#MusicMonday - Cameron the Public

Today, I bring to you a band who calls themselves Cameron the Public.  

While listening to a few tracks on YouTube -- you know they play these ads nowadays before some of your videos play -- I saw this black and white video playing and when I would usually "skip ad", this time I listened to it completely.  It was a video for Cameron the Public's "Broken Door".  Instantly -- the reason I am bringing it to your attention -- I was drawn in.  The song along is so beautiful and the band is amazing.  The simple, yet powerful music video for this track was so good that I had to do more research.  

Denver, Colorado born, Salt Lake City, Utah bred, lead singer Cameron Rafati started out as a solo act.  Always having a passion for music, he decided to create himself a band to bring on the road with him.  This is where "the Public" comes in, I would assume.  Currently working with big names like Chad Hugo (of the Neptunes), Randy Jackson, and boxer Manny Pacquiao, the band has plans on releasing a new album later this year. [source] I, for one, cannot wait. 

Take a look at the video that caught my attention, and if interested, continue to listen to a few other tracks he has released.  Enjoy.

Ciara for Vice President.





Annex Magazine photo shoot

"I bought Fantasy Ride, how you gon tell me I ain't a fan?"

Those were the words I uttered to some angry tweeter after watching Ciara's 2013 BET Awards performance on Sunday.  I politely tweeted "Rihanna could NEVER!" and the Navy stood tall.  Most of you know I do not respond to half of my tweets as is, so you know those tweets in regards to Ciara and her "non-talent ass" received no reciprocation.  While I could not seem to figure out how anyone could dislike the performance aforementioned, it makes me want to root for CiCi harder.

Ciara is one of those artists where you either hate her or love her.  She doesn't give you a lot of variety in between to have a love/hate relationship with her.  The 27-year-old, Atlanta-representer, simply proved to me that she is in it to win it this go around.  Both songs, "Body Party" & "I'm Out" (featuring the incomparable Nicki Minaj -- this is a whole -nother story) are both club bangers.  You see, the don't call Ciara the princess of crunk & B for no reason. She may not be the best singer, but she is a performer.  The fact that her body has come a long way helps too.  She has always been slightly more muscular than I like women to look, but for her, it seemed to work out just fine. 

From the days of "Goodies" [please don't act like you didn't listen to "Goodies"], to "Promise", to "Work" (featuring Missy Elliot), to "Ride" (featuring Ludacris), Ciara continues to give you crunk

track, after crunk track, after crunk track, it is just never received well by the masses.  I rides with Ciara though.  I am actually a fan.

Someone asked me why do I feel Rihanna is more successful than Ciara, and the answer is simple:  Rihanna has more of an exotic look and sound [not saying that Ciara can't, it just is what it is], whereas Ciara is for the Southern region; she has a more "homie" look to her.  Would I buy a Rihanna album before I bought a Ciara one?  [if I were forced to chose] YES.  Whose concert would you rather attend: Rihanna or Ciara?  CIARA -- hands down.  Like I said before, Ciara is a performer.  She gets the crowd involved. 

Ciara will release her fifth studio album, Ciara, a week from today and I for one, cannot wait until its release -- July 9th.  I want her to succeed and do well with this album.  I guess we will have to see what the numbers are looking like two weeks from now.  In the meantime, peep the music video for "I'm Out" featuring Nicki Minaj below.

#MusicMonday - Delilah

courtesy of google

Here I am again, to help you all broaden your musical tastes.

This Monday, I have decided to feature a singer/songwriter from the UK -- you guys know how I feel about our fellow artists across seas and our neighbors above [Canada]... they are excellent.  She goes by the name Delilah and her voice reminds me of a little mixture between Duffy and Amy Winehouse -- both of whom I love dearly. 

courtesy of google

I came across her watching Fox's So You Think You Can Dance as a couple performed beautiful choreography to the tune "Go" and while watching it, I remember saying to myself "who is this woman singing this song?"  I was taken away.  I was so lost in the beat (and the dance made it even better).  As I usually do, I Shazam'd the track and took matters into my own hands then.  Finding out she had an album that dropped sometime last year, I immediately downloaded From the Roots Up because I had to see what this artist had to offer -- and I was not disappointed.


If you want to give her a try, listen to the track "Go" that was featured on So You Think You Can Dance last week.  You will not be disappointed.

 

 

For more on Delilah here are a few of her contacts:  twitter, facebook, and her official website.

 



#MusicMonday - Jack Freeman

Man, oh man.  So, the venture for musical expansion continues.  This time with a little sound of soul for your mind.  I actually ran across Mr. Freeman a few months back doing some random searching for another artist.  I believe the first song I heard was Juke Joint, but his latest track Nobody, is the one that sticks in my head.  Besides the fact that he is so handsome... Of course, I had to google, bing, yahoo search for more material and see what I could come across [mixtapes, EPs, free music, bios, etc]  and surprisingly he had been doing this music thing for quite some time now.

photos from his tumblr

Bred right down I-10 in Houston, Texas, the 24-year-old crooner who put his athletic stint aside to fully persue his musical career, dropped his debut EP Dark Liquor back in September of 2010.  Since then he has continued to build his discography with his first full-length album, Lynnie's Juke Joint -- which debuted on his 23rd birthday [November 8th], as well as collaborating with other artist doing amazing features around the industry. [source]

Meanwhile, his latest track, Nobody -- which is available on iTunes by the way, is definitely in heavy rotation on my end.  Take a listen to it below and check out his other music here.

#MusicMonday - Jarell Perry

Of course my first #MusicMonday post would feature none other than my new found favorite male artist, Jarell Perry.  I stumbled upon this gentleman maybe 3 months ago while researching another artist, and his song "Getaway" simply blew me away.  I was drawn in by his voice, and therefore had to do more research. I found his website and it mentioned a mixtape "Simple Things" coming soon, but I had to hear more.  I found his tracks, "Whiskey a Go Go", "Happy 4 U", & "Healing" as I traveled through the world wide web googling and binging -- I actually do this for all new talent I come across to make sure if I want to be a fan or not, but needless to say, I am a fan of Mr. Perry.

Starting off on youtube, as most of our artist lately have been discovered, he started covering some of the more popular top 40 songs of our nation while attending college at UCLA.  Since then he has been credited with a sound similar to the likes of Miguel and Frank Ocean, alongside being honored with working with artists such as Fat Joe, Chris Brown, and my man, U-S-HER R-A-Y-M-OND -- "now tell me what you wanna do with me"!!!

The mixtape had to drop somewhere around late March, but I didn't come across it until early April.  Ever since I have been listening to it as if it were going out of style.  Some of his most notable tracks: "All Aboad", "Catching Neon", & "Perfect" were all standouts to me.  The diversity in his music lets me know that this man has a future in music.

Give Jarell Perry's mixtape "Simple Things" a listen & free download here.  It's definitely worth the download.