Tag: rap

2016 in music: big year for music with some amazing artists making a comeback!

We have no clue how 2015 just passed us by and we looked at it with our headphones on. Some of us had a great year and some of us were too busy looking and digging for great music. There’s no doubt about it that 2015 had some crazy ass music to offer and we’re still in the zone with our playlist. Now that 2016 is here, we think it’s time for a change in the playlist. And believe us when we say this, this year, the world of music is going to consume you for good. There are bands reuniting, bands making a comeback and the rest are just getting ready to leave you awestruck with their music.

Just a tip: keep a box of tissues handy because you might just cry out of happiness.

#1 David Bowie – Blackstar (January 8^th)

Ziggy Stardust is returning with a new album and we’re sure the fans have been waiting for this one to come out. It’s probably the first release of 2016 and there are only a few days left to get your hands on it. Two singles from the album are already out and the album does look promising. It’s Bowie, of course!

#2 Daughter – Not to Disappear (January 15^th)

The second album by the indie folk band, Daughter, from England is set to release soon enough. ‘Doing The Right Thing’ is the first single from the album and was out in September 2015. After a long wait, Daughter is ready with the album and so are we to give it a hear!

#3 Megadeth – Dystopia (January 22^nd)

Music has got many Gods just like us humans, the only difference is we have actually seen them live. Megadeth hails from America and plays thrash metal, speed metal and heavy metal. Their new album Dystopia is coming out this month. The official video for ‘The Threat is Real’ is out and so is the audio for ‘Fatal Illusion’ the second single from the album.

#4 Dream Theatre – The Astonishing (January 29^th)

The American progressive rock/metal band’s forthcoming album, The Astonishing (their thirteenth studio album) is all set to hit the shelves. The single, ‘The Gift of Music’ from the upcoming album was out on December 3^rd 2015. Oh, also, The Astonishing will be a ‘double album’. That makes you grin, doesn’t it?

#5 Sia – This is Acting (January 29^th)

The Australian singer and songwriter whose ‘chandelier’ had us swaying, is back with a new album. Four tracks from This is Acting the upcoming album are already out. ‘Cheap Thrills’, ‘Alive’, ‘One Million Bullets’ and ‘Bird Set Free’ tell us one thing and one thing only and that is, you have new tracks to dance to, especially when you are all by yourself. Sia just keeps getting better and better!

#6 Wiz Khalifa – Khalifa (TBA)

This one likes to smoke marijuana and make songs about it. No, we’re just kidding (not entirely), his track for Fast and Furious, ‘See You Again’, had the world shedding tears. And now he’s coming back with an album that his fans having been looking forward to. There’s not much information about the album right now but we’re sure it’s worth the wait! Hold on, Taylors!

Meanwhile, you can check out the song he recently posted on YouTube, ‘King of Everything’.

#7 Elton John – Wonderful Crazy Night (February 5^th)

The 32^ndalbum from the singer-songwriter, also, a living legend is coming our way soon enough. Elton John performed the title track back in December 2015 with the Elton John Band. Needless to say that Benie Taupin and Elton John wrote and composed all the tracks.

#8 Kula Shaker – K2.0 (TBA)

The English psychedelic rock band is set to come back with K2.0, their new album. The band is known for their interest in traditional Indian music, culture and mysticism. If you haven’t heard their music, you really need to get on with some homework. This band is not to be missed out on. For starters, you can listen to their tracks, ‘Govinda’, ‘Tattva’ and ‘Mystical Machine Gun’. Also, the new track, ‘Infinite Sun’, from their upcoming album.

#9 Kygo – (To Be Announced)

The one currently ruling hearts, minds ears and our playlists, it won’t be wrong to say that Kygo is unique with his music. His album which is still unnamed and the release dates are yet to be announced. We can’t do anything but wait and while we wait, we’d listen to his recent music that got out!

#10 Wolfmother – Victorious (February 19^th)

We all have headbanged to this band! If you haven’t, you really need to put on ‘Joker and the Thief’ and it’ll will just happen. That song hasn’t aged even a bit. But that’s in the past, we’re here talking about new music and Wolfmother is getting us some with their new album, ‘Victorious’! Audio for three tracks from the album have been released and they kick ass! First one being the title track itself, the second one is called, ‘City Lights’ and ‘Gypsy Caravan’ being the third.

There are many more albums coming up but their names and dates are still to be announced and a few of them are making a comeback! Our excitement level has gone up by a couple of notches! Here’s the list:

#1 Blink 182

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#2 Kanye West

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#3 Deftones

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#4 Gojira

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#5 Gorillaz

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#6 Lady Gaga

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#7 M83

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#8 Major Lazer

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#9 Metallica

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#10 Nine Inch Nails

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#11 Pearl Jam

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#12 Red Hot Chili Peppers

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#13 Soundgarden

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#14 The xx

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Without having any second thoughts, 2016 in music is going to be huge for fans and the artists too. We can barely hold on for all the releases!

January 5, 2016
Nominations for Grammys 2016 are out and we have our fingers crossed for these artists!

Every year Grammys pick the best of music by choosing artists from different genres, who have managed to create a wave with their music. Grammys have always meant a big deal to artists and of course to the fans because who doesn’t want to see their favourite artist win? And just like every year, we have our fingers crossed for our favourite nominees. We have our hopes high. Oh, we have waited to say this: “And the nominees for Grammys 2016 are!”

Album of the Year:

Sound & Color — Alabama Shakes

To Pimp a Butterfly — Kendrick Lamar

1989 — Taylor Swift

Beauty Behind the Madness — The Weeknd

Source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4

What we’d like: The Weeknd lit the world on fire with his music and is still going strong. Great voice with some great lyrics and music that makes you want to shake a leg is definitely worthy of a Grammy. But it’s too soon to say anything when Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift are against you for the title.

Best New Artist:

Courtney Barnett

James Bay

Sam Hunt

Tori Kelly

Meghan Trainor

Source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5

What we’d like: We found ourselves a little confused when it came down to choosing between Meghan Trainor and James Bay. Completely different genres but music so good you want to play it all day long. If the winner is any of these two, we’d be equally happy!

Record of the Year:

“Uptown Funk” — Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars

“Thinking Out Loud” — Ed Sheeran

“Blank Space” — Taylor Swift

“Can’t Feel My Face” — The Weeknd

“Really Love” — D’Angelo and the Vanguard

Source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5

What we’d like: Talk about hard choices! Mark Ronson gave us a new ‘Feel good’ song, Ed Sheeran made us think out loud, Taylor Swift told us about her ‘Blank Space’, and we screamed the lyrics of The Weeknd’s ‘Can’t Feel My Face’. As hard as it is, we are more inclined towards Mark Ronson and The Weeknd. Although, if any of these artist grabs the Grammy we’d make peace with the decision.

Song of the Year:

“Alright” — Kendrick Lamar (written by Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears and Pharrell Williams)

“Blank Space” — Taylor Swift (written by Max Martin, Shellback and Taylor Swift)

“Girl Crush” — Little Big Town (written by Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose)

“See You Again” — Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth (written by Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth and Cameron Thomaz)

“Thinking Out Loud” — Ed Sheeran (written by Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge)

Source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5

What we’d like: Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright’, Taylor Swift’s ‘Blank Space’ and Wiz Khalifa’s ‘See You Again’ are the strongest contenders for this category. However, ‘See You Again’ had people all teary because well Paul Walker. Not just that, the song captures the emotion pretty well, and Charlie Pruth’s chorus kind of eases the sadness. We’d stick with Wiz Khalifa for this one.

Best Rock Song:

“Don’t Wanna Fight” — Alabama Shakes (written by Alabama Shakes)

“Ex’s & Oh’s” — Elle King (written by Dave Bassett and Elle King)

“Hold Back the River” — James Bay (written by Iain Archer and James Bay)

“Lydia” — Highly Suspect (written by Richard Meyer, Ryan Meyer and Johnny Stevens)

“What Kind of Man” — Florence + The Machine (written John Hill, Tom Hull and Florence Welch)

Source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5

What we’d like: Alabama Shakes had us shaking our heads in joy, we have always loved Florence + The Machine and James Bay being new has complete chances of surprising the fans. But Lydia by Highly Suspect has got some riffs that made us turn up the volume and play it on repeat. In this category, we want to be surprised.

Best Rock Album:

Chaos and the Calm — James Bay

Kintsugi — Death Cab for Cutie

Mister Asylum — Highly Suspect

Drones — Muse

The Gray Chapter — Slipknot

Source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5

What we’d like: We don’t even want to guess, every nominee is as good as the other. But one thing we know for sure, if James Bay bags this one, it will be a highlight of his career, winning against bands like Muse, Slipknot and Death Cab for Cutie is pretty huge for a newcomer.

Best Rap Song

“All Day” — Kanye West featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom and Paul McCartney (written by 19 songwriters listed here)

“Alright” — Kendrick Lamar (written by Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears and Pharrell Williams)

“Energy” — Drake (written by Richard Dorfmeister, A. Graham, Markus Kienzl, M. O’Brien, M. Samuels and Phillip Thomas)

“Glory” — Common and John Legend (written by Lonnie Lynn, Che Smith and John Stephens)

“Trap Queen” — Fetty Wap (written by Tony Fadd & Willie J. Maxwell)

Source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5

What we’d like: This is interesting, Kanye West, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Common and Fetty Wap with songs that we learned the lyrics to just so we can feel a little good about ourselves. We think the real competition is between Drake and Fetty Wap.

Best Rap Album

2014 Forest Hills Drive — J. Cole

Compton — Dr. Dre

If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late — Drake

To Pimp a Butterfly — Kendrick Lamar

The Pinkprint — Nicki Minaj

Source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5

What we’d like: Nicki Minaj and Drake don’t really have any competition. Both of them would be really happy for each other and so will we. But you just cannot take it lightly when Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar are in the nominees too!

We’re sure that Grammys 2016 are going to be mind boggling and the performances will leave us awestruck. It will be held on February 15^th, 2016. Keeping fingers crossed till then.

December 10, 2015