Now if you haven't heard in the past, there have been a lot of rumors about Lupe stealing beats/remaking songs without artist's permission. Lupe's biggest fans will back up Lupe and say that Lupe has simply sampled all of the songs that he has redone (such as "The Show Goes On", and he even re-used the "Around My Way" beat which was originally Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's song "T.R.O.Y"). Reading up on Lupe's past label struggles is as interesting as it gets, Lupe has feuded with Atlantic Records for quite some time, and at one point he even "contemplated suicide" over a legal battle over the rights to the song "Nothin On You" by B.o.B and Bruno Mars (the song was originally Lupe's). Who knew? Anyways, if you hear the very heavily radio played "Lights" by Ellie Goulding and then compare it to Lupe's version "LightWork" below, you can hear the similarities, but more importantly hear the imminent differences between the 2. I honestly feel bad for you if you haven't heard it. If you haven't heard it yet, enjoy it below now, thank me later.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Throwback Thursday: Did You Know Lupe Remade This Hit?
This post is probably just a result of me being super excited that I got all of my music on my phone again. I'm not exactly the most responsible with a phone (my history shows, though I'll deny it left and right), and that feeling of getting every single song in my iTunes music library on my phone almost made me change my pants it was so good. Anyways, going through my music library I realized that there are a lot of songs that I forgot I used to bump every day, and one of those was Lupe Fiasco's (I don't know if you'd call it a remake or not) remake of Ellie Goulding's "Lights". Sounds ridiculous yes, but that's only if you haven't heard the song.
Now if you haven't heard in the past, there have been a lot of rumors about Lupe stealing beats/remaking songs without artist's permission. Lupe's biggest fans will back up Lupe and say that Lupe has simply sampled all of the songs that he has redone (such as "The Show Goes On", and he even re-used the "Around My Way" beat which was originally Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's song "T.R.O.Y"). Reading up on Lupe's past label struggles is as interesting as it gets, Lupe has feuded with Atlantic Records for quite some time, and at one point he even "contemplated suicide" over a legal battle over the rights to the song "Nothin On You" by B.o.B and Bruno Mars (the song was originally Lupe's). Who knew? Anyways, if you hear the very heavily radio played "Lights" by Ellie Goulding and then compare it to Lupe's version "LightWork" below, you can hear the similarities, but more importantly hear the imminent differences between the 2. I honestly feel bad for you if you haven't heard it. If you haven't heard it yet, enjoy it below now, thank me later.
(*I do not own this song, or the right to it*)
Now if you haven't heard in the past, there have been a lot of rumors about Lupe stealing beats/remaking songs without artist's permission. Lupe's biggest fans will back up Lupe and say that Lupe has simply sampled all of the songs that he has redone (such as "The Show Goes On", and he even re-used the "Around My Way" beat which was originally Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's song "T.R.O.Y"). Reading up on Lupe's past label struggles is as interesting as it gets, Lupe has feuded with Atlantic Records for quite some time, and at one point he even "contemplated suicide" over a legal battle over the rights to the song "Nothin On You" by B.o.B and Bruno Mars (the song was originally Lupe's). Who knew? Anyways, if you hear the very heavily radio played "Lights" by Ellie Goulding and then compare it to Lupe's version "LightWork" below, you can hear the similarities, but more importantly hear the imminent differences between the 2. I honestly feel bad for you if you haven't heard it. If you haven't heard it yet, enjoy it below now, thank me later.
Monday, July 27, 2015
The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan Album Review
Now if you'd need to know anything about my post topics, anything at all, it would be that I absolutely do not do promo for up and comers who think they are the shit unless I actually believe that they will blow (although I've yet to have anybody hit me up about doing an article promoting themselves). A man by the name of Dayne Jordan (who I posted about back in November of last year, formerly known as Dosage) has accomplished a lot since the last time I posted about him. He came out with a free, 9 track EP named In Progress, he put out his phone number on twitter for his fans to keep in touch with him, and now he's back from a short hiatus to deliver you his free album, the aptly titled The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan. Needless to say, the man has been working. Now if you read the last post about Dayne (or if you keep up with him regularly), you'd know that Dayne toured with Lupe Fiasco on the Stepping Lasers tour back in 2010-2011, and with DJ Jazzy Jeff on the production side of things, Dayne definitely knows how to keep things interesting with his music, but is his music good enough to make you want to listen?
Dayne's ability to tell a story is some of the best I've heard (dare I say since Kendrick, Cole) in quite awhile. The intro track to his album, "In Progress", is the pinnacle of this ability. It's like if you had never heard of him, or never known who Dayne was in your life before this song, you understood his journey after this beautiful (damn near) 6 minute novel of perfect descriptiveness. In "In Progress", Dayne details his come up, and everything that has happened along the way, including starting out working in a Footlocker, and even up to his touring and performing with Lupe Fiasco. You get the picture as clearly as you could possibly get it due to Dayne's picturesque wordplay on "In Progress."
The production on The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan gives such a summery, warm weather feel that it's release date (7/20) is the perfect date to make those summer memories that we all associate so well with great music. DJ Jazzy Jeff handled production for every track on the album, (which was his first full length project since 2007's The Return Of The Magnificent), and his drums, crisp snares, and (of course) DJ scratches throughout the album round it all out in great fashion. "Waitaminit" is a great example of this production, and the breakdown in the middle of the song with the beat boxing and Dayne's 10 year old rapping self are a highlight of the album. This highlights Dayne's hilarious, yet fond view of his past very well.
"Don't Forget" describes more of his growing up in North Philadelphia, such as hearing gun shots and growing up with his mom and struggles with family getting along. The catchy strings and hook make it pretty hard not to bob your head to this jam. An interesting note about the album is that between each track Dayne tells his story leading into each track, topics range from talking about his family to growing up and making friends, and trying to make a name as a rapper. Dayne's honesty, humble story telling and come up are keys to his rise as a star that will make him relatable to people.
Then comes the incredible "Circle of Life" part's 1 and 2. Part 1 is as deep as it gets, the hook is sang in such a way that would get to anyone who happens to be deep in thought at the time. The concept of these songs is brilliant; the concept of one's life ending, being remembered, and mourned in part 1 leads to the beginning of a new life in part 2; being born, having a dream, remembering the little things about why you love your dream, then conquering your dream. Part 2 is carrying on part 1's legacy in the sense that part 1's life never ends, it is only carried on and lived through part 2.
Dayne Jordan's talent is unquestionable. His story telling ability is that of an author (hence why the album title The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan is so fitting), and his lyrical ability is a breath of fresh air. While knowing and paying respect to the greats, Dayne pushes the agenda to bring hip hop back to a better time, and it's apparent in his music. If The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan told us anything else we needed to know, it's Dayne's ability to put together a concept album as genius as the likes of Kendrick Lamar. If The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan is Dayne's life up to this point, I certainly can't wait for the next audio book. I know I didn't post any of the tracks from Dayne's album, but the entire, 13 track album can be found here ---> https://soundcloud.com/daynejordan/memoirs-of-dayne-jordan-1
Dayne's ability to tell a story is some of the best I've heard (dare I say since Kendrick, Cole) in quite awhile. The intro track to his album, "In Progress", is the pinnacle of this ability. It's like if you had never heard of him, or never known who Dayne was in your life before this song, you understood his journey after this beautiful (damn near) 6 minute novel of perfect descriptiveness. In "In Progress", Dayne details his come up, and everything that has happened along the way, including starting out working in a Footlocker, and even up to his touring and performing with Lupe Fiasco. You get the picture as clearly as you could possibly get it due to Dayne's picturesque wordplay on "In Progress."
The production on The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan gives such a summery, warm weather feel that it's release date (7/20) is the perfect date to make those summer memories that we all associate so well with great music. DJ Jazzy Jeff handled production for every track on the album, (which was his first full length project since 2007's The Return Of The Magnificent), and his drums, crisp snares, and (of course) DJ scratches throughout the album round it all out in great fashion. "Waitaminit" is a great example of this production, and the breakdown in the middle of the song with the beat boxing and Dayne's 10 year old rapping self are a highlight of the album. This highlights Dayne's hilarious, yet fond view of his past very well.
"Don't Forget" describes more of his growing up in North Philadelphia, such as hearing gun shots and growing up with his mom and struggles with family getting along. The catchy strings and hook make it pretty hard not to bob your head to this jam. An interesting note about the album is that between each track Dayne tells his story leading into each track, topics range from talking about his family to growing up and making friends, and trying to make a name as a rapper. Dayne's honesty, humble story telling and come up are keys to his rise as a star that will make him relatable to people.
Then comes the incredible "Circle of Life" part's 1 and 2. Part 1 is as deep as it gets, the hook is sang in such a way that would get to anyone who happens to be deep in thought at the time. The concept of these songs is brilliant; the concept of one's life ending, being remembered, and mourned in part 1 leads to the beginning of a new life in part 2; being born, having a dream, remembering the little things about why you love your dream, then conquering your dream. Part 2 is carrying on part 1's legacy in the sense that part 1's life never ends, it is only carried on and lived through part 2.
Dayne Jordan's talent is unquestionable. His story telling ability is that of an author (hence why the album title The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan is so fitting), and his lyrical ability is a breath of fresh air. While knowing and paying respect to the greats, Dayne pushes the agenda to bring hip hop back to a better time, and it's apparent in his music. If The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan told us anything else we needed to know, it's Dayne's ability to put together a concept album as genius as the likes of Kendrick Lamar. If The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan is Dayne's life up to this point, I certainly can't wait for the next audio book. I know I didn't post any of the tracks from Dayne's album, but the entire, 13 track album can be found here ---> https://soundcloud.com/daynejordan/memoirs-of-dayne-jordan-1
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Rappers That Have Ghostwritten For Dr. Dre
It's crazy how much bigger Dr. Dre has gotten (figuratively and literally, have you seen the guy lately?! He looks like he could bench press an NBA player), the guy is a rap legend, an even more talented producer, and he's even developed an entire line of headphones and just sold them for $3 billion. But how would you react if I told you the man doesn't write his own rap verses (you know, when a pig flies by on a golden horned unicorn and Dre actually puts out some music, usually these things happen on the same day)? You may be surprised or you may already know, but I got curious enough one day to actually look into some of Dre's verses and see who wrote them for him.
Kendrick Lamar - Compton
A little known fact about this banging Just Blaze produced masterpiece (also mixed by Dre, talk about a dynamic duo) is that this is actually the very first song that Dr. Dre ad Kendrick Lamar recorded together. What subject better to tackle for your first song together than some common ground; the city that both artists call home. Dre's first verse starts out in a familiar flow; "still I'm at it, peel the plastic off it you can feel the magic, still I'm laughing at the critics talking I can see 'em gagging, when I'm back in the back of my city, back in the 'bach with a batch of them bangin' Dre beats with me," etc. The "still I'm at it" start is in the same vane as "Still D.R.E" featuring Snoop Dogg.
Still D.R.E - Jay Z
Speaking of one of Dr. Dre's biggest tracks ever, Dre's verses on "Still D.R.E." were actually written by Jigga himself, Jay Z. Weird, right? Someone like me might wonder how in the actual hell this ended up happening. Obviously Dre ends up in the studio with some huge rap heavyweights that you could never see coming (I actually read that Dre reached out to Drake and Lil Wayne to record a few records for Detox, but you know, it's Detox), and Jay Z is just another one of those guys I suppose. It has been said around the industry that Dre is a perfectionist, and it shows that he only reaches out to the best to work with.
The Message - Royce Da 5'9
Slaughterhouse and Bad Meets Evil member Royce Da 5'9 might have some of the sickest pen game in rap, and though sometimes it's hard to tell if a verse is ghostwritten or if the artist actually wrote it themselves, Royce disguises his writing pretty well for Dre in "The Message." As Dre discusses his now deceased brother in the song you'd think that Dre would actually want to write something himself for such a dedication, but Royce does a very nice job of making this one sound like Dre. A little known fact about Royce Da 5'9 and Dr. Dre working together is that Royce actually recorded another hook for the original version of the song "Xxplosive" that did not end up on Dre's The Chronic 2001 album.
Eminem - Forgot About Dre
(*I do not own these songs, videos, or the rights to them*)
"Oh woooow, no waaaaay, Eminem wrote for Dr. Dre?" That was me being incredibly sarcastic. OF COURSE EMINEM WROTE FOR DR. DRE, YOU'VE SEEN EVERYONE ELSE THAT DOES DON'T YOU? WHY WOULDN'T HIS MOST FREQUENT COLLABORATOR (besides Snoop) WRITE FOR HIM? Dre's first verse has Eminem's fingerprints all over it too, the lyricism and wordplay are signs of a verse that only Eminem could pen, I mean just listen to that first little bit of Dre's first verse; "who you think taught you to smoke trees, who you think brought you the O.G.'s, Eazy-E's, Ice Cube's and D.O.C.'s, and Snoop D-O-double G's, and the group that said mother fuck the police?" Written down this doesn't seem like much, but listen to it rapped and the syllables fall into place perfectly, something Eminem's writing is widely known for.
So yes, you can definitely still classify Dre as a legend behind the boards (or so I hope so, heard some rumors awhile back saying he didn't produce any of the songs on his or Snoop's albums, apparently it was Snoop's cousin Daz Dilinger, so who knows, at least I hope Dre produced all of the stuff he said he did), but writing isn't exactly his specialty. I got all the love and respect in the world for Dr. Dre, but to me the words being spat in a song mean so much more when they're your own. I mean how can you not write your own stuff? If all you have is a voice and no writing or instrumental talents, then you shouldn't be famous. Simply put.
Kendrick Lamar - Compton
A little known fact about this banging Just Blaze produced masterpiece (also mixed by Dre, talk about a dynamic duo) is that this is actually the very first song that Dr. Dre ad Kendrick Lamar recorded together. What subject better to tackle for your first song together than some common ground; the city that both artists call home. Dre's first verse starts out in a familiar flow; "still I'm at it, peel the plastic off it you can feel the magic, still I'm laughing at the critics talking I can see 'em gagging, when I'm back in the back of my city, back in the 'bach with a batch of them bangin' Dre beats with me," etc. The "still I'm at it" start is in the same vane as "Still D.R.E" featuring Snoop Dogg.
Still D.R.E - Jay Z
Speaking of one of Dr. Dre's biggest tracks ever, Dre's verses on "Still D.R.E." were actually written by Jigga himself, Jay Z. Weird, right? Someone like me might wonder how in the actual hell this ended up happening. Obviously Dre ends up in the studio with some huge rap heavyweights that you could never see coming (I actually read that Dre reached out to Drake and Lil Wayne to record a few records for Detox, but you know, it's Detox), and Jay Z is just another one of those guys I suppose. It has been said around the industry that Dre is a perfectionist, and it shows that he only reaches out to the best to work with.
The Message - Royce Da 5'9
Slaughterhouse and Bad Meets Evil member Royce Da 5'9 might have some of the sickest pen game in rap, and though sometimes it's hard to tell if a verse is ghostwritten or if the artist actually wrote it themselves, Royce disguises his writing pretty well for Dre in "The Message." As Dre discusses his now deceased brother in the song you'd think that Dre would actually want to write something himself for such a dedication, but Royce does a very nice job of making this one sound like Dre. A little known fact about Royce Da 5'9 and Dr. Dre working together is that Royce actually recorded another hook for the original version of the song "Xxplosive" that did not end up on Dre's The Chronic 2001 album.
Eminem - Forgot About Dre
"Oh woooow, no waaaaay, Eminem wrote for Dr. Dre?" That was me being incredibly sarcastic. OF COURSE EMINEM WROTE FOR DR. DRE, YOU'VE SEEN EVERYONE ELSE THAT DOES DON'T YOU? WHY WOULDN'T HIS MOST FREQUENT COLLABORATOR (besides Snoop) WRITE FOR HIM? Dre's first verse has Eminem's fingerprints all over it too, the lyricism and wordplay are signs of a verse that only Eminem could pen, I mean just listen to that first little bit of Dre's first verse; "who you think taught you to smoke trees, who you think brought you the O.G.'s, Eazy-E's, Ice Cube's and D.O.C.'s, and Snoop D-O-double G's, and the group that said mother fuck the police?" Written down this doesn't seem like much, but listen to it rapped and the syllables fall into place perfectly, something Eminem's writing is widely known for.
So yes, you can definitely still classify Dre as a legend behind the boards (or so I hope so, heard some rumors awhile back saying he didn't produce any of the songs on his or Snoop's albums, apparently it was Snoop's cousin Daz Dilinger, so who knows, at least I hope Dre produced all of the stuff he said he did), but writing isn't exactly his specialty. I got all the love and respect in the world for Dr. Dre, but to me the words being spat in a song mean so much more when they're your own. I mean how can you not write your own stuff? If all you have is a voice and no writing or instrumental talents, then you shouldn't be famous. Simply put.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Birdman Vs. Wayne Is Going Too Far
News surfacing earlier today says that Cash Money Records CEO Birdman (Bryan Williams) and rapper Young Thug (Jeffrey Lamar Williams) are involved in a conspiracy to kill rapper Lil Wayne (Dwayne Carter) in an April 26th shooting of Wayne's tour bus. Jimmy Winfrey (also known as "PeeWee Roscoe") fired several shots from a white Camaro to carry out a threat made by Young Thug, who is (obviously) siding with Birdman in his ongoing feud with Lil Wayne. Birdman and Young Thug have yet to be charged with any crimes, though Jimmy Winfrey's indictment involving Birdman and Young Thug includes the following counts (30 total):
"Counts 1-3: Violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Counts 4-12: Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevent Act
Counts 13-24: Aggravated Assault
Counts 25 & 26: Criminal Damage to Property in the First Degree
Count 27: Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony
Counts 28-30: Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon"
The following statement was also included in the indictment:
"After Atlanta police discontinued their escort, (Winfrey) and fellow Blood gang members entered Interstate 285 from Atlanta Road in Cobb County in pursuit of the buses occupied by (Lil Wayne's) group. (That's when) the white sports car pulled beside the buses, shots were then fired into the buses from the sports car with a .40 caliber handgun and a 9mm handgun."
This has absolutely gotten blown out of proportion. If the police's hunch is true about Birdman and Young Thug being involved in the shooting of Wayne's tour bus, then it almost seems this supposed "beef" between Birdman and Lil Wayne has gone way too far. To want to kill someone over a disagreement (though the feud seems to be much deeper than mere label disputes) is absolutely ridiculous. With all of the deaths in hip hop (just this year, let alone ever), one can only hope that this situation doesn't get any worse. We can all hope at least, right?
"Counts 1-3: Violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Counts 4-12: Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevent Act
Counts 13-24: Aggravated Assault
Counts 25 & 26: Criminal Damage to Property in the First Degree
Count 27: Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony
Counts 28-30: Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon"
The following statement was also included in the indictment:
"After Atlanta police discontinued their escort, (Winfrey) and fellow Blood gang members entered Interstate 285 from Atlanta Road in Cobb County in pursuit of the buses occupied by (Lil Wayne's) group. (That's when) the white sports car pulled beside the buses, shots were then fired into the buses from the sports car with a .40 caliber handgun and a 9mm handgun."
This has absolutely gotten blown out of proportion. If the police's hunch is true about Birdman and Young Thug being involved in the shooting of Wayne's tour bus, then it almost seems this supposed "beef" between Birdman and Lil Wayne has gone way too far. To want to kill someone over a disagreement (though the feud seems to be much deeper than mere label disputes) is absolutely ridiculous. With all of the deaths in hip hop (just this year, let alone ever), one can only hope that this situation doesn't get any worse. We can all hope at least, right?
Monday, July 6, 2015
The Battle For Music Streaming Supreme: Who's Your Pick?
Since TIDAL dropped ain't shit been the same... no Drake. Or better yet, no Kendrick cypher verses (sorry, trying to be clever with "punch lines" as the real heads put it, how's that working for me?). Music sales have been down for just under the past 10 years or so, because... the internet. All of the money that artists rake in now is mostly from streaming services like Spotify, Tidal, etc. Music streaming is the move nowadays it seems, more music for a better value is hard to argue, but what kind of value is each of these services giving you, you ask? Leave that to me. I went through each streaming service (out of the 3 big ones making waves, TIDAL, Spotify and Apple Music) and laid out some details for which ones benefit YOU the consumer the most, because as they say, the music is always right (or something like that).
Spotify
Spotify is my current streaming service of choice, I had an account (non payment, so I deal with all of the advertisement bull) before all of the wars for best streaming service started with TIDAL and Apple Music, but since the latter 2 have started to threaten Spotify's reign on streaming, Spotify has upped it's game to the next level, the biggest plus being it offering 99 cents of premium service (no ads) for 3 months. If you're unfamiliar with Spotify, you can find practically any and every band, group, singer, or rapper's music on it, and they add music as the releases roll out, sometimes the day of said release. If you're unsure of what you'd like to listen to, Spotify builds playlists in the "Genres and Moods" column, if you're out partying with the squad then you can find that party playlist, or if you're at home chilling you can find that "chill out and do laundry" playlist, and everything in between. Spotify has an unlimited service which is 4.99 per month for no ads and unlimited streaming on strictly desktops and laptops, while the premium service is 9.99 per month for unlimited streaming and no ads, available for use on multiple devices (iPad, phone, computers, etc.). The only notable complaint I have as a Spotify user is the disconnecting that sometimes occurs with it, you have to disconnect and reconnect to your internet to get it to work again, but that could just be my crappy internet (middle class problems).
TIDAL
The service that started these wars was TIDAL, and it all started with that crazy commercial that included practically every notable musical artist known today (or most of them). This commercial probably grabbed your attention (as it did mine) when it mentioned something about "bringing music back to the artists" (not a direct quote, but Jay Z mentioned something of that nature). I can see a little of the "benefiting the artists" factor with a couple of upcoming bands and singers being featured with some of their music, which is a cool and different thing to do for a streaming service (it all lies on who has the best EXCLUSIVE content), but finding where this benefits the people is just a bit harder. TIDAL's premium (standard) service starts at 9.99 a month (or 8.49 with 6 months pre paid), which includes the standard music quality, but with high definition music videos. TIDAL's HiFi is a little more on the expensive side at 19.99 per month (or 16.99 with 6 months pre paid), but this includes what TIDAL describes as "lossless High Fidelity sound quality." Now with all of that being said you could make your own judgments about TIDAL, but follow their Twitter account and it shows that the subscribers feedback does not lie. Many people have come out and said that TIDAL's live streaming of concerts (these concerts included Jay Z's "B Sides" concert, another perk of being a TIDAL member I suppose) is given in crystal clear high definition, although the exact resolution was not specified. Sort of expensive to pay, but you're not just paying for the music in TIDAL, in seems, they're stressing quality as a top priority.
Apple Music
Apple Music is another streaming service that had just recently launched (as in within the past week) and was looking to make waves (not necessarily TIDAL waves, but you know.... sorry, I had to). Apple Music hasn't had the huge promo that TIDAL has, but supposedly last night it had aired an exclusive Zane Lowe interview with the one and only Eminem (which I need to find somewhere because, c'mon, Eminem). Not only this, but supposedly Drake is releasing his next album exclusively through Apple Music, and supposedly Dr. Dre is having a big part in the streaming service as well (though it's hard to tell what right now). Apple Music describes its experience as such: "To deepen the connection between artists and fans. To give you personal recommendations from people who know and love music. To reimagine radio with a 24/7 global station." Apple seems to be edging out Spotify as the best price (for right now) with a free 3 month trial, but the subscription entails over 30 million songs for 9.99 a month, or 14.99 for family (who knows what the "family" subscription means, possibly more members? No details on this yet). When you start your subscription all of your already obtained music (somehow) automatically appears in the Apple Music library, and Apple's "experts" (who knows what kind of experts, supposedly actual artists) make suggestions based on what you like. The Beats 1 radio station is "24/7 radio, including music, interviews, and culture" (so it says on the website). The connect aspect seems to be the post interesting of the features, it says fans can "see, comment on, like, and share whatever exciting material an artist chooses to post. Unreleased demo tracks, an acoustic version of the latest hit, a video shot in the studio," etc. This to me sounds like something I'd kill to see, but only for some rappers. I surely wouldn't pay to see behind the scenes material of Taylor Swift, no disrespect to Taylor, but not my cup of tea musically. Lots of dope features, just needs some tampering with just as all musical services do.
So there's a (hopefully quick and helpful) review of what these music services all entail. I included all the details I could about each one down to the prices, now it's on what your preference is. I'm personally a fan of music with no adds, so I like Spotify's premium idea (even though I don't pay, so I do deal with ads), but Apple's idea of taking behind the scenes content to a new level is truly for a die hard rap fan such as myself. The idea of exclusive concerts, interviews and album releases like TIDAL and Apple Music are doing is taking things to a whole new level. For instance, Eminem is God to me, so seeing him do an exclusive interview that I could (hypothetically) only see on Apple Music's website certainly draws me to Apple Music strictly for that factor. I live for behind the scenes content. But I need to know what you think! Let me know which streaming service you'd go with based on the details and why either on Google+ or in the comment section, I'd love to hear what you think. Music streaming is taking over, does this mean death to physical albums? Hopefully not, but only time will tell.
Spotify
Spotify is my current streaming service of choice, I had an account (non payment, so I deal with all of the advertisement bull) before all of the wars for best streaming service started with TIDAL and Apple Music, but since the latter 2 have started to threaten Spotify's reign on streaming, Spotify has upped it's game to the next level, the biggest plus being it offering 99 cents of premium service (no ads) for 3 months. If you're unfamiliar with Spotify, you can find practically any and every band, group, singer, or rapper's music on it, and they add music as the releases roll out, sometimes the day of said release. If you're unsure of what you'd like to listen to, Spotify builds playlists in the "Genres and Moods" column, if you're out partying with the squad then you can find that party playlist, or if you're at home chilling you can find that "chill out and do laundry" playlist, and everything in between. Spotify has an unlimited service which is 4.99 per month for no ads and unlimited streaming on strictly desktops and laptops, while the premium service is 9.99 per month for unlimited streaming and no ads, available for use on multiple devices (iPad, phone, computers, etc.). The only notable complaint I have as a Spotify user is the disconnecting that sometimes occurs with it, you have to disconnect and reconnect to your internet to get it to work again, but that could just be my crappy internet (middle class problems).
TIDAL
The service that started these wars was TIDAL, and it all started with that crazy commercial that included practically every notable musical artist known today (or most of them). This commercial probably grabbed your attention (as it did mine) when it mentioned something about "bringing music back to the artists" (not a direct quote, but Jay Z mentioned something of that nature). I can see a little of the "benefiting the artists" factor with a couple of upcoming bands and singers being featured with some of their music, which is a cool and different thing to do for a streaming service (it all lies on who has the best EXCLUSIVE content), but finding where this benefits the people is just a bit harder. TIDAL's premium (standard) service starts at 9.99 a month (or 8.49 with 6 months pre paid), which includes the standard music quality, but with high definition music videos. TIDAL's HiFi is a little more on the expensive side at 19.99 per month (or 16.99 with 6 months pre paid), but this includes what TIDAL describes as "lossless High Fidelity sound quality." Now with all of that being said you could make your own judgments about TIDAL, but follow their Twitter account and it shows that the subscribers feedback does not lie. Many people have come out and said that TIDAL's live streaming of concerts (these concerts included Jay Z's "B Sides" concert, another perk of being a TIDAL member I suppose) is given in crystal clear high definition, although the exact resolution was not specified. Sort of expensive to pay, but you're not just paying for the music in TIDAL, in seems, they're stressing quality as a top priority.
Apple Music
Apple Music is another streaming service that had just recently launched (as in within the past week) and was looking to make waves (not necessarily TIDAL waves, but you know.... sorry, I had to). Apple Music hasn't had the huge promo that TIDAL has, but supposedly last night it had aired an exclusive Zane Lowe interview with the one and only Eminem (which I need to find somewhere because, c'mon, Eminem). Not only this, but supposedly Drake is releasing his next album exclusively through Apple Music, and supposedly Dr. Dre is having a big part in the streaming service as well (though it's hard to tell what right now). Apple Music describes its experience as such: "To deepen the connection between artists and fans. To give you personal recommendations from people who know and love music. To reimagine radio with a 24/7 global station." Apple seems to be edging out Spotify as the best price (for right now) with a free 3 month trial, but the subscription entails over 30 million songs for 9.99 a month, or 14.99 for family (who knows what the "family" subscription means, possibly more members? No details on this yet). When you start your subscription all of your already obtained music (somehow) automatically appears in the Apple Music library, and Apple's "experts" (who knows what kind of experts, supposedly actual artists) make suggestions based on what you like. The Beats 1 radio station is "24/7 radio, including music, interviews, and culture" (so it says on the website). The connect aspect seems to be the post interesting of the features, it says fans can "see, comment on, like, and share whatever exciting material an artist chooses to post. Unreleased demo tracks, an acoustic version of the latest hit, a video shot in the studio," etc. This to me sounds like something I'd kill to see, but only for some rappers. I surely wouldn't pay to see behind the scenes material of Taylor Swift, no disrespect to Taylor, but not my cup of tea musically. Lots of dope features, just needs some tampering with just as all musical services do.
So there's a (hopefully quick and helpful) review of what these music services all entail. I included all the details I could about each one down to the prices, now it's on what your preference is. I'm personally a fan of music with no adds, so I like Spotify's premium idea (even though I don't pay, so I do deal with ads), but Apple's idea of taking behind the scenes content to a new level is truly for a die hard rap fan such as myself. The idea of exclusive concerts, interviews and album releases like TIDAL and Apple Music are doing is taking things to a whole new level. For instance, Eminem is God to me, so seeing him do an exclusive interview that I could (hypothetically) only see on Apple Music's website certainly draws me to Apple Music strictly for that factor. I live for behind the scenes content. But I need to know what you think! Let me know which streaming service you'd go with based on the details and why either on Google+ or in the comment section, I'd love to hear what you think. Music streaming is taking over, does this mean death to physical albums? Hopefully not, but only time will tell.
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