Baltimore native Rye Rye has been on the path to a major label debut for a few years and with the release of her debut album Go! Pop! Bang! on N.E.E.T./Interscope Records, she is finally seeing the realization of her efforts.
Finding her niche in dance-rap, the young star has been groomed by M.I.A. Thankfully, Rye Rye doesn't possess any of her mentor's acrimonious posturing. She is instead all enthusiasm, light and fun and her uptempo music reflects her high spirits.
FROM WHERE: Harlem. She also attended the famed LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, where alums include another female rapper by the name of Nicki Minaj and a host of other famous folks.
WHY YOU SHOULD LISTEN: Even with the meteoric rise of Nicki Minaj into the forefront of pop culture relevance, mainstream female rappers still have a long way to go to reclaim the numbers and relevance they had in the mid to late '90s. The emergence of rappers like Banks means that Nicki doesn’t have to shoulder all of the weight by herself. Not to say that Banks hasn’t established herself. She’s already gotten major co-signs from the likes of Kanye West and fashion juggernaut Karl Lagerfeld. Azealia has spit on tracks from Diplo and is expected to go into the studio with legendary rapper and producer Missy Elliott soon too.
MUSIC SOUNDS LIKE: Imagine the quirkiest parts of the dance music influenced pop phenomenon mixed with a little of Nicki Minaj’s mainstream sensibilities, including the occasional singing, and you’ll have an idea of what Banks is all about. She represents the finest in hipster rap. All of her material thus far is upbeat, party-ready music complete with plenty of braggadocio to go around.
YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD HER ON: At this point, she’s probably more famous for calling out Iggy Azalea, an ironically similarly named female MC, for some interesting lyrics. The whole thing spiraled out of control when T.I. put his two-cents in regarding some tweets that Ms. Banks issued about his legal situation. On a more positive note, Banks performed at this year's Coachella festival to some pretty positive reviews.
MUST-LISTEN TRACKS: “Liquorice” is a fun spin on Lone’s “Pineapple Crush” and very reminiscent of early '90s house music. “F*ck Up The Fun”, produced by in part by Diplo, features thundering drums and rapid-fire bars on Banks’ part. “NEEDSUMLOV” is an uptempo electro love song that complete with a sample of Aaliyah’s “One In A Million.” “212” sounds like less guilty pleasure and more authentic version of something LMFAO would come up with. “L8R” and bass-heavy “Runnin” are about the closest things in Banks’ catalog thus far that fits into the traditional urban music format.
IN HER OWN WORDS: “The beats are like scripts, and the raps are my monologue,” Banks told Interview magazine.
It had gotten dark at Merriweather Post Pavilion and seven o'clock had passed. Fans had piled in to the venue (Merriweather's current capacity is 19,316) and sat through a light shower of rain in anticipation for the headlining acts. Kid Cudi entered after the curtain was lifted kicking off his highly anticipated set. He was backed by the other half of WZRD, Dot Da Genius, and guitars and drums.
Cudi took the time to speak to fans and shout them out. Even those way back in the lawn. The G.O.O.D music rapper also took time to say that he would be going through some of his older work throughout the set and bringing out some of his mixtape tracks. The crowd roared in response and he kept his promise running through songs from 2008 like "Man on the Moon(The Anthem)", and even spit his first verse from the "Cudi Spazzin'" acapella.
Cudi also did material from his first two albums, running through material like "Ghost", "Refovev", "Erase Me", and "Mr. Rager," from the Man On The Moon II, while songs like "Soundtrack To My Life" "Cudi Zone", "Pursuit of Happiness" and"Day N' Nite" held down fans from the earlier albums.
Cudi's vocals were tough to hear for fans far in the back. High energy tracks like the David Guetta-produced "Memories" helped pull everyone into the festivities.
Another impressive moment was the improptu acapella or freestyle moments that Cudi incorporated in his set. He extended "Pursuit of Happiness" into a drawn out jam session, adding extra ad-libs. He extended another song by launching into a section with a loop of "Day N' Nite" Crookers remix on repeat.
Nate Ruess of fun., performs at the 2012 Sweetlife Festival Photo Credits:Cristi Demnowicz
Photo Credits:Cristi Demnowicz
Guests piled in to the Merriweather Post Pavilion as noon passed. The clouds were heavy and it was clear that a rain storm was in the near future. But the rain wasn't enough to keep the fun. away.
The band kicked things off with great energy at the start of the festival. Their upbeat, sing-a-long tunes had concertgoers buzzing thanks to their recent success with the hit single "We Are Young" featuring Janelle Monae.
Judging by the warm crowd reaction to their set, the band likely gained a few more converts that day. Latecomers could be spotted grooving as they made their way into the venue during the band's set. Highlights from their set included the lithely melodic "Some Nights" and the quirky "At Least I'm Not As Sad." But of course, "We Are Young" is the anthem that everyone came to hear, and fun. didn't disappoint.
fun. is on an upward trajectory, having gone from a mostly Internet-based fan base to the full glare of mainstream exposure. Their mainstream success is also notable due to the fact that they're a pop-rock band. Rock as a music genre has been in a bit of dry spell. In fact, the Billboard Hot 100 hasn't been topped by an alternative/rock act since 2008's "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay. So their success is a breakthrough for a genre that's been fighting to maintain its relevance in pop music.
With Bonarroo around the corner, fun. demonstrated their festival strength at Sweetlife. Fans should expect a good time from fun. if they catch them in an upcoming festival set.
A$AP Rocky hits the stage the 2012 Sweetlife Festival. Photo Credits:LaVan Anderson
As fun. departed the stage, there was a DJ set to fill in the time until it was time for A$AP Rocky's set. A$AP Rocky was brought onto stage with a strong response with fans chanting "ASAP!" continuously. Rocky's set kicked off with "Pretty Flacko" as he and his crew stomped the stage. The folks in the pit were riled up and bouncing along with the rapper. The A$AP Mob help Rocky's stage presence and also intensify the crowd response, especially for notable verses like A$AP Ferg's on "Kissin' Pink".
A$AP Rocky proved he is a force of his own as he commanded the fan favorite "Wassup" to a rowdy response and some of the earliest crowd surfs of the day. The energy was high for what seemed like a short set. A$AP Rocky finished with a bang by performing "Peso," arguably his biggest song to date. He thanked his fans for their support to this point and any new fans just discovering the A$AP movement.
A$AP Rocky could be spotted later in the evening enjoying other shows and greeting fans throughout. It's good to see that despite their success, there are still humble acts out there willing to mingle with the people.
Following the hype of his Taylor Allderdice mixtape, Wiz Khalifa now has his sights set on his sophmore effort. Before the album's release at the end of this summer, Wiz is embarking on yet another tour in what seems to be a perpetual non-stop tour schedule.
Most recently, young Khalifa has been spotted doing promo in New York talking about the aforementioned tour as well as his second album O.N.I.F.C which stands for Only N****s In First Class, or the family-friendly name One Night In First Class. While doing promo, Wiz Khalifa released the first single to his follow-up release in the form of his latest track, "Work Hard Play Hard." He teamed up with Stargate on the production once again in the hopes of striking up the same magic they stumbled upon with "Black and Yellow."
Like his breakout hit, "Work Hard Play Hard" has an undeniable Steel city vibe to it. And if the vibe of the track wasn't enough to lead you in that direction, the lyric video should do the trick.
DMX's problems with drugs and the law are well documented. His attitude toward his troubles, however, have been cavalier and full of typical hypermasculine, empty vessel chest beating about how he's a G.
But in an incredibly Freudian moment on the VH1 reality show Couples Therapy, DMX revealed the source of all of his trauma and angst: His mother never told him that she loved him.
You can expect the rap blogs, message boards and commenters to run with this and GIF the hell out of it and call him a punk, but in a rare moment of honesty, DMX cracked the popular facade of the black rapper as an uncaring, unfeeling, invincible soldier.
The sad reality is that many of DMX's peers probably bear similar familial scars. But don't expect to hear that in their next mixtape single.
While rappers clobber Drake for wearing his heart on his sleeve, they're secretly carrying around deep emotional wounds that they'd love to pretend don't exist. That is what psychology types call projection.
Isn't it time that hip-hop started being more honest?
On the closing night of last week's Coachella music festival, hip-hop veterans Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg took the stage with tons of surprises up their sleeves. The show started with high energy as the duo ran through west coast classics and paid homage to their late friend Nate Dogg. Dr. Dre appeared the rustier of the two as Snoops showmanship carried much of the early part of the show.
Warren G and Kurupt came on stage to perform "It ain't No Fun" with the late Nate Dogg's vocals playing with a slideshow dedicated to the singer rolling through images. Before the show it was rumored that a hologram of Nate Dogg would appear on stage to perform with the California emcees, so many were confused after the hologram was a no show after they ran through a few songs with Nate Dogg's memorable hooks.
Throughout the entire set the visual backdrop had changing backrounds with special effects, which were a nice touch to the performance, especially for those who could not get close to the stage or watching from the computer screen.
The show then turned in to a passing of the torch moment. Snoop Dogg brought out Wiz Khalifa to perform their hit "Young, Wild and Free." It was essentially a salute from the top weed rapper to the heir to the figurative throne. Snoop and Wiz then vacated the stage as Dr. Dre did some torch passing of his own. As a producer who has worked with all the top rappers that came from the West Coast, he annointed Kendrick as the next big thing from Compton shortly before performing their new song "The Recipe."
Following the torch-bearing portion a rowdy 50 Cent burst out onto stage running through a few of his classics for his Aftermath family. It's a good thing they had Tony Yayo's mic turned low as he could barely be heard yelling ad-libs at the top of his lungs. Otherwise, Fif appears to have not lost a step despite not releasing an album recently. Hate him or love him you know the words to "In the Club" and the entire Coachella crowd was rocking with him.
After Fifty's portion the set took a ground-breaking turn. Fans wondering if they would see a Nate Dogg hologram had their question answered as Tupac Shakur appeared on stage alongside Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. Speaking as a viewer watching from a laptop the technology was amazing including verbal interaction with Dr. Dre and Snoop in between songs. Not to mention Tupac's mannerisms were intact as he and Snoop both danced and rhymed together; truly a great hip-hop moment.
Following Tupac's surreal appearance, Marshall Mathers himself appeared on stage to join Dre for their hit song "I Need a Doctor". The response to Eminem was nothing to laugh at either as fans screamed at the top of their lungs while everyone's favorite white emcee spit his verses and both Dre and Snoop took a back seat before returning to the stage.
As the set closed, Dr. Dre and Snoop allowed their band to rock out and have solos as they descended into the stage. A fitting end to a great show that left many jaws on the floor. Fans are already calling for Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Notorious BIG hologram concerts, so this could get interesting.
Watch Tupac's holographic image perform at Coachella below
It's a bit early to start the television takedowns on Odd Future, isn' it?
They're not even mainstream. They're just kids with an Internet following and some blog buzz. They're not topping the Billboard charts or iTunes. And yet, the BBC's Stephen Smith tries to pull off a smackdown on Tyler and his cohorts. Unfortunately for him, the mission fails.
Speaking and observing with the embarrassing, out-of-touch distance of a 40-plus year old, Smith and the BBC examine the Odd Future following and movement as though they were an exotic tribe they'd stumbled upon in the wild bush of Botswana.
Who are these Odd Future people? Why are their lyrics so controversial? And what's this about selling overpriced clothes?!
Hi, BBC. Have you heard of Eminem and the Billionaire Boys Club? Hip-hop has been there, done that.
Watch the awkward showdown between Tyler the Creator and Smith below
