Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience Part 2 of 2

Timberlake came back to finish what he started. Described as the more "experienced...older sister" to Part 1 released in March, the masses have been blessed with a total of 12 tracks from Timba & Timbo's second 2013 outing. 

Is it really a blessing though? Well, yes and no. Not so much of a sequel as it is another half of the same album, 'Part 2' once again features Timbaland as its main producer. His role is as prominent on both albums as Justin's is. You can hear some of the greatest production and melodies of the year on both parts for sure. The grand symphonic sounds are back ('You Got It On', 'Amnesia') as well as Timberlake riding the beat under Timbaland's bassy beatboxing ('TKO', 'True Blood' and once again...'Amnesia'). But what the two bring to this time around is the mainstream radio sound taking prevalence on ‘Drink You Away’ and ‘Not A Bad Thing’. This I don't love as much.

Justin proclaimed that the previous disc was music made for the summer, while the later is for the bleaker autumn/winter - which I don't really understand. There is nothing as icy or aloof as 'Blue Ocean Floor' from part one, and save for Justin dropping a few f-bombs it's in no way colder or more appropriate for the darker months. 

Justin’s voice is just as perfect as ever, and Timbaland once again crafts (or reserves) his best work for the former mouseketeer. But save for four of the albums tracks (‘Amnesia’, ‘Murder’, ‘True Blood’ and 'Cabaret'), the two fail to deliver a stellar conclusion to what kicked off at the beginning of the year. In all honesty it's best to just stick to those four, especially 'Cabaret'. With an amazing feature from Drake and cheeky lyrics such as "if sex is a contest then you're coming first" and "I got you saying Jesus so much it's like we're laying in a manger" it's instantly one of the best songs from either of Timberlake's 'Experience' pieces.

A-

Key Tracks: True Blood, Cabaret, Murder, Amnesia

Drake - Nothing Was The Same

What better way to write my first album review on this blog for the year (which is ridiculous as it's the end of September) than to cover one of the best albums of 2013?

Drake's third album, "Nothing Was The Same" was released on Monday, a week after its online leak. Yes, the man who put Melancholy & B on the map is back to tell us how sad he is. I couldn't be happier about it. But for the first time in his career, Drake chooses to lead us in with the upbeat and hypnotising track 'Tuscan Leather'. Sampling Whitney Houston's ‘I Have Nothing’, the opener is three interlude’s in one. Letting us know that he’s here to stay, (“I'm tired of hearing ‘bout who you checking for now, just give it time we’ll see who’s still around a decade from now”) the Canadian rapper has never seemed so pompous, believable and likeable at the same time.

Drake’s grandiosity is broken up by his sombre temperament  similar to his last two efforts "Thank Me Later" and "Take Care". 'Connect' and the previously leaked 'The Motion' reek of the rapper’s feelings we've all come to know, and 'From Time' is the 'Take Care' of NWTS, aided by a beautifully fitting Jhene Aiko. ‘Own It’ features a first for any rapper in existence  as Drake utters the words – “Next time we fuck, I don’t wanna fuck, I wanna make love”. You can tell he really means this one. 

What does separate him from his previous LP's is how angry he is in parts of NWTS. Okay, so he’s not at a Yeezus level of rage (yet) but his versus have never sounded as forceful or urgent as they have here . It’s hard to believe the same person spittin’ is the same person singing on ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’, a song so filled with golden throwback  goodness it seems almost too perfect to have been released this year.

'Nothing Was The Same' is without a doubt his most diverse album thus far, at least on a lyrical level. It's the perfect addition to his already strong discography. Drake should be proud of this one. 

A-

Key Tracks: Tuscan Leather, Worst Behaviour, From Time

VMAs: The Good, The Bad and The Downright Disgusting

On Sunday night, I said to a good friend, "I haven't said this in 10 years, but I am really excited for the VMAs tonight". That's no exaggeration, as I feel like the MTV Video Music Awards haven't been good since about 2003 or '04. What once seemed to be an alternative awards ceremony celebrating the best in the business and those who couldn't get close to a Grammy later turned into a seemingly overreaching spectacle to win viewership ratings. 

This year saw the awards return back to form. Although it wouldn't be the VMAs without a lil' controversy, it was nice to see a strong selection of nominees while also witnessing some incredible live performances. 

Ten of the show's moments have been spread (unevenly) into three categories; The Good, The Bad and the troll-under-a-bridge ugly. I don't think it takes a genius to guess which moments were the ugliest.

5. Lady Gaga's opener - 'Applause'

Yes, Lady Gaga opened the show with 'Applause', the first single off her third album 'Artpop'. While I'm sure some of you found time to cheer her, others were more likely to moan and groan, as after only four years, a lot of people seem to be sick of her already. My expectations for this performance were at a comfortable average to reasonably high, only to be exceeded entirely. 

Why Gaga found it necessary to wear four different costumes and three different wigs is unbeknownst to me at this moment in time, but for now I'll just take it as it was. An incredibly entertaining show opener.


4. The Surprise presenters




Something I didn't see coming were the appearances of Jason Collins, TLC and Lil' Kim this year. Even though Kim herself is a native Brooklynite (where the event was held this year), I never would've guessed that she'd actually turn up, especially since she left me hanging at Lovebox this year. Taking turns to introduce performances by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Drake, and the nominees for Best Rap Video respectively, the three were a pleasant add to the mix among the stars of the new generation, including Iggy Azalea, Selena Gomez and Bruno Mars.

3. Danity Kane's reformation

While a collective 'WHO?!' sweeps this post/nation/the internet, lemme say one thing. Danity Kane are my jam. Those who know me know this. Shannon, Aundrea, Aubrey and Dawn stepped out together as a group for the first time five years, acting like no time had passed at all. The band made famous on MTV's Making The Band released two albums in '06 and '08 before being disbanded by the groups creator, the Ciroc splashing Diddy in '09. Becoming the only girl group in history to have their first two albums début atop the Billboard chart, the new foursome (the fifth member, 'D. Woods' decided not to return for whatever reason), announced that they're currently readying a new single, titled 'Rage' from their upcoming third album. Sure they've been gone longer than they were together, and most people don't know who they are, but I remain excited.

2. Kanye West's 'Blood on the Leaves'

The most shocking thing that Kanye West can do at the point is act like a normal human being. Which is pretty much what he did the entire time he was on stage performing 'Blood on the Leaves' this year. West made a rare appearance at this years awards to perform a track from his dark, twisted but not so beautiful LP, Yeezus on Sunday night. While performing in front of the backdrop to Steve McQueen's "Lynching Tree", West flailed and wailed to the track which samples Nina Simone's 'Strange Fruit'. So maybe it wasn't exactly normal, but pretty normal for him at least. 

1. Justin Timberlake & NSync's Medley 

How could this not be #1? The recipient of this year's Video Vanguard Award blessed us with a 15 minute medley of almost every song he's ever released.  About half way through Timberlake headed towards the stage to reunite with the best boyband of all time, NSync for 'Gone', 'Bye Bye Bye' and 'Girlfriend'.

The choreography and vocals were air fucking TIGHT. 

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

and most importantly, Exhibit C:

And let's not forget about this:

I need a slo-mo of that:

Everyone, their mother, and Lady Gaga lost their minds:

The Bad

3. Katy Perry's closer, 'Roar'

To be fair, this show had the fewest poor moments since I started watching the show in 1998, so it was quite hard to pick these. So I'm sorry Katy Perry but this one goes to you. Also performing the lead single from her third album, Perry opted for a 'Rocky' themed stage set under the Brooklyn Bridge. The performance wasn't necessarily 'bad' exactly, just a tad slow and dull for a show closer. It probably doesn't help that I also don't like the song at all.

2. Taylor Swift's potty mouth

It's hard to know who she was referring to exactly or whether it was just clever editing, but there's a member of One Direction she clearly can't stand the sound of. Bad in the best possible way.


1. That weird voice Joseph Gordon Levitt was speaking in.

JGL took the stage to present the award for Video of the Year, only to grace us with a really weird 19th Century circus ringleader persona. Although he recognised his own ridiculousness, he was met on stage by the awards recipient, Justin Timberlake also using the same voice...which made it slightly less cringe-inducing. Slightly.

The Ugly

2. Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's 'We Can't Stop/Blurred Lines/Give It 2 Me'

As this feature is already a lot more image and gif heavy than expected, I'm gonna keep this one clean and short. What the hell was I even watching when Miley Cyrus performed 'We Can't Stop'? From the sad teddy bears, to the backoff slapping, to Cyrus's 'twerking', I don't even know where to begin. At least for the final song we had 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar attempt to save this desperate and unnecessary attempt for Cyrus to shed her child star skin. Call me an old codger but I was kinda disgusted. 

I'm gonna let this image speak for itself and be done with it...

...urgh...



1. Everyone's reaction to it

...Except I can't be cause the reactions are some of the best things to come out of this years ceremony. Of course, the Parents Television Council complained as it's pretty much what they do, but the Twittersphere exploded. In fact, this performance alone produced a gargantuan 306,000 tweets per minute, breaking a record previously held by Beyonce's Superbowl performance in February. Low and behold my favourite tweet o' them all:

Heh.


So there you have it. With 10.6 million live viewers it was also the most watched VMA telecast in recent years. More importantly there was something for everyone this year.
Unless you're a Chris Brown fan.

Credit to, fuckenamyy, tammygu3, Mashable, @flashinlightsU and MTV, and anyone elses .gifs I used from Tumblr.

Nicki Minaj- 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded' (album)

Like any artist following a super successful debut album, expectations are undoubtedly high for Miss Minaj’s second LP. Nicki has returned to us, without actually going anywhere for a Jekyll and Hyde-ish sophomore album of tracks for both hip-hop and dance-pop lovers. Nicki Minaj pushed the album back from its original release date of 14^th of Feb this year to allow her more time to perfect the album. But to be honest, the end result is almost a complete mess, as I find the album to be incredibly lacklustre, not living up to the hype at all.

Although a string of mediocre songs leaked ahead of time before the album tracklist was finalised, I still had hopes that this album would be incredibly strong, but the fact of the matter is, that Minaj’s rap half of the album isn’t nearly as lyrically on-point as Pink Friday, or her mixtapes that preceded the album, while the dance songs are mostly redundant and end up sounding like every other artist out at the moment only worse, failing to offer anything exciting or new. Album opener “Roman Holiday” would be an incredible song if it wasn’t for the cringe-worthy chorus, and “Whip It” ends up borrowing a verse out of the previously unreleased Nicki Minaj and Cassie track “Fuck U Silly”. But it’s not all bad, as the infectious “Va Va Voom”, “Pound The Alarm” and gritty “Champion” featuring Young Jeezy, Nas, and non-husband Drake end up saving the album from sophomore-slump hell. 

What’s puzzling is that Nicki omits the buzz track “Roman in Moscow” calling the song “wack” when in reality, it’s better than half of the songs on the album. It might be a strong statement to say that Nicki has bought into her own hype for her second effort, but I still have hopes that a third album will be able to marry Minaj’s commercial and “bad-bitch” sides equally, without having to divide fans with a schizophrenic album full of filler.

As much as I like Nicki Minaj, this is extremely disappointing.

C-

Key tracks: Champion, I Am Your Leader