Year 8, Day 153

Hey guys. Today's song is Satisfaction by Benny Benassi. 

Photo from: Gozamos

I have had this song saved with really no way of finding a spot to put it in because it's so weird, but today feels right. Also I find the video for this absolutely hilarious in its ridiculousness. Is it about showing off sexy ladies? Is it an ad for power tools? Both? Are the shots of these women using the tools to break, maim, and destroy things meant to incite lust, wariness, or fear? It's quite the juxtaposition, although maybe I'm overthinking it. Anyway, Benny Benassi is an Italian DJ active since 1985. He started out as a duo called the Benassi Bros with his cousin Alessandro Benassi before donning the moniker KMC and getting some big traction through songs from that. He switched from house to electro and released this song in 2002 which became a huge hit. He released his debut album in 2003 then released two albums as the Benassi Bros featuring his frequent singing collaborators Paul French and Violeta Claudia in 2004 and 2005. He founded his own label also in 2005, then remixed the song Bring the Noise by Public Enemy in 2007 which earned him a Grammy in 2008. Since then he's released three more albums in 2008, 2011, and 2016, and in between that has worked with some big names in the business including Madonna, Anjulie, and John Legend. So while he's most known for this song, he is in no way a one hit wonder. Go check out the other stuff if you're curious.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 152

Hey guys. Today's song is I Like To Move It by Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman.

Alright we had a new dance song yesterday, so I thought why not put up an older dance song. Not that this one is really that old, but you can see and feel the generational gap a little bit. So Reel 2 Real was a hip hop music project from Erick Morillo that was active from 1992 until 1997. In that time he released two albums, from 1994 and 1996. He was a DJ and worked with lots of people before abandoning the pseudonym in 1997. This song specifically was done in 1993 with The Mad Stuntman, the moniker for Mark Quashie. The name was inspired by the 80's TV show The Fall Guy. Quashie was born in Trinidad, but lived in New York where he met Morillo and they worked on this song which became a huge hit. He released three albums, in 1994, 1995, and 1996 before he just kind of faded into obscurity. Obviously this song made a comeback mostly thanks to Madagascar so most people are familiar with it again, which makes it interesting that no one knows anyone about wither of the artists. But at least now you know a little bit.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 151

Hey guys. Today's song is Tip Toe by Jason Derulo. 

Photo from: MTV International

This is another song that is on the list because I watched a choreography video and found it good a long time ago, and it's been on my list since then. Obviously there are always lots of different choreo ones, but I linked the specific one I was talking about. So Jason Derulo has been around since 2006 and has released four albums with the first in 2010 and the most recent in 2015. This song was released in 2017, and was on deck with others to be on his next album, but rather than that because it took him so long working on the album when he got around to it he didn't include any of those first songs because they had their time and the EP was now about a certain vibe rather than being big. So his next two parter EP came out with the first part in 2019 and with the second part on deck for 2020, but he left his label before that came to fruition. He also has acting credits, starring in the movie adaption of Cats (which we all wish didn't exist) and is cast as one of the Isley Brothers in an upcoming biopic. He's been releasing music since leaving the label so check that out if you're curious. And yeah we're not gonna talk about the other guy because his list of sexual assault allegations are numerous and he doesn't deserve recognition for anything other than his misconduct and the pain he's brought to the lives of women. I wouldn't even put this song up, but I wanted the chance to showcase that choreography video. So do with it what you will.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 150

Hey guys. Today's song is Think I'm Crazy by Two Feet.

This is the stage name for Zachary Dess, a triple threat singer/songwriter/producer active since 2016. He originally played in jazz and blues ensembles, but adopted this stage name and started making his own music. He got signed after a viral hit on SoundCloud ended up on the US Hot Rock Songs chart. His first album was released in 2018, and since then he has released three more with one coming out every year starting in 2020. Which means he is another artist that released a new album this year for you to check out, so give it a go.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 149

Hey guys. Today's song is El Dorado by Stellar.

Alright, so Stellar doesn't have an official bio to work off of, but his YouTube has been around since 2014, and it has a little mini bio on it, so I'm going to post that for you guys so you have a bit of information from the man himself. "His career launched on August 6th, 2019 with the release of his debut mixtape Bipolar. Almost a year later Stellar established himself as an upcoming artist with the release of his breakout Dark Pop single Ashes." He's got a lot of music on his page and everything I've heard so far is really good so hopefully you'll check him out. 

Peace.

Year 8, Day 148

Hey guys. Today's song is In The Mirror by The Interrupters.

The Interruptors are a ska punk band active since 2011 and made up of Aimee Interrupter, Kevin Bivona, Justin Bivona, and Jesse Bivona. So Aimee Interruptor is a moniker for Aimee Allen who was originally a solo artist, who met the guys when they were in a band called Telacasters in 2009. Kevin and Aimee started writing, and the other brothers were brought in to play until the band was born. They started off touring with a bunch of groups and playing at some festivals before getting involved in the Tim Timebomb and Friends projects and joining his touring group. Their debut album was released in 2014, followed by a tour and another album in 2016. They released their third album in 2018, which is where this song is from. Fun Fact: All of their albums were produced by Tim Armstong from the Tim Timebomb project earlier in their career. In 2019 they were the cover of Keiiang! magazine, and they were joined on tour by Billy Kottage from Reel Big Fish as a featured musician. Plus they have a new album out this year so go check that one out, because they are a really good band.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 147

Hey guys. Today's song is Informer by Snow.

Snow is Darrin O'Brien, a Canadian reggae singer active since 1989. Growing up he was fascinated by the "gangster lifestyle" and got in with an Irish-Canadian group, getting into a lot of trouble. He dropped out of school in the 9th grade, then encountered an influx of Jamaican immigrants in his neighbourhood, which let to his interest in reggae music, After a brief stint in jail he befriended a Jamaican DJ named Marvin Prince, who helped him refine his sound and actually gave him the Snow moniker, which apparently stands for Super Notorious Outrageous Whiteboy. He gave tapes of his stuff out to a lot of people, but as a white male toting a Jamaican sound, he didn't get much interest. In 1988 he was arrested wrongfully for attempted murder, and while he served time until he got acquitted he did schooling and wrote music, including this song. Meanwhile Prince show his music to a rap star named M.C. Shan, who then introduced Snow to music producers, leading to him being signed in 1991. They quickly recorded his album and it was released in 1993, with this song becoming a huge hit. There was a lot of disputes over the money and credit for that album though between all those involved. He's released five more albums since then, with the most recent from 2002. He has been doing singles since then, working with the likes of Daddy Yankee and actually in 2020 he pretty much sweeped the Latin Billboard Music Awards categories he was nominated in. So even though I only know this song from him, he is apparently still relevant and making music so go look that up if you're interested.

Peace.