It’s a good week for Lil Wayne as he holds there places in this week’s Shazam New Release USA top 10, including the number one spot alongside Drake, DJ Khaled and Rick Ross.
The last few years have seen an increasing propensity for American rap acts to sample blog friendly electronic music. Nicki Minaj, Snoop Dogg, Will.i.am and KanYe West have all pulled off the trick with varying degrees of success. Drake’s latest record is one of the more interesting efforts to follow this path. Using Jai Paul’s ‘BTSU’ as a base, Drake spaces out the record to create a vacuous backdrop for his rhymes.
In truth, by sampling Jai Paul Drake has struck on an instant winner. The British singer is probably one of the most talked about new acts in English tastemaker circles, due to his recent singing to super cool independent XL – home of Adele and Vampire Weekend to name but two. He’s seen by many as an act who can bring unclassifiable post-dubstep-electronica to the masses and BBC DJ’s such as Zane Lowe have been keen early adopters.
The beats of ‘Dreams Money Can Buy’ may be remarkably forward thinking, but Drake’s lyrical themes aren’t breaking any new ground. Not that you would expect Drake to do it any different. Since dropping the hit album ‘Thank Me Later’ Drake’s sole mission has been to tell the world how much money he’s got; which girls he’s been with; and which cars he’s been driving. ‘Dreams Money Can Buy’ is no different with Drake telling the world how he wants ‘”Saudi money” and manual drive cars. With past romantic liaisons rumoured with everyone from Nicki Minaj to Rihanna (mostly rumoured by Drake himself) and a lucrative deal with Cash Money records, its likely Drake has some substance to back up his continual bragging.
New Orleans born DJ Khaled assembles an all-star cast for ‘I’m On One’ – a track which storms to the top of the Shazam New Release Chart USA this week.
TW
Artist
Title
Release Date
1
DJ Khaled Feat. Drake & Rick Ross & Lil Wayne
I’m On One
20 May 2011
2
Jason Derulo
Don’t Wanna Go Home
20 May 2011
3
Lady Gaga
The Edge Of Glory
09 May 2011
4
David Guetta Feat. Flo Rida & Nicki Minaj
Where Them Girls At
02 May 2011
5
Lady Antebellum
Just A Kiss
03 May 2011
6
Nicole Scherzinger
Right There
13 May 2011
7
Frank Ocean
Novacane
31 May 2011
8
DJ Drama Feat. Wiz Khalifa & Fabolous & Roscoe Dash
The second single released from DJ Khaled’s fifth album ‘I’m On One’ features close friends to Kahled; Drake, Rick Ross and Lil’ Wayne. The song showcases Khaled’s diverse production skills and is a far cry from his usual horn filled anthems. A filtered chorus sung softly over by Drake while his attacking lyrics focus on newcomers to the Hip-Hop game and their naivety of their careers. Not normally one to create sparks; it appears a few people have certainly made a negative impression on Drake. Ross speaks with recognisable lyrics at a slow tempo and with less attitude than normal and Young Money affiliate Weezy keeps it short and sweet with a husky, lazy vocal.
The track sounds like Khaled has been working with one of Drake’s producer’s ‘40’, as it could have easily fit on Drake’s first mixtape ‘So Far Gone’ heavily produced by 40 and filled with slow, harmonic and filtered sounds. The team featured on this track have all worked together in the past and their chemistry is a welcome one to fans. DJ Khaled’s latest album ‘We The Best Forever’ is expected, with much anticipation, this June with a huge array of featured artists.
After he became the first artist to sign to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label, J Cole’s every move has been met with huge levels of hype. Perhaps in a bid to quell that hype, or indeed to stoke it up, Cole has been playing a waiting game with the listening public who have been breathlessly awaiting his debut album.
In the meantime he has been tossing them the odd morsel, mainly in the form of the occasional collaboration – naturally, one with Jay-Z – and a series of mixtapes. 2010′s ‘Friday Night Lights’ offering saw him team up with a number of artists, among them Canadian rapper Drake who was at the time just begging to tip the scales from the world of underground hip hop to the realm of mainstream pop. Drake co-stars on J Cole’s latest offering, ‘In The Morning’, a silky smooth slice of laid back R&B. Drake manages to inject a bit of humour with some references to his Aunt’s equestrian activities while J.Cole plays the straight man as the pair shift between verses as if they had been working together for years.
With a remix of Rihanna’s latest single in the bag, as well as waves of industry love, J Cole is likely to be one of 2011’s biggest hip hop success stories.
Rick Ross has high ambitions for his next album. Not content with delivering one of the biggest selling hip-hop records of last year, he’s stated his next full length will take things to “the next level”. In a recent interview with hip-hop bible The Source, Ross had this to say. “I’m looking to go to a place that will break some new territory and continue what I do. I may reach out to Lionel Richie for some sexy s**t!”
What the combination of Rick Ross’ hardcore gangster rhymes and Lionel’s smooth soul vibes would sound like is anyone’s guess. For now Ross fans can be content with his latest single, ‘Made Men’. The track sees RR once again collaborate with Canadian rapper Drake after the huge success of their former single, ‘Aston Martin Music’. The track sees both rappers go head to head name dropping and posturing over their huge wealth. Ross mentions his Bugatti coupe, which puts him at an advantage, until Drake namedrops his on/off flame, Rihanna. Needless to say, this puts Drake at pole position the bragging stakes.
‘Made Men’ is due for release next week on Def Jam
When Lil’ Wayne was sentenced to nine months in jail for drug possession back in January, the vertically challenged rapper managed to film seven music videos in the space of a day before being locked away. With two months pending until Weezy’s release, Young Money records released the track ‘Right Above It’, featuring Canadian rapper Drake and taken from Lil’ Wayne’s eighth studio album; ‘I Am Not A Human Being’. Released in August 2010 – while Weezy was still behind bars - this orchestra filled Hip-Hop track had been circulating the blogs and doing the rounds on US and UK radio months before its release.
The single reached #6 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number #1 in their US Hot Rap Songs. Quite an achievement for someone still serving time in prison. The track itself is the typical conclusion when these two rappers collaborate – a fiery, catchy and somewhat powerful Hip-Hop record. A club and radio friendly beat caught the ears of the UK’s very own Tim Westwood, who frequently had this instrumental on repeat while airing his drive time show on BBC’s 1-Xtra. Since Wayne’s release from jail in November, he has already been working on his follow up album for 2011 – ‘Tha Carter IV’. Sure to set in stone as another historic album from Louisiana’s finest sizzurp addicted rapper.
Rick Ross was obviously a happy man the day he dropped by the Aston Martin showroom judging by the video to this track, which is more or less a free advertisement for the UK based luxury car company. The tune is as smooth as the leather interior and matching walnut dash with Canadian rapper Drake in fine form, his elegant singing voice and crisp delivery acting as the perfect counterfoil to Ross’s meatier rhymes. Although it’s a relatively down tempo number the chunky beats keep things ticking over nicely and the production is first rate, with a variety of keyboards and strings dropping in and out. However, it’s the combination of the two rappers with the chorus vocals of Chrisette Michele that provide the highlights – Michele’s sultry swooping additions in particular proving effective.
It appears that even the normally debilitating process of incarceration can’t stop the productivity of Lil’ Wayne. Despite having to serve time until November 5th, Lil’ Wayne has readied his latest album ‘Tha Carter IV’ for release on – you guessed it – November 5th. The one obvious question is; how did the rapper manage to record in jail? According to sources, Wayne was heavily involved in the track selection process, which dipped into his bountiful stock of recorded output.
‘Right Above It’ features another of hip-hops recent success stories Drake, it sees Lil’ Wayne in a reflective mood. Commenting that “you know you’re at the top when only heaven’s right above it”, we can only wait to see if time inside has quenched the stars ego. However with his next album sure to rocket to the top of the charts, I wouldn’t bet on it.
2010 looks increasingly likely to become the moment that Drake reaches massive superstardom. Last year the young Canadian actor turned rapper managed the unusual achievement of hitting the US top ten with his first two singles - ‘Best I Ever Had’ and ‘Every Girl’ – both taken off his debut mixtape, ‘So Far Gone’. Their enormous success prompted a bidding war between several companies hoping to release the rising star’s proper full-length debut. It was Drake’s original collaborator Lil Wayne who won, and after months of careful preparations ‘Thank Me Later’ is nearly ready.
In March the excellent ‘Over’ began peaking our expectations and now the new KanYe West produced single, ‘Find Your Love’, anticipates the album’s imminent arrival. The track shares the same cool electronic yet emotional vein that West showed on his latest work.
‘Thank Me Later’ is expected to feature many other high profile guests such as Jay-Z, The-Dream and a surprise teaming up with alternative rock greats, Kings Of Leon. ‘Thank Me Later’ has been scheduled for a June 15 release via Young Money.
