I’ve had my eye on Shontelle ever since “T-Shirt” was released back in 2008 off of her debut album, Shontelligence. While I liked the song, I lived for the club remixes, so my love for new single “Perfect Nightmare” should come as no surprise. The Darkchild-produced track starts out as your run-of-the-mill R&B ballad but as soon as the song hits the 1:15 mark it’s turned into a full-on club banger. Work Shontelle! Work. This is a hot song. Vocally she’s not THAT impressive on this track but after releasing a power ballad like “Impossible” it’s TIME for Shontelle to have a little fun and do something more up-tempo. The Colin Tilley-directed video was shot in both black & white and in color, seemingly telling the story of a former lover. The single is lifted off of Shontelle’s sophomore album, No Gravity which so far has peaked at #81 on the Billboard 200.
Just for the record, I DO NOT have “Bieber Fever.” That being said, you can’t deny that Justin Bieber is talented. He’s got the voice (for the time being). He has the industry hook ups (HELLO! Usher?). He’s got the crazed fans worldwide. “U Smile,” the latest single to be released from My World 2.0, was written by Bieber, Jerry Duplessis, Arden Altino, and Dan August Rigo, and produced by Duplessis and Altino. The Colin Tilley-directed video for the ballad features Bieber on piano belting out the lyrics, all the while wooing a pretty blond girl, whom he met as he was bombarded by a group of autograph-seeking fan girls. The video makes me feel bad for Bieber. How can he ever have a normal life again? Every time he steps out anywhere he’s probably facing a raging mob of teenage girls. Released back in March as a digital single, “U Smile” peaked at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Recovery might very well be Eminem‘s most commercial album to date. While Eminem is no stranger to collaborations, this album seems like it’s FULL of them. Rihanna, P!nk…even his most recent Lil Wayne-assisted single “No Love” is a bit commercial sounding, thanks in part to the sample of Haddaway‘s “What Is Love” that appears throughout the track. Produced by Just Blaze, “No Love” will serve as the third single off of Recovery with a video directed by Chris Robinson. The video seems to tackle bullying A (likely heavily edited) version of the single will be released to radio on October 5th. So far the single has peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Ciara is BACK baby. “Speechless” is the second single to be taken from her forthcoming fourth album, Basic Instinct. The song was co-written by Ciara, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart and produced by Dream and Stewart. Ciara looks and sounds great in the video for the single which was directed by Colin Tilley. The hope is that this single does better than “Ride,” Ciara’s first Basic Instinct single featuring rapper Ludacris which only managed to peak at #42 on the Billboard Hot 100. So far, “Speechless,” which was released on September 7th has only managed to hit #76 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Basic Instinct is due out November 29th on LaFace Records. That’s plenty of time for Ciara to get at least ONE hit single from the album. Hopefully planned third single “Gimme Dat” will be it.
Whatever your feelings are towards the new Shakira single, “Loca” you gotta admit that Shakira is lookin’ SMOKIN’ HOT in the Jaume de Laiguana-directed video. Shot in Barcelona, the video features British rapper Dizzee Rascal doing his thing (and grinding up on Shakira) in front of a colorful Spanish back drop. “Loca” is the first single off of Shakira’s forthcoming bilingual album Sale el Sol/The Sun Comes Out due out October 15th via Epic Records. The song was also released in Spanish featuring El Cata instead of Dizzee Rascal. While the video recalls the hip-shaking Shakira from “Hips Don’t Lie” the song itself is a bit of a let down for me, sounding a little bit too close to “Waka Waka (This Time For Africa).” I am actually excited for Sale el Sol. The album apparently has a “strong rock side” according to Shakira, but there seems to be a strong R&B/Hip-Hop influence as well with appearances by Dizzee Rascal and Pitbull.
Admittedly I haven’t heard anything by Asher Roth since the release of his breakout hit “I Love College” back in early 2009. Apparently Roth since released two follow up singles, “Be By Myself” featuring Cee-Lo Green and “She Don’t Wanna Man” featuring Keri Hilson. To date, “I Love College” has been Asher Roth’s most successful single, peaking on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart at #12. His Cee-Lo-assisted single only made it to #107 while “She Don’t Wanna Man” failed to chart altogether. The Larrance Dopson, Christopher Brown, Michelle Larkin-produced “G.R.I.N.D. (Get Ready It’s A New Day)” is the first single off of Roth’s upcoming sophomore album, The Spaghetti Tree, due sometime next year. So far the song has peaked at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Not that impressive but without a concrete release date just yet, Roth could pick up some momentum by releasing another single or two. The kid’s got talent. The Marc Klasfeld-directed video has a feel-good vibe featuring lots of locals hanging out in their own neighborhoods. Very low budget but very sweet.
I have lots of good memories involving Nelly. Driving in the car to and from college, listening to “Country Grammar,” “Ride Wit Me,” “Hot In Herre,” “Air Force Ones,” etc. Since then there’s been a lot of hits and misses. After 2004 I honestly can’t name a single Nelly song that I’ve listened to. This might all change with the release of the new Jim Jonsin-produced “Just A Dream” off of Nelly’s new album, Nelly 5.0. I’m going to call this “classic Nelly” from the early 2000s. This is what I remember liking about Nelly. The song’s string-heavy instrumental is an unexpected yet enjoyable surprise. In an interview with Carbonated.tv Nelly talks about the mainstream appeal of the single, saying “My guess is most pop fans will be singing along well before the end of ‘Just a Dream’ and will want to hear it again”. I’m inclined to agree. It was the mainstream appeal of the songs on both Country Grammar and Nellyville that drew me to them. The single, released on August 16th has proved to be a chart success, peaking at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song also peaked at #9 on both the Billboard Pop Chart as well as the Rap Chart, further proving the song’s crossover appeal. Welcome back Nelly.
I LOVE Carlos Santana‘s ability to draw in talent from ALL over the world and across all genres of music. Over the span of his 40 + year career Santana has paired up with Willie Nelson, Rob Thomas, Michelle Branch, Dido, Joss Stone, Sean Paul and many more. Now, with the release of his 18th studio album, Guitar Heaven: Santana Performs the Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time Santana pairs up with R&B chanteuse India.Arie and master cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Wow. That’s some musical diversity right there. Santana can really rope in ALL sorts of talent, not just singers and songwriters but internationally renowned cellists too? That’s industry pull right there. The album’s first single, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is a beautiful cover of a 1968 Beatles song of the same name written by George Harrison. Santana’s album is pretty self explanatory, featuring the 63 year old collaborating with the likes of Chris Cornell (Soundgarden), Scott Stapp (Creed), Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots), Chris Daughtry, Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach), Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Rob Thomas, Gavin Rossdale, Pat Monahan (Train), Joe Cocker, rapper Nas, Jonny Lang and more. That’s a JAM-packed album! The album’s second single, “Photograph” was just released on September 21st and features American Idol alum Chris Daughtry.
