Artist Of The Week: Lana Del Rey

Artist Of The Week: Lana Del Rey

She's crazy, she's beautiful and she was probably born in the wrong generation. Yes ladies and gentleman I am referring to the beautiful 60's goddess known as Lana Del Rey. This US singer has been the highlight of crazy college girls and hipster guys. Born as Elizabeth Woolridge Grant she went by the stage name Lizze Grant before becoming the Lana we know and love. If you're not a worker Bey (Beyonce fan) then you will probably end up being a Lana lover.  Lana has been featured and won such awards such as the GQ "Woman of the Year" and others. We all know who she is, and if you don't know by now then you've probably been living underneath a rock with a gay starfish named Patrick. Either way she makes beautiful music and we're about to dive into the cesspool of sadness known as "Born To Die."

"Blue Jeans"- Lana Del Rey (The Internet Remix)

"Born To Die" was her golden child, her "College Dropout", "So Far Gone", or "Nevermind". It separated her from other indie artists who were emerging during her time period. Her top single, "Blue Jeans" gave life to her career, sparking a cult of Generation Y young adults to follow her into the wine cellar and experiment with alcohol. The lyrics could be found on every recently dumped man's Facebook page or heartbroken female's fingers and hands as tattoos. The video was well crafted as well, using a black and white filter to depict the seduction  of an innocent woman by a tattooed male who is supposed to represent "the guy you can't let go". Ladies we know.  The other singles released with this album include "Video Games" "National Anthem" and "Summertime Sadness". Out of these songs I would say "Summertime Sadness" has the greatest musical quality however "National Anthem" created a larger fan base with it's video. Lana decided to include the only black dude in the game who can rock French Braids and a grill, A$AP Rocky, to portray JFK in her video. It depicted the love of the Kennedy First Family before ol John's top slipped back like Janet at the Superbowl (Thanks Drake). The two had such chemistry on the camera that one could speculate that they were dating, or at least she was getting some black...well you get it. What I do love about her music is that other's love it so well that they feel inspired to create remixes of her. I actually found her by listening to "The Internet" a subgroup of Odd Future; the duo covered her song and I instantly fell in love. Her singles have been the target of many electro and dance artists. Regardless she has been at the tip of success with this album as well as the Paradise edition, which included another eight songs. I recommend listening to this album front to back to fully understand the depth of her sorrow. On some tracks she sings about the lazy summer days and nights; but other tracks are her crooning over the love of her life (past, present, or future). My favorite track would have to be "God's & Monsters", it's a twisted track of her rambling about how she lives in the world we proclaim to be the best. It's a breakdown of the reality of life and that we only exist at the mercy of the gods and monsters who sit on opposite ends of the chess board. The lyrics make you feel minimalistic"In the land of god's and monsters, I was an angel looking to get f*cked hard", her viewpoint on the situation is realistic and slightly cynical.

"Gods And Monsters" - Lana Del Rey

Black Beauty 

For starters her voice is darkly angelic, the harmonizing with the sixties-esque instrumental in the background clearly show her artistic prowess. Lana's lyrics are well developed and thought out as if she were reciting some Lord Byron or Oscar Wilde if they were hormonal teenage females. "Born To Die" essentially highlighted her slight pseudo-depression coupled with a mentality of psycho ex-girlfriend. Fellas if a female ever says her favorite artist is Lana Del Rey then please turn the other way, call up your boys and drink the night away then hit her back up once the club is closed. She's nothing but trouble, but will rock your world in the bedroom and studio. Her new album is in the making and sad to say that some individuals are leaking her tracks. Happily enough, the new songs are beautifully haunting and I have high hopes for her follow-up album "Black Beauty". Lana also did a feature on The Great Gatsby soundtrack with her summer banger, "Young And Beautiful". As Gatsby and Daisy continued to spiral down the stairwell of love, Lana lifted up their eyes to the heavens with promises like "will you still love me when I'm no longer young?" I know I would, shoot with a voice like that to lullaby me to sleep I could rest easy on a midsummer's night. All in all give her a chance and you won't be disappointed. Not only can she sing, but she is a sight for sore eyes. The girl is GAWHJEOUS! However what is most attractive about her is the style and choice of clothes she wears on a consistent basis. It screams 1950's early 60's with a modern womanly twist. Lana somewhat reminds you of Madonna in her early years, exerting a hint of sexuality with a high amount of natural beauty and fashion.  In other words she will go far. I just pray that she will stay off the hard liquor once again (she had a drinking problem, which manifested into lyrics for most of her songs). Regardless of her past, this tall glass of white wine is here to stay and get her consumers love drunk on her music. Just know that too much of Lana's special batch will make you bat shit crazy.  Stay thirsty my friends.

"Angels Forever" - Lana Del Rey

~The Caterpillar 

Artist of The Week: Big Sean

Jukebox Corner Presents Artist of the Week: Big Sean

 

G.O.O.D. Music is essentially the Justice League of music. Each "hero" has their own strengths and weaknesses but collectively they are an unstoppable force. Today's hero is none other than our man Sean Micheal Anderson aka Big Sean. In light of his new album being released in a matter of weeks, I felt it was necessary to take a look at his track record and follow his progress. 

Big Sean stepped on the scene back in 2007 with the R&B synthesiser Mike Posner. Posner featured Sean on three tracks on his upcoming mixtape and eventually Sean dropped Finally Famous: The Mixtape. Much like many upcoming artists, this first mixtape fell through the gutter, save for "Smoke & Drive". Eventually Sean went back into the lab and released UKnowBigSean which in my opinion was his greatest mixtape to date. With banger songs like "Desire, Want & Need" and "Supa Dupa" Sean began creating a name for himself as more than just a rapper; he was becoming an artist. The variety in the mixtape was ingenious."Say You Will" sounds like an angry rant to the industry but in reality it's a young artist wanting the success that he's constantly being promised. With opening lyrics like "As I hop on this red eye flight with all red eyes; hoodie on my head, recognize a Jedi" you can only imagine how the rest of the song played out. My other personal favorite song on this mix-tape was "Love Story" (simp song I know). Sean pairs up with some no name singer named Keely, and she harmonizes with the piano in the back while he spits sweet and clever lyrics to his lady. I don't know how many times I put these lyrics on my Facebook Status page; "We got chemistry to the point we need a beaker". Either way Sean caught the attention of Big Brother West and the rest was history. Big Sean signed with G.O.O.D. Music and his career took off like expected. 

Desire, Want & Need - Big Sean 

Big Sean's next project would be another mixtape named Finally Famous: Vol. 3. This mixtape in my opinion was the middle child, it didn't live up to the potential as the previous and wouldn't get the love and respect as the upcoming. Plus Don Cannon's YELLING IS SO ANNOYING. IT'S LIKE THAT FRIEND WHO ALWAYS TYPES IN ALL CAPS OR PUTS !!!!!! AFTER RT's. His "Hometown" Remix was sub-par, another artist with the name BIG slammed the song before him. (See B.I.G. KRIT). I personally did like Fat Raps Remix, but that may be because I adore the Cool Kids, and Dom Kennedy sometimes. The problem with this mixtape was that it had too many other features which took away from Sean's lyrical potential. The beats also didn't fit his style at the time. The other gem on this song would have to be "Ambiguous" featuring Mike Posner & Clinton Sparks. Sean and Posner seems to have a decent relationship, always finding a way to feature each other on their projects. 

Ambiguous - Big Sean, Mike Posner and Clinton Sparks

Finally Famous the album finally dropped in 2011. Just from the cover one could tell that we were dealing with a more mature Sean, and when I say mature I mean he's been hanging with Mr. West more. The album incorporated more regal and professionally sounding instrumentals compared to the previous mixtapes. "My Last" became a hit for Indie and Hip-Pop radio stations as well as the theme songs for college pregames. Big Sean was taking his talents to the other crowd and he had punk-ass Chris Breezy to help him with that. Thanks Chris. Next up was "Dance (ASS)" which sparks a million twerking videos on YouTube. This song helped many guys, including myself, catch stray twerks floating around the club on the weekend. When Nicki Minaj came and hopped the track and video with her ASS then it got real serious. Then came "Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay". Kanye finally graced one of Seans songs and he sold that shit. Roscoe Dash also came in and sprinkled some of his ATL juice on the track. This literally became one of the top songs in an instant. Other features include The Jar-Jar Binks of Pittsburg aka Wiz Khalifa, John Legend, Fat Officer Ricky Rozay and Pusha T. In my mind Big Sean was successful with his first album. It wasn't a classic but it showed how far he's come from the early mixtape days, working with big name producers and artists alike. G.O.O.D. Music wins again.

"Don't Tell Me You Love Me" - Big Sean

Big Sean dropped another mixtape near the end of 2012 entitled Detroit, his hometown. Sean was finally coming into his own individual role in the world of music. His lyrics became more than Mother Goose Rhymes (See "Supa Dupa"), Sean was also choosing the right type of songs to produce and record. Honestly the whole mixtape rides. If I had to choose my top 3 songs I'd go with "Experimental" with Chip Tha Ripper (King Chip now) and Stay Trippy's very own Juicy J. This song reminds me of chemistry lab back in high-school or what Jesse listens to while working in the lab in "Breaking Bad". The second song would be "I'm Gonna Be" featuring Jhene Aiko. Love her and check her out if you've never heard of her. The final song would be "FFOE". This is one of those songs that an artist creates when he believes he has made it. It's a celebratory song honoring the place where they came from while remaining at the top of the totem pole. It may have been a bold move at first but eventually Sean would rise to the top and stay there. Another aspect I did like about this mixtape was that it allowed other great artist to speak about their times in Detroit. If you didn't know by now then you know that Big Sean loves his city almost as much as he loves his mother and calling people bitches. Common, Young Jeezy and Snoop Liger all give personal recounts of their experiences in the city of Detroit. Apparently their strip clubs have good wings.

"Higher" - Big Sean

Hall Of Fame drops on August 27th and there are high hopes for this sophomore album. Judging on how his mixtape performance went we shall see if this will be the highlight of his career. Many people are however worried that Big Sean is becoming a "sellout" but in reality he's playing the industry instead of letting them play him. The reason he creates "club" songs is because that his target audience isn't the one buying CD's. There's no money in mixtapes people. The more albums he releases with a varitety of songs, the longer he will stay in the game. Look at our man Aubs Graham. You can't turn on the radio without hearing this man's voice. Sean is relatively smart for also being a feature on songs, ranging from Drake, Kanye, Tyga and others. Be on the lookout for his album, but until then OH GAWD. 

"Fire" - Big Sean 

"Hey Miley...insert eye emoji"

S.N. Sean has the funniest ad libs thus far next to the trill trio known as Travis Porter. Between the Beeeetich, OH GAWD's, HOE he's just funny. They should make his ad libs a ringtone. Funniest ad lib however goes to his  most recent verse on "All Me" featuring Drake and 2 Chainz. HOE STFU!

~The Caterpillar

 

Jukebox Corner's: Sonic The Hamilton

Here in the Jukebox Corner you will find all things music related, from upcoming artists to interviews and features and some of my personal favorites. All that and more can be found by clicking HERE

Sonic the Hamilton

He’s crazy, he’s been punched in the face by a chick on camera, he loves sonic hamilton and the color pink, he is never satisfied by the females who are in and out of his life, he is…Charles Hamilton. Charles Eddie-Lee Hamilton is without a doubt my favorite musical artist, from the first song I heard I instantly fell in love with his music. Charles is truly talented creating his own samples, beats and lyrics  but what I respect more about him is the emotions that lie between his rhyme book. He is one of the most conflicted African-American males when it comes to love, women and the thoughts that haunt his mind. I really feel as if he is a mirror image of me in so many ways, I guess that is why I dig him so much. The man is truly a genius but is viewed by many as a whiny punk bitch but he is more of a man because of the fact that he can express his feelings through song. He has been in the music industry for ages releasing countless mixtapes at a time. I remember he released about 7 at once and I downloaded all of them instantly.

Hamiltonization 

The mind of Charles Hamilton is more elaborate than Pan’s Labyrinth. The thoughts that swarm his head come from the fact that Charles has been through a lot. From his childhood to being alone on the NY streets, to the overuse of substances both harmful and illegal. It is only natural that his mind would be a breeding ground for demons and monsters but through his music he has found a way to tame these horrid creatures. Psychotic is what some refer to him as but names are only words unless proven.The year is 2011 and Mr. Hamilton has been absent from the underground music stream. Earlier this year he released a mixtape, but since this point nothing has been heard. The name has not even appeared in the media in ages. Charles wrote songs about his crushes on celebrities and common women alike. One particular woman is Rihanna, I believe he dedicated a whole mixtape to winning her love. As far as his success goes….we don’t know but regardless of this he is the man. Falling in love with girls left and right; he sees women for who they truly are which is a rare trait this day and age.I think if I had the opportunity to meet this man it would almost be like meeting my future self. I have had my trouble with women, racing thoughts and other things but all in all I have made it through. Instead of music, I’ve found my outlet in a pen and pad. Charles Hamilton is one of the most pivotal and intriguing musical artists that I have ever listened to. On a good day I can play his music for days at a time and not complain or skip a song. He is that great to me.

~I am More Concerned With Love than Life

Cheers,

~The Caterpillar