Following a sold-out US tour, last week Drake kicked off the European leg of his Club Paradise tour in London and Y&Y were in the audience for the second of his London nights (March 27th) at the o2 Arena.

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Super-talented producer and musician Labrinth opened the show, setting the bar high with the delivery of an energetic and eclectic set of cuts from his debut album, Electronic Earth (released today).

Drake hit the stage to Take Care album cut Lord Knows, dressed in a black button-down shirt and slacks. Initially the stage felt a little too big for the rapping Lothario; as he reveals later in the set, his two day stint at the 18,000 capacity o2 Arena marks a seminal point in his career – the biggest venue he’s ever headlined. After witnessing his awkward Hammersmith Apollo performance in 2011, I wondered if this show would follow in a similar fashion. But Drake dispelled my concern quickly, finding comfort in the space as he tore through a medley of some of his hyper hip-hop songs and features, Underground Kings, (DJ Khaled’s) I’m On One and Over.

Though clearly rehearsed, his interaction with the crowd didn’t feel too contrived and he succeeded in making us giggle a good few times. In fact, one of the highlights of the set was his hilarious and accurate impression of Lil Wayne, relaying their conversation when Drake told Wayne he’d sold out the now-iconic London venue twice in a row.

Drake shed his dress shirt for the hip-hop emo anthem of the moment, Marvin’s Room. “Everybody put your middle fingers in the air and dedicate it to the girl I was singing to,” he implored, as the track came to the end, inciting fingers to shoot up around the arena. Equally emotive album interlude Good Ones Go (which features backing vocals from The Weeknd) followed before the pace changed dramatically with album title-track, Take Care. Transitioning suddenly into a rave, strobe lights shot through the arena while the synthy Jamie xx beat pulsated through the floor and 18,000 fans belted Rihanna’s chorus. “Shout out to Rihanna and her sexy ass!” called out Drake to the popstar, who attracted media attention by taking the Tube to his show that night.

Since made famous by Jay-Z, many rappers now close their show by turning up the house-lights and peering into the audience, shouting out individuals in the crowd. Rather than carbon-copying Hov’s signature move, Drake spent 10 minutes in the middle of the 90-minute set to engage with the crowd. “Shout out all y’all with the sunglasses on who can’t see a muthafuckin’ thing, I hope you enjoyin’ the music and shit!” he laughed.

The crowd participation was consistently raucous throughout the show – a fact he wryly pointed out at some point. However, his closing songs, The Motto (which spawned the loathsome expression YOLO) and Headlines – which featured a VT with typography that would’ve made Yin happy – succeeded in tearing the roof off of the o2.

The stellar set arrangement showcased just how many hits Drake has had in his short time on the scene, from breakout mixtape cut Best I Ever Had (which was a crowd favourite), to Thank Me Later songs like Miss Me, and Take Care’s HYFR, Make Me Proud and Practice. However, it was Drake’s enjoyment and ease on stage which made the show. Watching his older performances, it’s clearly taken a while for the rapper to become comfortable onstage. This energetic performance made Club Paradise in London feel like an arrival of Drake as a stage performer. Other than a few moments of conceited ramblings (I affectionately moniker his ‘gems’ of knowledge ‘Drakeisms’) and his dancing – Drake really, really, really can’t dance – there was little much to fault in the Canadian’s show.

Amidst rapturous applause, he ended the night with the suggestion, “I’d like to do this again if you’re interested. Maybe I can bring my homie Lil Wayne and this beautiful girl we got called Nicki Minaj…?”

Drake headlines London’s Wireless Festival Saturday 7th July.

Photo by Burak Cingi © – view full photoset here.

Yup dudes it’s me again up in this biatch! taking over Eargasms for a brief moment while we welcome the return of Mr Yin. As ever we’ve got a selection of tracks that surfaced earlier this week. Are you ready to be aurally stimulated? If so, head on over to the flipside.

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TREY SONGZ

‘Heart Attack‘

This Rico Love penned track serves as Trey Songz official lead single from his forthcoming fifth album Chapter V. although i’ve never been a huge fan of Songz I can still appreciate some of his work. On ‘Heart attack’ he showcases some pretty decent vocals (nothing close to Usher on ‘Climax’, just thought I’d throw that out there) on a nicely produced instrumental. It’s not the greatest track in the world but it still can take a seat on my iTunes library.

Selected by DJB

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AZEALIA BANKS

‘Fuck Up The Fun‘

You see, I’m not much of a fan. People have been calling her the new Missy Elliot – please sit down. Do not compare her to Missy. Diplo does his damn thing again with this drum-heavy beat that compliments her style of rapping perfectly.

Selected by Yin

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PJ MORTON X LIL WAYNE

‘Lover‘

Another day another member of the YMCMB crew. PJ Morton who is the keyboard player for Maroon 5 is the latest Young Money signee to start making a name for himself. As with most YMCMB artists he has collaborated with label boss Lil Wayne on this track. I am unsure whether this will be an official release, whether it is or not I think we should just enjoy it.

Selected by DJB

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IGGY AZAELA X T.I

‘Murda Bizness’

It’s not often we feature female rappers but it seems they are like buses, you wait a long time and then two come at once. You’ve just heard new ish from Azealia Banks and now you’re about to feast your ears on another newbie in the femcee arena in the form of ‘Murda Bizness’ by Austrailan rapper Iggy Azaela. Murda Bizness was produced by Bei Maejor and features her label boss T.I (yes that’s right she’s signed to Grand Hustle)

Selected by DJB

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JAI PAUL

‘Jasmine’

Most of you probably haven’t heard of Jai Paul but will have definitely heard his song sampled for Drake‘s ‘Dreams Money Can Buy’ and Beyonce‘s ‘End Of Time’. Incredible samples, na’mean! ‘Jasmine’ is only Jai’s second release, wonder who’s going to sample this beauty? It’s a smooth fusion of jazz and electro, just perfect to listen to on a sunny day. The guitar riffs go in!

Selected byYin

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JULIAN

‘Black Heart‘

I never heard of this guy till this EP dropped. He’s the latest member of the ever popular XO clique (The Weeknd), you can already guess that from the style of production and vocals. Although this isn’t a single song, I want you guys to listen to the whole EP – it’s worth it. Black Heart is dope, Julian has a lot of potential. Someone hook him up with a better production team!

Selected by Yin

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve done an album review, I believe the last time was actually a review of Nicki Minaj‘s debut album Pink Friday. We have decided to get more involved with album reviews and do them on a more regular basis. It just so happens that we pick up where we left off, with Nicki Minaj. Her new album Pink Fiday: Roman Reloaded is set to be released in a few days, April 2nd for UK/European fans and April 3rd for her US/Canadian Barbz. Before you go out a grab a copy, have a read and see what my thoughts are on the set. Full review on the flipside.

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Nicki Minaj Website | Twitter | Facebook

Nicki Minaj is riding the her highest wave of popularity at the moment with endorsement deals and demands for her appearance coming at her left right and center. Now seems a perfect time for her to release her poorly named sophomore album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.

Let me start by stating that I absolutely hate the album title, it’s stupid, lazy and slightly confusing. When I first got wind of the title I thought that she was re-releasing her debut but I was wrong. Don’t even get me started on that hideous cover art *smh*, however let’s not dwell on this ridiculousness as there is plenty more to talk about.

The album starts with that crazy song she performed at the Grammys ‘Roman Holiday’ and yes before you ask the studio version of the song sounds just as crazy and her live rendition. Parts of the song are inaudible due to Minaj spouting all kinds of off key noises passing them off as lyrics. I’d say the first portion of the album (songs 1- 7) are what she meant by Roman Reloaded. By this I mean these songs are the more “hood” urban cuts on the record and usually her alter ego Roman is responsible for her urban records.

‘Champion’ featuring Nas, Drake and Young Jeezy is the stand out “hood” anthem on the album and is sure to do big things if and when it’s released as a single. ‘Beez In The Trap’ comes in second place, the simple snap yo finger beat and the uncomplicated flow goes off if played super loud. Oh and let’s not forget the albums name sake ‘Roman Reloaded’, another song that is sure to please her underground fans, the fans that remember mixtape Nicki.

From track 8 the album starts to lighten up and so the commercial switch begins, this is where alter ego Roman leaves the room and Nicki enters. ‘Right By My Side’ featuring Chris Brown and ‘Sex In The Lounge’ featuring Lil Wayne & Bobby V start the switch by moving away from hip-hop to a more R&B sound.

Track 10 through 18 are straight commercial cuts all geared to please her new fans that where acquired through the success of ‘Super Bass’ and most recently ‘Starships’. ‘Pound The Alarm’ is a certain hit. The funky electro cut follows the sound that we heard on Starships, I’m pretty sure that this will be released especially following the success of the already mentioned ‘ships.

‘Marilyn Monroe’ and ‘Young Forever’ are my personal faves from the Pop portion of the album. Both songs I would love to see released and have accompanying music videos, however I doubt it will happen as Nicki tends to not release the tracks that I feel are single worthy. For example, I thought she should have released ‘Save Me’ from her debut.

Obviously as with any album there are certain tracks that shouldn’t see the light of day but I’m not going to dwell on those mishaps as everyone has there own tastes so what I like will be different to what you like………. Erm scratch that, ‘Beautiful Sinner’, ‘Roman Holiday’ and ‘Stupid Hoe’ should be eliminated with immediate effect!

Overall I think that the album is much less schizophrenic than I thought it was going to be. We all know Nicki has many characters that she likes to showcase however I feel like she only gave us Roman and Nicki, which I appreciate. Sometimes less is more. For me the album should have been packaged in a similar way Christina Aguilera presented her album Back To Basics. There are two clear distinct sounds on this album so separating them on to two different discs would have made so much more sense.

The album is not as cohesive as her first effort but I think that it was to be expected as she has two very different sets of fans. Trying to please both sets of fans was a clear goal for this album and while I do feel that she has crafted material that will achieve this, she has yet to master a way in which it’s not so obvious. Hopefully album 3 will be full of songs that both sets of fans will like rather than designating half an album to each set.

Do I recommend this album? ….. I think I do, if you’re a Nicki fan be it “hood” Nicki or Super Bass Nicki there will be a song for you. Although as a whole piece I think I’ll stick with the original Pink Friday.

Ahh rest assured yinnyangers, after a brief hiatus due to Sky Broadband’s gross incompetence…I’m back and fully equipped with a selection of this weeks best music videos. Due to my disappearance, I snuck in some videos from a couple of weeks back that I felt deserved the Y&Y spotlight – but they’re dope so you won’t mind. With new visuals from KOF, Big K.R.I.T, Jesse Boykins III, Usher, Aloe Blacc and Robin Thicke/Lil Payne you guys are in for a treat! Hit the jump for more!

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KOF – Child of the Ghetto

Liverpudlian singer-songwriter KOF headed to the beautiful Caribbean island of St. Lucia to shoot the heartfelt, inspiring visuals for his track, “Child Of The Ghetto”. My ears have been treated to KOF’s soft vocals and inspiring message every morning for the past fortnight as I wake up listening to Twin B’s morning breakfast show on BBC 1Xtra, and so I was delighted to see that KOF took it to the next level for his music video. “Child Of The Ghetto” is out on March 25th and is the first track from KOF’s forthcoming EP, “An Alternative Soul” which is out on April 8th.

KOF: Facebook | Twitter | Website

Big K.R.I.T. – “Boobie Miles”

Country rapper, Big K.R.I.T. released the Va$htie-direted visuals for his track, “Boobie Miles” this week – a motivational Southern ode to the high school football player, James “Boobie” Miles. The black and white music video follows in the theme of the inspirational lyrics as three young men as they strive exceed in their different sports. You can download the Mississippi MC’s self-produced mixtape, 4evaNaDay here.

Big K.R.I.T: Facebook | Website | Twitter

Jesse Boykins III – B4 The Night Is Thru (prod. Machine Drum)

Jesse Boykins III and Dr. Woo are back at it again with some delectable visuals for his soulful, funk track “B4 The Night Is Thru”. The afro-donning, silk-shirt-wearing, female-serenading Reawakener of the Romantic movement tries to enter a Brooklyn club with his friends (did you spot MeLo-X?), falls in love with a beautiful lady and fantasizes about dancing with her in Grand Central terminal…how he pulled off that scene I’ll never know. JB3 premiered his new music video on BET’s 106 & Park and you can catch the interview over on Herfection where he talks about his new documenatary on women also titled, Love Apparatus…interesting!. “B4 The Night Is Thru” is taken from “The Love Apparatus” and the single is available on iTunes

Jesse Boykins III – Facebook | Twitter | Website

Usher – Climax (produced by Diplo)

Mixed reviews over this track have spread across the Internet this week. “Climax” features a falsetto reminiscent of the last few tracks of Usher’s “Confessions” album laced with a cleverly timed Diplo “womp” thrown in from time to time. And I’m not complaining, Usher’s falsetto still makes my knees tremble just like it did all those years ago…but unfortunately I won’t be reaching my climax anytime soon due to Usher’s awful barber and dietician…when did he get so skinny :-(

Usher: Twitter | Facebook | Website

Diplo: Twitter | Facebook | Website

Aloe Blacc – You Make Me Smile

Watching this video gave me a flashback to seeing Aloe Blacc live at Somerset House with Yin last year and getting rather *cough* emotional. In quite a different style to Aloe’s major single “I Need A Dollar”, this Cat Jimenez-produced track really showcases Aloe Blacc’s vocals at the higher range of the spectrum.

Aloe Blacc: Facebook | Twitter | Website

Robin Thicke – Pretty Lil’ Heart ft. Lil Wayne

As usual Lil Wayne’s appearance on both the track and in the video, is a little unnecessary, but luckily you only have to endure Weezy’s creepy image for 30 seconds before the Marc Klasfeld directed video for Robin Thicke’s “Pretty Lil Heart” delves into a 1950′s themed visual featuring the soulful Robin as a Rock n Roll star.

I’m always happy to hear and see some new Robin Thicke, whose vocals are nothing short of perfect as usual….but the contrived and corny Beats by Dre plugging forced me to stop the video halfway through. Haven’t they ever heard of continuity? Colour televisions were barely available in the 1950′s, let alone crap audio-ipod-dock-stereo-whatever-things In the meantime, I’ll stick to listening to the audio of “Pretty Lil Heart”…

“Pretty Lil Heart” is taken from Robin Thicke’s fifth studio album, “Love After War” which is out now.

Robin Thicke: Twitter | Facebook | Website

After grinding on the mixtape scene for a few years, YMCMB recording artist Tyga is emerging from underdog status this year. From strip-club joint Rack City becoming a huge breakthrough hit for the rapper, to him being part of the reason why millions believe YOLO is The Motto, Tyga makes it clear he won’t allow Young Money comrades Drake, Nicki Minaj and (label-boss) Lil Wayne hog all the limelight.

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While on the road touring, the 22-year old took 10 minutes out of his schedule to talk to Y&Y. Choosing not to take up the whole of our 10 minutes talking about his tattoos (so I just didn’t mention them at all. No – I didn’t even ask about the ones on his face), we spoke about the release of his album, Careless World: The Rise of the Last Kings, working with Nas and Wale, and (not) writing a children’s book.

Last time you were here, I heard a Westwood interview and he was teasing you about being the underdog in a crew with [heavyweights like] Lil Wayne, Drake and Nicki Minaj in there. I’m sure that’s not the first time you’ve heard that. Do you take it with a pinch of salt or has that become less of an issue as you’ve gotten bigger in your own right?

I think my fans have always been there, but maybe the more mainstream people are only starting to recognise now with the success of Rack City. But I think my fans have always been there, especially overseas. I starting touring overseas before I started touring in the States.

Careless World: Rise of the Last Kings is the title of the new record. It kind of sounds like a dope computer game or something! Explain the title to us.

It’s more of a story [than a computer game]. Careless World is a place I made up, and the subtitle, Rise of the Last Kings is basically me becoming the king of this world, and trying to help my people, and the things I have to do to get there, and the whole album is a story from beginning to end.

What kind of place is Careless World?

When I first envisioned it it’s like a real apocalyptic type place. It’s almost an end of world type feel, in the beginning. But it gets better as the story goes on and the album goes on.

Obviously, Rack City is still tearing up the clubs, the radio, everything. But at the same time [as Rack City has gained popularity] I’ve been hearing Far Away on commercial radio, but it wasn’t until I paid attention that I actually realised it’s your track. So we’re used to the party tracks from you but I’m getting the idea that Careless World is going to take your listeners beyond the club?

Yeah, it’s definitely more different vibes. It’s definitely good music. It’s more storytelling. Sometimes there’s a party vibe at the same time, but there’s gonna be way more of a story with it. More real situations and stuff.

You’ve got a few collaborations on the album. Kings and Queens with Nas and Wale may be the one that surprises people the most. What do you think about the whole conscious rap and party rap divide? And how do you feel that Kings and Queens maybe responds to that?

I think that’s just a part of the hip hop culture. It’s real competitive and fans are real strict with what they support. Nas has a whole different fan-base that I have, and I have different fan-base than Wale has. [But] I think that’s what music is at the end of the day, nobody has to stay in their lane, it’s supposed to be for everybody. It’s self-expression so I think however you wanna express yourself you should be able to. I think the track’s just perfect. The song which doesn’t go from good to bad or bad to good, it stays consistent.

After the success of your Fan of a Fan mixtape with Chris Brown do you have any plans to do any future projects with him?

We’re talking about possibly doing a Fan of a Fan album, we had the mixtape, so we’re talking about doing an album. Hopefully soon.

So what else have you got coming up other than promoting the album?

I’m on tour right now! I just started my tour in the States, and I’ma bring it overseas in May.

I heard somewhere that you’re writing a pop-up book, is this true?!

[Pause]…Writing a what?

A children’s book!

Nah.

Oh. Erm, that must have been some random internet stuff I read then. [I move on awkwardly while Tyga wonders if I'm mad]

Other than YOLO, what’s a motto you live by?

Doing the best you can and giving it your all. Because if you don’t try, and continue to try you’ll never succeed. Whether you fail, or you succeed, just as long as you try. And I think you just really gotta take everything (successes and failures) as motivation.

What can we do to make the world less Careless?

Stop being hypocrites, and stop being so judgmental. [For example] Twitter is really good, and the internet is a good source to be able to contact artists, and it’s just way more interactive. But at the same time it’s used the wrong way sometimes, and it sends the wrong message to people who follow rather than lead. So sometimes the internet and all that shit makes people tend to have [someone else's] opinion rather than leading with their own opinion, you know?

Tyga’s debut album, Careless World: Rise of the Last Kings is released in the UK on 12th March 2012.

Video Jukebox episode 3! This is going well, I’ve received some positive feedback on this weekly post and I’m starting to even receive requests (even though it was from Yin haha) so that makes it all worth the 3 hours it takes me to write this (alongside some pondering) This week I’ve picked quite a random bunch from pop-trash Ke$ha (I promise you it’s good), nu-rave 14th, some corny R&B from Carl Thomas, Hip Hop from ItsNate, Overdoz, Mikill Pane and the Bakery Boys, soul from the lovely Iman Omari and last but no ways least, some thought provoking poetry from Dean Atta! Hit the jump to check the visuals, and enjoy :-)!

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Ke$ha ft Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, T.I. and Andre 3000 – Sleazy (Get Sleazier remix 2.0)

Yes. That’s right, I decided to start this post with music by Miss ‘ihatesoap’ Kesha…but bare with me on this one! Featuring Wiz Khalifa, Andre 3000, T.I. and Lil Wayne the video was put together by Kesha’s eclectic bunch of friends where they ‘take sleazy to a whole new level’. Every rapper kills it on this verse (Andre exceeds…obviously), and to be honest Kesha’s vocals are quite fitting. If you’ve ever wanted to see a transgender male in a mini skirt miming over a Wiz verse, an old man ‘stuntin like a fool’ a la T.I. or a fat man with a mohican pretending to be Kesha….tune in! Props to MusicNerdery for convincing me to watch this!

14th – Take Me There

In the follow up to the 14th’s video for the acoustic version of ‘Take Me There’, we now have the official video for the pair’s forthcoming single, due to be released on 13th February (the 14th would be an overkill right?). The video, partly shot on a houseboat in London, features Tracey adorned in an orange gown singing about her dissatisfaction at her current situation. The track is quite a paradox in that the beat makes you wanna bust a bogle in a warehouse party, but the actual concept of the song is quite sad. 90′s House & Garage and Dance music is one of my most relished genres of music, and I would like to speak for every 80′s London baby when I say thank you to Tracey Duodo (vocals) and Tom Barber (production) for not only resurrecting, but rejuvenating this much missed sound, by adding their own touch to it!

14th Website | 14th Facebook | 14th SoundCloud | 14th Twitter

ItsNate – Call me a Cab

London rapper ItsNate released the visuals this week for ‘Call Me A Cab’, the first track taken from his forthcoming ep, Suede Jones, Smooth Material released mid-February. A combination of London fun, pretty girls, Budgie’s production with elements of groove & funk and relatable verses from the mellow rapper, ItsNate make this video real nice. Visuals were put together by @johnniefraud @joey2bunn and @phdldn.

ItsNate Twitter | ItsNate Tumblr

Overdoz – Growin Pains

Overdoz drop visuals for the track, “Growin Pains” shot in Inglewood, L.A. I’ve become so obsessed with music out of Cali…that I’ve planned to go an visit this year. Hopefully I won’t run into any short men in cowboy boots and YMCA Lakers jerseys whilst I’m there! Nice track for a Sunday chill sesh! I love me some Overdoz!
Overdoz Twitter | Overdoz Tumblr 

Bakery Boys – Up & Down Girl feat The Thirst

London based, Hip Hop trio Bakery Boys lay out their romantic woes in their latest track featuring some beautiful vocals from Mensah of The Thirst.  The video (directed by Courtney Edwards and edited by Shane Davey) is set in what looks like an abandoned school building and cuts between each rapper and their respective girlfriends having a bit of an emotional crisis – the editing and colour is real nice and Mensah’s vocals alongside the boys’ storyteller lyrics add a nice touch. The relationship theme is perfectly timed as we come up to Valentines day…but I also think this would suit perfectly as a summer tune! Props to Niran for the tip!!

Bakery Boys – Website | Facebook | Twitter | The Thirst

The Thirst Website | The Thirst Facebook | The Thirst Twitter

Dean Atta – I Am Nobody’s Nigger

Thought-provoking performance poet, Dean Atta hooked up with SB.TV to produce visuals for his critically acclaimed piece, ‘I Am Nobody’s Nigger’ (having appeared in both HuffPost & TheGuardian). The recent sentencing of Stephen Lawrence’s murderers brought to light that the last word beloved Stephen would’ve heard before his death was, ‘Nigger’. This inspired Dean to write this piece calling for unity and brandishing rappers and other artists who persist to use the word mindlessly as cowards and irresponsible. Scorcher, Clement Marfo, Random Impulse, Mic Righteous, Roxxxan and Jamal Edwards from SB.TV join to show support for Dean’s message which I think is a welcome wake-up call! I wouldn’t stop listening to music because it contained the word, but this video has made me want to remove this word from my vocabulary. I feel it’s hard to completely understand the reasoning for the use of the word throughout Hip Hop’s history in the States – a recent trip to New York taught me that, although I have black heritage just like many of my friends living there – our history is very different and so I wouldn’t cast judgement on their use of the word. But in Britain…I don’t think we have any reason for it, in fact I wish Dean had called out Tinie Tempah for his use of the word, as opposed to Jay-Z/Kanye. But regardless this is a well-shot video, with a thought-provoking message which I think you should watch, absorb and share :-)

Dean Atta Website | Dean Atta Youtube | Dean Atta Twitter | Dean Atta Facebook 

(click here to purchase ‘I Am Nobody’s Nigger’ on iTunes – all proceeds will be donated to the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust.)

Carl Thomas ft Snoop Dogg – Don’t Kiss Me

Seems like everyone is gearing up to get their Valentine releases out just in time (yuck!). To say this video is old-school, is an understatement – but it’s nice to hear new material from Carl Thomas! And it’s absolutely hilarious to see Snoop getting his soul-man-finger-click-n-shoulder-shuffle on. ‘Don’t Kiss Me’ is taken from Carl Thomas’ album titled, ‘Conquer’ which came out in December of last year.

Carl Thomas website | Carl Thomas Facebook | Carl Thomas Twitter | Conquer album purchase

Mikill Pane @ Dope Chef – Fresh Off The Boat

London lyricist, Mikill Pane marks his longtime collaboration with clothing brand, Dope Chef in this freestyle video shot in their boat store! Rapping over Jay-Z’s Big Pimpin, Mikill Pane does the beat justice with a tongue-twisting narration of his love life antics! Mister Pane’s album titled, Blame Miss Barclay is due for a 2012 release so keep your ears/eyes peeled!

Mikill Pane Website | Mikill Pane Facebook | Mikill Pane Twitter | Mikill Pane SoundCloud

Iman Omari – Worth It

I wrote about Iman Omari and his Energy ep a little while back which I still highly recommend you download! Not much happens in the way of action in this video I must admit…but it features the beautiful Iman passing a joint back and forth with his girl and the tune makes the watch well ‘worth it’ ;-)

Iman Omari Website | Iman Omari Twitter 

WE’RE BACK with new songs from Amy Winehouse, Robin Thicke, Shannell, Coldplay, Florence & The Machine and more. So much goodness, trust me your ears are in for a treat. One bonus track! Hop on after cut.

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ROBIN THICKE x LIL WAYNE

‘Pretty Little Heart‘

Jheeze this is a good song! When I first listen to this track I was a little disappointed but having listened to it on a few occasions I now find this song utterly sexy but for the presence of Lil Wayne at the start. Robin Thicke is one of those artists that doesn’t get the mainstream recognition and/or plaudits that he deserves but at the same time this is the reason why I like him even more. He just continues to make good soulful music regardless, he doesn’t chase chart success by changing up his style and I admire that quality. Pretty Lil Heart is the first single taken from his upcoming 5th studio album.

Selected by DJB

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COLDPLAY

‘We Found Love (Rihanna Cover)‘

This came out late last week but I don’t think many have listened to it yet, mainly due to the original getting massive airplay everywhere. Honestly speaking I didn’t even know it was a cover of a Rihanna song till someone told me, Coldplay have made it their own. An anthemic and easy listening version of the Bajan songstress’s number one single. I prefer this version, what do you reckon?

Selected by Yin

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SHANELL x LIL WAYNE x DRAKE

‘So Good‘

Unlike the Robin Thicke track Lil Wayne fits this song perfectly. His rap at the beginning and Drake’s interruption in the middle coupled with Shanell’s soulful vocals just makes this one of those tracks that you blast real loud while you ride around in your car with the roof off. For me this song would be better suited for a summer release however I think this is just a leak rather than a release so it still may get a summer release but the same time there’s a strong possibility that the song will never get released.

Its good to hear some new music from Shanell because for a while it did seem like Young Money had forgotten about their songstress. Hopefully she’ll have a big year next year, although I am gonna need to take that nose/earring thing out of her nostrils please, thanx.

Selected by DJB

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FLORENCE & THE MACHINE

‘Lover To Lover‘

Selected by Yin

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FRANK OCEAN

‘Back‘

Na but seriously why haven’t we received a full length Frank Ocean album yet? Yes I know there were plans to release Nostalgia, ULTRA commercially but for those who are already onto Ocean’s talents we have already heard those songs and are awaiting something new. This week newness comes in the form of ‘Back’. Honestly this isn’t something that will blow your socks off however it’s still a cool song. I kinda get the vibe that this song was written for someone else, Mario perhaps?

Selected by DJB

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BONUS – AMY WINEHOUSE x NAS

‘Like Smoke‘

We just HAD to feature this song as a bonus. I’m sure most of you have already heard it but it’s the first piece of music that has surfaced since her death a few months ago. Produced by Salaam Remi and it features her good friend Nas. It’s a beautiful song – her soulful vocals and Nas‘ smooth flow compliment each other really well. Although it does feel like a Nas (feat. Amy Winehouse) track. RIP Amy.

Selected by Yin

BOOM. We back – well later than usual. I’m tired, just got home after a birthday dinner at Jamie’s Kitchen in Stratford Eastfield Westfield. Not moaning though, I’ve still got a bit of work to do before I head to bed tonight and up again at 7. Ready for this week! going to be managing this week’s campaign, in the mean time – head on after the cut for some musical goodness. 5 tracks to start your week off the right way.

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DRAKE x LIL WAYNE

‘The Real Her‘

Bedroom music. Well Drake’s best attempt at it – you can’t expect Maxwell quality croon vocals from him but he does a good job with the smooth lyrics over the mellow beats. I actually don’t mind Lil Wayne on this, strange. His verse compliments Drizzy’s singing. This track has nothing on his mixtape songs though.

Selected by Yin

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ESTELLE

‘Remember Me‘

Last week Estelle dropped some new material in the form of a mixtape, it hardly came as a surprise to me as she needed to do something since people have been expecting new music from her for around 2 years! She’s cheekily named it ‘AOM: The Prequel’ clearly hinting her new album ‘All Of Me’ is on it’s way. One of the songs that stood out for me is Remember Me, I thought it best showcased Estelle’s skills and why she is respected as an artist- so that’s why I’ve chosen it for eargasms this week.

Selected by Yang

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BEYONCÉ x J. COLE

‘Party Remix‘

Mrs Roc Nation calls on J.Cole to spit a verse on the remix of this Slick Rick/Doug E.Fresh sampled throwback song, courtesy of Kanye‘s innovative funk-inspired production. Taking Andre 3000′s place on ‘Party’, J.Cole completely switches up his flow, in a similar fashion to his ‘Nobody’s Perfect‘ joint. A bit of an unnecessary remix in my opinion, J.Cole doesn’t come his hardest…but then again neither did 3000.

Selected by Tara

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COLDPLAY x FEDDE LE GRANDE

‘Paradise Club Mix‘

Selected by Annabel

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FAT JOE x CHRIS BROWN

‘Another Round‘

Fat Joe is back with a new track called ‘Another Round’ whihc features RnB crooner Chris Brown. The song is a smooth groove that is esay on the ears but doesn’t scream greatness. As ever Chris does his thing and is probably the main attraction of the song along with the cool beat. Joey Crack does a good job too but honestly it could have been any rapper on this track and my reaction tot he song would probably be the same. I’d give this song 3 outta 5.

Selected by DJB

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]]> http://yinnyang.co.uk/2011/10/eargasms-51/feed/ 0 http://yinnyang.co.uk/2011/09/lloyd-%e2%80%93-dedication-to-my-ex-miss-that-f-andre-3000/ http://yinnyang.co.uk/2011/09/lloyd-%e2%80%93-dedication-to-my-ex-miss-that-f-andre-3000/#comments Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:00:07 +0000 Tara http://yinnyang.co.uk/?p=34355

A couple of months ago a Youtube video accompanied by simple on-screen lyrics was released for Lloyd’s single “Dedication To My Ex” from his new album, King of Hearts. The track was an ode to Motown style R&B and featured Lil Wayne and Andre 3000. Guaranteed hit you’d assume? But in the same way that Cee-Lo Green’s “Fuck You” was way too explicit for the MTV daytime audience, music execs replaced some of the rude words on the “Dedication To My Ex” track in a hope for mainstream success. And thus, what could have been fun, risky visuals narrating Lloyd swooning about missing his unfaithful girlfriend’s sex – starring two of the best MC’s of our time…is instead a censored, extremely-standard music video set in a garage featuring Wayne Brady attempting to pass off as a non-dreadlocked/tattooed Lil Wayne, and a cat miming along to Andre 3000′s verse. Weird. Well at least Lloyd cut off his hair. Peep the video after the jump.

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Replace the world “Loving” with the word “Pussy”  (34 times) – throw in a couple more rude words and some genuine attitude…and you’ll have the original song! How freaking scary is that weird cat miming along to Andre 3000′s section? I mean I guess the pussycat’s cameo is meant to represent the absence of the word pussy in the main song, so the director was trying to creatively make up for the absence of my favourite rapper. But as for the Lil Wayne fill-in, now that’s just cheap – imagine how Wayne Brady feels, an actor trying to make his name and be taken seriously and instead his music video cameo consists of him sitting in a car miming along to incomprehensible lyrics of a jegging wearing, codeine-sipping crazy rapper. The times we live in. Regardless, the song is still pretty cool and can be found on Lloyd’s fourth studio album, “King of Hearts” which also features collaborations with Trey Songz, Young Jeezy, Chris Brown, Teyana Taylor(?), R.Kelly, Keri Hilson and 50 Cent.

I think by now we all know that I love me some Nicki Minaj so when I came across this cover of one of her songs I knew I just had to post it. Married couple Amy and Nick make up the youtube sensation that is Karmin. Under this guise they have posted many videos of themselve covering the songs of some of our favourite music artists. They have become so popular that they have performed covers on the Ellen Degeneres show and on air with Ryan Seacrest. Having first come across their Minaj cover of Super Bass I then continued to watch them take on Lil Wayne, Chris Brown and more. Peep a few of their covers after the break, notice the Questlove from The Roots is in the Super Bass cover.

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Karmin – Super Bass (Nicki Minaj Cover)

Karmin – 6 Foot 7 (Lil Wayne Cover)

Karmin – Look At Me Now (Chris Brown et al, Cover)