November 15, 2010
What a difference a year makes. Around this time last year Rihanna released her most personal album to date Rated R, where we saw a darker side of the pop princess where she poured out everything she had felt from the incidents that had occurred in her life. However, on her new album Loud, we see a softer, sexy, and playful side of Rihanna. It’s quite evident that Rihanna is in a feel good state of mind and thoroughly enjoying life.
Loud, whose title holds true based on the energetic song selection on this album proves once again that Rihanna is a force to be reckoned with in this industry. With tracks such as S&M where she belts out “I may be bad, but I’m perfectly good at it. Sex in the air – I don’t care – I love the smell of it. Sticks and stone may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me.” Then there is Skin and What’s My Name featuring Drake where she reminds us that’s it’s okay to be adventurous and take charge sometimes. In other words live a little ladies 
. Also the new party anthem is sure to be Cheers (Drink to That) where Rihanna’s accent is quite recognizable throughout the song and I absolutely love it.
Both songs Fading and Complicated are tracks all females can relate to about the difficulties within relationships revolving around communication, while Man Down is centered around a female taking matters into her own hands in a violent matter. Fans will also appreciate Love The Way You Lie Part II featuring Eminem where we truly capture Rihanna’s point of view where she states “even angels have their wicked schemes and you take that to new extremes. But you will always be my hero even though you lost your mind.”
Loud is def worth having in your album collection. It has the perfect blend of energetic and sexy where you can feel the vibration of the music within your soul, while it also gives us those classic relationship pieces that we all long for. Do yourself a favor and pick up our favorite pop princess’s project and blast it Loud in your speakers.
August 16, 2010
Whether it is a sound that you’ve always loved to hear or have yet to discover to love, New Jack Swinger, Keith Sweat always promises to give his all to his listeners. During the New Jack Swing era, Keith Sweat debuted one of the most successful records as well as hitting the Hot 100 Top 10, especially with his hit single “I Want Her”. In the 90’s, Keith Sweat rose to his fame with his self-titled album, producing major hits like “Twisted” and “Nobody”, which are his biggest hits to date. True success is exemplified by those who can show they have what it takes to keep up with music which is constantly evolving, and I feel Keith Sweat is one of many. He shows his longevity by keeping his music fresh with the times of music without losing dedicative focus on his life-long fan base.
Keith Sweat has recently released his tenth studio album “Ridin’ Solo”, produced by himself and the talented Teddy Riley, on June 22, 2010. With an array of hot singles on here, I can see how it debuted at number 13 on the Billboard charts. Keith opens his album with the song “Famous”, as he shows his talents on the all too familiar auto-tune. I would say he is one of the original users of the vocal module anyway so it was a clever opener for his album, in my opinion. “Test Drive” is a song that is a descriptive metaphor using a woman as a vehicle and was the first single released from the album, features his label-mate Joe who compliments Keith’s passionate pleas quite well. “Do Wrong Tonight” is a song marking what made most slow jams by him so popular, pretty much calling on the pros and cons of infidelity. The next couple of songs to follow “It’s All About You” and “I’m the One You Want” are some classic slow jams and the lyrics are pretty much predictable, however, I feel we still need good slow music like this to continue giving us those nice evenings of closeness with our significant others. “Hood Sex” may not be as accepting of a song by Keith Sweat, but once again, I can respect how he shows his versatility and how he keeps his ear out for music on the streets. As for the song “Tropical”, it is a nice smooth record and it flows nice, but it could have done a lot better without the ‘Caribbean’ male artist. He didn’t compliment the song at all with his vocals. There are a few bonus tracks that are currently accessible on iTunes {‘Reverse’, ‘Goin at It’, and ‘Dancing with My Girl’}. Even though I haven’t had the opportunity to give those a listen, I’ve heard they should have been included on the album for being some good songs.
Keith Sweat and Teddy Riley did a good job overall on this project. It’s always nice to have some good R&B albums get released for the fans who crave it to enjoy. Welcome back Keith, keep showing your staying power!
June 28, 2010
Diversity is key! I must say that this artist is one to have the elements of longevity. Ms. Avery Sunshine is a Philadelphia native who is a talented singer, songwriter, and pianist who is signed to Dome Records (based in the UK). Although she is rooted in Gospel, Avery also shows how versatile she is, especially in her debut self-titled album, as it spans across genres of Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, and the lovely sounds of Soul. Avery’s sundry style is quite captivating as she sings about love and loss, the emotional ride you sometimes take because of it, and ultimately rediscovering oneself after dealing with the entire ordeal. I may also add that the live instrumentation displays the outstanding talent the musicians give as they compliment Avery quite well on this album.
As the album begins, Avery Sunshine orients us with such smoothness in “All in My Head” as she pretty much toils with insecurities and doubt with an upbeat twist. We all should be able to relate to this particular track as we often doubt our actions in our journey we call life. So she sheds light on the situation as there are times we fall victim to being our own worst enemy, “making a mountain out of a mole hill…” as she says. In her song, “I Got Sunshine”, I love how she shows her diversity as she sings about still having joy, even when it seems things just aren’t working right. “Perform” is a nice, smooth, sultry interlude that gives your ears a good healing while in relaxation. My personal favorite, “Ugly Part of Me”; Avery gives an ultimate showcase of her talent while she gives a clever but sincere apology to her lover. How can you not accept such an apology? This song really struck my soul as I gave it a listen. With the display of good arrangement, composition, songwriting, the sound of real soul music, combined with great vocals, these are the elements to making a song a “winner”. This song is heartfelt and full of honesty and is sure to be one that will catapult Avery on the music charts. Another song that is a heavy-hitter is “Today” as she pretty much runs off a list of problems starting with the baby-father who seems to be falling short of his duties, to car problems, that boss at work you can’t always deal with, and keeping your sanity through it all. “Blessin’ Me” is another favorite as Avery gives us her spin on a Gospel treasure.
Avery Sunshine’s album gets your attention as it shows her diverse musical style that’s sure to quench your thirst. This album gives a mellow, smooth sound with a nice groove. Avery Sunshine has produced an outstanding project and is one that you should not miss!
