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Don't you just love a great sample... It's been a long time since I have thought of something blog-worthy. It has been some time since I made a music connection in my brain that was worth writing about, but I found something. : ) During 2016  there was a McDonald's campaign that included a sample of the famous Otis Redding song entitled " Try a Little Tenderness (1966)". The year 2016 made fifty years since the song's official release. And to date, I am confident that millions of people are familiar with this song. Even if they are only familiar with a small part of it; namely Redding's brief riff at the end of the song... but I will come back to that.  You know how a lot of people know famous songs because they have passed down through generations? You know it when you hear it - kind of thing. So it makes me think... a three-second riff at the end of a song is strong enough to be passed down over five decades and used over and over again. Music i...
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Sam Smith

Have you heard of Sam Smith??? I know you have because he is basically the reason why I started this blog in the first place. I heard him sion Disclosure's single  Latch (2013) which inspired me to write about music as an experience. His music is awesome and his voice is utterly amazing. He performed on Jimmy Kimmel recently. Look him up and listen. Look for him on Sam Smith Money on my Mind Sam Smith on Spotify Enjoy, AML
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It's been a while since I've wanted to blog something; a while since I heard music   that was blog-worthy.  Anything that truly motivated me to write.  While sitting here listening to Shyne's "Bad Boys" (2000) I started to zero in on the bass. The bass is really what make that song go so hard... true beat heads have to acknowledge that the bass in that song is really what you love about it. Shyne's verses were hot, his flow was mean, but the beat was a terror. That made me think... " What instrument is producing the bass in this song? That's not a drum."  No... It sounds like a specific key on a piano; not just any piano, but a grand concert piano, or at least a keyboard. It could easily be sample of Elton John. Something way down at the end of the keys. I have no idea what the key it is to be exact, but I will eventually find out. Perhaps its G-flat... A pianist would know better than me.  Or it could have been an 808. And a light-bulb we...
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Have you heard of Austin Brown? I just came across this artist. If you have heard of him, you probably know that he is a nephew of the late musical genius Michael Jackson. Knowing that it is almost impossible to listen to his music and not hear elements of Michael Jackson. The Austin Brown songs I have heard so far sound very much like Jackson's Off The Wall Album (1979). Its not just Brown's voice that eerily mimics Jackson's but it also the sound. The instrument choices. I am not sure if its the compliment of his voice to the instruments, or the beats and rhythms that his producers make which have this affect on his voice, but its so 70's. I swear it sounds like his backgrounds vocals are the Jackson 5 one almost every track. If he doesn't have Quincy Jones or Berry Gordy Jr. in the studio then he must have someone who idolizes one of the two, if not both.  Nevertheless, Brown has a great sound. His sound is very similar to Bruno Mars, but so far his style s...
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Song Title: Come Here Artist: Talib Kweli feat. Miguel Talib Kweli is a much respected rap artist and lyricist. He's never gone too long and he's back with a beautifully mesmerizing classic called "Come Here" featuring R&B genius Miguel. There is something so captivating about the saucy tings and hisses of a cymbal over a simple "boom boom tap".  Miguel's falsetto compliments the ebbs and flows of the track. Maybe I'm just a sucker for falsetto. I know I can't be the only one.  My favorite line, " We can do it like Mary and Common and Come Closer"... love it! Miguel's emphasis on the word "come" is full of perfectly placed sexual innuendo and double entendre.   Yet, this makes me wonder, if this were 5 to 10 years ago would this track have Dwele singing the hook and the chorus instead of Miguel and how might the song be very different?   I love this song. Its seductive sound is wonderful for some summer ro...
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J ust in case you haven't heard it yet; you need to hear it now!!! Song Title: Love Hate Thing Artist: Wale feat. Sam Dew OMFG!!! This song is the truth. Judging the title it sounds like another relationship song. It seems like a follow up to the hit single "Bad", but it is not. It is so much more! Shout out to Wale for taking rap music to another level. Listen to lyrics and you find messages of social activism as well as love, relationships, friendship, dedication to your craft and the list goes on! This song inspires! Seriously. To me this song brings a tempo that reminds of  movies like "Shaft" and singers like James Brown and Marvin Gaye, but the melodic falsetto of Sam Dew (whoever you are, you are gifted!!) brings us right back to the youth and soul of the 2000's that is often hard to find in today's pop and rap music.  There's a repetitious soul clap and snap that subtly protrudes through the congas and this dirty,yet sleek electric ...
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Hype Machine - Music bogs Song Title: 88 Artist: Wale feat JustBlaze JustBlaze where you been??? : ) http://hypem.com/search/Wale/1/ No copyright infringement intended.
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