TNT’s Saturday Morning Special: Top 5 Tracks Of The Week (NEW MUSIC)
Happy Super Bowl XLV weekend. It’s the unofficial American holiday this weekend where man, woman, child, friend and foe sit side by side for an entire Sunday enjoying football. The Grammy’s are fast approaching, as is The Oscars and NBA All Star weekend. 2K12 is already a month old!
This week the world lost one of the most iconic men in American culture, Don Cornelius. Soul Train was the standard that helped introduce the funk and the soul of African American spirit to the world. Mr. Cornelius was the coolest ambassador with that golden voice and those glasses. Being a child of the 80’s Soul Train was already a music show that part of the weekly TV line up along with shows like Solid Gold. Soon MTV and the explosion of the hip-hop culture would rob Soul Train of some of its ability to introduce African American artists to the mainstream. But the train stayed on the track of relevancy throughout the 80’s and 90’s into the 2000’s.
Soon came the Soul Train Awards which would honor the most outstanding musicians. It has been said that Mr. Cornelius wasn’t fan of hip-hop music. But like all true visionaries, he saw how the next generation of young African American talent was quickly becoming apart of mainstream America. So many hip-hop acts benefited from being on his show. Salute to Don Cornelius, a man whose creative vision helped to shape the current foundation of music and broadcasting especially for but not just for African Americans. This last Soul Train line is for you…
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M.I.A. is one talented artist. I was lucky enough to meet her back in the day when I worked at a company called Cornerstone and she was still a young MC herself. But she already had style, the look, and a fresh perspective in her music that was missing at the time. M.I.A. was already big on the Euro scene. Of course Kanye sampled “Paper Planes” for “Swagga Like Us” and M.I.A.’s vocal sample rocked American airwaves from club to radio. Now she’s back with another dope record from producer Danja titled Bad Girls. Her signature Sri Lanken-Bali’ style with the British accent is truly original. Bad Girls should have the same impact as Paper Planes. This would sound dope with a Nicki Minaj remix.
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Mac Miller is the new suburban cool. He and fellow rapper Wiz Khalifa have made Pittsburgh just as relevant in the music as in the world of sports. His latest iTunes album Blue Slide Park has set new standards for an indie release. But the dope shit about Miller is he isn’t scared to branch out of his element. Mac’s obviously been to Harlem. Hence this new record featuring him and Cam’ron called “Dig That.” Killa’s Cam flow over this 70’s inspired Big Jerm track reeks of sour smoke. By the time Mac jumps on the beat already has your ears intoxicated. This won’t be anything but a great B Side or mixtape track but still another example of good new hip-hop music from the homie Mac Miller.
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Novel is one of the most slept on R&B artists. Good thing DJ Mick Boogie noticed this and laced him with the new track “Walk On By.” If your a fan of 90’s hip hop then you will hear the Black Moon “Buck Em Down” sampled over a fresh plate of drums courtesy of Boogie. Good to hear Novel continuing to make great music. Fans of his know he is one hit record away from being a household name. But who is Charlie Clips? He shows up in the middle of the track spitting a hot 16 bar flamer to keep this track fresh and edgy. Must hear music indeed.
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Melanie Amaro is the heartthrob winner on the X Factor. She is one LA Reid’s newest signees on Epic. This week a new up-tempo club record “Respect” was released in anticipation of the Super Bowl. It’s said the song will get a huge plug in one of the many Super Bowl commercials that will air. Melanie undoubtedly has the pipes and the talent to be one the pop music brightest new stars. The song Respect is a remake of the Aretha Franklin classic. Melanie shouldn’t have any problems connecting with fans especially after being on the X Factor. Time will tell though. Stay tuned!
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N.O.R.E. is the world renown “super thug” that made The Neptunes set a new standard in the late 90’s. Last year’s Finnito record saw the reunion of N.O. and Pharrell and it had decent success especially with Lil Wayne on it. This week N.O. leaked a new joint “Lehhhgooo” with a fresh cast of MCs including Busta Rhymes, Game and Wacka Flacka. Charlie Brown Beatz samples Chris Breezy’s favorite word and flips it into a clever but memorable hook. Be on the look out for N.O.R.E.’s new project titled Crack on Steroids guaranteed to be a different kind of dope. Until we read again!
Brandon ‘TNT’ West
Music Exec / Industry Insider/ The Andy Rooney of Hip Hop Culture
Holla at him @tnt718
