Up and coming British producer/DJ, Jonas Blue, gave us the inside scoop on his musical background, the process behind making his smash hit singles, some of his current favorite tunes, and his plans for the future!
On Thursday night, August 12, BACARDÍ and Swizz Beatz’ The Dean Collection celebrated opening night of No Commission: Art Performs, an immersive 3-day event where art and music collide.
On Monday (Aug. 8th), NYC’s Snoop Dogg fans were invited to the Highline Ballroom to spectate as he sat down with Elliot Wilson as part of the latest installment to his #CRWN series.
This week we’re putting the limelight on recent hip-hop and rap releases that have blown us away. Featuring a song from DJ Drama‘s bangin’ mixtape Quality Street Music 2, NAS and Erykah Badu‘s collaborative track for the much-anticipated film The Wind, and more!
A whimsical play on sounds, one must admit; with formidable creative venture as different musical styles clash all across the spectrum. But the melodic wonder behind this piece doesn’t quite hit its mark.
Tim Young & The Questionnaires, from the beginning, realizes a somewhat harmonious romance as it tackles the audience with brevity – which produces a decent rise, however temporary. This is extremely noticeable within the first couple of tracks in the album – of which deliver with entertaining modesty, but the rest do little to court one’s full attention.
The debut Ten-song album has a strong emphasis on tone, hoping to succeed it’s audience with a myriad of euphonious and mellow-sounding pieces. Questionnaires has it’s origins in the life and times of Tim Young, a person whose musical expression landed him a solid position on as guitar chair in Reggie Watt’s band choir for The Late Late Show With James Corden. But that’s not all. Young cemented his musical career at the age of eleven; having practiced guitar for some time prior and, with that, ascended higher in the industry as he toured and recorded with groups such as: Zony Mash, Fiona Apple and Sweeter Than The Day. As an enthusiast of everything Jazz and music, Tim Young & The Questionnaires is a conglomeration of this learned musical talent.
The Questionnaires administered their debut album at the The Blue Whale Jazz Club in Los Angeles only a couple of days ago. With credits to the fantastic photographs by Jeffery Mayer.
Questionnaires definitely has some golden tracks; “Always On My Mind”, “Lento For Levon” and “Canticle” assailed an almost euphoric tenderness; reminiscent of times past, the present, the future – they have the mind travel in circles as you take solace in the musical genius – of which is most definitely potent in the chords. But, there were others: “Anouman” and “Adagio For Six”, which failed to captivate as strongly as the other tracks. The same wonder that could be found in some pieces was seemingly lost in others. A fundamental problem? Not necessarily so.
It’s not a rudimentary hiccup with the album itself, as Questionnaires certainly supersedes a fair amount of traditional, more “melodic”-advertised albums of it’s kind; with the desire to encompass a host of styles within it’s boundaries a strong one indeed; but, there’s a necessity to retain consistency of some kind. Some tracks simply lack the magic; the incredible and somber feeling professed earlier, as other pieces in the album do.
But this does not infringe wholly on the collection as a whole. Questionnaires expresses value in the little things – with its contents bearing a striking and essential message about the aggregate of life’s every-day problems. It whispers; let us take a step back and enjoy the day for what it is, friends.
Nas and Erykah Badu collaborated to create a new sound over an old, reminiscent track for the soundtrack of the film “The Land,” which premiered July 29th.
Travis Scott, a recording artist from Houston, Texas, has generated hype over the course of months about his upcoming album “Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight.”
Inspired by the heatwave that’s encompassing the city this week, we’ve put together a series of indie records that are sure to send chills crawling up your spine. Featuring a single off of My Morning Jacket‘s Carl Broemel‘s upcoming album, 4th of July, as well as one of the tracks included in HONNE’s debut studio album Warm on a Cold Night.
Last Friday night, history was made as some of Africa’s biggest stars came together to shut down Brooklyn. The Barclays Center was on another level thanks to a line up including Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Jidenna, Davido, Diamond Platnumz, Seun Kuti, Machel Montano, Flavour, Don Jazzy, Timaya, Stonebwoy, Ayo Jay, and Praiz. The spirit of African music engulfed the room as fans danced relentlessly all night long. It’s seldom that a concert would generate more dancing than singing but it truly felt like a party as the performers were definitely pulling out some of their best moves as well. Host and R&B sensation Banky W kept the momentum up as he addressed societal tensions while assuring fans the night was geared towards celebrating life despite the hardships we are all facing in our communities. Aside from witnessing back to back elating performances, we learned that Soca King Machel Montano and Nigeria’s own Timaya may have a joint project in the works. Rapper Wale was also scheduled to take the stage but he had to cancel due to the arrival of his first born child.
Tiwa Savage was the only female slated to perform and she definitely held her own, wrapping her set with the massive hit “Eminado” along side Don Jazzy. The young phenom Davido was all the way turned up and brought the crowd to one of their liveliest peaks as they all uniformly gyrated their skelewu.
Wizkid as expected, brought the night to an electrifying end with all his sauce. Aside from the fact that he has too many hits… he has too many hits. Just when you thought the Starboy was going to come down off his high, he brings out one of the Kings of New York, Swizz Beatz. Unfortunately, time was not on his side as he wanted to keep the show going but DJ Tunez, his official DJ, had been unplugged by show coordinators.
Though the event was called “One Africa,” the room was filled with an assortment of music lovers from various backgrounds who attended to enjoy the feel good vibrations. Fortunately, the show was wildly successful and will serve to pave the way for more shows of this nature to be welcomed in the future.
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Photo Credit: Ishmail Alghali
On Friday July 8th, The Game coordinated with Snoop Dog to lead a peaceful protest in L.A., calling men of all races and creeds to stand unified against police brutality.