Positivity Post!

June 15, 2016Leave a comment

PI don’t know about yinz, but I need some happy social media posts in my life right now. Good thing there are a lot of good and exciting things currently happening in the hip-hop (and sports) world!

First and foremost, I can’t believe I didn’t post about the freaking PITTSBURGH PENGUINS winning the STANLEY CUP. I mean. I’ve been waiting for this moment since 2009 when they won their last Cup. So, so proud of and happy for this team of yinzers. Wondering where I watched the game? The couch. And I couldn’t have been more content. A big congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins and glad the Cup is back in the city of Pittsburgh. I hope everyone who is at/went to the parade today had fun and stayed safe!

Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Penguins Instagram & Twitter pages

Now, back to hip-hop…

YG | STILL BRAZY

Late last night, well late for East Coasters, YG dropped his highly-anticipated album Still Brazy. It’s currently only streaming on Apple Music (subscribe if you haven’t already) and will more than likely be available on more streaming services on the actual release date of Friday, June 17. And if you’re in LA on Friday through the 28th, stop by YG’s pop-up shop and art installation on Fairfax!

LIL WAYNE RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL

After TWO seizures and emergency plane landings, Lil Wayne is out of the hospital and doing well. To reiterate, this is a ‘positivity post,’ so I won’t be ranting on bashing him (and never would actually) on why he shouldn’t be drinking that lean. Seriously. Life is too short, Weezy. But very glad he’s doing okay!

BEYONCE x FLINT, MICHIGAN

Beyonce back at it again with the good deeds. Most recently, Queen Bee has donated more than $80,000 towards the Flint water crisis. More specifically, the money went to the United Way of Genesee County at a Detroit high school in partnership with Bey’s philanthropic platform, BeyGOOD. As if that wasn’t generous enough, 14 Detroit-based high school students were selected to receive “college gifts” for educational expenses and surprised with tickets to Beyonce’s Tuesday night show at Ford Field in Michigan. Love, love, love reading about this type of stuff! More on Bey’s good deeds here.

DRAKE x VIEWS

Shout out to Drizzy Drake whose recent album VIEWS just went DOUBLE PLATINUM. It’s official via the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). From what I thought wasn’t his best project, I do find myself listening to it more and more. From the album, One Dance, has now spent five consecutive weeks at #1, while VIEWS itself has spent six. As for overall streams – VIEWS has surpassed the one BILLION-stream benchmark in the U.S. So epic. 6 God status for real.

KANYE WEST x SAINT PABLO TOUR

We on a ultralight beam! For real. As Kim’s Tweet promised, Kanye revealed the tour dates yesterday morning for his HIGHLY-anticpiated tour. The tour starts in August in Indianapolis and wraps up in October in Sin City. He’ll be making two stops in LA at The Forum on October 25 and October 26. And sorry, yinz, he isn’t stopping in Pittsburgh. You have some options though: drive to Philly to see him on October 4 orrrr fly to me and get lit at The Forum. Although, I don’t know why, but I think it would be dope to see Ye perform in Seattle. Really not sure why, but in my head it seems cool. General sale tickets go on sale this Saturday. Cop them or miss out on what will probably be a sold out tour.

Oh and can’t forget what else Kanye delivered yesterday. Later in the evening Kanye added the final (assuming so) version of the song ‘Saint Pablo’ to The Life of Pablo album. He’s been making changes to the album since it dropped in February. This only continues to make me think that TLOP is a work of art. Always evolving and changing! And it’s another reason why I like and respect Kanye. He takes his projects and passions seriously, as do I, so I can appreciate him and his ways. UPDATE: Kanye added additional tour dates. Check those here.

And to conclude this post, I’d like to shout out Disney World for donating $1 million to the victims of the Orlando tragedy. My thoughts go to the families and friends of those who are no longer with us, and my prayers go to the innocent lives who were taken way too soon. I really hope the Facebook bantering and blaming simmers down because what truly matters is that we all come together during a time like this to lift one another up and fill the world (real and digital) with positivity and to remember those lost. I’m sure they wouldn’t want all this finger pointing.

Thanks yinz for reading – be back soon!

Happy birth(YE)!

June 8, 2016Leave a comment

“Ah, Yeezy Yeezy how you doing huh?
It’s my birthday, I deserve to be greedy huh?”
-Kanye West, ‘Birthday Song’ (2 Chainz ft. Kanye West)

Music producer, rapper, songwriter, sometimes singer (cue Auto-Tune; hey, it makes those non-singing rappers’ songs more melodic).

If you couldn’t tell, I’m a huge Ye fan. And since today is his birthday, he definitely deserves a californyinz birthday post. I’m going to highlight what Ye means to me and why we could all benefit from being even just a tad bit like him in our day-to-day.

“And if you can do it better than me then you do it”
“Cold” – Cruel Summer
PERFECTIONIST | I mean the man was making changes to TLOP since the day it dropped in February. Kanye wants the sound to be perfect and delivered with the best quality. He is hands-on with his fashion line because he wants it to be perfect through his eyes. So yes, be more of a perfectionist like Kanye. Who likes something half-assed anyway?

“We all self conscious, I’m just the first to admit it”
“All Falls Down” – The College Dropout
RISK TAKER | Kanye took a major risk on 808s & Heartbreak by not only introducing the sound of Auto-Tune (with the help of T-Pain) and the use of 808 drums, but by also being at his most vulnerable. This paved the way for other artists to take on the same approach but in their own creative ways. So be like Kanye and take those risks. You never know the outcome for you personally and who else you may motivate and inspire!

“I done talked a lot of ish, but I just did the numbers”
“Facts” – The Life of Pablo
EXECUTES HIS VISIONS | We all know Kanye is a man of many ideas. Well props to him for turning most of if not all those visions into realities. Major key to success. So if you’re questioning whether you should bring your own ideas to fruition or not, think of Kanye and BE GREAT. Don’t skip out on missed opportunities.

“They got my mouth wired shut for like six weeks… but I’m still here for y’all right now”
“Through the Wire” – The College Dropout
PASSIONATE | Music, fashion, family, friends, the fans. The passion Kanye emits for all of that and probably more is one of the reasons I like him so much. For me, his passion is contagious. Much appreciated. I think if more people found and expressed their passions in the same way as Ye, the world would be a more productive place.

“And if they hate, then let them hate, and watch the money pile up”
“The Good Life” – Graduation
Aside from his passion, what I appreciate most about Kanye is that he doesn’t care what anyone thinks. Yes, you should care a tad about what people think (you don’t want to be rude) but at the end of the day you have to look out for yourself and do the damn thang.

Now, I will leave yinz all with this FULL video of Kanye performing his 808s & Heartbreak at the Hollywood Bowl. This was truly one of the coolest concerts I’ve ever attended. Not only getting to see one of my favorite artists perform, but this 808s album happens to be one of my favorite projects from Ye and probably in general. TLOP isn’t far behind :). But anyway, please watch if you have some downtime. Well worth it.

Serge’s Selections – A Day Late :) 6.7.16

June 7, 2016Leave a comment

Can we talk about the songs I’ve been feeling? K good.

With ‘Damn Daniel’ references and mentions of his ‘gorgeous’ paper trail mixed with some King Push, how can you not like ‘Drug Dealers Anonymous’? The song is the first single off of Pusha T’s upcoming album King Push. And if Jay is featured on one more song and we don’t get a new Hov project, I’m gonna lose it.

Listen here!

Yassss. I am so down for a RiRi remix, especially when it’s a song from her last album (and one of my favorites) ANTI. With a dance floor beat (again, my fave), KAYTRANADA gives Rihanna’s ‘Kiss It Better’ a makeover. Why I like this? Well, one it’s Rihanna and two because it puts a more upbeat spin on the song.

Listen here!

Now for this selection, I probably wouldn’t normally highlight a Wale track, but any man who can hit a falsetto (aka Eric Bellinger), I’m down for the get down. The ‘Spare Time (Remix)’ is one I definitely bump in my car. While a rare pairing for a remix, I think it works well – it’s good in an unexpected way!

Chune in here.

And for the grand finale, no it’s not an entire Travi$ Scott project which we thought we were going to get, we do have a new song featuring Young Thug and Quavo. It’s lit! Thank you to the plug for sending this my way. I just can’t get enough of Travy. Pick up the phone here.

Summer Jam Live Updates

June 5, 2016June 5, 2016Leave a comment

UPDATE 10:49PM PST: Webster Hall just tweeted, “There is no late show at Webster Hall tonight. Please get home safely.” Nooooooo! Aka the spot where Ye was supposed to have a concert. Will he have a block party instead? Hmm…

UPDATE 10:23PM PST: And we’re done, yinz! Unfortunately, Future was turned away from the radio station (I can’t wait to read more about this tomorrow), so DJ Khaled closed out the show. His night pretty much full circle – what and who he opened with at Beyonce’s Formation Tour earlier in the night in Philly, he brought them out again to close out Summer Jam. #movie. And Kanye pop-up show update – that sold out in MINUTES. A 2AM show.

UPDATE 10:18PM PST: Ty Dolla $ign! Thank you, Khaled! And we also have a tweet from Future that says “Radio station told me to leave…major pump fake.” Come again?

UPDATE 10:07PM PST: Khaled brought out Yo Gotti and now O.T. Genasis. It’s a movie right now!! And Bustaaaaa Rhymes!!!

UPDATE 10:02PM PST: Khaled brings out Rick Ross to do some throw backs plus one of my favorites ‘Pop That.’ And a Kanye concert update – SOLD OUT. Hate him all you want, but he makes move and knows what his fans want.

UPDATE 9:38PM PST: We back! A$AP Rocky has taken the stage and said he doesn’t care about ‘no lights or no fights,’ so it’s poppin!

UPDATE 9:17PM PST: Now people are saying there was no shooting. Regardless, a brawl over I’m sure NOTHING is uncalled for. Is Summer Jam over or nah? I thought Future was supposed to perform!

Okay – scary update. A brawl started on the main floor and Twitter is updating with a potential shooting. I don’t even like mentioning this type of stuff on my blog. Ugh. Hopefully that second part isn’t true!! Some people are the worst. The live stream tapped out…

Impromptu concert alert! Supposedly Kanye will be performing The Life of Pablo at 2AM EST in Manhattan.. can someone fly me in though?! But seriously. Keep checking californyinz for updates!

What I’ve seen so far thanks to live streaming. Praise technology. I’m currently sitting in my room, sipping on wine, painting my nails, and watching the show. Props to Kylie and Christian for being there – FOMO!

Main | That performance was awful. And I’m not one to completely be turned off from a set, especially a rap one. But for this I actually muted it. Next.

GOOD Music | Desiigner was on one, Ye messed up most of his own words (he admitted it and lol’ed). Respeck. And Desiigner brought out all the dance moves. I mean, how cool is it for him, this up-and-coming rapper, to be performing with I’m sure who are all of his idols?! 2 Chainz, Kanye, Pusha T, Big Sean… I can’t!

Bryson Tiller | I could watch and listen to him perform all the time. He opened his set with “502 Come Up,” which is one of my favorites. You just get the most chill vibe from him but all 60,000 people in attendance were vibing out so hard to him. And that dude who I didn’t recognize at first – that would be Fabolous. Epic. Then Tiller took a moment to talk about how amazed he is he’s performing at Summer Jam in front of 60,000 people, and that the advice he was given was that it would take one song to get him to this point. That one song being “Don’t.” The motivation is too real!

Okay, Fat Joe and Remy Ma just took the stage. More updates as this ish continues on…

Kanye West Debuts First Single from ‘Cruel Winter’

June 3, 2016Leave a comment

‘I’m about to go Gucci in the Gucci stoooooore.’

We don’t have the mastered version yet, but pleaseeeee listen to this right now. It features Quavo, Travis Scott, Desiigner, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Yo Gotti, and Gucci Mane.

I promise you I tweeted the other day that Ye was working on new music for Cruel Winter, and I’m so excited.

Listen below. PS I love Big Sean’s verse, per usual.

It is definitely a G.O.O.D. Friday!

#BADBOYFamilyReunionTour…

May 20, 2016Leave a comment

…is LIT right now. I don’t have personal access to any video content, but definitely follow me on Twitter (@ergense) to see all the RTs and just Tweets in general about this epic night.

The lineup of artists who have performed thus far are Jay Z, Usher, Mary J. Blige, Ty Dolla $ign, French Montana, Rick Ross, a Notorious tribute, and way more!

This is incredible, and I salute Puff for his commitment and hard work throughout all these years. His music takes me back to when I was younger and first started listening to hip-hop and R&B!

Amazing.

Okay, enough with me rambling. Tune in to my Snaps and Tweets as I’ll be reporting live from the couch.

Happy Friday, yinz!

Serge’s Selections 5.16

May 16, 2016Leave a comment

Oh MAY gawwwd. How is it the middle of May already?!

This week’s Serge’s Selections include lots of tours:

dvsn Announces ‘Debut Tour 2016’

Okay, why am I JUST finding out this Canadian duo is opening for Drake and Future on their ‘Summer Sixteen Tour’? Any who. They are if you weren’t aware either. Needless to say I’m pretty excited they’re going on a solo tour. I will more than likely look into tickets. dvsn will be stopping in LA June 13. Not sure where yet or how much tickets are, but they will go on sale this Friday.

Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour

Okay, talk about a MOVIE. Days away from Diddy’s 20th Bad Boy Reunion Anniversary this Friday in Brooklyn, Puff announced this morning the first-ever ‘Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour,’ and I have to be there. French Montana, Lil’ Kim, Ma$e, Faith Evans, 112, and more will be joining Diddy on the tour, and it will basically be reliving my hip-hop youth. I actually had the privilege of seeing this reunion come together last year at the BET Awards, and wow, it was honestly amazing.

Tickets go on sale this Friday the 20, again the same day as the reunion anniversary. The camp will be stopping in LA on October 4 at The Forum. Lit.

Sia Announces ‘Nostalgic for the Present Tour’ with Miguel

Another, majorrr tour alert. Sia, who I’ve never seen and probably someone you wouldn’t peg me to see, is going on her first tour in five years and the talented Miguel will be opening. What’s even more epic about this tour is that they will be performing at the Hollywood Bowl. But joke’s on me because I won’t even be in LA for this. I’ll be in New York with Mr. Chaddy! Yayyyy. But anyways, for those who plan on seeing her, tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am.

Weekly Wrap-Up / Late Night

May 13, 2016Leave a comment

Okay well what new music did I miss this week besides everything? Honest even.

Let’s do a quick recap:

Chance the Rapper | Coloring Book The Chi-Town native released his highly-anticipated album Coloring Book with features from Future, 2 Chainz, the Biebs, Jeremih, Lil Yachty, and more. I listened to it last night, just a few hours after it dropped, and I really liked it. I have to admit that I couldn’t even tell you the name of Chance’s last album title but with the hype surrounding Coloring Book, I had to give it a listen. I was not disappointed. That first track with the Ye feature. Chi-Town repping! Amaze.

It debuted on Apple Music – yinz should really invest in that streaming service – and I once again attempted to embed the code into WP for you to listen, but the music isn’t showing when I hit ‘preview’! It shows in this current draft version. What good does that do? Anyway, head on over to Rap-Up to stream Coloring Book.

Post Malone | August 26 Okay, now this is another project I personally wasn’t anticipating that much but gave it a listen on my way to work this morning, and I REALLY enjoyed it. The tape includes features from 2 Chainz, Lil Yachty, Jeremih, and more. Pause. These freaking people were on Chance’s album. Were they all in the same city at the same time recording both projects? Was this just by chance (the rapper)? This and Coloring Book also dropped the same night. Mind. Blown.

He still hasn’t released his debut album or even a date yet, although many speculate the title of this mixtape is the drop date, we don’t have any confirmed details just yet! But anyways definitely stream Post Malone’s mixtape on datpiff.com here.

Now just going to throw some heat your way:

ScHoolboy Q ft. Kanye West – ‘That Part’

Listen here! Just a heads-up, Kanye’s verse is a bit over the top, per usual.

Wiz Khalifa x Juicy J – All Night

We back with that #californyinz sound. This is a NSFW song so please don’t listen at work or around your parents. It bangs though!

Alright, I’m a few glasses of wine deep on this Friday night, so let me wrap this up, publish, and probably go to bed.

Happy Friday (and Saturday, East Coast), yinz!

Holy smokes…

May 11, 2016Leave a comment

I feel like I haven’t posted anything in EONS. The last time was what, RiRi’s concert review? Unacceptable! But I’m back now and definitely off of a good note because…

THE PENS WON…

…and are advancing to the next round of the Stanley Cup playoffs! Major #californyinz moment. What does this have to do with California? Well, I’m here, duh. Anyways. Super pumped we beat the Capitals!

Now back to the culture and hip-hop. What have I missed?

Most recently, we were gifted with the (weird) music video for Desiigner’s banger ‘Panda’ with a cameo from Mr. Kanye West himself. Watch the loopy video below and you’ll catch Kanye towards the end. Since it’s a TIDAL exclusive, I unfortunately cannot embed the video into this post, so you’ll just have to watch here on Rap-Up.

Can’t forget about Drizzy Drake!

His hit ‘One Dance’ TOPS (aka No.1) Billboard Hot 100. That’s major! This is his first as a lead artist. Props, props. What was a close one last time? ‘Hotline Bling’ came in at No. 2. Big moves for the boy.

Drake is set to appear on ‘The Tonight Show’ Thursday, SNL (serve as the host and musical guest) this Saturday, and then to return to ‘Ellen’ on May 18. *sets DVR* Watch the hilarious and creative promo vid for the Ellen show appearance below!

And I want to share this just because Kendrick is not only one of my favorites but his content more times than not gives off good vibes only. The 30-second spot was shot in a California mansion and features Kendrick sporting his Reebok Classics. Watch and listen to his words in the newest Reebok commercial below.

Have a good one, yinz, and let’s go Pens!

RiRi Review x ANTI World Tour x LA 5.3.16

May 5, 2016Leave a comment

Hey yinzzz,

I must say that as I’m writing this and yes I had a great time at her show on Tuesday, I’m a little upset because Drake appeared at her Wednesday show. Both shows in LA. Both shows at The Forum. Why Universe why. It’s okay – moving on.

All feelings aside, Rihanna put on an AMAZING show. I have never been to one of her tours and have never really seen her perform more than one or two songs other than at awards shows, so this was a dang treat. From lights to backup dancers (hello, they were amazing) to stage setup to RiRi’s dancing and overall stage presence, she did not disappoint.

But before we lead into her set, we absolutely cannot forget about Mr. Travis Scott. I have actually never seen him perform EVER, so I was probably more excited at the start to see him.

His set list included:

A-Team
Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1 (TLOP)
90210
Pray 4 Love (which he dedicated to Tupac’s mom who passed away on 5/3)
Bake Sale
Wonderful Life
Whole Lotta Lovin’
Antidote*

*As if this song isn’t popular and lit enough, he took things to the next level. Literally. Travis exited the stage and freaking scaled The Forum stairs to THE NOSEBLEEDS (where I was sitting) but alas to the opposite side. #thxUniverse He then handed the microphone to a fan who proceeded to rap the remainder of the song. You’ll see in my Snap compilation below that Travis was quite impressed. So dope. Trav lives for the fans for real. Example: fans in the front row were rolling up trying to smoke, security threatened to kick them out, but Travis stood up for them and told security to not kick them out because this is the ANTI Tour. More specifically, “This is the ANTI World Tour, so we might be anti security.” HA. But all in all, great performance by him. I really hope he goes on a solo tour. I’ll be buying tickets for sure.

Back to RiRi.

I think she has become the Queen of Cool. Honest even. Everything she did. From her entrance to the stage to walking back and forth to the microphone… EVERYTHING WAS COOL. She is also one for the fans, and that’s another reason why I like her so much. And she can sing! Many think she can’t, but the girl can hold a note. Listen to ‘Love on the Brain’ off of ANTI, and your mind will be blown.

Her setlist included:

Stay
Love the Way You Lie
Woo
Sex With Me
Birthday
Pour It Up
Numb
Bitch Better Have My Money
Consideration
Live Your Life
Run This Town
All of the Lights
Desperado
Man Down
Rude Boy
Work
Take Care
We Found Love
Where Have You Been
Needed Me
Same Ol’ Mistakes
Diamonds
She then took the time to thank every helping hand involved with the show – much appreciated.
FourFiveSeconds
Love on the Brain
Kiss It Better

I had high expectations for a Rihanna concert, and she delivered. No, she didn’t deliver, she SERVED. It’s safe to say I will be attending more RiRi tours in the future.

For those of you who just scrolled to the bottom because this post is long AF, watch my Snap Story below!

Californyinz

Tag: hip hop