Aside from being a little under the weather, I am in quite high spirits today. Not sure why, but it’s just a good day and it’s Friday. Here’s some music news for yinz!
‘Digital dash’
Major congratulations is in order for Mr. Drizzy Drake. According to SoundScan, a music information and sales tracking system, Drake has scored the top-selling digital album for the first three quarters of 2015 with his If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late album with 951,000 in sales. And I have to let the people know this is more than Taylor Swift’s 1989 digital album sales, which are 809,000. She does however have the top-selling physical album, but we are talking digital here, so move along. Again, congrats to The Boy!
miguel ‘simple things’ remix ft. chris brown x future
Holy smokes. I ‘world premiered’ this remix in my car this morning on my way to work. It gave me life! Miguel’s sweet, sweet voice with Chris Brown’s added serenade and a splash of Future’s trap sound is the perfect mix. And I don’t know why I haven’t wished for this mix of artists before. Listen below!
the game’s thedocumentary 2 out now!
While I don’t typically listen to The Game on a regular basis, I do peep his music every once in a while. I’ve also seen him perform at the House of Blues in LA, which is now closed (sad face), and let’s just say everyone was on 1. He also brought out Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, so that was dope. I digress. I started listening to the album on my way into work, and from what I can hear, it sounds like a pretty solid piece of work. Lots of features and epic beats. I really dig the Kendrick track, ‘On Me,’ and ‘Don’t Trip’ featuring Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and will.i.am. Game is also putting out The Documentary 2.5, which will be released October 16. Stream it below!
for the record…
Drake and Serena are not engaged. There was some speculation, not enough to have convinced me it was true, but these reports are false. A rep close to Drake told TMZ that the ‘rumor is completely untrue.’ Phew! You can read more deets about it here.
Happy October 1! Holy smokes. I really can’t believe it’s already October. Seriously.
In today’s post, I am going to tell you all why I love this month. And it has absolutely nothing to do with Halloween. Well, except for the candy. But the dressing up part. Not so much. Two years ago I dressed up as an Avatar – the full blue leotard, tail and all – but didn’t paint my face blue, and to this day I still get crap for not doing that. *cough Chad cough* Sorry we can’t all be Halloween costume rock stars. See below – @chadgmcbee on Instagram.
Anyways… why I love October:
Let’s get the most basic stuff out of the way. Tis the season for Ugg boots, pumpkin spice lattes, and fall time – yay! Oh wait. I live in Southern California, and it’s still 80 degrees at 7:00pm. Regardless, when I do decide to stray away from my normal grande iced vanilla coffee (just a coffee because it’s cheaper) with soy milk and extra (because I’m extra) pump of vanilla, I will go for a pumpkin spice latte but probably get it iced. I get overheated way too easily so can you imagine what a hot drink does? I’ll spare you. But in all honesty, this is my favorite season, and I am bummed it’s not the same as it is back east. Maybe I’ll have to plan a trip back…
Speaking of a trip back, another reason why I love October is because it’s my alma mater’s homecoming. I flew back for it once after I graduated, and I had just as much fun then as I did when I was still an undergrad. There’s just something about being back at Westminster College with your best friends, watching a subpar football team, drinking beer, and reminiscing on all of the good times you remember (or don’t.).
Now that we’re on the topic of Westminster, two of my greatest friends from WC are getting married this month! This reason is an added bonus as to why I love October. 🙂 And I thank them for getting married during Halloween weekend because I don’t have to dress up. I can’t wait to celebrate Jamie and Ande’s big day! It will truly be a mixer on steroids, and I can’t wait for it.
SPORTS! While I couldn’t care less about the sport of baseball, I must give props to my Pittsburgh Pirates for making the playoffs aka #Buctober for the third straight year. For those of you reading who are asking ‘what the heck is Buctober,’ well let me explain. Another name for a pirate is a BUCcanneer. BUCtober. Get it? Good. And it is also the month of hockey season starting! Although I’m 3,000 miles away, I always make it a point to go see the Pens play both the Kings and the Ducks when they come out here. Let’s go Pens!
Okay, now to the real reasons of why I love October. My three all-time favorite celebrities have birthdays this month.
Usher | October 14, 1978 Okay. This man has been my idol since way before Kim or Drizzy. Hard to believe, I know, but from Usher’s My Way album back in 1997, I mean I was only six years old, but when I was old enough to listen to his music, it hit me like a ton of bricks. And his dancing! There really are no words. Michael Jackson (RIP) was a major influence of his dancing style. Need I say more. Have I seen Usher live? Yes. Once in 2011 at his tour stop in Pittsburgh and then twice out here in LA at two different tapings of The Voice. The next step is to take a dance class with him. If anyone reading this can make that happen, I’d be eternally grateful.
Kim Kardashian | October 21, 1980 I know what you are ALL thinking. Why do you like her? She’s a stupid KarTRASHian. She doesn’t do anything. She shouldn’t be famous. Blah blah. I don’t care what anyone says. I will always continue to be fascinated by her and her family’s lavish lifestyle. And if you are able to monetize off of what you are passionate about, which is what she does, then have at it! Don’t hate the player, hate the game. But in all honesty.
Drake | October 24, 1986 The man of the dang hour. Since I 100% know I will be dedicating an entire post to him on his actual birthday, I don’t want to bore you now with random facts and thoughts. So, I will leave it at this – the man is passionate, talented (can rap and sing – no his singing is not just auto-tune), and easy on the eye.
That is all for today – thank yinz for reading, and happy October! Oh, and go Steelers! Tonight they play the Rat Birds, and I sincerely hope we crush them.
You can say that again. I purchased the Drake-Future mixtape as soon as it was available on iTunes. Speaking of iTunes, What a Time To Be Alive was no. 1 after only three hours of being released. Incredible. And an update as of yesterday (via RapUp), the mixtape debuts at no. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart – congrats!
I turned on Beats 1 Radio at 4:00 PM PST on Emmy Sunday and anxiously awaited the stream. Shortly after about a 30-minute curated mix, Drake hopped on and premiered the much-anticipated tape. Below is my first attempt at an album/mixtape review. I’ve broken it down by song – hope you enjoy!
Digital Dash – Definitely a good start to the mixtape. The song is split perfectly between Future (first half) and Drake (second half) and gives you a good feel of the rest of the album.
Big Rings – This song can (and will) bump! ‘You and yours vs. me and mine.’ I would love to be at a club or let’s be serious in my car listening to this. And I like how this second track is the reverse from ‘Digital Dash’ – starts with Drake and then goes into Future. This type of song motivates me for sure – primarily the beat.
Live From the Gutter – This is a good long-drive song. ‘This for my dawgs that go Karrueche with the chopsticks.’ I cannot with that. I must admit, I also had to look up the definition of ‘live from the gutter.’ Thanks to RapGenius, I learned that ‘the gutter’ is the slang term for ‘the ghetto,’ extremely low income areas, where Future came from but now is quite wealthy.
Diamonds Dancing – And finally, Drake serenades us with his angelic voice on this track. This is definitely one of the more chill songs, but I’m not mad about it. It’s one of those songs you can vibe to at the end of the night. I like this song more and more each time I listen to it.
Scholarships – I wish I had received more of these in college. Okay, the song. ‘All this passion I got, all I ever needed.’ Again, one of the main reasons why I love these rap and hip-hop artists so much is because of their passion, and it so clearly stands out in their music. ‘I need acknowledgement, if I got it then tell me I got it then.’ This Drizzy verse couldn’t be any more aligned with my personality.
Plastic Bag – Ah, yes. The ‘plastic bag’ phrase and even what we all thought was the official countdown for this mixtape (putitallinaplasticbag.com). It sounds like both Drake and Future are all for the strippers taking home the cash that’s been thrown to them. ‘Get a plastic bag, go ahead and pick up all the cash. You danced all night, you deserve it.’ Fair enough!
I’m the Plug – Woah. Love the beat of this track. And Drake’s lyric ‘This that OVO Halloween gang.’ If I liked Halloween enough to dress up for it, I would somehow incorporate OVO into my costume. And Drake goes in on this one at the end. #lit
Change Locations – ‘Me and my friends, we got money to spend.’ Let’s remix to match my lifestyle, ‘Me and my friends, we don’t got no money to spend.’ Definitely a more chill beat compared to the other tracks. Listen to Drake’s first couple lines in his verse when he joins – dead.
Jumpman – This is definitely one of my favorite songs on WATTBA. Holy smokes. I picture myself being at a club, preferably at Greystone in Hollywood, and jumping up and down like a lunatic. To the beat of the song, obviously. ‘You don’t have to call I hit my dance like Usher (woo!).’ My favorite artist rapping about my other favorite artist. Great stuff.
Jersey– ‘You do what you want when you poppin’, yeah.’ This line rapped multiple times throughout is referring to Future telling his fans and listeners to make the best out of your life. Preach! This song isn’t one of my favorites, but I can vibe with the ‘poppin’ lyric for sure.
30 for 30 Freestyle – The project ends with a 4-minute freestyle of Drake and Drake only. The lyric that 100 percent stuck out to me in this track was, ‘but just know it’ll be January in no time and your absence is very concerning.’ Okay, so two things with this one: 1. My birthday is in January, soooo need I say more and 2. He’s concerned about my absence. I took this one too far, but just let me have my moments.
And that’s it! Overall, I dig this project. While I’ve listened to it MULTIPLE times since its release just two Sunday’s ago, I’m not sick of it… just yet :). I definitely have my favorites – ‘Big Rings,’ ‘Diamonds Dancing,’ ‘I’m the Plug,’ and ‘Jumpman,’ whereas other Drake projects, I literally love every single song. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 7.5. It’s missing the complete ‘wow’ factor to me. Not sure what that is exactly, but something isn’t there. Regardless, the 6IX God compiled another very successful project with Future who I have been listening to a lot more now.
And for those of you readers (mom and Uncle Freddie who straight up told me he doesn’t read my posts when they feature the music I listen to – tough love) who really don’t know or care about these posts, I think you’ll be able to relate to the grandma in the video below. Truly hilarious. Thanks to @mtvhiphop for sharing!
And it’s National Coffee Day – hope yinz are all celebrating.
You know that 15 second clip Drake and Future put out of them in the studio leading up to the drop of WATTBA? Well, here is the extended version! There’s some conversation between the two rappers, bumping ‘Digital Dash’ with DJ Esco.
I’m really hoping more of these come out! Love seeing the behind the scenes of this stuff.
If Twitter rumors a week or two ago weren’t in our faces enough about the possibility of a joint Future-Drake mixtape, there’s even more to hopefully prove that this is really happening!
The mysterious website (putitallinaplasticbag.com) that popped up today with a countdown of when the supposed mixtape will drop. Pictured below.
And actually in two days (Sept. 18) when the countdown will reach 0:0, Drake will be performing at the Music Midtown Festival in Atlanta, which also happens to be where Future is from. Hmmm…
Recent Instagram posts from TODAY from both Future and Drake.
4. And just because I have a feeling this will happen.
5. UPDATE! And Revolt TV shared this photo about an hour ago of what looks like a pretty legit tracklisting! Holy smokes.
Now whether this is a joint mixtape or Future is playing a major role on Views from the 6, I really don’t care what comes out. As long as it’s something, I’ll listen to it on repeat.
I’ll be sure to keep yinz updated on anymore #FBGOVO happenings!
The visuals are finally here for Future’s ‘Where Ya At’ featuring Drake. The track comes off of Future’s chart-topping album DS2, which I must admit I haven’t listened to in full yet.
How dope is this… the video actually premiered tonight on the Sony Billboard in Times Square!
I’m also digging Future’s clean cut look throughout, especially in the XO varsity jacket. And Drake. Well obviously I like his look but specifically in this when he’s in the suit towards the end. And his dance moves kill me. Love.
Woah, woah, woah. Hold up. Calling all Drake and Florence + The Machine fans. This mashup of Florence’s ‘Delilah,’ which I suprisingly already had on a Spotify playlist, and Drake’s response track to Meek Mill, ‘Back to Back,’ makes the song that much better.
Much love to editing magician Tesher and Reddit for putting this together, and the visuals are even more dope.
Check those out above and the audio here! What a great start to my, and hopefully your, day!
Not sure what happened – this was supposed to have posted on Monday! Weird. Well, here it is anyways because I can’t let a post about Drake slip away.
Got rich off a mixtape, got rich off a mixtape. But serious. Released by complete surprise to fans, Drake’s mixtape ‘If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late’ has gone platinum! In jut a little over 10 days of its release, Drake had already moved 624,000 units of the tape.
In a great explanation and breakdown of how it hit platinum, his official fan site WordOnRoad broke it down:
“With the new ‘Sales + Steaming’ system, ‘If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late’ was already platinum back in March. However, this week the mixtape sold 7,985 units putting it a total of about 1,006,000 units sold. This makes it platinum based off of strictly sales and no streaming.”
Congrats again to Drake and the whole OVO team for putting together, yet again, another quality piece of work. Really looking forward to Views from the 6!
Tonight was the final night of Drake’s annual OVO Fest, and I don’t even have FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). I am just MO (Missing Out), and I’m super bummed about it. I’ve received a handful of messages, again (love it!), from friends asking about my sadness of missing out. ‘They knowww, they know, they know.’ Drake reference. But that’s why I’m thankful for social media – one of the reasons.
PARTYNEXTDOOR kicked off the show, followed by Drake, and his set was lit from the beginning. He (obviously) started with his two response tracks to Meek Mill – first ‘Charged Up’ then ‘Back To Back.’ Now during these two performances, memes of Meek Mill were scrolling in the background. Quite the aggressive tone to start the evening. He also gave a shout out to Meek saying that ‘he did this to himself,’ before giving him a ‘Participation Award’ for his pretty weak attempt at a diss track.
Skepta, Future, KANYE WEST, Travi$ Scott, Big Sean, AND Pharrell all performed throughout Drake’s set, as well! I mean. I have to go next year. I tell myself this every year, but really, I must be in attendance in 2016. It’s only right.
Drake closed out the show with ‘Know Yourself,’ brought out a bunch of woes, and officially ended the 6th annual OVO Fest with an encore of ‘Back To Back.’
If Meek tries to do anything else at this point, it will just be ‘zzzzz.’ But if it means Drake will continue to come out with more music before Views, then keep it coming, Meek!
Complex compiled a great list of happenings from tonight, so I suggest you check it here if you want to get all of the details – videos and pictures! Alright, time for bed. Night, yinz!
Californyinz 