Bei Maejor recently dropped the totally free “Upside Down” album (download here) and I must say… it’s DAMN GOOD! Seriously, a lot of the stuff from this album has stayed in my rotation because it’s just good music and the homie knows how to tell a good story. Which brings us to this video for ‘She Was (A Broken Love Story)’. The video is mostly performance shots and random shots, not really following the story, but the song itself tells a great story so check it out. Also, make sure you get to know the homie Bei Maejor a little better via his interview with Sound-Savvy.

Watching this video, I immediately flashed back to this interview I did with him a few months back and it all made sense. Jokes people. Seriously, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer joins forces with Mr. Simmons aka B.o.B. aka Bobby Ray on this ‘Magic’ adventure for a video that’s entertaining and just cool. This is a perfect example of why we love B.o.B., he doesn’t take himself too seriously and he just has fun with his music. The version of the song in the video is slightly altered from the album version, as it contains some faint harmonies on the hook and a few extra ad libs – no other major changes, none needed. This song rocks!

‘Magic‘ does appear in B.o.B.’s Adidas commercial currently in rotation and can be found on his debut album The Adventures of Bobby Ray, reviewed here.

Sound-Savvy Says: Rock on Bob, rock the f*ck on!

Summer may be ending but Sean Garrett plans to keep the heat going a while longer with the release of his new clip ‘Summer Love’ from his newly released mixtape entitled “The Inkwell“. Bun B and Yo Gotti also guest star on the track. I haven’t heard the entire mixtape yet, but everything I’ve heard is pretty decent so far. Make sure you check it out…

The style of this video pays homage to the era when DJ’s reigned supreme!! There’s a lot of late 80′s fashion prevalent in Big Boi’s visual for ‘You Ain’t No DJ’ which also features up-and-coming Alabama rapper Yelawolf. The song is definitely one of my favorites from Big Boi’s Sir Lucious Leftfoot album (reviewed here) and the video is pretty good. Yelawolf is kinda… strange. Yeah, strange is the word I’ll use. Can’t quite put my finger on it but there’s something that’s a bit abnormal about him. Then again, the same could be said of Andre 3000, right?

Sound-Savvy Says: Stop frontin’ if u ain’t no DJ…

Soooo apparently T.I. and his wife Tiny were arrested last night on a drug posession charge. At a traffic stop on Sunset Drive in LA, police smelled marijuana coming from their Maybach and found an undisclosed amount of a controlled substance in the vehicle at the time.(confirmed by CNN and USA Today)

Now stop and read that shit again. How many things can you find wrong with the paragraph above? And I’m not talking grammar, spelling or punctuation. T.I., bro you JUST beat a 30-year sentence with 7 months in prison and 3 months in a damn halfway house. IS YOU SICK?? Why would you even be within 100 yards of some weed??? And on top of that… YOU THE KANG!!! You can pay somebody to buy AND roll your weed and even light it before you take a puff! Matter of fact, you ain’t even gotta touch the blunt or any other drug for that matter! Why homie?

Secondly… why are we smokin in the ride? Between the two of you, somebody gotta have the common sense to think “One of us just beat a felony charge… let’s just smoke this here weed at the crib FIRST… THEN go out joyriding!” Is it THAT difficult of a concept?

This post is something unlike the usual format because I’m a pissed off music fan. There aren’t too many rappers that stay in rotation on my iPod and T.I. is one of them. But dude, if you go back to jail off this STUPID BULLSHIT? I’m done. It’s just blatant stupidity. You on some OJ Simpson type stuff now, you just can’t stay off the law enforcement radar. No more sappy MTV apologies and reality shows of redemption. You got kids and endorsement deals on the line. Think about that the next time you roll up, light up and take a puff…

What are your thoughts… SAVVY or STUPID?

This is by far the most entertaining video I’ve watched in a LONG time!!! What I love about Cee-Lo and his new single ‘Fuck You’ is that it’s something we all can relate to – don’t front, you’ve been there too. In this video, Cee-Lo takes on a retro look and style to illustrate his evolution from boy-mistreated to The Lady Killer. His new album The Lady Killer is lookin at a release date towards the end of the year, tentatively set for December 7.

Sound-Savvy Says: Eff what u heard, this is genius…

I hate to use this analogy but Wiz Khalifa goes HARD IN THE PAINT on ‘Black and Yellow’, the first single released under his newly inked deal (no pun intended) with Atlantic Records. Wiz has been on the circuit longer than your favorite new rapper so show Taylor Gang some respect and bang this joint!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

John Legend is a brother to the blues on this cover of ‘I Can’t Write Left-Handed‘ originally done by Bill Withers. This cover is just as sincere and spot-on as the ’73 original. The video captures the in-studio performance of the track with some AWESOME instrumentation from The Roots. I’ve always respected both Legend and The Roots so I’m anticipating some immaculate music with their collaborative album when it drops in a few weeks.

That album, Wake Up! is set for release on September 21 and also features ‘Wake Up Everybody’ which also features Melanie Fiona and Common (watch here).

Sound-Savvy Says: Dagnabbit! This song shoots you right in the soul… GREAT.DAMN.MUSIC!

THIS!! This is R&B and Donell Jones KNOWS how to bring it! Check out the video for ‘Love Like This‘, the lead single from his forthcoming album “Lyrics” which drops September 28. The video is fairly simple but the song is a great offering of Donell’s CLASSIC sound. The vocals, the harmony, the overall sound of this song is aligned with the work that we’re used to from Donell in the late 90′s/early 00′s. Stay tuned, we WILL be bringing you more info on this great artist and his new project SOON…

Artist: Lyfe Jennings
Album: I Still Believe
Release Date: 8.31.10

Be sure to check out our EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Lyfe Jennings!

After a label switch and a bit of controversy in his personal life, Lyfe Jennings releases I Still Believe, his fourth studio album on his own imprint, Jesus Swings. Like much of his other work, there aren’t many guest appearances or producers on the album, in fact Anthony Hamilton is the only feature of note. Lyfe has a habit of being very blunt with his content so what you’ll find is that his lyrics sometimes relinquish the usual poetic flow that you’d expect from an R&B singer. With that in mind, I Still Believe is a very honest project, intense at times with a running theme of reflection and regret – not so much the hopeful vibe the title suggests.

While Busy was the album’s lead single, Statistics garnered the most buzz, presenting a by-the-numbers rundown of relationship reality in Lyfe’s bold style of delivery. Busy vocally just didn’t translate well for me, and probably works better when performed live. Anthony Hamilton appears on the regretful ‘Mama’ a standout noted for the overall sound on the production including a great guitar rift.  The most sincere offering comes on the latest single ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’, and vocally this track dominates the album examining the things we take for granted. The title track I Still Believe reaffirms Jennings’ faith in basic principles, and it’s a decent song, one of very few with a lighter disposition. Definitely give ear to Whatever She Wants, a love ballad that’s the only one of its kind on the album and one of the best tracks. Other highlights include ‘Love’, ‘Learn From This’, and ‘If I Knew Then What I Know Now’.

The album takes a nose dive on songs like ‘Hero’, a cheesy and corny metaphoric number that sounds completely forced. ‘Spotlight’ is Jennings’ attempt at a baby maker which, again, sounds forced and doesn’t work for me. ‘Coulda Been Worse’ is decent as a song that stands alone, but seems contradictory on an album which is spent mostly complaining about the things he wishes he could change. A lot of the songs on the album, though not totally bad are really just okay, there’s not much here to revisit after the first listen.

If you’re not used to Lyfe’s style, you may be thrown a bit by his delivery. Jennings walks a fine line – he’s  not glazed over R&B (i.e. Bobby V., Tank, etc) but he doesn’t have the complexity that most neo-soul artists give (Dwele, Musiq Soulchild). “I Still Believe” is straight-no-chaser, complemented by harmonies that are warm and tight, subtle production, and an entire project of message music. That being said, he’s definitely had stronger projects. Overall it’s decent, but it’s not something I could keep in rotation.

Sound-Savvy rates I Still Believe with 2.5 out of 5 platinum headphones

]]> http://www.sound-savvy.com/2010/08/album-review-lyfe-jennings-i-still-believe/feed/ 3