Lots to cover for this music roundup as I start with something different which is some EuroPop. First up is a new UK pop artist Cheryl Cole and her debut album, 3 Words. I somewhat enjoyed it for what it is being pop music from the UK and nothing else. Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.I.Am is in a quarter of the album lending his voice and producing skills to the table especially the title track, the main single. If you are interested in some new artists, she is worth listening to, but who knows she will have any American presence what so ever considering how popular she is in the UK.
Now off to the new releases of the week (I'm skipping Chris Brown since I don't like him) starting with the long awaited new album by Clipse called Till The Casket Drops. This one is truly worth the wait filled with good stuff to blast from "Kind of Like a Big Deal" with Kanye West, "Popular Demand" with Cam'Ron, "I'm Good," and "Door Man." The Neptunes provide most of the production as always and they still got it maintaining their style of sound and of course the Clipse guys' spitting of the rhymes still deliver. For hip-hop fans, this one is worth checking out being one of the better releases of the year.
Next up is Snoop Dogg's latest, Malice N' Wonderland. Of course, Snoop has been around the game for a while and this one is another solid one by the boss dogg. The album starts off right with "I Wanna Rock" as I didn't like it at first, but it started to grow on me listening to it more and of course I gotta give props to the video featuring Quest Crew, ABDC season 3 winners, and Jamie Foxx. With the good start, its nothing like enjoying the good life with "Gangsta Luv" featuring The Dream, "That's The Homie," and "Upside Down." Overall, I enjoyed most of the album as there are some very good songs while others didn't click with me, so this is worth a listen too.
Looking ahead to next week, the big release is the highly anticipated album by Alicia Keys called The Element of Freedom. Now we all know how awesome she is over the years and her latest continues her awesomeness. This album has a different take to it as she tried some different things, but it is still purely an Alicia Keys album. I didn't mind her first single, "Doesn't Mean Anything," as it sounds like all her other big songs, but I think the standouts for me are "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart," "Like A Sea," "Empire State of Mind II." About Empire, she just kills it and I rather listen to that instead of Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" as now I think he just ruins the song the way it is meant to be heard. Then again, I guess there is room for both since how popular the song is on the mainstream radio to the point you're sick of it and for New York City in general. Basically "Empire State of Mind II" is one of Alicia's best songs ever and as good as "If I Ain't Got You," "No One," and "Fallin." The only cameo appearance is Beyonce for "Put It in a Love Song" which is another one of those ladies anthems they would love. Still though, this album is great from beginning to end every time I would listen to it and definitely one of my favorites of the year.
Well that is it for the music roundup for now in terms what I have been listening to other than top 10 songs I have been blasting. Now that I'm on Winter Break, more time for blogging I guess or maybe more time for Street Fighter IV (Yes, I'm playing that again) and Tekken 6? We'll see if I'm going by my plans in the coming weeks.
