Posts Tagged ‘Jay-Z’
Baseball season kicks off in Boston with a little Dr. Dre, Steven Tyler, and Neil Diamond
The 2010 baseball season hit the ground running last night as the Yankees faced off against the Red Sox in Boston. In a perfect world, neither of these two annoying big-money teams would do well, but when you can more or less buy your way into the playoffs every single year, that’s not really likely.
And yes, I’m from New England, and I realize that not liking the Sawx is tantamount to blasphemy in these parts. Oh well, go Cardinals!
Anyhow, last night’s game featured a lot to talk about in regards to music.
If you watched any of the pregame, you probably saw Dr. Dre, decked out in a personalized Sox jersey, taking batting practice and promoting his custom Red Sox Beats headphones. But the interesting news came when he was being interviewed alongside record executive Jimmy Iovine. When asked which song they would suggest a batter use as his at-bat music, they both said “Under Pressure” which is an as yet unreleased song by Dre and Jay-Z, presumably off Dre’s Detox album, which has long been talked about but still has not seen the light of day. But the way Iovine described the song made it seem like it’s completely finished. Perhaps, then, we’ll get a firm release date sometime in the near future? I hope so.
Jack White and Jay-Z?
We’re hearing a certain buzz regarding a Jack White and Jay-Z track being produced. And we’re oh, oh, so excited.
Jack White, The White Stripes frontman, says “We did a song together a few weeks ago. It was incredible. I played him something that I’ve been kicking around for a while and he immediately came out with words for it. It’s unbelievable sounding.”
There’s no ETA on the track nor where it will appear — rumors are flying that it’ll be released on Jay-Z’s experimental LP or on a Jack White solo album. Regardless of where it ends up, it’s going to be great.
Raaaaaaaandy is Aaaaaaaangry!
If you’ve seen Parks and Recreation or any of his Comedy Central appearances, then you’re familiar with comedian Aziz Ansari.
And if you’re familiar with Aziz Ansari, then you probably know about his alter-ego “Raaaaaaaandy” (that’s Randy with eight A’s) who he created for the Judd Apatow movie Funny People and now is incorporated into his standup routine.
Well, Raaaaaaaandy has teamed up with TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek to make a hip-hop mixtape. The only problem? The guys who were supposed to contribute the verses haven’t come through yet (wink, wink, this is all part of the joke).
So take a listen as Raaaaaaaandy puts a hilarious verbal beatdown on hip-hop giants like Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, and Eminem.
-Sam
Why I hate Beyoncé
If there’s one artist who I cannot stand, it’s Beyoncé. And it deeply troubles me because I thoroughly enjoy Jay-Z and his work.
For me, Beyoncé reminds me of a certain female from high school (the annoying yearbook chic in Can’t Hardly Wait). You know the girl; she’s involved with everything from student council, track, cheerleading, oh and she’s also active in her church. She’s also dating the captain of one of the varsity teams and she’s driving a brand new BMW (given to her by her daddy). She gets good grades and other students and faculty flock to her.
But deep down, there’s something you don’t like about her. You (or me, at least) can sense a fakeness about her – as if she’s trying too hard to be someone she’s not. Then you begin noticing she changes her personality to fit whatever situation she’s in (more so than J-Lo). And then before you know it, you’re hating her every move.
Yeah, that’s me with Beyoncé. continue reading
Jay-Z Gets His #1 Pop Single
Jay-Z finally has his first #1 pop single. It may not be the best track. The lyrics might not be his greatest. And the production work sure isn’t anything we haven’t seen before. But think about it, at some point during this summer, we all rocked out to this track. The track essentially inspired and united us. “Empire State of Mind” is Jay-Z’s first #1 single.
During early production work on the “Empire” track, Jay-Z feared the song would be nothing more than a regional hit. He feared out-of-town radio producers would shun the track due to New York’s outward confidence (I’m from the tri-state area; I can’t call it arrogance). However, in a year where we all essentially hit rock bottom, the track was almost a perfect fit to help the healing.
There’s a sense of good hope throughout in “Empire” regardless of the New York-centric title and lyrics. It screams we’re all going to make it.
The front-man I’m most sick of, U2’s Bono, and Jay-Z, along with producer Swizz Beats, have worked their magic to record a new song to benefit the victims of the recent Haiti earthquake. Details pertaining to the song’s title, release, or even live debut, have not been revealed.
Bono will take part in the “Hope For Haiti” telethon. “Hope For Haiti” is being organized by actor George Clooney and is set to take place in various locations on Friday, January 22nd.