Cracking the International market is one accomplishment that many artist attempt. Its one thing to be a star in your own country, but to have International success is something entirely different. It looks like Nicki Minaj is striving for world domination as a new version of her song ‘Check It Out’ is being played overseas.
Cheryl Cole has added her vocals to the song to make it more appealing to the UK audiences. Cheryl and will.i.am have worked together numerous times in the past, so the idea doesn’t seem to far fetched to me. In all honesty Cheryl adds Continue reading →
Rap-Up posted the video last night of Nicki Minaj and will.i.am’s performance of ‘Check It Out’ on Letterman last night. After the duo performed the song at the VMA red carpet, I was interested to see how they would fare the second time around. I was also glad to see that Nicki is starting to promote her album which is a little more than a month from its release date.
The performance was similar to the VMA’s, but there was a live band backing this time rather than a track. I will admit that Nicki has been looking better and better each time she performs live. She is learning how to channel her many personalities into her performance. She looked more smooth and natural this time. This only problem was the mic again. I don’t now why but in a few of her performances the mic is much lower than it should be when she is singing. will.i.am Continue reading →
Billboard reports that this week Ushers new single from his album ‘Raymond v. Raymond’ has hit number 1 on the Billboard Top 100. This means that this is Usher’s 9th number 1 single. I was conflicted on whether or not I should review this song because I wanted my first few reviews to be positive, but since the song hit number 1 I figured that you all should see both sides of me right off the bat. First I will say that its not the worst thing that I’ve heard but its certainly not up to the quality of music that we have seen from Usher and Will.I.AM in the past. The song was produced by and features Will.I.AM, who is the backbone to The Black Eyed Peas. Its literally impossible to mention 2009 without noting the success of the The Black Eyed Peas. Here’s some number just so you know how big they actually were- ‘Boom Boom Pow’ was number 1 for 12 weeks and was dethroned by ‘I Gotta Feeling’ which was number one for 14 weeks. That means The Black Eyed Peas ruled the Billboard Hot 100 for 26 weeks in 2009. Unreal. Whether you like the songs or not you can’t deny the success they achieved. That being said ‘OMG’ attempts to recreate the magic that ‘Boom Boom Pow’ had by mixing different sounds and beat changes. Even the drums sounds the same, but ‘OMG’ doesn’t come close; its too messy. During the chorus there a choir of men yelling “oh-oh-oh” over and over again. This is the most confusing part of the song because it does not fit with the sound of the song. Some part of me thinks I’d actually enjoy the song a little more if it wasn’t for the chorus. Usher also disappoints this time around. His voice sounds to mechanic and common to me. Think back to 2004/2005 where Usher was ruling the charts. Songs like ‘Yeah’ and ‘Confessions’ were able to capture the current sound of music while still showing Ushers singing abilities and showmanship. Basically I am saying that Usher is capable of much better than this. He sounds too similar to Will.I.AM with the flow of his verses. Usher doesn’t need to sound like anyone else-he has already proven himself. Still this success is a step in the right direction for him. This album has show him some success and now with a number 1 single attached to it, the album will only get bigger. Personally I think his other singles from this album ‘Little Freak’ and ‘Daddy’s Home’ are better than this, so pass on this song. I really predict that this might be its only week at number 1. Eminem released his new single to itunes this week, which has sky rocketed to number 1 on the itunes chart and has almost 5,000 reviews. I would not be surprised to see him in the top spot next week. I encourage to give it a listen though. It obviously has mass appeal- I just know Usher can give us a better single than this.
Cracking the International market is one accomplishment that many artist attempt. Its one thing to be a star in your own country, but to have International success is something entirely different. It looks like Nicki Minaj is striving for world domination as a new version of her song ‘Check It Out’ is being played overseas.
Kick The Ear Drum 