I can’t talk long. I am only going to do a very short Grammy recap because I am way too distraught over the death of Whitney Houston to keep it together for too long. The news of her death put a damper on the festivities for me. I was pretty underwhelmed with the show as a whole, but there were a couple bright spots. Jennifer Hudson’s tribute was amazing. I would like to see more performances like that and hopefully a tribute show is being worked out soon. Chris Brown’s performance was very entertaining…and quite stressful. I was concerned the entire time that he was going to hurt himself. He was up there pretty high on those boxes. It sort of looked like the Super Mario Brothers video game. Bruno Mars’ performance was super cool. I really enjoyed the band and the cute dance moves. Adele looked beautiful and it was good to hear the surgery hasn’t damaged her voice. It was definitely Adele’s night. I think she won every category she was in. I was right about 9 out of the 18 categories I predicted. That’s only a 50% accuracy so I guess I’m slipping. Most importantly, I was right about LeAndria Johnson. She won a Grammy for her song “Jesus” and Lord did she deserve it. I love that song!!
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Whitney Houston performances. Click here and enjoy.
R.I.P Whitney
Monday, February 13, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
2012 Grammy Predictions
Happy New Year! I know it has been a long time since my last post. I’ve been distracted…and there has been a lot of crappy new music that just hasn’t been worth talking about. Anyway, I’m back to make my Grammy predictions before the live show airs on 2/12/12.
(I’m not going to mention all of the nominees in each category and will just focus on the top contenders.)
Record of the Year – the major competition is between Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, Bruno Mars’ “Grenade” and Katy Perry’s “Firework”. This is a tough one because it really could go to either one. “Firework” was pretty big this year and so was “Grenade”. My favorites are “Grenade” and “Rolling in the Deep”. It is my understanding that record of the year goes to the producers, so taking that into consideration I am going to predict the Grammy will go to “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele.
Album of the Year – Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Bruno Mars were all nominated, but Album of the Year is going to be Adele’s “21”. Hands down!
Song of the Year - “Rolling in the Deep” – Adele, “Grenade” – Bruno Mars, “All of the Lights” – Kanye, Rihanna & about a hundred other people. I am predicting the best song will be “Grenade”. I think Adele is going to get most of the awards she’s nominated for so they have to give at least one to Bruno Mars.
Best New Artist – I think the major competition is between The Band Perry and Nicki Minaj. Though I’m not a fan, it is probably going to go to Nicki Minaj. My second choice would be The Band Perry, but Nicki Minaj had a bigger year than they did.
Best Pop Solo Performance – This category includes Adele’s “Someone Like You”, Lady Gaga’s “You and I”, Bruno Mars’ “Grenade” and Katy Perry’s “Firework”. Taking into consideration the best vocal performance, I’m going to say it is between Bruno and Adele and Adele will probably get it.
Best Pop Duo Performance – I think Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera are going to get it for “Moves Like Jagger”.
Best Pop Vocal Album – This goes to Adele. No question.
Best R&B Performance – I think Ledisi should get this for “Pieces of Me”.
Best Traditional R&B Performance – The competition worth mentioning is between Eric Benet’s “Sometimes I Cry”, Cee-Lo & Melanie Fiona’s “Fool For You” and R. Kelly’s “Radio Message”. I love “Fool for You” but in this category I think R. Kelly is going to get the Grammy.
Best R&B Song – “Far Away” – Marsha Ambrosious, “Fool for You” - Cee-Lo & Melanie Fiona, “Not My Daddy” – Kelly Price, “Pieces of Me” – Ledisi, “You Are” – Charlie Wilson. Cee-Lo & Melanie Fiona should get the Grammy for “Fool for You”.
Best R&B Album – El DeBarge, R. Kelly, Ledisi and Kelly Price all have albums nominated in this category but I think Chris Breezy (that’s Chris Brown to those of you who aren’t hip to the game) has the best album. He’s going to take the Grammy home for his album “F.A.M.E”. Sorry. I know he’s a wife beater but he makes great music!
Best Rap Performance – Should go to “Look at me Now” – Chris Breezy, Busta Rhymes, etc.
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration – “Party” – Beyonce and them, “I’m on One” – Drake, etc., “I Need a Doctor” – Eminem and that girl, “What’s my Name” – Drake and Rihanna, “Motivation” – Kelly Rowland and L’il Wayne, “All of the Lights” – by everybody and their mother. This is a tough one. These were all big songs this year. I’m not super sure about how this category is going to go. I’m going to predict one of Destiny’s children will get the Grammy.
Best Rap Song – The category includes “All of the Lights”, “Look at Me Now”, Wiz Khalifa’s “Black & Yellow” and Jay-Z & Kanye’s “Otis”. I think the Grammy will probably go to the village that created “All of the Lights”.
Best Rap Album – This category includes Lupe Fiasco, Nicki Minaj, and a solo album by Kanye, but I think the competition is between “Watch the Throne” by Kanye & Jay-Z and “The Carter IV” by L’il Wayne. I think “Watch the Throne” should get the Grammy.
Best Gospel Performance - …and the Grammy goes to…..Le’Andria Johnson for “Jesus” and if you don’t know you better ask somebody. If you are not familiar with this look at my post on 9/15/11 to see what I mean.
Best Gospel Song – I hope it goes to my Morehouse brother Canton Jones for his song “Window”. Congratulations to him for the recognition. I know how long he has been working for this. Major props to him for writing the song, producing the record on his own label and publishing it through his own publishing company.
Let me know if you agree with my picks and who you are rooting for to win. I’ll check back in a week to see how well I did with my predictions.
In other news….if you haven’t heard already, we found D’Angelo. Myself, along with several other devoted fans, have joined forces to start a search party. We’ve been looking for him for years and he’s finally turned up. He’s been sending messages to his friend Quest Love and teasing us with lies about a new album that he’s been working on that was supposed to come out for like five years now. Well according to them it is 97% done and though there is no official release date, it should come out in 2012. He has begun testing some of the new material in front of audiences overseas. The news of D’Angelo performing for the first time in years is all over the internet. I am proud to say he is alive and well. Well, he’s alive. I’m not sure how well he is…but he at least lost some weight. He seemed to be back to normal during the first few performances, but he did fall off the stage in Amsterdam. I guess he hasn’t totally left the drugs alone, but I’ll take it. At least he is functioning enough to share his wonderful talent with the world. I’ve missed him so much. Click here to hear him play the mess out of the piano while singing some oldies but goodies in Paris. You can’t really see him in this footage, but trust me…it’s him. I figured I’d spare you the sight of his new hairstyle and these horrible pants he insists on wearing. It looks like he just rolled out of the bed. He probably did, but just focus on the talent.
(I’m not going to mention all of the nominees in each category and will just focus on the top contenders.)
Record of the Year – the major competition is between Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, Bruno Mars’ “Grenade” and Katy Perry’s “Firework”. This is a tough one because it really could go to either one. “Firework” was pretty big this year and so was “Grenade”. My favorites are “Grenade” and “Rolling in the Deep”. It is my understanding that record of the year goes to the producers, so taking that into consideration I am going to predict the Grammy will go to “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele.
Album of the Year – Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Bruno Mars were all nominated, but Album of the Year is going to be Adele’s “21”. Hands down!
Song of the Year - “Rolling in the Deep” – Adele, “Grenade” – Bruno Mars, “All of the Lights” – Kanye, Rihanna & about a hundred other people. I am predicting the best song will be “Grenade”. I think Adele is going to get most of the awards she’s nominated for so they have to give at least one to Bruno Mars.
Best New Artist – I think the major competition is between The Band Perry and Nicki Minaj. Though I’m not a fan, it is probably going to go to Nicki Minaj. My second choice would be The Band Perry, but Nicki Minaj had a bigger year than they did.
Best Pop Solo Performance – This category includes Adele’s “Someone Like You”, Lady Gaga’s “You and I”, Bruno Mars’ “Grenade” and Katy Perry’s “Firework”. Taking into consideration the best vocal performance, I’m going to say it is between Bruno and Adele and Adele will probably get it.
Best Pop Duo Performance – I think Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera are going to get it for “Moves Like Jagger”.
Best Pop Vocal Album – This goes to Adele. No question.
Best R&B Performance – I think Ledisi should get this for “Pieces of Me”.
Best Traditional R&B Performance – The competition worth mentioning is between Eric Benet’s “Sometimes I Cry”, Cee-Lo & Melanie Fiona’s “Fool For You” and R. Kelly’s “Radio Message”. I love “Fool for You” but in this category I think R. Kelly is going to get the Grammy.
Best R&B Song – “Far Away” – Marsha Ambrosious, “Fool for You” - Cee-Lo & Melanie Fiona, “Not My Daddy” – Kelly Price, “Pieces of Me” – Ledisi, “You Are” – Charlie Wilson. Cee-Lo & Melanie Fiona should get the Grammy for “Fool for You”.
Best R&B Album – El DeBarge, R. Kelly, Ledisi and Kelly Price all have albums nominated in this category but I think Chris Breezy (that’s Chris Brown to those of you who aren’t hip to the game) has the best album. He’s going to take the Grammy home for his album “F.A.M.E”. Sorry. I know he’s a wife beater but he makes great music!
Best Rap Performance – Should go to “Look at me Now” – Chris Breezy, Busta Rhymes, etc.
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration – “Party” – Beyonce and them, “I’m on One” – Drake, etc., “I Need a Doctor” – Eminem and that girl, “What’s my Name” – Drake and Rihanna, “Motivation” – Kelly Rowland and L’il Wayne, “All of the Lights” – by everybody and their mother. This is a tough one. These were all big songs this year. I’m not super sure about how this category is going to go. I’m going to predict one of Destiny’s children will get the Grammy.
Best Rap Song – The category includes “All of the Lights”, “Look at Me Now”, Wiz Khalifa’s “Black & Yellow” and Jay-Z & Kanye’s “Otis”. I think the Grammy will probably go to the village that created “All of the Lights”.
Best Rap Album – This category includes Lupe Fiasco, Nicki Minaj, and a solo album by Kanye, but I think the competition is between “Watch the Throne” by Kanye & Jay-Z and “The Carter IV” by L’il Wayne. I think “Watch the Throne” should get the Grammy.
Best Gospel Performance - …and the Grammy goes to…..Le’Andria Johnson for “Jesus” and if you don’t know you better ask somebody. If you are not familiar with this look at my post on 9/15/11 to see what I mean.
Best Gospel Song – I hope it goes to my Morehouse brother Canton Jones for his song “Window”. Congratulations to him for the recognition. I know how long he has been working for this. Major props to him for writing the song, producing the record on his own label and publishing it through his own publishing company.
Let me know if you agree with my picks and who you are rooting for to win. I’ll check back in a week to see how well I did with my predictions.
In other news….if you haven’t heard already, we found D’Angelo. Myself, along with several other devoted fans, have joined forces to start a search party. We’ve been looking for him for years and he’s finally turned up. He’s been sending messages to his friend Quest Love and teasing us with lies about a new album that he’s been working on that was supposed to come out for like five years now. Well according to them it is 97% done and though there is no official release date, it should come out in 2012. He has begun testing some of the new material in front of audiences overseas. The news of D’Angelo performing for the first time in years is all over the internet. I am proud to say he is alive and well. Well, he’s alive. I’m not sure how well he is…but he at least lost some weight. He seemed to be back to normal during the first few performances, but he did fall off the stage in Amsterdam. I guess he hasn’t totally left the drugs alone, but I’ll take it. At least he is functioning enough to share his wonderful talent with the world. I’ve missed him so much. Click here to hear him play the mess out of the piano while singing some oldies but goodies in Paris. You can’t really see him in this footage, but trust me…it’s him. I figured I’d spare you the sight of his new hairstyle and these horrible pants he insists on wearing. It looks like he just rolled out of the bed. He probably did, but just focus on the talent.
Friday, September 23, 2011
I'm Listening To....Angel Taylor
I just thought I'd forward a link of what I'm listening to today. I like passing along songs from artists you may not be familiar with. Click here to listen to Angel Taylor sing "Not Even Human". I like the words in this song she wrote. Let me know if you like it too.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Leandria Johnson...that damn Matthew Knowles did it again!
So it looks like Matt Knowles has struck gold again. Since Beyonce is almost on maternity leave and his love child isn't old enough to walk yet, MK had to find another big talent to occupy his time and that's just what he's done. He has signed Leandria Johnson, who is the season 3 winner of BET's Sunday Best. She has an amazing voice and recently sang on the finale of the current season to promote her new album which I am running out to buy right now. (Well, not exactly, but I am going to download it from iTunes right now.) I hope you saw the season finale or can catch the rerun on BET because her performance was spellbinding. She has the richest, most soulful voice I've heard in a long time. I almost don't want to insert a link for you to watch her on a YouTube video because the sound isn't that great and you really need to hear the true quality of every single sound that comes out of her mouth because they all are important for the overall experience. However, I will attach a link for those of you who may never get a chance to see the actual show, but for the rest of you, your homework assignment is to go straight home after buying this girl's cd and search your TiVo for the next airing of the season 4 Sunday Best finale and record it so you can keep it forever. She sang the song attached below and also did a tribute to Mahalia Jackson that was equally amazing.
Click here to see what I'm talking about, but remember the sound isn't that great in this amateur video.
Click here to see what I'm talking about, but remember the sound isn't that great in this amateur video.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Pouring Out A Little Liquor For Winehouse
As the music community mourns the death of Amy Winehouse I thought I'd take this time to share my favorite clip of her. Amy was known to be a little wild at times on and off stage. I preferred her most when she just sat still and sang. To me that was when you could see her true talent. Click here to enjoy her singing "Love Is A Losing Game". One thing about her stage performances that I enjoyed the most was her band. Click here to watch them perform "You Know I'm No Good".
R.I.P. Amy
R.I.P. Amy
Friday, July 22, 2011
Justin...Just Because
Just thought I'd share a little clip of Justin with you just because. It's nothing spectacular but I never get tired of looking at Justin. This is him and Jimmy Fallon acting like fools on late night tv. Click here to take a peek.
I sure wish JT would take a break from making movies and get in the studio and record another album. I would love to hear new music from him. Right now all I have to enjoy is Beyonce and Adele. I tried to give Jill Scott's new cd a chance, but I'm just not feeling it. I get what she was going for with the sound of most of those songs but it didn't quite get there for me. I always new we'd have to part ways eventually. I've tried to ignore the spoken word crap and her incessant need to sing about food...both of which I'm really not a fan of. I just can't take it anymore. Jill and I just don't understand each other the way Beyonce and Janet and I do. Oh well.
I sure wish JT would take a break from making movies and get in the studio and record another album. I would love to hear new music from him. Right now all I have to enjoy is Beyonce and Adele. I tried to give Jill Scott's new cd a chance, but I'm just not feeling it. I get what she was going for with the sound of most of those songs but it didn't quite get there for me. I always new we'd have to part ways eventually. I've tried to ignore the spoken word crap and her incessant need to sing about food...both of which I'm really not a fan of. I just can't take it anymore. Jill and I just don't understand each other the way Beyonce and Janet and I do. Oh well.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
I'm Giving Jeremih One More Try
So most of you know Jeremih is a new artist that has a few R&B/HipHop songs currently on all the urban radio stations which doesn't mean much to me cuz most of the stuff they play on the radio is crap. I haven't been that impressed with him or the meaningless songs he sings, but I ran across a video of him singing Adele's song "Rumor Has It" and was mildly impressed. I was super impressed with the fact that he is able to play the drums and sing at the same time which I find nearly impossible. Then he proceeds to try and play as many instruments as he can in his allotted time. Click here to check him out. While in the Monday Mashup section of Billboard.com I also ran across video of our old friend Bilal singing "Tainted Love" who is apparently heavy into rock music now. Click here to check him out. In other music related news (not really)...they are making a movie of Steve Harvey's stupid book and Chris Brown is going to star in it along with Taraji P. Henson, Megan Goode and Gabrielle Union. I'm sure there are other black actresses out there available for work besides TJP, Megan Goode and D. Wade's mistress. Somebody please find them so we don't have to watch the same people acting the same way with the same facial expressions in every movie! In other news Trey Songz has signed on to star in the latest sequel of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Poor thing. Somebody help him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)