 months ago on June 8^th, 2018, there has been no other work released by the duo yet.

The Build Up

Starting in late 2017, it was rumored that the combo of Kanye West and Kid Cudi were collaborating on an album. However, some were skeptical as even though the two have been great friends since 2008, they had a falling out in 2016. Luckily, for fans of rap music, the following out wasn’t too serious and they actually did get together to create the KIDS SEE GHOSTS album, thanks to “GOOD Music” and “Def Jam Records”.

The Release

After several months of recording in Kanye’s ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, “KIDS SEE GHOSTS” released their first studio album; KIDS SEE GHOSTS. The album featured 7 songs and had some musical features by other rappers as well. Some of the more well-known rappers to be featured on the album were; Pusha T., Yasiin Bey and Ty Dolla Sign.

The Success

The album turned out to be a huge success for the duo as it was released to widespread critical acclaim. In fact, it actually debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. With this successful first album, its hard to not see another album release coming in the future from the rap duo, “KIDS SEE GHOSTS”.

Pictures:

https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/kids-see-ghosts-kids-see-ghosts-review

https://n-b-g-v.com/2018/06/10/kanye-west-kid-cudis-kids-see-ghosts-is-a-brilliant-psychedelic-exorcism-of-shared-pain/

Taking the "Old Town Road" to the Top

“Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X has taken the world by storm.  However, it wasn’t a hit as soon as it was released and had an interesting climb to the top.  In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the journey of both Lil Nas X and his hit song “Old Town Road.”

Lil Nas X

Montero Lamar Hill (Lil Nas X) was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1999.  Before he was a music artist, Lil Nas X actually ran a Nicki Minaj fan account on Twitter with the handle @NasMaraj.  His account was popular, not for music, but viral Tweets.  He was what became known as a “Tweetdecker,” who use the app TweetDeck to essentially generate mass amounts of fake retweets and favorites.  The account has since been suspended but has had multiple accounts and was encouraged to make music.

“Old Town Road” Beginning

“Old Town Road” was Lil Nas X’s debut song, released December 3, 2018.  The song originally gained popularity through TikTok, a social media app that lets users create music videos.  The song was used for a meme called the “Yee Haw Challenge” where the subject in the video drinks “yee haw juice” and turns into a country character, such as a cowboy, while “Old Town Road” plays in the background.

Billboard Controversy

“Old Town Road” debuted at 83 in the Billboard Hot 100, including number 19 for country and 36 for hip-hop/R&B.  However, as it started gaining traction, Billboard removed the song from the country section because they determined it was not a country song.  This immediately resulted in outrage on social media as many viewed it as race-related.  Billboard insisted that it had nothing to do with race and that even though the song talks about themes often present in country songs, the music composition did not have enough country elements.  I agree with Billboard that it is not a country song; however, there would’ve been much less of a controversy had they never put “Old Town Road” in the country section to begin with.

Remix

The Billboard controversy did not set “Old Town Road” and Lil Nas X back as he released the remix to the hit song shortly after.  The remix featured country star Billy Ray Cyrus but was still not placed on the Billboard country list.  Nonetheless, the remix reached even greater heights than the original as it set the record for most streams in the United States over a one-week period.  At the time of writing, the Old Town Road remix is number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has spent 3 weeks in the number 1 spot.  There is a rumor that another remix is in the works featuring Young Thug as well.


“Old Town Road” has had an interesting route to the top of the charts and it’ll be fun to see what Lil Nas X will bring us next.