B.o.B has always been a rapper with more pop sensibilities than most. Only he can work with such mainstream artists such as Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and Hayley Williams of Paramore and still keep the respect of the streets.
On Underground Luxury, B.o.B's third album he stays away from mainstream guest appearances. Aside from Chris Brown, T.I. and Priscilla Renea the guests are far more, well, underground. While this is definitely his worst album, it's still a good record. Some of his solo songs blend together, but most of the songs are memorable.
The two best songs are the singles "John Doe" which features Priscilla Renea and "Headband" which features 2 Chainz. "John Doe" is by far the best song though. It features Renea singing a chorus of sadness playing John Doe's love interest While B.o.B plays the addict.
"John Doe, I just want the John I know/ Once you put the drinks on hold/ Maybe you could come back home/ John Doe," Renea sings sadly during the chorus.
This is the best song and with a song this good it makes the other songs sound like filler. Most of the songs blend together and are broken up by the memorable songs like "Ready" which features Future, "Coastline," "Wide Open" which features Esther Dean and "We Still In This Bitch" which features T.I. and Juicy J.
Without these songs the record would be nothing more than filler and background music. The problem is that B.o.B is that he works better with a guest appearance on the song. He works better with a Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj or Rivers Cuomo like on is first two albums. For his next record he would do good to have more guest appearances to help him hold his own.
Last month Rihanna came out with her seventh album in seven years. And while those albums have ranged from decent (Loud, A Girl Like Me, Music in the Sun) to great (Rated R, Good Girl Gone Bad, Talk That Talk) but her latest album Unapologetic is very disappointing. While Loud was also overrated at least there were some memorable songs. Unapologetic has a few great songs but they are overshadowed by the bad songs.
The album starts out okay on "Fresh out the Runway." This hip hop number is Rihanna's bragging song. While the song isn't bad to listen to it's not as memorable as past hits like "Umbrella" or "S&M." The album then slows it down for the hit single "Diamonds." The single is a good move for Rihanna but it's in no way a classic. The album then goes into three songs that lack any spark. "Numb" featuring Eminem, "Pour it Up" and "Loveeeeee Song" featuring Future are just filler and aren't memorable at all.
The album then goes into three great songs. "Jump," "Right Now" which features French DJ David Guetta and "What Now." The latter being a very emotionally charged song with soul and rock elements. "Jump" is a dubstep song that samples "Pony" by Ginuine. The club ready anthem should be a single at some point.
Then the album goes into the forgettable second single. This if followed by the album's most talked about track, "Nobody's Business" which features Rihanna's exboyfriend Chris Brown. The song features the two singing about how their love is nobody's business. While the song is catchy, it's more shocking than it is good.
The album then goes into one of the best songs, "Love Without Tragedy/Mother Mary." The song is a six minute, two song combination that is nothing short or great. The song, even though not written by Rihanna, is her most personal to date. The song itself starts out like an 1980s pop song and then goes into a slower second half. "I'm from the left side of an island, never thought this many people would even know my name," Rihanna sings on "Mother Mary."
Then the album goes into two boring songs and closes with "Lost in Paradise." This dubstep laced ballad features emotional vocals from Rihanna. One of the turns of off this album is the presence of so much filler.
While this album isn't anything special, Rihanna has had bad albums in the past and come out with classics the next year. Here's to 2012 Rihanna.
Hero of many a pathetic teenage girl and Falling In Reverse frontman has been arrested on charges of domestic battery. His girlfriend told police that he allegedly beat her. The warrant for his arrest was issued on May 1, 2012 but because of his band's run on the Vans Warped Tour, Radke wasn't arrested until August 6, the day after Warped Tour ended.
Radke was the original lead vocalist for Escape The Fate but when he got convicted for his role in the death of a fan. His band then replaced him with Craig Mabbitt who was in blessthefall at the time while he was in prison and then he started Falling In Reverse. The band sing a lame mix of pop-punk, hardcore and hard rock, yet they've managed to gain a huge amount of popularity with their debut album The Drug In Me Is You. The record is full of annoying sing songy tunes about being betrayed by his former bandmates.
While the band aren't untalented and some of their songs do have good moments, they just try to hard. They have one song, "Goodbye Graceful" that is simply amazing. It's the heaviest song on which Ronnie employs his harsh vocals during most of the song while he sings the chorus. If Falling In Reverse made more songs like this, they wouldn't suck.
The only reason people like this band is because of the hype surrounding Radke and his legal woes of the past. If he wasn't "that guy who used to be in Escape The Fate who killed somebody and wrote Falling In Reverse's album in prison," half the people who "love" him and his band wouldn't care. They're nothing special.
But this isn't meant to be a rant on how much the band aren't good, it's an opinion piece of Radke and other musicians who face hard times. While some musicians with talent ruin their careers by overdosing and dying (Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston) or being bat shit crazy (Courtney Love), many musicians can get past the embarrassment.
Chris Brown was promising young R&B singer with a good voice when he turned himself in after the beating of his girlfriend at the time Rihanna. While many viewed Brown's career as over he has had several hit singles since then and despite public feuds with P!nk and Miranda Lambert regarding his domestic battery charges Rihanna collaborated with him on the remix to her single "Birthday Cake" and his song "Turn Up The Music." While he has lost the love and respect of many fans, he still has a successful music career.
Another, older example is R&B singer R. Kelly. In 2002 a video tape of Kelly urinating on and having sex with an allegedly underage girl surfaced on the internet. The singer was charged with child pornography, soliciting a minor for child pornography and sex with a minor. Despite the fact that charges were dropped and he was found not guilty for the rest this was still a damaging thing for Kelly. Yet the next year Kelly released an album that featured one of his biggest hits ever "Ignition (Remix)." Despite not having that many more hits after Kelly continues to release albums to moderate success.
Radke can save his career if he comes across as a victim which I'm sure is the direction he'll take. Radke and his overrated band have lots of fans who probably feel terrible for their underdog and they'll probably blame his girlfriend and make her a martyr amongst terrible scene kids across the nation. But my question is, is that okay?
