Blue Chi’s

I’m on the top of 2008 list bandwagon (check out my post on favourite web shows of 2008), I thought I’ll share with you my favourite albums of 2008.

1- Beyonce: I am… Sasha Fierce

Beyonce’s third album was the biggest come back of the year. The album was a two-disc feature, the first is called “I am” and the second is called “Sasha Fierce”. “I am” is all about super vocals and deep lyrics, while the second one is all about the beats. I loved “I am” to bits, but my most favourite song in the entire album had to be the powerful “Scared of Lonely” in the second album.

2- Brandy: Human

It saddens me to realise that Brandy is no longer on  ”top of the world“. Her recent album, Human, came a couple of weeks ago and barely anyone knew about it. In the UK I couldn’t find the album in the new releases section of HMV or Zavvi and had to browse deep into the store to find the album burried in the Urban music shelves. Brandy is such a good singer and Human is a delicate and soulful album, unfortunately the market does not necessarily reward talented singers. My favourite tracks in the album are “True” and “1st and Love“. 

3- OneRepublic: Dreaming Out Loud

The best new musical act I got introduced to in 2008 is undeniably OneRepublic, their work is amazing musically, vocally, and lyrically. I just can’t get enough of these guys. Ryan Tedder is also super talented and I now track down every single song he works on. My favourite OneRepublic songs are “Say“, “Tyrant” and “Dreaming Out Loud“.

4- Marwan Khoury: Ana Wl Leil

Marwan Khoury is now my favourite Arabic singer, he’s been pretty popular for a number of years now, but this was the first album I actually guy for him, my favourite tracks were “Awlak”, “L Karar”, and the super hit “Ya Rabb”.

There used to be a time when I was so up to date with the latest music, but I don’t know what went wrong, I don’t listen to new music as much as I used to, I don’t watch TV, and I don’t listen to the radio and I’m not following any music blogs – and I decided not to download illegal music, it is very hard to do, it is much harder than not using pirated software, playing pirated games, or even watching pirated DVDs.

Anyway, I bought this album on way to Egypt, the music shop in duty free zone of Muscat Airport is just as bad as the shops in town, I think that their commercial register activity category should be changed from music store to antique shop.

“As I Am” is the most recent album by Alicia Keys, it was released November 2007 and it is her usual soul/RnB, which is good. It took a bit of time to grow on me, I initially was only liked the lead single “No One” and just couldn’t play anything else, but after forcing myself to listen to the rest of the album I think that it is a very decent one, it is a slower than what I usually listen to, but still a nice change:

1. As I Am (Intro)
2. Go Ahead
3. Superwoman
4. No One
5. Like You’ll Never See Me Again (Main)
6. Lesson Learned
7. Wreckless Love
8. The Thing About Love
9. Teenage Love Affair
10. I Need You
11. Where Do We Go From Here
12. Prelude To A Kiss
13. Tell You Something (Nana’s Reprise)
14. Sure Looks Good To Me

3.5/5

I do not know much about Samantha Jade, but she is signed to JIVE records and appeared on soundtrack for the movie Step On. Her second single is called Boyfriend and is produced by mega producer Dark Child Rodney Jerkins! The song is really hot, listen to it on Samantha’s MySpace page here.

About Samantha Jade Samantha Jade, a 19-year-old from Perth in West Australia has already developed a following as an in-demand model, gracing her country’s top magazines, catalogs, television programs and “fashion parades” with her vibrant charm and looks. Samantha is now ready to blossom before fans and tastemakers alike as a captivating superstar with her unique blend of hot club jams and powerhouse ballads. In short, the dynamo from down under is about to put The Top of the Pops on lockdown!

Lyrics

Why are you all in my face
lately you on frequent myspace
you know I am not the type to low key creep around
you’re messing up on your way out

Always in my caller ID
looking for a place to catch me
this is crazy
boy you think we’re married
oh no
I”m just trying to breathe
and you’re just all over me

You’re oppressing me
fall back I need some room
you want this thing to work
I need you to do all the necessary things to keep me
But you just keep on pushing me
You’re about to barely be my boyfriend

……
Again you’re questioning me where about I’ve been
when I just left before ten
We are so preliminary
all this stress unnecessary
this is crazy
boy you think we’re married
oh no
I’m just trying to breathe
and you’re just all over me

You’re oppressing me
fall back I need some room
you want this thing to work
I need you to do all the necessary things to keep me
But you just keep on pushing me
You’re about to barely be my boyfriend.

I don’t remember “I do” nor saw a wedding ring
only a few months in
and I’m ready to leave
….
so what you think we’re meant to be
you’re just a boyfriend

You’re oppressing me
fall back I need some room
you want this thing to work
I need you to do all the necessary things to keep me
But you just keep on pushing me
You’re about to barely be my boyfriend.

I’ve finally gotten my hands on Timbaland‘s latest album TIMBALAND presents: Shock Value. Timbaland is a music producer that has worked with so many different artists from all different genres including Jay Z, Missy Elliot, Brandy, Aaliyah, Nelly Furtado, The Pussycat Dolls, Justin Timberlake, etc. This is the first album he produces under his own name, he previous released a couple of albums in cooperation with rapper Magoo, who appears on the track Boardmeeting here on Shockvalue.

Shock Value is the usual Timbo greatness, it is ALL about the beats. Each song in the album is so much different from the other and features a diverse set of aritsts from Dr Dre and Missy Elliot, to alternative rock bands such as The Hives and One Republic, and ending up with Elton John along with so many more.

1. Oh Timbaland – Timbaland
2. Give It to Me – Nelly Furtado, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake
3. Release – Timbaland, Justin Timberlake
4. Way I Are – Doe, Keri Hilson, Timbaland
5. Bounce – Dr. Dre, , Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake
6. Come and Get Me – 50 Cent, Timbaland, Tony Yayo
7. Kill Yourself – Attitude, , Sebastian, Timbaland
8. Boardmeeting – Magoo, Timbaland
9. Fantasy – Money, Timbaland
10. Scream – Keri Hilson, Nicole Scherzinger, Timbaland
11. Miscommunication – Keri Hilson, , Sebastian, Timbaland
12. Bombay – Amar, Jim Beanz, Timbaland
13. Throw It on Me – The Hives, Timbaland
14. Time – She Wants Revenge, Timbaland
15. One and Only – Fall Out Boy, , Timbaland
16. Apologize – OneRepublic, Timbaland
17. 2 Man Show – Elton John, Timbaland
18. Hello – Keri Hilson, Attitude

 

4/5

Shola Ama’s sister has recently released her first single, Fallin. I am trying to listen to the song over at Sadie’s MySpace page, but I can’t because of my really slow internet connection. The very little I heard of the song sounds really interesting, Sadie’s music genre is Soul/RnB. Her debut album is expected to be released sometime this year. You can listen to some of her song on her MySpace page here.

Studio 1 is the title of the return album for the UK girlband All Saints – a band that had, in their golder years, sold thousands of records for singles such as Never Ever, Under The Bridge, Back Coffee, and Pure Shores. I really did not know what to expect of their new work, and though I thought that the first single ‘Rock Steady’ was quite a catchy track, it was not really memorable. The same goes for the album. I can listen to the album in one go and enjoy it, and then when it finishes not remember the names of more than two songs. Studio 1 is fun and poppy, but it is nowhere close to a classic. Interestingly, a couple of tracks (One and On, One Me and U) seemed to mimic the work of the producer William Orbit. My favourite track on the album is Fundamental – a very well written, sung, and produced love song.

1. Rock Steady
2. Chick Fit
3. On And On
4. Scar
5. Not Eazy
6. Hell No
7. One Me And U
8. Headlock
9. Too Nasty
10. In It To Win It
11. Flashback
12. Fundamental

2.5/5

A new artist that I am really interested in is Megan Rochell. She is a new RnB singer signed to Def Jam Records, she has one official single out titled “The One You Need” produced by Rodney Jerkins and featuring Fabolous. Her debut album You, Me and the Radio is due sometime in January 2007 . Watch the video for “The One You Need” here (looks remind me of Brandy):

You can listen to four full songs from her upcoming album at Megan’s official MySpace page. I have heard a sample from her upcoming single “Let Go” and it sounds really hot – something to watch out for!

More info:
Official Website
Fan site

Diddy is not my usual cup of tea, I only decided to give his album a shot after seeing the many names of the artists featured on his new album, those include Timbaland, Twista, Nas, Big Boi, Christina Aguilera, Brandy, Keyshia Cole, Nicole, Keri, Avant, Jamie Foxx etc. The album turned out to be nice, I can’t get enough of the track featuring Brandy titled ‘Thought You Said‘ and the one featuring Keri Hilson titled ‘After Love‘.

Brandy’s track reminds of an remix for her classic “Top of the World” of the remixes of her class On Top of the World, a new track by her has recently leaked as well, it looks like Brandy is going to make a come back soon.

The other track I really liked is the song with Keri Hilson, she is originally a songwriter that previously wrote songs for Toni Braxton, Mary J Blige, etc, she is now signed to Timbaland’s new label Mosley Music Group. An awesome track titled “Love Ya” leaked on the web some months ago, but there are no official details on when her debut album or single are coming out.

Back to Press Play, here is the tracklist:

1. Testimonial (Intro)
2. We Gon’ Make It
3. I Am (Interlude)
4. The Future
5. Hold Up
6. Come To Me
7. Tell Me – Featuring Christina Aguilera
8. Wanna Move
9. Diddy Rock
10. Claim My Place (Interlude)
11. Everything I Love
12. Special Feeling
13. Crazy Thang (Interlude)
14. After Love
15. Through The Pain (She Told Me)
16. Thought You Said
17. Last Night
18. Making It Hard
19. Partners For Life

3.5/5

As a promotion of her upcoming 3rd studio album, Amerie has released a mixtape featuring some new full songs, remixes of other artists songs, samples and skits under the title “Because I Love It – Vol 1″. Her next album is due sometime early next year, and another mixtape shall be released sometime before the official gets released. My favourite tracks are Push It, Take Control, Blow, and Money Maker. You can listen to the mixtape over at Amerie’s MySpace page. (Use the iPod player on the left to play the tracks)

1. Because I Love It (Intro)
2. Keep My Head Down (Skit)
3. Push It
4. Reminisce Witcha
5. Take Control
6. Same Thing (Skit)
7. Blow
8. Money In The Bank
9. The Money (Skit)
10. Money Maker
11. Get Gone
12. Rest of My Life
13. That’s What You Are
14. Weekend Love
15. Outro

3.5/5

I stumbled upon this track a couple of days ago, it’s a new track by Amerie and a French rapper called Willy Denzey. What I found amusing is that the track samples Cheb Khalid’s classic Di Di! I don’t usually link to song files, but I doubt that anybody outside France could ever legally purchase this track, listen to the song here.

Amerie’s new single should come out in September, her third album, titled ‘None of the Above’, is due spring 2007.