Mega Music Roundup for 12/29/10 (Minaj, BEP, Daft Punk, & more)

Back on the blogging grind this week and another roundup of music with five artists that cover the lows and highs of the 1-10 scale...

First off is the highly anticipated debut album from rising rapper Nicki Minaj with Pink Friday. With Young Money on your side (Birdman, Lil' Wayne, Drake, Jay Sean), you can't go wrong with the buzz Minaj has brought to the hip-hop game. From her numerous cameo appearances with other high-profile rappers, her rep increased at a rapid rate and high expectations were set for her solo album to deliver. Unfortunately, those expectations were arguably set too high as the album is something totally different. Her crazy personality still applies to the album, but those expected lots of her rapping skills to show up on her own, be prepared for disappointment on that end. There are like two or three hip-hop/rap heavy tracks in the whole album and pretty much my favorites as well from "Roman's Revenge" featuring Eminem, which is rapping Nicki at her finest to "Moment of Life" featuring Drake. The rest of the album feels very poppy from a mainstream standpoint with lots of singing by Nicki herself to a point it feels like a repeat of the Drake album since both those albums feel very similar. Then again, it shows the case that Nicki is indeed a diverse performer besides a rapper like her label mate, but it still feels like an identity crisis who she really wants to be established as. The current singles, "Your Love" and "Right Through Me," and "Check It Out" with Will.I.Am (more on him later) are examples of her truly going the poppy route to appeal to as many fans as possible. Those expecting the majority of her album to be hip-hop, you're not to get it on her own album, but rather in other rappers' albums from Kanye's "Monster," and so on. Despite that, Pink Friday is still a solid debut album for Nicki Minaj, but something different from what I expected it to be.

Next up is Ne-Yo with his newest album, Libra Scale. This album actually came out silently for me because of all the delays as it would be came out earlier in the fall. I think the delay did hurt the album considering all the singles and videos pretty much came out before the thing even came out. The videos Ne-Yo went for this album are continuous actually being one whole big story of him of course getting a girl. "Beautiful Monster" is the only song in Libra Scale that feels like he is trying out different stuff putting out a clubby joint as your lead single distancing away from his traditional R&B style we know him of. Other than that, it is still your typical Ne-Yo album of the similar songs we are accustomed with. After listening to it, it makes me wonder if his peak has passed already after Because of You and Year of the Gentlemen since those are still pretty good R&B albums today. Libra Scale feels like one step back for Ne-Yo, but you're in a need of a new R&B fix, it is still fine.

Ke$ha has been one of the breakout artists of the year in the mainstream pop scene whether or not you like her. She decided to take a similar approach that Lady Gaga did last year with The Fame Monster and release an EP, called Cannibal, of more songs along with packaging it with the Animal album. Unlike Gaga's EP effort, Ke$ha's new EP will probably not put a big punch into the radio stations as Gaga's Fame Monster did since that EP was an instant classic with all of the songs being potential singles. Then again, Gaga and Ke$ha still feel like two different artists with their distinct styles. There are standouts though from Cannibal that are worth playtime on the radio and the clubs with the title track, "Blow," and the lead single, "We R Who We R." In a nutshell, its more catchy pop by Ke$ha that will annoy haters of mainstream music.

Speaking of mainstream pop, I'm already calling this one my most disappointing album of the year which is The Beginning by The Black Eyed Peas. Remember when BEP was a hip-hop group that put out dope music? I can't completely blame the inclusion of Fergie being the downfall of the group in terms of leaving what they're good at and going on the poppy approach as Elephunk was still a good album, but by Monkey Business, you start to see signs of their change in direction of their sound from that chill hip-hop days of "Joints & Jam" to songs like "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling" from The E.N.D. album, which pretty much cements their position in the mainstream music world. While I can tolerate what was in their last album, the one I just mentioned, The Beginning feels like a rush job or basically a repeat of The E.N.D. That's probably what they want at the end of the day even though I feel like this album should of came out a year later. Now we get more dumb mindless songs like the "The Time (Dirty Bit)" which is a disgraceful cover of that "Time of My Life" song. In other words, what a way to ruin a timeless classic by adding crazy electro beats to it to make it dumb. I do have my limits with catchy mainstream pop as some can do it right not being serious about it and others can do it totally wrong as the Black Eyed Peas are sadly in the latter camp for me now. It is still crazy that group went a complete 180 degrees in terms of putting out quality music. Sorry Will.I.Am, Apl.de.ap, Taboo, and Fergie... you guys need to go back on the drawing board and reboot yourselves again with new ideas because I am pretty much had enough with your style of clubby crap. (End "rant")

Now with that out of the way, we finally can talk about something considered pure greatness from beginning to end. When I first heard about Daft Punk doing the soundtrack for Tron Legacy, I got pretty excited of the potential they can do with a movie-like score and boy did they took advantage of the opportunity. I never thought this duo that is known for being one of the best electronica artists in the game to forever change my mind about movie soundtracks as this is something truly epic. It almost feels like a match made in heaven between the movie with its robotic and futuristic atmosphere and Daft Punk themselves handling the score. Plus, who of ever thought that they would compose a soundtrack for such a high profile movie like Tron Legacy, which is out in theaters on December 17. There were teasers of what to expect by the mysterious men with the trailers that are out for the movie, but the whole soundtrack itself feels like its own experience and does the Tron-like feel exceptionally well. A lot of people expected this soundtrack to be treated as a new Daft Punk album, but it is pretty much not because it is indeed a orchestral score done Daft Punk style. From all the orchestral pieces that have the futuristic vibe blended in beautifully like "The Game Has Changed" to the Daft Punk-y tunes of "End of Line" and "Derezzed," you feel like you're in one hell of a ride and that ride just builds and builds to something amazing. I gotta hand it to them for bringing that atmosphere to life with their sounds as it is just something special even after the credits song rolls. Daft Punk's Tron Legacy soundtrack is something you can't miss as it is an experience worth remembering from beginning to end and among one of my favorite albums of the year.

That's it for now... I can't think of other albums in the next month I'm looking forward to now.

The Latest with Marvel vs. Capcom 3...

I actually had an opportunity to play Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds two weekends ago at SoCal Regionals, but I decided to watch the top 8 in Super Street Fighter IV, which was the good choice. I have been patient with the game, so I don't mind waiting till February to play the final version (February 15th is the current date according to Gamestop). Today in the meantime, two new characters were revealed to the roster...

Zero makes his second (or third if you technically count SNK vs. Capcom Chaos) versus game appearance in MvC3 and if his TvC iteration is any indication, expect pretty much the same for the most part from that game. We'll see though if Capcom nerfs his combo abilities that he had in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom because he was in the high in the tiers just because of that when you're in close to your opponent.

On the Marvel side, She Hulk makes her fighting game debut here and don't just ignore her assuming she will be a Hulk clone with his moveset. Turns out, she has her own moveset of sheninegans reminiscent of Rogue from the versus games and El Fuerte from the Street Fighter IV series. I would add a Run, Stop, Fierce joke with that, but I couldn't think of one right now with She Hulk. It would be crazy though if she has Fuerte-like mixups along with her grappling abilities, so she is truly an unique character to have in the game.

That's not all though since Gamestop also announced a Collector's Edition for the game which is 70 bucks. The important deal out of it besides the typical CE junk is a code for two DLC characters, which are Jill and Shuma-Gorath. Capcom has not officially said anything yet about how those two will be in it, but it seems like the plan on other part. Plus, it is only a matter of time when Capcom has to put extra fighters in as DLC in their games as it can be a good or bad thing to spin among fans and fighting game enthusiasts.

Capcom will continue to unleash more announcements in the coming weeks, so more with Marvel vs. Capcom 3 soon.

Didn't Realize There's a Winnie the Pooh Movie Coming Out...

Way to go, Disney...

L.A. Noire = Rockstar's Next Big Home Run??

L.A. Noire is out next year and shaping up to be Rockstar's next big home run after the critically successful Red Dead Redemption that came out earlier this year. Plus, you can't go wrong casting a dude from Mad Men as the protagonist for the game.

Music Roundup for 11/10/10 (Cee-Lo, RiRi, & Yeezy)

This music roundup is stacked with three pretty good albums, but one stands out as a pure masterpiece.

First off is The Lady Killer by Cee-Lo Green. Cee-Lo has been in the game for quite a while and this album shows why he still can put out quality stuff especially with his style. His lead off single "F*** You" has propelled him back to the top of the mainstream world with how catchy it is, but the rest of the album itself is better than that song because it is still pure soul music at its finest from beginning to end. "Bright Lights, Bigger City" is a great starter after the intro setting the tone for what's to come and it goes on from there. Many people usually would sleep on something like this, but Cee-Lo always put out top notch material and The Lady Killer is just another example of what he is still capable of today. This is another high recommendation by me and up there with my favorite albums of the year.

Next up is Rihanna's newest with Loud. Surprisingly, I was looking forward to this album because I was disappointed with Rated R being too much of a departure for her. I only liked two songs from that album which are "So Hard" and "Rude Boy." The darker direction didn't work out for my tastes, but I know those were her times then and for Loud she can return to form, which is indeed the case. This is better than Rated R with better songs and a good balance of high tempo/slow tempo stuff. "S&M" is the third single from this album and pretty much its "Rude Boy" because they share some similarities. I can see that song as another hit from her when the radio stations play it more later on. "What's My Name?" featuring Drake is also another solid song and the current single as well, which makes sense to me since you can't go wrong with a Drizzy cameo these days. My hype for Loud came from "Only Girl (In the World)," which is still my favorite song from her in a while and I don't mind how much of a guilty pleasure it is since it makes you wanna go crazy sometimes. The album slows down at the end with "Skin," another good song and concludes with "Love The Way You Lie (Part II)" featuring Eminem. Putting out the sequel to one of the year's biggest hits is not bad of an idea after all as RiRi's version seems more personal as you hear it and one Eminem verse is good enough if anyone is tired of his angry voice in Part I. All in all, Rihanna's Loud sticks to what she's still good at as an artist making catchy and poppy hit songs rather than go on a darker direction.

I gotta save the best for the last, which is the long awaited and highly anticipated album by Kanye West with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Even though some people were disappointed by his last album, 808s & Heartbreak, which how auto-tuney it was for the majority of it and there was a lack of him rapping, I still liked it, but I know he listened to those concerns for his newest and this time there is a better balance of his rapping and auto-tune craziness. With this album, you can tell how much heart and soul Yeezy put into it as it shows with all of the songs from beginning to end. "Dark Fantasy" is too awesome of a song to start with and the greatest reminder of old-school Kanye with its production by RZA. The long intro of "Power" from the Runaway film didn't make it to the final album, which was a bummer even though it didn't hamper the song's quality which is still amazing. A lot of hype was for "All of the Lights" and it still lived to it even though I questioned the number of cameo appearances like the Fergie verse, but the vibe of that song reminded me of "The Good Life." Despite that, "All of the Lights" is another highlight of the album. The rap-heavy songs then kick in with "Monster" and "So Appalled," which both were revealed early on his Good Fridays releases. Both songs are great additions to the album because of that focus. The tone then changes again with "Devil in a New Dress," still an underrated song in the album and "Runaway," which is in fact nine minutes long. Some might complain that is too long for that song adding in the auto-tune section at the end, but the extra samples he added compensate for that. "Runaway" is still a special song just because of how crazy the lyrics are. I'm surprised how well "Hell of a Life" and "Blame Game" turned out at the end too even though the Chris Rock epilogue at the end of "Blame Game" is still surprising. As the album opened with a bang, it concludes with a bang as well with "Lost in the World," another personal favorite of mine. Mentioning all the songs in this album goes to show that there is no filler at all as Kanye has done it again. In addition, I could get a sense of personal connection with some songs, which is also crazy considering where I'm at now in life. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is truly a masterpiece from beginning to end and indeed one of all-time favorite albums now.

That's it for now. There's still some album releases I'm interested to listen and talk about, so till next time I guess.

Music Video of the Day for 11/8/10

Pitbull - "Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)" feat. T-Pain

One of the more hype club joints of the season! Plus, u know Mr. 305 has been on a roll with bangers for the parties.

So What's The Consensus with Dance Central???

Watching Dance Central footage of the harder difficulties is crazy stuff... at least on Easy it shouldn't be too bad, but even on Hard, it is already nuts. Here's some clips of what I mean here and yes, I still want to play this game and make a fool of myself. Whoever has it or played it, how fun is it really?

Great pick for a Rihanna song to be honest...

So "Poker Face" is I think the easiest song to dance to in the game if just by going the list on the song selection screen. Probably a good choice to start with anyway.

"Just Dance" is at the bottom of the list and arguably one of the harder songs. How crazy that it begins and ends with Gaga in this game if you play them in order.

Also another great song in the game surprisingly...

Can't go wrong with "Poison" and good thing they got the signature moves from the video in the game, which is the case with some songs as well.

Oh We Got Black Ops MP Footage!

Call of Duty: Black Ops is out tomorrow and here's some multiplayer gameplay footage by a Street Fighter player owning it up.

Def Jam Rapstar DLC for 11/2/10 (360)

Another week and finally Konami and 4mm Games are getting their ish together in terms of Def Jam Rapstar DLC (at least on 360 and who knows if PSN catches up all in one week). 1 oldie from the 90s and 3 recognizable recent hits are out this week so...

Oh yay more Drake... this one is a no brainer and I'm getting tired of rapping/singing "Best I Ever Had" already. Come to think of it, "Forever" is not that bad of an idea to put out as DLC too.

This oldie for me is for now a maybe, but at least another song by a female rapper. They could of picked a better Foxy Brown song, but who knows.

Oooo... more Flo Rida, which means I'll be #1 on the leaderboards for that song for a little bit lol.

Rooozzzaaayyyy!!!!!

Two more freestyle beats are also out this week as well and as I mentioned already, hopefully Playstation Network can at least catch up on at least two weeks when the Store releases stuff today.

My addiction will return... Pac-Man CE DX!!!

The addiction is coming back and its expecting to be released in the coming weeks on Xbox Live and Playstation Network. It is already shaping to best one of the downloadable games this year and how crazy that Pac-Man now has bombs at his disposal?!?

Mega Music Roundup for 11/1/10 (Cudi, N.E.R.D., & more)

This time, we got another batch of albums worth talking about from anticipated albums I have been looking forward to and one that remains styling in funk music.

First up is the latest with N.E.R.D. with Nothing, which was supposed to come out in the summertime, but ended up delayed till this Tuesday. Pharrell and the boys are at it again with hip-hop/rock fused sounds and it is more of what you expect from them delivering some bangers like the lead single "Hot N Fun" featuring Nelly Furtado and the first track in the album, "Party People." There are some surprises though with the Daft Punk produced "Hypnotize U" and more, but this album is just another feel good one to blast on a drive around the city.

We are going from Miami to Ibiza with my next pick, Until One by Swedish House Mafia. Other than their two joints, the one I just mentioned and the smash hit, "One" featuring Pharrell, this album is pretty much a mix of some of the big house joints in recent years in one album mixed by them. Some of my house favorites and obligatory club joints are in there with "Leave the World Behind" by Axwell and "Show Me Love" along with other joints by David Guetta, Daft Punk, and others you would probably know from the house scene. Since I'm still in my house music phase, this album has been in heavy rotation in case I feel like going nuts and plus, its pretty much a lite version of the "Ultimate Club G Mix" I put together. So if you feel like getting hyped in the clubs, Swedish House Mafia is arguably the best option out now for your house music needs.

Time to get funky with one of my favorite artists ever, Jamiroquai, with his new album Rock Dust Light Star. This album came out of nowhere for me since he is not that big here in the States as he used to ("Virtual Insanity" is still one of my favorite songs of all-time) in years past. New Jamiroquai material is always good stuff as it provides chill vibes at any time of the day. "White Knuckle Ride," the lead single (video above) is just a reminder how good he is to this day delivering good music all around. In addition, it makes you wonder that there should be artists like him in today's world of music, but he is still holding it together for many years since he started back in the mid to late 90s.

Last but not least is the highly anticipated sophomore album by Kid Cudi with Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. This album is out next Tuesday and after the amazing album that was the first Man of the Moon, it has been interesting to see how Cudi can avoid the sophomore slump with his latest. If you're expecting it to be more of the same that his debut album provided, you might be disappointed because just by the title alone, the darker tone and focus makes The Legend of Mr. Rager feels like its own album than trying to repeat the same success. "Erase Me" as the lead single can hit or miss for that crowd that loved his stuff from the first album because of how more "rock" it is compared to his other stuff, but the album as a whole is another classic from beginning to end. Cudi has outdid himself again by making another complete album with no stinkers I can think of after numerous listens. "Mr. Rager" has single potential and the shift in tone about his darker moments in the past year has paid off amazingly. Also, it makes you feel like you have to be high just to share the same sentiments as him when listening to it, but of course you don't have to. While it won't likely top his first album among critics and fans, Cudi is not showing signs of slowing down with The Legend of Mr. Rager as it is another classic and probably best listened when in the right mood if you know what I mean. Then again, maybe not in the mood he's in the video below...

That's it for now... expect more music roundups especially this month with big releases by Rihanna, Nicki Minaj's debut album, and the man himself Kanye West with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy as it is already my pick for album of the year.