90s flashback
song of the day
music videos
Solange // Losing You [Music Video]
I’ve posted way too much of Solange today, so I’ll leave you with the music video for “Losing You”. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d post more if I could, but there’s not really anything more in the way of content today. Plus I want to go buy my dinner.
The video for “Losing You” is very good. It sees Solange roaming about Cape Town with some cool kids, as they dance, ride bikes and smash bottles. You know, like you do. Plus they’re all dressed in very stylish African inspired fashions, because Solange would never go out on her bicycle wearing something horrible.
The party near the end of the video really reminds me of Janet Jackson’s “Got ‘til it’s Gone”. That’s a great video as well, so I guess this whole releasing new music has been a critical success for Solange. At least with me.
Azealia Banks // Luxury [Music Video]
After blasting Munchi on twitter yesterday, Azealia has made enemies with the producer who went onto drag her to the pits in a twitter rampage. Azealia says she’s still shooting the video for “Esta Noche” today, but don’t expect the track to get an official release anytime soon. Pity.
Instead here’s the video for “Luxury”, off the FANTASEA mixtape. How many music videos is this girl releasing? I mean, they’re good and all, but why she’s been releasing all these clips without actually releasing a second single until now I’ll never know.
The “Luxury” video is good though. Nothing special, but it does the job. Azealia’s dancing on a rooftop with two dancers, roaming through New York, which we also get see from the ground up. It’s got nothing on the videos for “212”, “Liquorice” “1991” and “Van Vogue”, but it looks quite nice in black and white. I’m not going to get all excited over the clip, but I guess she’s leaving that for the Esta Noche video. Please stop with the feuds by the way Azealia.
Frank Ocean // Pyramids [Music Video]
The video for Frank Ocean’s “Pyramids” has finally arrived and is definitely NSFW. That explains why they’ve put it on vimeo then. It’s like a cross between Donnie Darko, Showgirls and Alien - which is pretty interesting to say the least. They’ve also used different version of the song, complete with that nostalgic playstation noise and a really weird structure. John Mayer pops up for a bit as well, which is pretty cool.
Ciara // Sorry [Music Video]
After weeks of waiting, Ciara has finally dropped “Sorry”, which is the first single off her fifth album “One Woman Army”, due later this year.
I posted about “Sweat” a few months ago, saying that it was “good” but “nothing revolutionary”. However nothing revolutionary soon turned into heard it all before, and while I don’t dislike it, I just didn’t care for the track after two days of playing it. Hopefully I won’t get lost in the moment and exaggerate how good “Sorry” is, but upon first listen it’s a completely different kettle of fish.
We’ll start with the music video. Ciara looks amazing as she bumps, grinds and twerks all over the floor. She’s pleading with a 50 Cent look-a-like in a nice modern house, which gives me real mid-2000s vibes. It’s a bit like Omarion’s “Ice Box” meets her own “Speechless”, but a little less cold than the former and a lot better than the latter.
Let’s get on to the song though, because that’s really what this is all about. Ciara’s had some nice ballads since the sexy “Promise”. “Can’t Leave ‘Em Alone” is a personal favourite of mine, while “Speechless” was pretty good as well. She has had some clunkers as well though. Don’t even remind me of the cringe worthy “Never Ever”. Despite the good, nothing has ever quite matched up to the pure sensuality of “Promise” for me though.
“Sorry” changes that tune. It’s almost like the lyrical follow up to “Promise”. Fiddy has broken his promise that he’d never lie to Ciara and she’s called the whole relationship off. Now she realises that what they had was so good, and will take him back only if he tells her he’s sorry. Cute.
The whole production of the song reminds me of “Promise” as well. It’s got that sensual spacey feel which made her 2006 hit so good. It sounds like there’s a lot of space between the swooshing beats and Ciara’s vocals, giving the track a romantic 80s vibe. There’s a nice spoken word outro as well, which completes what is one of the hottest slow jams I’ve heard in a long time.
It’s also one of the hottest Ciara tracks I’ve heard in a long time, as well as being one of the smoothest R&B songs I’ve heard in quite a while. Even if it’s not the success it needs to be, Ciara is back with the top quality music we’ve all been yearning for.
