Headphones: A$AP MOB Unites

This week in music we welcomed back some of Rock music’s more popular groups, as Kings of Leon returned triumphantly with their first #1 album on Billboard’s 200.  Last week the group released their new album Walls, which believe it or not is the 7th studio album for the band that was made famous by their debut album Only by the Night.  This is the 4th time the band has debuted in the top 10 of the charts, this one being the 3rd consecutive.  The album was headed by lead single ‘Waste a Moment’, which is also in the top 10 for Alternative Songs.  Impressively at #2 is still Drake’s album Views, which has seen a long and successful run at the top.

In less positive news, Lady Gaga, The Chainsmokers, and now Mark Ronson are in a twitter feud.  The Chainsmokers are kind of a big deal right now, with their hit ‘Closer’ being without a doubt the most popular song of the year.  Instead of worrying about themselves, the duo recently went out of their way in an interview to bash Gaga’s latest song Perfect Illusion, going as far as saying it “sucks.”  Gaga fired back with a playful tweet suggesting the duo listen to more of her music, while her avid fan base, the “little monsters”, took things a little more seriously.  It was then later escalated by Mark Ronson, who produced the record:

Let’s hope they can all play nice and keep putting out more music for your listening pleasure.

Album of the Week: Cozy Tapes Vol. 1 – A$AP Mob: In honor of the late A$AP Yams, New York’s craziest mob has finally put out their long awaited collaboration project, Cozy Tapes Vol. 1.  Headed by A$AP Rocky, the album contains features from several A$AP artists as well as some of their other friends (i.e. Tyler the Creator, Wiz Khalifa & BJ the Chicago Kid.) The songs are largely made up of songs that have been out for awhile now, starting with the first track ‘Yamborghini High.’  While almost all of the songs are worth listening to, the main draw here is of course Rocky, who besides Ferg has been largely carrying the label since Yams death.  His tracks ‘Way Hii’, ‘Put That On My Set’ and ‘Telephone Calls’ are the clear standouts on the album.  The album serves as a successful tribute to their deceased leader Yams, who passed away in early 2015. Many bars are spent reminiscing over their former leader, while others are more braggadocio like the Wiz track ‘Way Hii.’  With most of the tracks produced by Rocky, they all have the same bass driven instrumentals that have become typical of A$AP material. 

Music Videos

Pop: Shout Out To My Ex – Little Mix: This is one group of girls you don’t want to cross.  Check out the U.K X Factor alumni’s new song dedicated to their ex’s.

EDM: My Way – Calvin Harris: Is it about Taylor Swift? Who knows, but Calvin Harris continues his work horse mentality and puts out another banger.

Country: Lights Come On – Jason Aldean: In his latest video, Mr. Aldean reflects on going from playing small clubs to playing under the big lights of an arena. 

Hip-Hop: Come Down – Anderson .Paak: Most fun video of the year goes to… who else, Anderson .Paak.  In a year that he has truly dominated, .Paak releases the latest video in support of his Malibu album.  This one finds him playing multiple roles throughout a club where his band the Free Nationals are playing.

Notable: A Tribe Called Quest returns with final album, due out November 11th: Perhaps the most exciting music news of the week, A Tribe Called Quest announced they would be releasing a new album due out right after Election Day.  It’s the groups first album since 1998’s The Lone Movement.  Q-Tip, one of the groups founding members, announced the news via his Facebook page.  The news came with some surprise, as the recent death of founding member Phife Dawg in March seemed to hav spelled out the end for the group.  Q-Tip explained that the material was written before his death and would the groups last album.  The album will follow with a performance on SNL on November 12th. 

This Week’s Playlist

1.     Way Hii – A$AP Rocky feat. Wiz Khalifa: The track that brings the most fire off Cozy Tapes finds Rocky and Wiz trading bars about the life of the modern day rapper. 

2.     Setting the World On Fire – Kenny Chesney feat. P!nk: The lead single off Kenny Chesney’s new album Cosmic Hallelujah

3.     Blue Notes – Meek Mill: While Mill may have found himself at the losing end of the Drake battle last year, he’s beginning his road to redemption with tracks like this.  While Drake safely plays into his patented sound, Mill is experimenting in new territory with this song.  Mill rapping over electric blue guitar is chilling

4.     Waste a Moment – Kings of Leon: Currently one of the hottest Alternative tracks out there, Kings of Leon conjure up some of their old magic.

5.     Suede - NxWorries: .Paak… nuff’ said.

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