Beyonce - BEYONCE Album

Recently my posts have been dropped here and there because, well, I've been busy. Atleast that is what I thought I was until Beyonce dropped an album of 14 songs and 17 visuals all whilst she was rehearsing for/performing a world tour, being one of the biggest international stars of our generation, a wife oh and a mother too. I then thought maybe I could spare a chunk of my now-not-so-busy schedule to write a word or two on "BEYONCE" - the album.

If you've watched Beyonce's biographical movie "Life Is But A Dream" you will be aware of the pure blood, sweat, tears and time from her years that she puts into a single performance. Multiply this by the amount of songs on her set list and then multiply this again by the one-hundred-odd shows she is doing around the world and you'll find yourself on a cloud of confusion floating around the question of how the hell did she even find time to (co)write an album, get into the studio to lay down the vocals and play about with them to fix them into an actual song, and then film 17 visuals to accompany all of this. God knows how she did it, but she has done didded it anyway. Perhaps she invested into new cutting edge scientific research around how to stop time, or maybe she has cloned herself, or maybe we are taking too much credit away from her work ethic, which seems to be even crazier than we first thought. It is this very work ethic that has got her to such a point that her marketing team can kick back for a bit and watch as she crashes iTunes with an album she dropped just like that with no promo. It is this very work ethic that drives her to pull such stunts to make sure that no one will be catching up to her any time soon as she, not only reaches but, surpasses the top of the game.

Before I even got to the visuals, I listened first. This was because I was intrigued to see if the focus on the visuals and the fact she has been so busy doing pretty much everything else, was going to take away from the quality of music. (I assure you my reluctance to not watch the visuals first did not stem from the fact I had to get to college and I didn't have time to let the videos sync on my iPod before I left the house). The album begins with "Pretty Hurts" - a song about society's pressures on the average human being to be perfect. Now if I'm going to be honest, a message about it's what is inside that counts and that "the soul needs the surgery" is all well and good and I'm ALL about self worth and stuff, but when it comes from one of the most visually appealing women in the world, who doesn't really exaggerate her natural beauty, the message is a tad bitter-sweet. Then again, I remembered that she is human and even she will feel self concious from time to time and she is under 10000 times more scrutiny than your average Susan Smith and maybe I should cut her some slack. Soz B. Anyway, as you get deeper into the album all that socially concious, deep stuff (as much as I do love a good uplifting message) fades into the background as in the second song she tells us she is "sold not for sale, probably won't make no money of this but oh well" implying that this album is more than just her doing her job as a musician and stacking a few bills from it, but it is in fact a statement of art. It seems interesting then that what's to follow on in the song and for the next few tracks is basically Beyonce's freaky side as she takes us through the more hot and sweaty parts of her life. For instance "Can you lick my skittles, that's the sweetest in the middle, pink that's the flavour, solve the riddle" is definitely not about coming home from work on a Tuesday night and stabbing up the plastic film on a microwave meal for one. Recently I have been reliving the sounds of my favourite Beyonce album, B'Day, and these songs have very much reflected the energy she channelled back then - from the bouncy, fun instrumentals to the kinky-er, "Kitty Kat" esque lyrics.

By the time we get to track 7, the tone changes as she begins to question her relationship with Jay-Z, sings about jealous suspicions and in "Mine", a track shared with Drake, she talks of the strains of a long distance relationship. By "XO" we can be reassured that Jigga and Beyonce are fine though *phew* and are still deeply in love."***Flawless", the following track, shows that in light of this, she's back on top of the world again and instructs us to "BOW DOWN B*TCHES B*TCHES". Rather than this being just an extremely un-modest declaration of her superiority, it also doubles up as a feminist statement of female suppression by males (although I think Queen B can be a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to her "independent woman" empowerment malarkey). Her next track features Mr Frank Ocean and continues to tell us the love story of her and Jay-Z. At this point I realised that since reaching the midway point of the album, her sound has become much more grown and serious and it increasingly resembles her last 2 albums. If I hadn't realised by then, I would have definitely been hit by this change in her penultimate track where she tells the heart breaking story of the loss of her unborn child. The final track titled "Blue", which is about, yep you guessed it, Blue Ivy, brings the whole album to an end but signifies the beginning of a new chapter in her life: Motherhood.

Upon reaching the end, I thought back to her statement in her second track with it's implications of this self titled compilation being art and it all made sense. The album is a biographical experience that lets us into her 2 most important jobs: being a wife and being a mother. It begins with "Pretty Hurts" which explains her coming to terms and adjustment to media's challenges as she rocketed to fame. This is the only track that directly discusses her career because the bulk of her life really revolves around her other half, and this is why this love story is what dominates the content of the album. The channelling of those "B'Day" album vibes is a symbol of reminiscence over her and Jay-Z's relationship when it was in the young, fun, honeymoon period. Bang on in the middle of the album the sound matures as we move into the next chapter of her life and we get a peek into the stresses and strains of keeping a relationship strong but we also see the rewards of making it work. Only the 2 final tracks are dedicated to motherhood, because this is the part of her journey she has only just begun.

I am glad I did listen before I watched because I feel I would have missed out on so much had I just watched the visuals...mainly because they pretty much all consist of Beyonce half naked and I'd probably get distracted by all the twisted moral - yeah I said it! Considering that a lot inspiration can be drawn from this project in terms of work ethic etc. it worries me that Beyonce, mother, wife and idol to many girls, chose to leave a little less to the imagination in these videos. It makes me wonder why we condemn Rihanna for doing the things Beyonce does despite Rihanna being in a more justifiable place (even though it still isn't justified) to do it (i.e. being less of a household name, international sweetheart, not a mother or a wife). To be honest all of Beyonce's videos seem to go along the theme of her behind a camera doing a dance routine or something, but I felt with this album she had a chance to get artistic and paint a more vivid story with the visuals. The videos dissapointed me because yet again I'm getting mixed moral messages from B and I feel sorry for the many people that have missed out on the real story running through the music because they went straight to the videos and were hypnotised by her jiggiling gluteus maximus.

Aside from the videos which I felt let her down and in my eyes stripped a little credibility from the album, the rest is GOOD quality. The production of the songs, the vocals and the actual story - it's nice to finally have a true album that is honest from Beyoncé. The only thing that could have made this more epic for me is, as you may have guessed, BETTER visuals and perhaps an ending video with a 5 second shot of Jay-Z sitting in a chair, smugly puffing on a cuban cigar and then all you hear is the *Jigga Laugh*.

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Born Sinner and Yeezus Review

Before the anticipation of the 8th of June leaked away along with both albums, when J Cole moved his release date forward to compete with the highly controversially titled product of Kanye's that is Yeezus, Born Sinner suddenly became top of my to-do list as I was fascinated to see if what J Cole had produced was actually worthy enough to compete against King Kanye (or more appropriately Lord Yeezus) or if it was just a cleverly thought out marketing ploy to boost Mr Cole's sales because of the public's newly provoked curiosity to compare. I thought it was probably going to be the latter...Miss America dissapointed me and although Power Trip was a great record, I felt J Cole had a long way to go before he was on Yeezy's level, especially since Kanye's latest deliveries came in the form of Watch the Throne and Cruel Summer - some of Hip Hops heaviest.

Turns out all my assumptions were wrong.

I was expecting more from Yeezus, and my expectations grew when the hype all down my Twitter timeline from the aftermath of the Yeezus leak was much more immense than any of what I had come across following the Born Sinner leak.

Soul Culture's interview with J Cole as part of their #OkayNotToBeOkay campaign revealed that the making of Born Sinner helped him overcome a phase of depression. This naturally led me to expect a whole lot of emotion and a trace or two of darkness packed into the album, but compared to Yeezus, Born Sinner is dusk.

No track fades into the background and lets you subconsciously nod your head to the beat while you get along with your day. Instead your back is against the wall and you are forced to listen to his screams which accompany, what I feel, is a battle of his sins. You are submerged into a chaotic sea of of unpleasurable listening with clashing instrumentals, samples that just don't fit and sour lyrics. It finishes with your ears thinking "Why Kanyeezy?". Is it that the displeasure and exhaustion that is caused is a punishment? I would say it's a punishment to us (which it kind of is) but I doubt Kanye even stopped to consider his fans with this record. Instead, he reaches the heights of vanity and reinvents himself as God, or Yeezus, allowing him to look down on himself, and punish himself for his sins, without actually damaging his ego because he still holds the title of Yeezus...God...the highest figure of power of all.

Now I don't like to be all negative. With my iPod on shuffle, I stumble on upon some of the tracks and on their own and they're actually decent. Put together, however, is too overwhelming for me. Maybe I've misunderstood and didn't catch on to Kanye's artistic genius. I'll attempt to try again and translate his vision...when I have the energy.

It came as a relief to listen to something on the other side of the spectrum - Born Sinner.

After Good Kid MAAd City, I was worried that Kendrick was possibly going to push J Cole over to the sideline (lolz...Sideline...J Cole...) especially as nothing J Cole released so far seemed really strong and it seemed for a while like he was getting forgotten. Born Sinner proved my worries were pointless, because J Cole has come back on top form and ticked every box on his way up. Unlike the unsurity surrounding what Kanye was trying to achieve with Yeezus, Born Sinner is a definite self reflection and checkedy-checking himself before he wrecks himself. While addressing his own personal needs through his music, he hasn't failed to address the needs of his fans by bringing out - yeah I'm gunna say it - the best Hip Hop album of 2013?

J Cole still possesses his fantastic ability as a skilled storyteller which adds a sense of intimacy and a resultant connection can be built with this album - even if you can't relate to his life, you can feel the real. The beats are alright, his lyricism is intelligent and interesting - from touching on topics such as homophobia to letting his idol down - ,his flow is tight tight tight, and he has kept it trillllllll. From the direction of the Power Trip video to the production of most of the instrumentals, this whole album is an exploration of Cole's creativity and capabilities as an artist. Okay maybe he hasn't quite mastered the art of production - but he has scored highly everywhere else (face included). What he has presented is a product of his progression and I'm pleasantly surprised.

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Dot Rotten - Voices In My Head

As Dot's first studio album, it's a decent body of work.
I was actually surprised with a couple of the tracks on the album. Obviously as his first album since commercial success, it was bound to be more varying sound to reach out to more people, but considering the tracks Dot has released as singles, I still wasn't really expecting Dot to deliver some of the tracks he did.

The first part of the album that greets your ears comes in the form of "Hello". It begins, gaining momentum with Dot "bringing you poetry", making your introduction to the album...well pure. As the track gets into it, it's a bit downing a glass big glass of cold water on a hot day... I normally associate Dot with a dark sound, so this lighter and dainty track is something new and refreshing and I really like it. This mirrors my reaction to the other lighter track on the album; "Thank You" - it's a buoyant track dedicated to his fans out there that have supported him - especially those that have stuck by him while he's switching up his sound and climbs up and down the chart. I like the little statement he makes by thanking the fans that have stuck by him since the underground, on a track that is so not underground. It's a blatant fist bump to the supporters, and a subtle two fingers up to the haters that say he's "sold out". I think these people forget that a slight adaptation in sound doesn't undermine the skill that he obviously still habours.

Running through most of the rest of the album are the heavy, anthemic beats that Dot's been associating himself with for a while now. Underneath these beats though, I get the sense of both growth and frustration from Mr Rotten in some of these tracks. It's almost like recently he has learnt a lot and he's come to some sort of realisation. There is a hunger back there which make me feel like he feels to achieve something more with this album itself. Maybe it is infact, the Voices In His Head, that are holding him back? I don't know - this could me just going off on one and getting some random vibe off it but never the less, on the topic of achieving something with this album - I think Dot can be proud of this one.

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Angel - About Time

If this album is your first experience of Angel, you'll think of him covered in tats, rocking the Trapstar hoodie and sporting the Nike Air Max - then you'll ready yourself to nod your head to a few gully beats underneath his stories of the struggle. Press play on his debut album and you will hear the sultry sounds of Angel's vocal pouring out your speakers and coating your eardrums.

Not to say he hasn't seen the mean side of the streets, but with this being a more commercial catalouge of his talents he had to replace the slight grittier, not-so-clean-cut side of his music with songs more focused on the struggles...of love, that is. That doesn't mean he didn't keep it real but About Time really is an album to show off Angel's musical capabilities (which are high) as well as appeal to a wider audience.

My favourite aspect of the album in general is the choice of collabs. Personally, this is one of the ways I feel he kept this body of work real. He has used artists that have helped nurture/maintain the originality and rawness of his music - the collaboration with H.I.M (his breddaaa from EARLY) is a display of the strength of the grip Angel has maintained on his roots - despite stretching to the heights of writing with Frank Ocean on the album. I love the link up with George the Poet because I love George the Poet. I think we could have done with a bit more George the Poet because I felt this was the only structure we really got on the album. After listening to Angel's commentary I realised I hadn't clocked the story hidden in this album. But then again this is Angel's body of work, not George's. Plus, as I said, this album wasn't primarily made to tell a story but to get his music out there. If people are interested enough, the commentary tells the story just fine.

For me there aren't tracks to top his previous works Ride Out and Forget About It. Circles In Squares and More Fire are probably my favourite tracks.  More Fire has got that energy - goooooood energy and the stronger and more powerful vocals deliver it well. Shakka was the perfect collab for this track helping build that organicity. Circles in Squares, is a different story - so calm. The subtlety and softness in his voice that plays with the ear is perfect. These two tracks come one after the other and not only show that Mr Charles can not only sing but sannnng, but also show his versatility in what he can create as a songwriter/producer too - a true musican.

I was anticipating this album to make movements in the progression of the UK urban music scene. R&B has never really broken into the commercial scene. I wouldn't describe Angel as a typical sweet-boy R&B artist. He's always had a little edgy vibe to him and his sound has always had that street influence. This vibe still vibrates through the album with that fusion of pop. He is not only helping the R&B genre break through the chart, but he has made his own mark by switching it up. He's complied a group of fresh, quality tracks. Some tracks are worthy of a sly shoulder shimmy on the bus while you vibes through your headphones and some are perfect to serenade me with (that's a demand not a hint, Angel).

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Wiley - The Ascent

It's been a long time coming for this album to finally drop, and I don't think anyone has been anticipating it more than the man himself; Wiley. After years of grinding, beefing, controversial tweeting and spitting it seems like Wiley's recent chart success came from nowhere and blew up as fast as you can say Dizzee Rascal (ha ha)

"But he has sold out though blah blah blah blah"

In a perfect world, I would be living in a penthouse flat in London, working part time between BBC 1 Xtra and SBTV, have a body like Maya Jama, face like Jessica Alba, engaged to Aston Merrygold and Wiley would have got that number 1 with 'Where's My Brother'. 

Sadly this isn't reality. 

Unfortunately the UK music industry isn't grown enough to accept music in any form that doesn't resemble Pop. Wiley for a long, LONG, time stuck to his principles and refused to make any other music than the genre he fathered. He has been in the game long enough to adapt that "if you can't beat 'em join 'em" approach...but being so in love with Grime he hasn't strayed too far from his true sound - his Step freestyles and The Ascent show this. The rest of the album is a contrast to the tracks he has released for the charts. He used the singles to build platform and introduce Eskiboy to his increasing audience.

My 5 tracks with that vibe & are definitely worth a listen: Lights On, Skillzone, Ninja, Tomorrow and My Heart. 

My Heart, bearing in mind it features Emeli Sande, isn't even the slowest song on the album *gasp* - for me this shows that the album isn't what your expecting. You probably doubted the album and thought it would follow the same pattern as his singles but after listening to the album, you feel like a tool for doubting his loyalty to his roots. My favourite track Skillzone backs up my point nicely; a load of underground's finest (Ghetts, Double S, Frisco and Griminal to name a few) taking in turn to spit a bit of heaaaat ona the high tempo beaaaat - a formula that can produce nothing but a pure example of a Grime track.

don't watch the paint skills b!

If I'm truly honest, some of his Step freestyles have excited me more than a couple of these album tracks which are a little boring, but you can't have your cake and eat it too (summer is coming and you have to keep that body on point yo!). HOWEVERRRRR the more I look at the tracklisting/features and of course the more I actually listen to the tracks, the more I appreciate what Wiley has produced. He balanced commercial with his roots without compromising too much at all. No one is saying Wiley is best lyrically or has the meanest flow but he essentially is grime. It's safe to say he has kept it as real as possible with this album, from the music, to the attributions in the booklet.

P.S If you're gonna get it, which you should, get the Deluxe iTunes version and watch the 8 minute documentary that comes with it because it's interesting and you may aswell:) https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-ascent-deluxe/id611380645

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Angel - The World

Angel is one of those artists that when he brings out a track I want more straight away. After yet another mixtape (because there have been that many) 'Inbetween Time', my iTunes was definitely refreshed. To think that the tracks he delivered on 'Inbetween Time' were just mixtape tracks, hopefully means his debut album is going to follow suit and have the same effect...that is when he actually decides to drop it, because he did say it was going to drop July 2012...erm, yeah safe.

The World has brought us one step close to About Time. Within the first few seconds of the instrumental to it you'll think: club banger. But match it to the visual and it makes it something totally different. I can't even front - I got emotional. Starring Zaraah Abrahams, the video tells a love story and trust me it gets deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! The fact the audio and the visual of the song contrast so much but compliment so well shows that Angel's edgy fusion of R&B and Pop is definitely going to have a positive influence on the scene. It's fresh and filling a gap that has been wide open for a while now. I have always been an Angel fan, but since meeting him (he is even prettier in real life - I swear) at SBTV-Xmas and watching him perform live, it hit me how talented he really is. He is got a good energy and he channels that through his music fo' sure.

So yeah, check out his new video here... p.s if you're a sap, you might want to grab a tissue

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