My heart is sooooooooooooo full of joy!! Drake released his video for “I’m Upset” and OMG it was a Degressi Reunion LITERALLY!
If you’re not familiar with Degrassi, it was a Canadian TV school that Drake starred in, in the early 2000’s. He played one of the only black guys on the show named Jimmy. It was one of my FAVORITE adolescent tv shows. Well anywho….
THE SQUAD REUNITED!
He entered into his old high school with his best friend from the show, Spinner, real name Shane Kippel and many other cameos…
Besties Emma And Manny, played by Miriam McDonald and Cassie Steele
Fine Craig, played by Jake Epstein
Cutie Marco, played my Adamo Ruggiero
Hazel and Terri, played by Andrea Lewis and Christina Schmidt
Ole dude who shot Jimmy popped up and got chased out lol
Those Canadian movie guys showed up and they look EXACTLY the same lol
Just the whole squad kicking, like old times
This brought back so many memories and I’m glad Drake didn’t forget where he started from. Here’s the video below:
Kanye dropped his 8th album this past Friday and despite his crazy antics, his album is good. From addressing him being bipolar, to dedicating a song to his wife Kim and his daughters North and Chicago. YES, He’s been on some crazy shit lately from saying slavery was a choice to picking Whitney Houston’s drug infused bathroom as the cover art for Pusha T’s album that he produced…BUT, dude does have talent.
The Album Cover
His wife Kim (Kardashian-West) tweeted out that he JUST captured the cover art for his album Ye on the way to the listening party, literally hours before. That’s cray cray. I mean, the album cover really isn’t anything too crazy but the fact that he did it last minute just show his brain is very sporadic lol.
The Tracklist
“I Thought About Killing You”
It isn’t a secret that Kanye has some mental health issues, and specifically he came saying he was bipolar, so the first song on the track is “I Thought About Killing You.” I know….it sounds strange but in that song, some can debate that he was talking to and about his self. It literally says “Today I seriously thought about killing you, i contemplated, premeditated murder–And i think about bout killing myself and I love myself way more than I love you. You only care enough to kill someone you love—Sometimes I think really bad things.” Like I said, He could’ve been talking about someone orrrrrrrrrr he could’ve been talking about himself.
“Yikes”
In this record, he talks about some… yikes shit lol. Pretty much how life can get hectic and specifically his personal life. He referenced Russell Simmons getting #MeToo’ed. Then he talks about himself in third person–“See that’s why I fucks with Ye” and says that his bipolar is his super power, which is a good way to look at it to keep a positive mindset, Dude is something else.
“All Mine”
The title is self explanatory and just women in general, from Tristan (Khloe Kardashian baby daddy) cheating on her. The production on this record is dope AF.
“Wouldn’t Leave”
Kanye addressed the “Slavery Was A Choice” statement and pretty much said he could’ve said worse. All in all, he stands by his statement. BUT on the flip side, he says his wife, Kim Kardashian-West. I like how he speaks of Kim in this song, as annoying as she can be at times, but he stated that she stuck by his side while he was battling his demons, and she could’ve left him but she did and she’s appreciated for that.
“No Mistakes”
Kanye sampled Slick Rick “Hey Young World” in this song, along with having legendary singer Charlie Wilson on the record and even Kid Cudi, whom he has an album coming THIS FRIDAY June 9.
“Ghost Town”
This is probably my second favorite song on the album. Kid Cudi comes back on this record singing the main chorus saying he’s been trying to make you love him but everything he does is not good enough; that’s pretty sad. Then, a young singer by the name of 070 Shake comes in on the outro of the record talking feelings of being a child and doing childish things like putting your hand on a stove knowing it’s hot, but to see if you still bleed or even hurt in general. But she also references being free saying “And nothing hurts anymore, I feel kinda free.” To me, that symbolizes having so many feelings to the point where you have to numb yourself to it and when you’re numb to certain things, it doesn’t bother you anymore. Then, sometimes you have to snap out of the numbness and see if you still have feelings, hence, putting your hand on a stove to see if you still bleed, to see if you still feel pain and have feelings. (kinda deep, I know) lol.
Lastly….
“Violent Crimes”
Long story short, this is dedicated to his daughter and it is absolutely beautiful. The lyrics are clear and self explanatory:
“Don’t grow up in a hurry”
“Niggas is savage, niggas is monster, niggas is pimp, niggas is playas, till niggas have daughter”
“I see women as something to nurture, not something to conquer”
Ye pretty much views women differently after having two daughters. He had Ty Dolla $ign hitting some vocals on the chorus too and brought 070 Shake from track 6 on this records, singing towards the end. I can’t relate but I can definitely tell where he was coming from and I respect him for that.
Overall
I love the album. I haven’t listened to a full Kanye album in a while because he’s been an asshole for a while now and even though this is the worst time to listen to his album but I was curious and I’m glad I listened to it. I STILL don’t agree with his way of thinking and antics but he is a talented artist, without a doubt. I mainly loved the slow melody tracks on this album. Him being bipolar affected his album in a positive way because with him battling his crazy thoughts is what made the album sound so dope.
I give him 4.5 stars…only because of his slavery comments, maybe even 4 stars lol. But I fucks with this Ye album.
I sat down with one of my good friends and a talented artist about his music, being a solo artist, moving to a different coast AND new music he has on the way. Check out my BWxnda interview below.
Comment
v
v
Like
v
v
Share
Make sure you check out his music on Spotify @BWxnda
Wale has been on a roll with dropping these EPs (extended play) lately. In Mid March, he dropped the EP It’s Complicated that had 4 songs on it, including “Black Bonnie” featuring Jacquees, which I absolutely LOVE, it’s more slow melody EP. Then yesterday he dropped Self Promotion., which is more hip hop based with a splash of slow melody. Not only did he release these two EPs two months apart but he just released a whole album last April, Shine. I guess he figured, he gotta stay relevant and by that, he’s dropping back to back EPs.
I respect that he’s independent and that sound is different than other artists to me. There “may” be artists who have his same flow but I believe he is the first to do so with poetic words. It’s Wale’s delivery that makes his music different and as a artist/rapper, he can express his feelings in a poetic flow without sounding like a punk lol.
What are your thoughts about Wale dropping these back to EPs?
On Saturday, Childish Gambino, also known as Donald Glover for his government name that he uses for acting purposes, dropped a song and video titled “This Is America” and let me tell ya….it was needed.
He starts off the video, topless, dancing then BOOM, he shoots a guy with a pillow case covered over his head, in the head. But the way he shoots him is in the stance with one leg stretched in an angle and the other bent slightly. After researching, that stance that he shot the guy in, was part of a Jim Crow caricature dance. Jim Crow is the practice of segregating black people. With him doing that stance, he wants to show that Jim Crow is still I a thing in America, hence “This Is America” title; the lyrics are “Don’t Catching You Slippin Up.”
He goes on doing a bunch of trendy dances, with students dressed in uniforms. The dancing was going on in front of us but did you pat attention to the craziness happening behind the dancing? NOPE, that was the point. Dancing could be used as a distraction in America to distract us from what’s really going on. That could be social media in a sense too.
Next scene is a black choir singing, Gambino comes out and shoots them, hinting at the 2015 Charleston Church shooting. Self explanatory message.
You see a burning car and a police car with sirens on, people around, and a person on a horse
Gambino continues to dance again with the school kids but in the background, You see a burning car and a police car with sirens on, people around, and a person on a horse. He lifts his hand up acting as if his hand is a gun, then everyone disappears, he lights a blunt. Then the guy he shot with the pillow case over his head, is playing the guitar. Gambino then hops on a car, one of many that are portrayed in the video, and dances until the video goes black. As the video is zooming out, you see SZA sitting on the car. After the video goes black, he is seen running fast because there are people chasing him, then the video ends.
Every time I watched this video, I saw something new. How I perceived this video is this, Americans shoots and kills innocent people, but distracts us from some of those stories by people dancing or new trends on social media. Overall, I like the video, Childish Gambino is good for creating music that makes us sit back and listen.
What are your thoughts?? Comment them and check out the video below!