It's Amazing...So Amazing. (Well, it's decent) -Updated

Want another premiere?

Yeah you do.

The new Kanye West video/single featuring Young Jeezy, 'Amazing', saw the light of day...last night. Does that even make sense?

Couple of more 'Ye related pieces of news:

-Videos have been shot for Paranoid and RoboCop.

-As posted here months ago (maybe even decades), Paranoid WILL feature Rihanna. Not sure whether it will feature her singing and in the video, but at the very least she's in the video.

Anyway, catch another artistic Kanye West video below. It's ripped from BET unfortunately, I'll replace it with a HD one ASAP. However, that does mean it has an interview at the end, which is good to watch. (On a side note, I must say I still find Jeezy's verse the highlight of this song)

Enjoy:

88-Keys Ft. Kanye West: Stay Up! (Viagra) Video

Sports fans,

Do yourself a few favours here.

-First off, watch the video embedded below, funny stuff!
-Secondly, support the artist and buy the video/song from iTunes.
-Thirdly, check out 88-Keys' album, 'The Death of Adam', again available on iTunes. A review of the album to come soon.

Kid Cudi-The Sky Might Fall

What is thought to be the next single from Cudi's album has leaked...sort of.

Firstly, this song has been used on recent trailers for the new Transformers film coming out this year. Obviously, it was difficult to hear much of the song, but it sounded good.

Then, a video of him performing the track live came to light, and again sounded pretty decent, definitely sounding like a Kanye production, almost like a leftover beat from 808s and Heartbreak.

The track properly leaked last night, and can be found at various sources. However, there a lot of talk that Cudi/his management are infuriated at the leak, especially as the leaked version apparently isn't the finished version and might 'put people off'.

Doesn't seem to be the case for me, as the song sounds pretty damn good. Out of respect for his wishes, I won't be posting a link, but I'm sure if you want to find it, you will.

UPDATED: Kid Cudi-Day 'N' Nite OFFICIAL Video

Here it is folks. Ignore the one doing the rounds at the moment, even though it's on TV and stuff, it isn't actually an official video, as well as the fact its for the Crookers remix.

(Which, by the way, irritates me. Don't get me wrong, it's a funky track, but doesn't really make sense as the original is a lot more chilled, lyrical and thought out...)

(UPDATE: SCROLL DOWN TO SEE FOOTAGE OF CUDI AND KANYE ON BET-MUST WATCH!)

Anyway, the video itself is definitely a nice one. It's got some pretty cool cartoony effects which nicely highlight the confusion and isolation of the 'lonely stoner', as well as adding colour and vibrancy to what is a creative track that sounds like nothing else you've ever heard.

It even offers you a different spin on the lyrics, with segments implying the subject is someone who doesn't enjoy the fame in the 'day', and can't just live a normal life. (Kanye West anyone??).

And of course, the fact that the subject is a stoner.

The second video is from the BET show where they premiered the video. The video has Cudi rapping (I thought he was freestyling, but the singing part implies that it may be a song from his upcoming album) and Kanye previewing his verse from 'Maybach Music Pt. 2', scheduled to be on Rick Ross' next album. Both are pretty good, especially some of Kanye's lines (the 'extra dyke' line is hilarious!).

Enjoy!

Welcome To HeartBreak

Looks like we got a video for it. However, Kanye West has confirmed that this will NOT be the next single. It is being released as apparently 'there is another video out there using the same techniques we do in this one', so he chose to release it. Oh and the pixellation in the video is deliberate.

To be honest, I'm a massive fan of this video. The combination of the effects, transitions and colours make for a perfect representation of the song.

He also confirmed that the next single was going to be 'Amazing'. Doesn't make sense that the See You In My Nightmares artwork was released the other day, but I suppose that means at some point we'll be getting that too.

Enjoy!

KANYE WEST "Welcome To Heartbreak" Directed by Nabil from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

Kanye's Next Single Is Confirmed

See You In My Nightmares. The artwork for the single is over there <-

Seems that the plans for the Rihanna remix of Paranoid were shelved, for obvious reasons given the situation surrounding her at the moment.

A good move in my book, as this is one of the strongest songs on the album. Apparently, the video will be film-style affair, running longer than usual.

More later.

Things Are Picking Up...Finally

OK, so more news.

Firstly, as previously mentioned, Lupe Fiasco is releasing 'Everywhere' from the LupEND trilogy in June. Well, apparently the second disc, 'Nowhere', will arrive sometime later this year too, near Christmas. Nice.

He also addressed CRS, (the collaboration between himself, Pharrell and Kanye, which has thus far spawned only 2 songs) implying that at the moment it's not really on the agenda, but could easily be kicked off again.

Another release date, this time for Lil' Wayne. 'The Carter 3: Rebirth' is coming in April, to be specific April 7th. Not sure whether this is going to be still called TC3: Rebirth, or just Rebirth, but either way it is going to be a 'rock' album with no remakes/same songs as The Carter 3. Apparently, the reason this isn't The Carter 4 is ''cause some people are not gonna like this. We want Carter IV to be what everybody wants it to be."

The first single is called 'Prom Queen' and is certainly different. It's decent, and will probably grow on me. Sceptical about 'Autotune Rock'? It seems to work to be honest, and it's definitely rock, not some half-baked r'n'b effort with a few guitars laced in there. For that reason, I can see this successfully reaching a whole new audience for Wayne.

Another Kanye-related news item: He recently announced plans for a collaborative sneaker range with Louis Vutton. They are due to be released in June, and a few images can be found below:

Nike Air Yeezy's

I'm sure some of you will have heard about the upcoming Nike/Kanye West collaborative range over the last year, and there have been a few pictures of Kanye and Kid Cudi wearing them.

Well, a few days ago some concrete images of the sneaker range surfaced, and they look pretty good. The design (straps-based) is one which is now being adopted by a lot of manufacturers, so expect this to be a pretty big look in 2009.

No word on whether these will be a limited edition, where they will be released or when, but early indications are that they should be around Spring 2009.

Personally, I expect them to be limited, and probably only available online and in shops in the USA. They will probably retail at a pretty high price too. There are already fake versions of these popping up online, and people claiming to own them-not true.

Anyway, enjoy!

And The Top Albums of 2008 are...

A little later than promised-sorry! However, I've built up a decent stash of news to post on here in the coming days, so keep it locked over the next week when I can get back to updating daily.

Unlike the previous list, this list will contain 15 albums. This is solely because 2008 has been nothing but music for me, most of it being old stuff that I had never heard and classics that I had skipped across.

As seems the case with a lot of older albums, they tend to be more consistent as a 'block' of music, as opposed to having one or two blindingly outstanding tracks, this being the reason that I could keep the best songs list down to 10.

The same rules apply to this list as the previous one:

-Albums that you only heard this year, the release date DOES NOT have to be 2008.
-Any genre!

Once again, please get involved, it's always good getting some interesting discussion going on.

It doesn't matter if you have or haven't commented before. You don't need to know me/any of the other regular people who comment to get involved!

Here goes, and again in no particular order:

Quietdrive, Deliverance
Nas, Illmatic
Kid Cudi, A Kid Named Cudi Mixtape
Lil' Wayne, The Leak EP/Mixtape
Lloyd, Lessons In Love
The-Dream, Love Hate
Eric B. and Rakim, Paid In Full
Jay-Z, Reasonable Doubt
Wale, Hate is the New Love Mixtape
N.E.R.D., Seeing Sounds
Sway, The Signature LP
Lloyd, Street Love
Sean Garrett, Turbo 919
Kanye West, 808s and Heartbreak
Fall Out Boy, Folie a Deux

By request, I will be posting up a list of my favourite 'songs to hear in a club' of 2008. If there are any other "top 10/15's" that you would like to see on here, let me know.

So...Best of 2008?

It's been a pretty quiet weekend for music/fashion news and exclusives, a trend that I expect to continue until the end of the week at the least.

So, let's do something that inevitably you will see all over TV: What are your favourite songs of this year (in any category)?

They don't necessarily have to have been released this year. My list contains songs that may have been released before 2008, but I only heard this year.

(In a day or two, I'll put up a similar post asking you for your albums. Save that for then.)

Don't be afraid to get involved. I seem to be getting a lot of visits, but only a tiny percentage of you are commenting!

Without further ado, 10 of my favourites (in no order):

-Kanye West, Welcome to Heartbreak Ft. Kid Cudi

-The-Dream, Falsetto

-Quietdrive, Rush Together

-Wale, W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.

-Sean Garrett, Lay Up Under Me

-The Roots, Criminal Ft. Truck North and Saigon

-Saigon, Believe It Ft. Red 5ive

-GemStones, We On Ft. Lupe Fiasco

-Lil' Wayne, I'm Me

-Mayday Parade-I'd Hate To Be You When People Find Out What This Song Is About

Get involved!

Some Very Interesting Info

Don't ask how, why or where. Just enjoy knowing before everyone else.
- Kanye West's next single will almost definitely be Paranoid. However, instead of Mr. Hudson and Kid Cudi on the chorus, there will apparently be a new version with...

....Rihanna.

- Busta Rhymes will be releasing a single with Estelle called World Go Round. This song already leaked a while back, but that version didn't have Estelle on it, although it was still pretty good.

Look for both between January and February.

- Oh, and the confirmed (well...pretty much) return of Dr. Dre. Before I get to that, some background info:

The obvious piece of background: Dre's album was said to be coming this year, after 50 Cent's and Eminem's, in many interview with 50, Eminem, and Jimmy Iovine, the head of the Interscope label. Obviously, we have heard that since 2004, but it made more sense this time around, with 50 and Eminem being released too.

The slightly less obvious background: Some of you will have heard/downloaded a track that leaked from Eminem recently. This has been called a few different names, such as 'Number One' and 'Breaking Bottles'.

Well, firstly, it's actually called 'Crack A Bottle'. Secondly, you will notice that this is a 'reference' track for Dre, as Eminem 'introduces' his verses at two different points, and then raps them himself. Hence, it is called a reference track, it is a suggestion for the direction/style/tempo Dre should go at.

That's the background info. Now, the new info:

Last week: Eminem said in response to Crack A Bottle being leaked that he wasn't sure whether they were going to finish the track, and if they did, whether it would be on Relapse or Detox. This, clearly shows that if it was to be on the Spring-bound Relapse, Dre is actually putting material out, and he can't be far behind. If it's made for Detox, the implications are obvious.

Last night: Dre randomly doing a guest verse on an official remix to a Kardinal Offishal song, 'Set It Off'. Why would he randomly feature on a virtual unknown's track? One reason: to start getting people talking about him again. Reminding everyone he can rap, and make a song no-one knows into a hit. An ego trip? Probably.

The comeback is slowly but surely gathering pace. I haven't got around to listening to the track yet, but will post my opinion of it in the comments when I do.

As always, leave a comment, spark some discussion.

Madonna (That's Right!) Featuring Pharrell and Kanye West

Yeah, a bit of a guilty pleasure.

It is a pretty funky tune, with a catchy beat and Kanye's verse is good. This song has been around for quite a while, glad to see they made it into a single.

The video is quite conceptual: Madonna isn't even in it! Anyway, it's a track you will inevitably be hearing in clubs and such, so catch a glimpse below.

Kanye West News

Two interesting bits of info on the future for Kanye West, and possibly info that you'll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere on the internet actually:

1. In the more immediate future, Kanye announced on his blog that the next single from 808s and Heartbreak will be either Paranoid or RoboCop.

-Both are good songs in my opinion, RoboCop probably being the better. However, I think he could have chosen a better single, namely See You In My Nightmares, Coldest Winter or Welcome to Heartbreak. We'll see how this pans out.

2. A piece of news that won't take any real shape until around 2009: Kanye West's next album is apparently going to be called 'Winter-Spring-Summer-Fall.' It will be 12 songs long, with 3 songs for each season. This isn't officially confirmed, but if it is, remember where you heard it!

-From the title I suspect that we're going to see more singing. It's a concept album, and Kanye has changed direction far too much now to go back and start all over again. Maybe we'll see more rapping (possibly in the 'Summer' section?) but don't be surprised to see this contain a lot of singing.

Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3

Another quick one: According to http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/jay-zs-blueprint-3-set-february-2009-release, The Blueprint 3 will be coming in February.

Apparently, the majority of it will be produced by Kanye West, so it should come out pretty well...

808s and HeartBreak Review

Might as well start with an album that I avoided illegally downloading, and waited until release date to enjoy, (With the obvious exceptions of Love Lockdown and Heartless)-Kanye West's 808s and Heartbreak.

Most of you weren't too keen on the new direction of 100% AutoTune singing from Kanye on the basis of the 2 songs I mentioned above, and understandably. Graduation was a Hip-Hop classic (go back and listen to it if you dare question that statement) and potentially ruining that is an understandable concern.

Trust me on this-you need to get this album. When people do the same thing on more than one album, it gets boring. That's why Late Registration is never viewed as a classic Kanye album. It was viewed as a lesser version of the (also classic) College Dropout.

Doing something different is always a risk, and fortunately Kanye West pulls it off to near perfection. The AutoTune isn't turned up to max volume unlike some recent songs (Ron Browz/Jim Jones-Pop Champagne abuses the AutoTune) and it still lets Kanye's voice come through.

Most importantly, it just makes artistic sense to use it. The production is generally minimalistic, and almost classic sounding. Adding AutoTune singing gives a nice retro feel, but with a futuristic tinge.

Enough blabbing (I could go on further...). Song-by-song ratings:

Say You Will - 7/10
-It's a bit too long, but has a good beat and chorus.

Welcome To Heartbreak (Ft. Kid Cudi) - 10/10
-Amazing chorus, great lyrics, great beat, almost perfection.

Heartless - 8/10
-Great chorus and bouncy production. This grows on me more and more.

Amazing (Ft. Young Jeezy) - 6.5/10
-The beat is too plain, but Jeezy's verse saves it. May grow on me.

Love Lockdown - 8.5/10
-Great drums and atmosphere, lyrics a bit of a letdown.

Paranoid (Ft. Mr. Hudson) - 7/10
-Nice beat, good rapping from Kanye. I need to listen to it more.

RoboCop - 7.5/10
-Really unusual beat, something different with strings tied to robotic samples.

Street Lights - 7/10
-Nice atmospheric track with some deep lyrical stuff going on.

Bad News - 7/10
-This is generally a sound track, but there's nothing outstanding going on.

See You In My Nightmares (Ft. Lil' Wayne) - 9/10
-A real anthemic feel. Wayne is the star of this. Imagine this with some guitars!

Coldest Winter - 9.5/10
-Brilliant, heartfelt lyrics added to an undeniably memorable chorus.

Pinocchio Story (Live) - 6/10
-Nice lyrics, but far too long, poor quality, and is there even a beat?!