Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Read Jay-Z's Intro To Rolling Stone's Top 500 Song List 'What Makes A Classic Track?' [NEWS]
RS:A great song doesn't attempt to be anything — it just is.
When you hear a great song, you can think of where you were when you first heard it, the sounds, the smells. It takes the emotions of a moment and holds it for years to come. It transcends time. A great song has all the key elements — melody; emotion; a strong statement that becomes part of the lexicon; and great production. Think of "Bohemian Rhapsody," by Queen. That song had everything — different melodies, opera, R&B, rock — and it explored all of those different genres in an authentic way, where it felt natural.
When I'm writing a song that I know is going to work, it's a feeling of euphoria. It's how a basketball player must feel when he starts hitting every shot, when you're in that zone. As soon as you start, you get that magic feeling, an extra feeling. Songs like that come out in five minutes; if I work on them more than, say, 20 minutes, they're probably not going to work.
When I was starting out, I was just trying to tell stories. I wasn't thinking about melodies. Then I started to marry storytelling with everything I was learning from all these other great records: the great writers like Babyface and Lionel Richie; Rakim's technique and syncopation; Dre's whole package on the Chronic albums; Quincy Jones, the greatest producer of all time; Rick Rubin, who's not too far behind because of all his genre-jumping.
Technology has caused the songwriting process to lose some of the magic. A lot of times now, people working on a song aren't in the same room. Imagine if Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones hadn't been in the same room! Those records would have been totally different. I've had times when I changed one word because of something that somebody said in the studio, and it changed the whole song. It's so important to have other people in the room, vibing, saying, "No, this part is good, put that there."
(cont'd)
Nicki Minaj - Did It On 'Em (Internet Version) [MUSIC VIDEO]
youtube link
The internet version of 'Did It On 'Em' includes tour clips, behind the scenes, meet & greets etc.
directed by scoob doo (though it looks fanmade :/ ), the official video should be dropping very soon.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Beyonce - 1+1 (& American Idol Performance) [NEW MUSIC]
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Rock The Bells Festival 2011 Lineup (Lauryn Hill, Nas, Erykah Badu, Raekwon, Mobb Deep, more!) & Dates [NEWS]
A fake lineup was released a few hours ago but here is the real deal. Full lineup (more acts to be announced):Lauryn Hill
Nas
Cypress Hill
Erykah Badu
Blackstar (Mos Def & Talib Kweli)
Raekwon & Ghostface
Mobb Deep
GZA
Immortal Technique
Slaughterhouse
Mac Miller
Curren$y
Souls of Mischief
Black Moon
Childish Gambino
Blu & Exile
Fashawn
Random Axe
Masta Killa
Evidence
Macklemore
Freddie Gibbs
Roc Marciano
Cities/Dates: Los Angeles (August 20th), San Francisco (August 27th), New York (September 3rd) & Boston (September 10th).
The Weeknd - Birthday Suit (Drake Demo) [NEW MUSIC]
Monday, May 23, 2011
50 Cent on VH1's "The Origin Of Me" (Full Episode) [VIDEO]
50 Cent explores his roots in this new VH1 documentary series.
props to yardie
Rick Ross & Andy Samberg Cover June/July 2011 Complex, Talk About The Art Of The Ad-Lib & more [VIDEO]
This has got to be the greatest 'plex cover ever! Check out the cover story here. On Newsstands June 7th.Check out this bonus video where the somewhat unlikely duo talk the art of ad-libbing:
Beyonce Performs On Oprah's Farewell Spectacular [VIDEO]
Beyonce put on a showstopper for the queen of media's finale special.. Don't forget to watch part 2 of the special tomorrow for more surprises..
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