I didn’t go shopping today, but that’s okay because J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar gave me the best gifts of all – two remixes to one another’s songs.
First, J.Cole rapped over Kendrick’s “Alright” and then K.Dot blessed us with some bars over J.Cole’s “Tale of 2 Citiez.”
Again, I’m not home right now so the SoundCloud embedding is sort of annoying on a phone, so you’ll just have to click below to listen. 🙂
Hope you enjoy as much as I did!
J.Cole – “Black Friday”
Kendrick Lamar – “Black Friday”
Thanksgiving. Thanks. Giving. I have a lot of thanks to give, but I really wanted to focus on what, or should I say who, have taught me so much in California in this post. Obviously I am extremely thankful for my family and my friends back east, but I wanted to highlight a group of people who I have had the privilege of getting to know over the past four years. These people have taught me so much, whether or not they’ve realized it. While it’s hard enough to move to a new state, let alone across the country, these people have made the transition so much easier, and for that I am grateful. I also am pretty sure I take a part of each of these people with me every day.
Megan – Megan was one of the first people I met when I moved out here (Bre, who you’ll meet later on, introduced me to her). This six foot blonde has taught me so much about living life in the moment, seeing even the tiniest bit of good in all people, and kindness.
Sydney – Also another friend who I met through Bre (they went to college together on the East Coast, and now Sydney lives in CA). I am thankful for Syd’s down-to-do-anything attitude, she’s always the first one to offer to help clean up or ask what she can bring to any function, and her love of concerts and hip-hop music is everything. It is so refreshing to have someone like Sydney in my life!
Danielle – What is it I’m thankful for about Danielle? Her positive attitude, she’s always the first one to ask how you’ve been, and her ability to find laughter in pretty much everything. And the fact she’s not ashamed to peace out of the bar when she’s super tired or hungry no matter what the circumstances.
Sara – I am thankful for Sara’s level-headedness, especially when some of us can get out of hand, her intelligence, and her passion and love for dance – something that we both share. #NOGU
Mackenzie – Mac’s smile immediately lights up a room, as does her energy. I am thankful for her go-getter attitude, constant positivity, and she will always be your biggest fan and cheerleader.
Rachel – Rachel is my newest roommate of Agatay. In the very short time I’ve known Rachel, she has probably been to more places in Los Angeles than I have in my four years of living here. I admire her for that and wish I had more of a ‘let’s just go!’ mentality. Her love for the environment and wanting to create new, healthy (and delicious) food dishes is also something I value.
Chad – Chad works with me at The Guidance Center, and to say I’m thankful for him is an understatement. He makes every day at work one million percent more enjoyable, honest even. He is one of the most thoughtful and caring people I know, and I admire his love for bettering the environment and taking care of all animals – truly, he has taught me a lot and has the biggest heart!
Kylie – While I only lived with Kylie for a short time before she moved back east about a month ago, I have probably spent the most time with her. Kylie’s soft-spoken nature has taught me that you don’t always have to be the loudest person in the room. She ALWAYS has a smile on her face. And I admire her commitment and passion towards anything she sets her mind to, whether that’s running, meeting a work goal, or going above and beyond to make someone feel special. I also admire and can share her East Coast mentality.
Bre – What is that I’m thankful for about Bre? Well, she was the first person I truly clicked with just a few months after moving here. I admire her planning skills – whether it’s for work, a birthday party, or something as simple as organizing a happy hour, Bre makes sure everyone is in the loop and on time. But what I admire most about Bre is that she is the least judgmental person I’ve ever met. I can tell her literally anything without fear of harsh judgment or embarrassment.
Parker and Nick aka squad – These two have given me so much life in the time that I’ve known them. Their love for rap music and concerts is so refreshing, and I’m so grateful I have these two to share my obsession with rap and concerts with. I also admire Parker’s super hard work ethic and Nick’s extreme rowing and video editing talents. The squad is poppin’.
The Purp – Aside from Anne and Freddie, my real family out here, the people who lived at the Purple House truly became my second family. Thank goodness Bre found them on Craigslist. They welcomed me into their home, treated me as a roommate, and some of the best memories I have living in CA are from time spent at that house and with those people.
Love you guys so hawwwwd in the paint! Looking forward to way more adventures and learning from you all along the way. 🙂
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, eating and drinking their faces off, and of course taking the time to appreciate everyone and everything around you.
Thank you @HipHopMindset, @TeamKanyeDaily, & @AirMikey 🎉 #808sandheartbreak pic.twitter.com/iCIhtszeqM
— Sara Ergen (@ergense) September 29, 2015
Kanye West graced us with one of his most influential hip-hop and rap albums to date. It’s also one of my most listened to albums on Spotify and speaks to me more than most albums out there. Different from previous Yeezy albums, 808s & Heartbreak brought on a new wave of music – Auto-Tune, and yes he did ask king of the Auto-Tune, T-Pain, for some advice. It was actually when Kanye and T-Pain worked on their hit song ‘Good Life’ that Kanye began to experiment with Auto-Tune and ultimately recruited Mr. Teddy Pain to help him with the sound of 808s & Heartbreak.
While some may say the use of Auto-Tune isn’t genuine or isn’t ‘real music,’ I believe it adds a completely different dynamic to any song and even to the overall tone. People get their panties in a bundle when they hear a song with Auto-Tune or anything out of the ordinary and scoff at it saying ‘that’s not talent’ or ‘that’s not real music.’
I have a few issues with this:
1. Kanye isn’t meant to sing – he’s not Adele. If the use of Auto-Tune makes his songs top hits, he can use it.
2. While I’m obviously not a musical artist and all of this is in my own opinion, I don’t see you up there making music or being his producer, so again, he can use it.
3. He tried something new, something different. That’s Kanye, so accept it.
4. I think talent is being able to experiment with something new (at the time), like Auto-Tune, produce a full album using that sound and have that album debut at No.1 on the Billboard 200.
The album features, as its title implies, 808s, a drum machine that creates a distorted sound, and the many heartbreaks of Kanye, ranging from the loss of his mother to numerous heartaches in his life. The album has influenced many of the sounds you hear today, bringing on a new wave of rappers, singers, and producers.
While the album is essentially quite negative and listeners are hearing Kanye at his most vulnerable, it inspired other rappers and hip-hop artists to take creative risks with their own work. One artist being Drake. Listen to So Far Gone, and you will hear a similar sound to 808s – Drake’s rapping over Kanye’s ‘Say You Will.’ Other influenced artists include Jay Z, The Weeknd, Kid Cudi, Frank Ocean, and Childish Gambino.
808s also features an overarching theme that can be appreciated universally even if you aren’t a hip-hop or Kanye fan. There are messages of heartbreak, losing a loved one, devastation, death, and frustration. We have all experienced such things and to have music to listen to when you’re in those types of gloomy moods can help the grieving process immensely.
I had the honor of seeing the album performed in full this fall at the Hollywood Bowl with three friends of mine who equally, if not moreso, appreciate this album. Not only is the Hollywood Bowl an epic venue to begin with, but it was something about seeing Ye perform 808s that was truly magical. The sound. The stage. The lights. The energy of the people. Holy smokes. Even with the negative connotations hip-hop music can receive and especially the negative perception surrounding Kanye, I have never seen a more uplifting, positive crowd of people than I had seen at this concert. Every single person was singing along, mesmerized by the performance and artistry of Mr. West.
I think the beauty of this album really lies in Kanye being his most vulnerable, him revealing so much of his personal life to us, and taking creative risks, resulting in a new sound of hip-hop and R&B, creating an electro-pop sound, if you will. What’s cool is not only did it influence other artists and their work, but each of those artists attemped such creative risks in their own, unique ways. Kanye has always been one to want to break the mold and be the best he can be (without caring what anyone thinks – mad respect), and with 808s & Heartbreak, where he was just doing his own thing and being the realest, it seemed to have sparked more creativity, influence, and risk-taking than even he could have ever been planned or imagined.
And thank you to @TeamKanyeDaily and @HipHopMindset for the framed 808s & Heartbreak album in the video above! Follow both of those accounts – dopeness.
808s & HEARTBREAK TRACKLIST
1. Say You Will
2. Welcome To Heartbreak
3. Heartless
4. Amazing
5. Love Lockdown
6. Paranoid
7. RoboCop
8. Street Lights
9. Bad News
10. See You In My Nightmares
11. Coldest Winter
12. Pinocchio Story
[tracklist & lyrics via Genius.com]
Kanye West’s Creative Director, Virgil Abloh, played an unreleased Kanye song off his upcoming album Swish earlier this week while DJing at XOYO, a night club in London. The song, titled ‘Fade,’ features Ty Dolla $ign and Post Malone.
Kanye actually debuted the song during New York Fashion Week back in September at his Yeezy Season 2 runway show.
We still don’t have a release date for Swish (hoping it comes before the year’s end). Referring to the album, Kanye was quoted saying, “It’s soundin’ good, like a sonic painting. And it gets better and better every week.”
For those non hip-hop readers, Swish has been referred to as a ‘sonic painting’ since Kanye called it that during an interview with Big Boy earlier this month.
While the audio quality isn’t the best, you can still get an idea of the track. Enjoy!
Shout out to one of my favorite Drake songs, ‘November 18,’ off one of my favorite (and what I think is one of his best) bodies of work he put out back in 2009 titled So Far Gone.
Seriously, it’s good stuff. Hope yinz are having a great week!
If this plug from Daily Rap is correct, then we could possibly be getting #blessed with Drake’s ‘Views From the 6’ album in my BIRTHDAY MONTH! January 6, 2016 to be exact. My birthday is January 19 in case you were wondering. If it does drop, this couldn’t be ANY MORE perfect for my Drake themed birthday party.
Again, I don’t know how credible this information is, but there is a teaser trailer for the release date, as well. However, that also doesn’t verify anything. I mean, I kept a close eye on the homemade website countdown for Drake and Future’s collabo mixtape, and that was wrong soooo. But if it is true, you heard it on californyinz first!
Full article and video here.
‘Just know it will be January in no time.’ 😏 -’30 for 30 Freestyle’ -Drake
Okay, I promise I will embed the real link to this when I’m on a computer, but I’m currently out right now and SoundCloud on the phone is weird.
Any who. You must listen to this banger Future just dropped. Hyped.
Listen on Rap-Up here!
Last weekend two of my dearest friends from Westminster College got married! While it was freaking freezing, everything from hair and makeup to 11 of us bridesmaids to the ceremony and reception ran so smoothly. And the bride, Jamie, looked beautiful! I flew back to Pittsburgh for the celebration and am so happy I did. It was truly wonderful seeing so many familiar faces from Westminster. Some of these people I haven’t seen since college – way too long! Thank you to Ande and Jamie for letting me be a part of their special day!
Pictures and a video below. 🙂
And obviously I got the DJ to play ‘Hotline Bling.’ Once played, my good pal Garrett (also from Westminster) and I hit the dance floor to show off our moves.
On Monday night, supermodel Kendall Jenner celebrated her 20th birthday just as I celebrated mine – with all of her closest celebrity friends… I wish! But really, everyone was there. And by everyone, I’d like to highlight Drake was in attendance. The dinner took place in Hollywood at a restaurant called The Nice Guy. I have to check this place out. Not only do mad celebs frequent here, but the menu does look pretty tasty.
Photo courtesy of Hailey Baldwin’s Instagram
In addition to the whole family, Tyga, Jaden Smith, Nick Jonas, Hailey Baldwin, Justin Bieber, and Ruby Rose were in attendance.
Can we talk about Kendall’s outfit though? It’s everything. From her messy hair (I would look like I rolled out of bed) to the plunging black skin-tight jumpsuit designed by Sergio Hudson. I die.
Hot off of his upcoming album, which drops on November 13, Ty Dolla $ign gives us a single, more like an anthem, simply titled ‘LA.’ And who else would make a song about Los Angeles even more epic? Well, Kendrick Lamar of course. Listen to the track below. Looking forward to the whole album!
Have a wonderful weekend, yinz! I will be doing hood rat things with my friends.
So this piece is dedicated to my 100th post on californyinz! While 100 may seem like a lot of blog posts, I really wish it was more. I’m going to make it a personal goal to produce more content about music news, as well as more opinionated pieces.
I wanted to write about something special for my 100th post and to be honest, I was struggling with what that topic should be. But then, it hit me! Last night the L.A. Leakers (yes, a play-on-words of LA Lakers) dropped a highly-anticipated song called ‘Ball Like This’ during Power 106’s nightly #LiftOff segment. Featuring Kid Ink, Future, and Wiz Khalifa, this song couldn’t have dropped at a more appropriate time with this being my 100th post. After reading what this song was about, the motivation behind it, and obviously after hearing the actual song, it all made sense. The song is an anthem to pump you up about your goals and aspirations. Well, creating a blog has always been a goal of mine (check) and making it even bigger is my aspiration (in progress).
“‘Ball Like This’ celebrates the aspirations of the kid growing up in South Central to the kid creating that new tech start up. We all make sacrifices to get where we want to be. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO BALL LIKE THIS!” -from Justin Credible‘s** Instagram post
Not only is the song a true club banger (and the artwork is dope), but just the passion and dedication behind it all is the type of stuff that gives me the feels and motivates me to achieve and excel in my own passions and goals. I have always admired the work of the Power 106 staff and look forward to what they will produce or create next! I swear most of my posts are written while I’m listening to this type of music, and it just fuels the fire (it’s LIT).
‘BALL LIKE THIS’
I’ve learned a lot since launching californyinz back in March through other blogs, social media workshops, my current job, and talking to epic people. I can’t wait to do more with this and look forward to sharing more experiences and thoughts with you! So cheers to 100+ more!
PS – Happy #NationalDoughnutDay! The other doughnut day occurs in June. Yes, I celebrated – thanks, Chad. 🙂
**And yes, Justin Credible is one of the ‘dumb DJs’ who was accused of being sexist during a recent Ariana Grande interview. For the record, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Creddy a few times, and he’s really one of the nicest and most down-to-earth people, so the haters can shush. If anything, Ariana made it a sexist issue. Any who.
Finally! A dance-heavy video where the dancing is actually legit! I’m not trying to bash Drake in ‘Hotline Bling’ by any means, but just saying I love and appreciate real dancing.
The video for Tinashe’s recent hit ‘Player,’ featuring the dance master himself, Chris Brown, is here! ‘Player’ is the first single off of Tinashe’s upcoming sophomore album Joyride. I’ve seen Tinashe perform before, and she can definitely bust a move. So on that note, watch the video below.
Enjoy!
Californyinz 