Mp3: Kanye West – All Of The Lights ft. Lil Wayne, Big Sean & Drake

Posted by Matt | Posted in Music | Posted on 18-03-2011

Kanye West

First of all, before anyone says something about it, this is apparently not the final render of the song, but to be honest, I find the remix of All of The Lights to be lackluster [so far]. The line up might look ok on paper, but the result is the complete opposite. Actually Big Sean is actually ok, but Drake who had a decent verse on a leaked version of All of The Lights prior to the album release is not even going with that original verse and decided to switch things up for the worse for the half part of his verse; And let’s not even talk about autotuned Lil Wayne on the opening verse… Anyway, hear for yourself, but I am really hoping the final version ends up good.

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download : Kanye West – All Of The Lights ft. Lil Wayne, Big Sean & Drake

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Video/Mp3: Kanye West – All Of the Lights (feat. Rihanna)

Posted by Martin | Posted in Music | Posted on 19-02-2011

”Finally!” This was the first word that came out of my mouth when I heard that the new music video from Kanye is online. It’s personnaly one of my favorite songs from his lastest album. Vivid colours, part lyrics and part Kanye, the video was directed by Hype Williams and it features many visual references like Gaspar Noé’s 2009 film Enter the Void and the red leather jacket from Michael Jackson. In this huge sundae of visual and sound, the cherry on top is Rihanna’s appearence. It’s unvoidable, she’s a pure beauty. Even if the video and the song are amazing, there’s only one warning I must put out: don’t watch it if you got epileptic seizures in the past.

download : Kanye West – All Of the Lights (feat. Rihanna)

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Mp3: Katy Perry – E.T. ft. Kanye West (Remix)

Posted by Matt | Posted in Music | Posted on 17-02-2011

Kanye West & Katy Perry

Seems like even though Katy Perry ranted off about Kanye’s behaviour about the whole Taylor Swift incident in ’09, she doesn’t really hold a grudge or anything as she enlisted no one else than Kanye himself to give her newest single, E.T. that extra oomph. Apparently a video for the song as already been filmed and wrapped so that should also be dropping pretty soon.

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download : Katy Perry – E.T. ft. Kanye West (Remix)

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Mp3: Kanye West & Jay-Z – H.A.M.

Posted by Matt | Posted in Music | Posted on 11-01-2011

Kanye West & Jay-Z

If you thought that Kanye would have a quieter year now that his latest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, was released late last year, think again. Because not only will Kanye probably embark on a world tour to promote the release of that said album, but he also intends to keep himself busy with different projects, one being his collaborative album with Hov, Watch The Throne. No official released date as been stated so far, but here’s a brand new single of it and it goes HARD!

ps. peep the Eli Porter line around 0:45. HE’S THE BEST MAYNE, HE DEED IT.

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download : Kanye West & Jay-Z – H.A.M.

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Retrospective 2010: Matt’s Favorite Videos

Posted by Matt | Posted in Music | Posted on 30-12-2010

OK Go – This Too Shall Pass

Tricil – The Emancipation

Die Antwoord – Zef Side

Janelle Monáe – Cold War

Kanye West – Runaway

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Video/Mp3: Kanye West – Monster (ft. Bon Iver, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, & Nicki Minaj)

Posted by Ryan | Posted in Music | Posted on 30-12-2010

Wikileaks all up in this. Yep, the sound quality is really poor, but we’ll get that updated as soon as it drops with better sound. This video is looking really, really impressive. Leave it to Kanye and the crew to really bring us back to the days when music videos were truly worth your time.

This is creepy, but in a “Backstreet’s Back” when-you’re-ten-years-old kind of way. Rick Ross is sitting there smoking a cigar in a throne, surrounded by white girls hanging from the ceiling. Awesome. You can have some fun by muting it and trying to sync up the mp3…? I’m sure someone will do that with actual audio of this video if it takes more than a day to officially drop.

download : Kanye West – Monster

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Retrospective 2010: Matt’s Favorite Albums

Posted by Matt | Posted in Music | Posted on 29-12-2010

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Alright, I’ll get this one out of the way right from the start as it’s probably no surprise to anyone that Kanye’s latest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy made the list of my favorite album of the year or probably the lists of pretty much everyone else.

From its opening song, Dark Fantasy, to its closing moments with the monologue of Gil-Scott Heron, the album is nothing short of spectacular. It’s the kind of album that pulls you in and that no matter at which song you start; whenever if it’s Hell of a Life or Gorgeous, I’ve always found myself listening to more than just that initial song, if not the whole album and no matter how many times I’ve listened it from beginning to end, I have yet to be bored of it. I’m actually finding myself wanting more everytime I give My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy a spin and that is why it made the list of my favorite albums of the year.

Alot of people are actually surprised to see Kanye’s album at the top of so many lists, I’m not sure if it’s just a case of haters going to hate, or people just not liking the product. To be honest, while I do like the album for its content, I am far more impressed by what the album actually represent to Kanye’s career. With it, he finally achieved what he’s been trying to tell us for awhile now, he proved that he successfully made the transition of being a simple rapper of the Chi to this ‘artist’ named Kanye West. The thing is with albums like this though, is that they are very hard to follow through… Only time will tell if Kanye will be able to recapture the magic in a couple of years, but no matter what happens, the thirteen songs he offered us with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy will forever be timeless.

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download : Kanye West – All of The Lights

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download : Kanye West – Devil In A New Dress ft. Rick Ross

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download : Kanye West – Blame Game ft. John Legend

Arcade Fire
The Suburbs
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
The Black Keys
Brothers
The Black Keys - Brothers
Janelle Monáe
The ArchAndroid
Janelle Monáe - The ArchAndroid
Foals
Total Life Forever
Foals - Total Life Forever
Local Natives
Gorilla Manor
Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
Flying Lotus
Cosmogramma
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
Sleigh Bells
Treats
Sleigh Bells - Treats
The Roots
How I Got Over
The Roots - How I Got Over
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Retrospective 2010: Matt’s Favorite Songs

Posted by Matt | Posted in Music | Posted on 27-12-2010

First of all, I’d like to say that I haven’t blogged in awhile because I was on holidays, now that it’s out of the way, you’ve probably noticed that the Above & Beyond Magazine Restrospective 2010 has started with the Favorite Songs of Ryan just below, well here are my favorite songs for the year of 2010 and I have to say that I always have a hard time when someone ask me what are my favorite songs, because I don’t necessarily keep a rating of all the songs I actually listen or even keep a list at all. I mean there are the ones that will play on rotation for awhile and those I play on fast-forward and/or skip, but that’s it.

You could say that is some sort of listing, but the category has pretty wide margins, so it’s always hard to narrow it down to only a couple of songs. So colour me perplexed when the new year arrives and I have to write up a list of my favorite songs of the year for Above & Beyond as everyone loves them lists. I initially wanted to make a top 10 and split 50/50 with Ryan, but Ryan, being the better blogger of us two, proposed to write up a list of 25 songs, I got him to settle for 15, but it was still one hell of an exercise… at least for me, Ryan got it done in like 15 minutes.

Anyway, here are my 15 14 favorite songs of 2010. edit : I can’t think of a 15th song… I’ll update it if I ever find one ahah.

The Streets The Streets – Going Through Hell
Sometimes I will like songs that will get my head bumping or that will get me cooking on the dance floor, but the ones that really stick are those that talks to me and that I can relate to. The Streets official lead single, Going Through Hell, of it’s upcoming and last album, Computers & Blues, is one of them songs. Most 2010 was not the easiest personally (definitely got better near the end of it though), but I got through it and lines like ‘If you’re going through hell / keep pushing’, even if very simple, is definitely something I wished I had thought of myself.

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download : The Streets – Going Through Hell

Cee-Lo Green Cee-Lo Green – F*ck You
Here’s another song that was released perfectly in-sync for what was happening in my life. I mean who never had the urge of saying fuck you to someone who wronged you? Well Cee-Lo Green jumped on the occasion to become the poster boy for them people by releasing a song simply titled F*ck You, which gave each and everyone of us the opportunity of doing so in style. The song itself also quickly became a summer anthem and was foreshadowing the statement that Cee-Lo Green was going to be a big (literally) problem in late 2010 with his album, The Lady Killer.

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download : Cee-Lo Green – F*ck You

King Fantastic King Fantastic – Why? Where? What?
I’m fascinated by that gansta shit / Always been a fan of that gangsta shit / You can count me in if it’s gangsta shit / Just for the rush I do gangsta shit

Granted those might not be the greatest lyrics of 2010, but it pretty much describes what’s going through my mind while bumping my head to the song. SHIT’S GOING HARD SON! I mean, everytime I hear this song, I just want to go on a rampage and wreck everything in my way, but I don’t… because I am not a ganster.

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download : King Fantastic – Why? Where? What?

Asher Roth Asher Roth – G.R.I.N.D.
At the end of the day, if Asher Roth greatest success ends up being I Love College, G.R.I.N.D. will not only be a close-runner up, but will always be remembered as the song that officially marked a turning point in his career. From that white boy who rapped about college and getting high, G.R.I.N.D. shun a new light on the Pennsylvania emcee and proved that he had more than just one trick up in his sleeve as it image changed into a more serious rapper with something else than just a beer pong diploma to his credentials.

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download : Asher Roth – G.R.I.N.D. (Get Ready It’s A New Day)

Yeasayer Yeasayer – O.N.E.
To be honest, I didn’t know much about Yeasayer when they released their second album, Odd Blood, back in February. After listening to it though, they definitely made my list of artists to watch. The first excerpt of it, Ambling Alp, was good, but it’s really with O.N.E. that they caught my attention. The song just had that Animal Collective My Girls feeling of ’09. Not only was it released in the same time of year, but shared similarities in terms of light-heartness and catchy vibe. It was one of them songs that was just easily catching you off-guard into a psychedelic dancing session.

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download : Yeasayer – O.N.E.

Delorean Delorean – Stay Close
Delorean song, Stay Close, is just a pure pleasure to the ears. And the best way to describe the experience I’ve felt while listening to the song for the first time would be something like this. It started with the feeling of being engulfed by an ocean of sound carried me around for awhile and ended by leaving me on the shorelines with the feeling of wanting to go straight back into it; which I did countless of times, and even went to see them perform live when they rolled through my town earlier this year, which made that feeling increase tenfold, if not more.

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download : Delorean – Stay Close

Sage Francis Sage Francis – Best of Times
Sage Francis is definitely one of my favorite hip-hop artist. His songs are not about glits and glamour or diamonds and rims, but they are about nothing more than life… that middle class life, about the life and struggle of the regular joe. And while it’s sometimes nice to dream about them 36 inches rims, it’s music like this that connects (at least for me). Best of Times was the first excerpt and single of his recent album, L(i)fe, and it’s the kind of song that transported me into his own universe, making me feel what he went through via his lyrics, made me live inside of the images he was painting like they were mines even though he was talking about his past and not mine.

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download : Sage Francis – The Best of Times (Prod. by Yann Tiersen)

Janelle Monae Janelle Monáe – Tightrope ft. Big Boi
I had heard of the Janelle Monáe’s name a little bit before the release of her debut album, The ArchAndroid, but I didn’t know much about what was attached to it, what to expect or even that she would become one of the most prolific artist of 2010. Tightrope was the first single that was spawned from The ArchAndroid and she couldn’t have picked a better one. The song was just the perfect mix of dancing, personality, Big Boi and a haircut that would get Amy Winehouse jealous to open up the industry’s front doors, but more importantly, my heart, to her.

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download : Janelle Monáe – Tight Rope ft. Big Boi

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire – We Used To Wait
It took three years for the Montreal indie-rock outfit known as, Arcade Fire, to release an album following their very successful Neon Bible. 2010 was the year and they made sure not to disappoint. We Used to Wait and Ready To Start were the second batch of excerpts made available to us, but I was already sold, hooked, reeled-in and up on the wall singing like one of them singing fish the moment I heard the first 30 seconds snippets of The Suburbs and Month of May that were leaked prior to the full release.

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download : Arcade Fire – We Used To Wait

Duck Sauce Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand
Sometimes I will like songs that will talk to me, sometimes I will like songs that I can relate, but most of the times, I will like songs that will get me moving. Duck Sauce latest release, Barbra Streisand, is the perfect example of such a song as the infectious beat crafted by none-other than Montreal very own A-Trak and Massachusetts native Armand Van Helden got me singing and dancing along like not alot of other songs released this year.

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download : Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand

Jonsi Jónsi – Go Do
I don’t know what to say about the inclusion of Go Do on my list of favorite songs 2010 except that you should give the song a listen if you don’t understand why it’s on it. May you be feeling good or a little bit out of it, listening to Go Do will always transport you to a better place for a little while.

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download : Jónsi – Go Do

Foals Foals – Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara was the first excerpt of Foals second studio album, Total Life Forever. And while alot of bands usually go for their most marketable song as lead single, the British band decided to go in subtlety with Spanish Sahara and it definitely paid off very well for them as the song quickly gained noticeable buzz. The song also brings back memories of my summer trip in North Carolina as it accompanied me during the 18 hours drive to Cape Hatteras and will always reminds me of the ocean and its waves, the fun times we had during the days we were there and especially the feeling of the sun touching my face every morning when I was walking down to the beach.

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download : Foals – Spanish Sahara

Local Natives Local Natives – Who Knows, Who Cares
Local Natives might have only released one album, but the way they craft songs feels like they’re old timers. Who Knows, Who Cares was definitely one of my favorite singles that spawned from it as it’s the type of song that exactly feels like a sunlight hitting your face or at least the warmth of it. To be honest, it’s one of those songs that has a part of me still wishing that I was part of a band to be able to play music like this whenever I’d want and who wouldn’t want that? I mean it’d be sunny everyday.

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download : Local Natives – Who Knows, Who Cares

Kanye West Kanye West – Dark Fantasy
I think that EVERYONE who respect themselves at least a little bit has one Kanye West song on their lists this year… And that is whatever lists there are, I mean the guy was everywhere this year; not only did he released one of the best album of the year, his whole G.O.O.D. Fridays initiative was a game changer or at least something new and what to say about his epic rants on Twitter? Dark Fantasy did not make it into a single [so far] and was not even released throughout the G.O.O.D. Fridays. It was first heard as the soundtrack to the first couple of minutes of Kanye’s short film Runaway and was soon discovered to be the opening song of his album which was, with the British accented Nicki Minaj, perfectly setting the tone for what he had in stores with the rest of the 12 remaining songs. And so, the album, much like the song, had me at hello.

And like him or not, Kanye West is one hell of an artist and no matter how douchebaggy he might comes off during award shows or during interviews on National television, he’ll always be relevant because not only can he back up all of his douchebaggery and arrogance, but it’s that arrogance and self-absorbed ways that makes his music so genuine and the perfect reflexion of himself.

Obama was definitely right when he called Kanye a jerk after the Taylor Swift incident, but you gotta give him something though, he’s one awesome jerk.

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download : Kanye West – Dark Fantasy

download : Retrospective 2010 : Matt’s Favorite Songs

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Retrospective 2010: Ryan’s Favorite Songs

Posted by Ryan | Posted in Music | Posted on 27-12-2010

Earl Sweatshirt Earl Sweatshirt – Luper
When Earl’s verse cuts to silence and he exclaims, “I fucking hate you” your ears perk up. You’re offended, taken aback, but relating with the emotion in his voice. And then, near the end, when he says under his breath, “fuck it, you’ll never listen to this shit anyways,” you decide that this 16-year-old is spitting some shit you can back for, possibly the rest of your life. Like in the brief moments of the Slim Shady LP when Eminem mentions in between lines about defiling corpses that he hates how his mother raised him. The character and his mask are torn away just long enough to realize they’re as flesh and bone as you are.

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download : Earl Sweatshirt – Luper

stalker stalker – m¥swag
I think this really marked my first big fascination with anonymous internet artists. The imagery that came with stalker’s creations always remained minimal and abstract. It may be my imagination but it feels like it predates the overpopulation of triangles and satan swag that filled up the Internet through the rest of this year. It’s Souljaboy’s “Pretty Boy Swag” but it sounds like it was forced through the nine circles of hell and back again. This was the first noticeable track that dropped by stalker and it wasn’t quite DJ Screw or Salem or just any Indie kid with Audacity downloaded on his macbook. It was… stalker.

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download : stalker – m¥swag

Waka Flocka Flame Waka Flocka Flame – Hard In da Paint
It’s likely that Flocka actually has more haters than fans, and he’s surely embraced it at this point. The unrelenting aggressiveness of Gucci Mane’s apprentice is what has sent him soaring overtop his mentor this year and what made me want to go through with smashing everything in my house on numerous occasions. If there was ever a bad day, this became the reward for enduring it all. Your parents would be confused and disappointed if they heard it, and isn’t that what we all secretly strive for in life?

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download : Waka Flocka Flame – Hard In da Paint

Jai Paul Jai Paul – BTSTU
This track served as an endlessly entertaining one. Equal parts tender and fist pumper. Feels like Jai Paul designed this club/crib favorite and took a bow (seeing that this was really the only original track he dropped this year?) You can’t ignore a song that opens with the line “don’t fuck with me” being sung quietly into your ear. A mysterious and undeniable masterpiece.

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download : Jai Paul – BTSTU

Husalah Husalah – You Neva Know
Producer Dex Beats flipped a glossy 90s R&B track (Pebbles’ “Love Makes Things Happen“) and turned it into an underdog beat that continuously trips over itself while Husalah warns that you always watch your back. The production alone gives this a deserved spot on anyone’s yearend list, but Husalah, after a long stint in jail, hops on the track, raps like an experienced father and sings unapologetically out of tune, which only adds to the charm.

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download : Husalah – You Neva Know

Lunice The Pack – Fresh (Lunice Remix)
First impressions must be a big thing for me. This is what really got me onto Lunice – everything from the pitched 808s, synthesized bells, to the creative use of a single word from the same song as the refrain. The original “Fresh” is good, but it’s actually 3 6 Mafia’s inclusion that made me not listen more than once or twice. Lunice must’ve shared those sentiments because he tossed Mafia’s verses and added what is probably a total of ..three different instruments overtop the acapella. And I wouldn’t want to hear a single thing added to it.

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download : The Pack – Fresh (Lunice Remix)

Droop-E Droop-E – I’m Loaded
Speaking of minimal production, Droop-E is the king of self-restraint. E-40′s son has been producing since he was 15 and it shows with the professionalism on I’m Loaded. The beat is simple, his verses are simple, but this is the furthest thing from belittling his talent. If everyone made Lex Luger beats, music wouldn’t be worth listening. This is what makes music beautiful: you can go from a chaotic song and then turn on a track like “I’m Loaded” and zone out or drive around all night long and never want to find your way home.

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download : Droop-E – I’m Loaded

Girl Unit Girl Unit – Wut
Girl Unit must’ve been so incredibly pumped when the vocal samples for “Wut” fell into his lap. I’m sure the song could survive without those pitched up yelps – it’s doing just fine with a fat slap, stabbing drum machine snares, and a synth pad that sounds like a choir of voiceless robot gospel singers – but the urgency of those screams cutting in and out make me able to listen to this track over and over, regardless of its track length (mine is seven minutes, I think some versions run shorter and also longer).

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download : Girl Unit – Wut

DOM DOM – Living In America
This is pure synthpop rock from a band that no one on the Internet let alone the world knew about a year ago. But a lot can happen in a year, and DOM can attest to that. The lyrics are goofy and ironic, the keyboards sound like they torn out of their sockets during an 80s krautrock show, and all-in-all it’s just the perfect quality for those who miss their Sony Walkmen.

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download : DOM – Living In America

Lil B Lil B – The Trap
Choosing your favorite Lil B track over the duration of a year is like choosing the funniest Seinfeld episode. If that show went on for another 30 seasons. There was always something about “The Trap” though. It was released smack in the middle between tracks like “Wonton Soup” and “Swag On My Dick” and it had Based God at his wisest, preaching about the “mindset” of living in the projects and why we’re not sufficiently taught about taxes in school. How does that relate to being a “pretty bitch”? That is the true genius of Lil B.

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download : Lil B – The Trap

Crystal Castles Crystal Castles – Empathy
The Canadian duo continued this year to create songs that make want to dance, cry, make love, and get drunk blind. Their formula for writing songs has proven to be successful and I can’t see them slowing down any time soon. This is a track that could easily let any rapper fill in the grooves (I think Big Boi freestyled over it?) but singer Alice Glass’s sensual singing and jaded melodies helped make this a song I could listen to all year round and continue to do so into 2011.

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download : Crystal Castles – Empathy

Sade Sade – Soldier of Love
A certain demographic would be angered by me saying this, but I’d honestly never listened to Sade before this song dropped. Safe to say though, the song dropped on the internet and I bought the album the following day. I haven’t had a song do that to me since, but this track had such a sound that dug its way into the nooks of my brain and set up camp for weeks. The rolling, militaristic snare, the sporadic (almost heavy metal) guitar, and the singing. Never has such a masculine voice sounded so sexy to heterosexual ears, and the choir of male warriors she has behind her sound like her willing slaves.

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download : Sade – Soldier of Love

Yelawolf Yelawolf – Pop The Trunk
There is so much emotion in this song. Say what you want about Yelawolf, his image, his voice, whatever. Turn all the lights out and turn this song on. That piano line; his flow; his tone. I recommend it.

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download : Yelawolf – Pop The Trunk

Kanye West Kanye West – Monster
This was one of those tracks that leaked a few times, each release with a little more recorded. What I didn’t hear until the final release was Nicki’s verse. And wow, did they really leave best for last. People have hated on the beat, saying that there’s not enough production magic going on, but honestly, I wouldn’t want this track to be any busier. We should really just thank Kanye for holding the best party ever and recording the audio – because I like to imagine that’s how this went down. The structure of the song makes it thoroughly enjoyable, feeling like a Tarantino movie where the cameos just get better and better the further you get into it. And just… Wow, Nicki could’ve retired after that verse.

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download : Kanye West – Monster

Robyn Robyn – Dancing On My Own
2010 was also a great year for Robyn, after at least five years of more-or-less musical hibernation, the super Swedish 90s pop sensation jumped back on the scene with a shit ton of releases. There wasn’t a single moment of awkwardly getting back into the swing of things or catching up with the contemporary sound. She somehow managed to nuzzle her way into every listener’s heart – from that preppy bitch you went to high school with to that cool dude who doesn’t say much at the clothing store. Not to mention, Pitchfork gobbled up everything she did, so that helps. The songs on my list, the ones that really made an impact through my year, seem to be ones that dominated a number of genres and blurred the line in as many ways as possible. Robyn could turn this into an acoustic track and make it a candle-burner, easily. But instead, she’s confessing her sad drunk thoughts overtop a four-on-the-floor beat, the stable synth holding her up the entire time.

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download : Robyn – Dancing On My Own

download : Retrospective 2010 : Ryan’s Favorite Songs

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Mp3: Kanye West – Christmas in Harlem ft. CyHi Da Prynce, Teyana Taylor, Cam’Ron, Jim Jones, Vado, Pusha T, Big Sean & Musiq Soulchild

Posted by Matt | Posted in Music | Posted on 15-12-2010

I am extremely busy today which explains the lack of updates, but I had to drop by and post this spanking new Kanye West joint titled Christmas in Harlem featuring G.O.O.D. Music signee CyHi Da Prince and up and coming artist Teyana Taylor. Yeezy probably had this song on lockdown in the vault for awhile and was just waiting for the holidays to release it. Well Christmas is still a week away, but we might as well start it now.

update: Here’s the version with everyone, that includes Vado. Y’all know those Diplomat boys love the holidays. Merry Christmas. No tags! Full version! Dipset!

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download : Kanye West – Christmas in Harlem ft. CyHi Da Prynce, Teyana Taylor, Cam’Ron, Jim Jones, Vado, Pusha T, Big Sean & Musiq Soulchild

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