Year 7, Day 260

Morning! Today's song is Internacionales by Bomba Estereo.

Photo from: nudevinyl

So Bomba Estereo is a Colombian band active since 2005 and made up of Simón Mejía, Li Saumet, Andrés Zea, Efrain Cuadrado, and Jose Castillo. Then past members include Diego Cadavid, Enrique Egurrola, and Julián Salazar. So the group semi started as a musical and artistic collective called AM 770 before it melded into Mejía's solo project. He changed the name to this one, then released what was basically a solo album with a few contributions from others. The next album came out in 2008 and was a full group by then. Since they came together, they've released an EP in 2011 and four other albums, with the most recent one out this year, So I hope you check them out because they seem kind of intriguing compared to some other artists I've featured. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 259

Morning! Today's song is Exhibit by Leningrad.

Photo by Elekes Andor

So Leningrad is a Russian group active from 1997 to 2008, and then again since 2010 with plans to disband soon. Currently the members include Sergei Shnurov, Vyacheslav Antonov, Aleksandr Popov, Andrey Antonenko, Grigoriy Zontov, Roman Parygin, Andrey Kurayev, Ilya Rogachevskiy, Konstantin Limonov, Vladislav Aleksandrov, Aleksey Kanev, Denis Mozhin, Aleksey Kalinin, Dmitry Guguchkin, Florida Chanturia, and Viktor Rapotihin. So there was a bunch of past members to that I'm not going to list or this with literally all just be names. The group is led by Sergei Shnurov and started as gypsy punk. They're known for their "vulgar" lyrics and because much of the content of their stuff is considered taboo they aren't played on radio stations, and they've even been fined before for saying profanity, as well as being targeted specifically by some politicians leading to them only able to perform at private functions. Despite all of this they are still pretty damn popular. And as far as the vulgarity of it, I haven't checked translations to see how bad it is but North American music in general is usually vulgar just as a base function then some songs make it more so. So I don't consider it to be a problem, plus the video always makes me laugh. So I hope you enjoy it.

Peace.

Year 7, Day 258

Morning! Today's song is Mr. Ambiguous by MAMAMOO.

Photo from: JAS

So these guys are a South Korean girl group active since 2014 and made up of Solar, Moonbyul, Wheein, and Hwasa. They were created by a South Korean Entertainment company, which is how most kpop groups come around, and their debut was with this song in 2014. It's from the first of two EP's they released the same year. In 2015 they released another EP, and traveled to Mongolia to perform at their embassy there in honor of 25 years of diplomatic peace between the nations. Their first solo concert was in 2016, along with another EP and their first album. They released another EP in 2017 before starting an EP project in 2018 running through 2019 meant to showcase a more mature sound. That was done with four mini EP's with colors in the title. They released their second album in 2019, and another EP in 2020, but a couple members are also focusing more on their solo career so you can check those out as well if you're interested. For now I hope you like this song, and use it as a step one into getting into their discography.

Peace.

Year 7, Day 257

Morning! Today's song is Uh Oh by Chloe Wang.

Photo by: Gage Skidmore

Okay so in international week for the blog, it usually refers to the actual language, as in most songs are in a language I don't understand because I feature international artists all the time anyway. This song is kind of the exception where I'm technically featuring the English version, but there is another version that exists in Chinese. I'm doing the English one because I know Chloe Wang as an English speaking actor, so the English version is the first one I heard, although it seems like the Chinese version has a better flow overall. So professionally she goes by Chloe Bennet rather than Chloe Wang so she doesn't get typecast in her acting career. Her musical career was only during 2011, although her singing career is the reason she moved to the States from China in 2007. In 2010 she moved to LA and started doing acting, getting some pretty high profile roles which is probably why she hasn't done music since. I watched her in Agents of SHIELD, and I really liked her... though she kind of lost my respect a bit when I found out she was dating one of the most cretinous YouTubers, but there is no denying her acting chops. When the actors on that show had their little dubsmash war with the Agent Carter actors this song got used and I saved it to put up here, so finally we're doing that. I hope you enjoy it and check out both versions.

Peace.

Year 7, Day 256

Morning! Today's song is Gangnam Style by PSY.

So starting yesterday with Blackpink, it's officially international week because I felt like doing it. So PSY is Park Jae-sang, a South Korean musician active since 2001. After high school, he was supposed to go to university in America in preparation of taking over his father's business. Instead he spent his tuition on musical instruments and switch to the Berkeley College of Music for a bit. He then dropped out and went back home to pursue a music career. He debuted his first album in 2001, which earned him fines by the government for its inappropriate content. His next album came out in 2002 which caused issues with civil groups, then he released another album in the same year. In 2003 he was conscripted for mandatory military service, but was excused because of his work at a software company. He released another album in 2006, then was redrafted in 2007 when the government felt he was neglecting his duties, remaining in the army until 2009. In 2010 he joined YG Entertainment, releasing his next album the same year. Since then he's released albums in 2012, 2015, and 2017. This song of course most people already know, since it became an internet phenomenon. I figure it's been long enough now to feature it since it's no longer played constantly everywhere. In 2018 he left YG Entertainment and made his own company, signing a couple of artists, and is rumored to be working on a boy band group so I guess we'll see what happens next. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 255

Morning! Today's song is DDU-DU DDU-DU by Blackpink. 

So Blackpink is a K-pop band active since 2016 and made up of Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. They got put together by YG Entertainment, which was the first girl group from them in six years. Their debut album came out in 2016 with two songs hitting the top of the Billboard World Digital Songs chart, and was the fastest group on record to do so. They performed on Inkigayo, which is a show in South Korea that has a segment called Take 7 featuring seven popular songs of the week performed live to crown one ultimate winner. Blackpink broke the shows record of shortest time for a girl group to win after debuting. They released their second album later that same year, and also won a bunch of rookie awards. In 2017 they released an EP in Japan, that got re-released a year later. In 2018 they released another EP, which is where this song is from. It got in the top 20 on the Trending Chart in the UK, the first k-pop group to chart since it started in 2016. It also was the highest charting Top 100 song from an all female k-pop act. They've broken some other records, and have done tons of touring and debuts in different countries that I'm not going to get into. In 2019 they released their third EP, and Jennie also released a solo song. That same year they performed at Coachella, the first k-pop girl group to do so. In 2020 they collaborated with Lady Gaga for a song which charted, making it the highest charting song by a k-pop girl group. They also have plans to release another album, followed by some solo work from a couple members, along with a reality show of them vlogging their lives. So there's much to look forward too. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 254

Morning! Today's song is What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction. 

Photo from: Fiona McKinlay

I promise this is officially the last One Direction song that will ever be on here, but I just gotta get through this one. This group was active from 2010 until 2016, and was made up of Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik. They all auditioned solo for The X Factor, then were put into a group by the judges. They came in third place on the show, but won enough hearts to get signed, before releasing their debut album in 2011. This song is also from 2011 so it's one of their older ones. They released four more albums over the course of their career, one every year up until 2015. Also in 2015 and before that fifth album had come out, Zayn left the group (ruining every betting pool about who would go solo first). The four released their last album, and the next year announced they were going on a hiatus. I don't anticipate that hiatus ever ending, which is why I have it with the group ending in 2016, because most member now have very successful solo careers in the industry. So if you want to hear more you can go look them up and see how their styles have changed when they are on their own. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 253

Morning! Today's song is Amen For Women by Music Travel Love.

So Music Travel Love is a Canadian duo made up of Bob and Clint Moffatt. They've been in the business since they were kids, as (along with their brothers Scott and Dave) they performed as the Moffatts from 1987 to 2001, with a few forays back together since then. They broke up at eighteen, then Bob and Clint joined a group called Pusch, later known as Hidell and stayed for a year. After a stint back with their brother group, these two moved to Thailand and started a band called Same Same. Afterwards, in 2006, they moved to Nashville working as songwriters for a publishing company since 2010. They've also performed as Two Bullet Parade, then later as Like Strangers. The group they have now officially formed in 2015 as Endless Summer. This song is from their EP released in 2016. In 2018 they started doing traveling studio videos titled Music Travel Love and that has forayed into the name of the group as their approach to music has changed. By that I mean the traveling around aspect, which they've now done in multiple countries. So if you're curious to see where they've gone you should go check them out more.

Peace.

Year 7, Day 252

Morning! Today's song is Gotta Be Patient by the Barenaked Ladies, Michael Buble, and Sofia Reyes.

I've featured all of these people before so no overview today for you. It's a collaboration that happened while everyone was on lockdown because of COVID, and today seemed like a good day to feature it since I got my second shot yesterday. Of course while the first one went totally fine for me, this one is hitting me harder. I've got all your typical side effects: sore arm, headache, tired etc. But the point is that I got it done and it's over with, so in a couple weeks I'll feel a lot better about being around people. Of course I'm still going to where my mask because I don't trust other people not to be sick, so all precautions are good...they'll just be voluntary instead of mandatory. And I know getting the shot isn't mandatory and I've mentioned that I wont try to convince people to get it, but I do still think you should. If you haven't because it scares you, I can say it freaked me out too since this is the quickest turnout from testing to implementation that I've seen, but we've also been vaccinating people for long enough now that they have a good handle on how it's interacting with people biologically. So it feels a lot safer now with all that extra data. So go get your shot, at least the first one. 30% coverage for COVID is better than nothing.

Peace.

Year 7, Day 251

Morning! Today's song is I Have This Hope by Tenth Avenue North.

Tenth Avenue North is a Christian band active since 2000 with plans to disband in 2020, and currently made up of Mike Donehey, Jeff Owen, and Ruben Juarez III. They released three EP's before getting signed and releasing their debut album in 2008. Their next album was released in 2010, followed by a live album, then a third album in 2012. In 2014 they released both an EP and an album, the latter of which hit number one on the Christian Billboard chart. They released another album in 2016, then a couple members left in 2018 before the band released another EP. They released a sixth album in 2019 and planned for a farewell tour in 2020. That got postponed because of the global atmosphere, and instead they did their last shows this year, officially disbanding in 2021, so enjoy this song in remembrance of their successful career. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 250

Morning! Today's song is Close My Eyes by Tape Machines featuring Jason Dering.

You guys have to bear with me for this one because I don't have official bios to work from for either of them. Tape Machines is a Swedish duo that has lots of music on Soundcloud that you can check out. They've been around for at least three years because that's how long their Facebook page has been active, but other than that I can't find much about them. Jason Dering is a singer, musician and a producer. He started off playing drums, then was a vocal editor for Glee, and is featured on a bunch of tracks like this one while also having his own music. I think he has at least five EP's, but I'm not 100% sure on that so if you guys know different let me know. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 249

Morning! Today's song is Lights Down Low by MAX featuring Gnash.

I've featured MAX before and I literally just talked about Gnash earlier this week so this will be quick. So Max Schneider is a singer/actor/dancer/model whose been active since 2008 when he was the understudy in a Broadway musical. He co-wrote a song in 2012 for a Disney show, and sold another song her co-wrote to another show. He had roles on Nickelodeon TV shows and one of their movies. He did a song for Cody Simpson album before releasing his own EP in 2010. In 2013 he officially adopted the moniker of MAX for his music, then in 2015 released an album and was featured on some Hoodie Allen songs. He also got signed that year, and joined a soul group called Witchita. His next album came out in 2016 which is where this song is from. Since then he's done songs with a number of artists, including Noah Cyrus and Hayley Kiyoko. Last year he also released a new album so you can check that out if you're interested. I love this song and the video is so good, but also very sad. It hits me different now after losing my grandfather than it did when I first saved this song to show you, but I do still love it. So I hope you watch it through. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 248

Morning! Today's song is Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat.

Jason Mraz has been active since 1999 when he started performing at a coffee house while working as a roadie for Elgin Park. He played weekly in Java Joe's for three years, gaining a solid following before releasing a live acoustic album in 2001. He got signed and moved to LA, then opened for Jewel before releasing his debut album in 2002. He toured in 2004, and released a live album at the same time, then released his second studio album in 2005. He won a Grammy for it, then opened for Alanis Morissette and the Rolling Stones. In 2006 he did small performances internationally, and opened for Rob Thomas. His next album came out in 2008, which became huge, and he won two more Grammy Awards. He did a world tour, then released another live album in 2009 before releasing his fourth studio album in 2012. He released another album in 2014, which he made with the band Raining Jane. He made his Broadway debut in Waitress in 2017, staying in the show into 2018, then released another album. Colbie Caillat has been active since 2004. She decided she wanted to be a singer after watching Sister Act 2, and met Mikal Blue who was a producer like her father. He put her on some techno songs before she started playing guitar and auditioned twice for American Idol and got rejected. Instead she got popular through MySpace. Her debut album came out in 2007, which became highly popular with songs being used in movies and for the Olympics in 2008. This song came out in 2009 on Mraz's album, followed by the release of Caillat's second album later that year. This was when her career really started to take off, leading to a Songwriter of the Year moniker from BMI and many big performances like the 2010 MLB All-Stars, National Football League, and at the Nobel Peace Prize concert. She released another album in 2011, then a Christmas album in 2012, then a single written with Gavin DeGraw in 2013 that earned her a Grammy Award nomination. Her next album came out in 2014, followed by another in 2016. In 2018 she also formed a group with her then fiance, and a longtime friend and writing partner Jason Reeves and his wife called Gone West. The group split last year, probably around the same time that her engagement ended. I mentioned the one nomination, but it should be said that she actually won a Grammy with this song in particular, so that speaks to how good the song is. Hope you enjoy it. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 247

Morning! Today's song is Meant To Be by Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line. 

So Bebe Rexha is her stage name, and her real name is Bleta Rexha. Bleta means Bee in Albanian, so the stage name makes sense. She's been active since 2010 and is another on the list of people brought in through Pete Wentz. She started as the lead singer of one of his experimental groups called Black Cards. Then in 2012 she left the group, signing as a solo artist in 2013. She wrote songs for lots of other artists, most notably The Monster by Eminem and Rihanna before her debut singles started coming out in 2014. By 2015 she had an EP. As of now she's added two more EP's and an album. Florida Georgia Line is a duo active since 2010 and made up of Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard. They met in university at a campus worship group and decided to try music for two years to see if they could make it. They released an EP in 2010 before getting discovered. They released another EP in 2012 followed by their debut album the same year. Since then they've released three more albums, the most recent from 2019, and have been nominated for a lot of (and won some) awards. They've also released a single from their upcoming album so keep an eye out for that. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 246

Morning! Today's song is Feel Better by Gnash. 

Gnash is Garrett Nash, an American rapper, singer, DJ, etc. who has been active since 2010. He started Djing when he was 13, but didn't start producing music until he was in college. He started releasing EP's in 2015. He released three about a previous breakup, with them being titled as "U", "Me", and "Us". One of the songs ended up on the Billboard Hot 100 before the third EP came out, so when that was released in 2016, it ended up on the Billboard 200 list. In 2017 he worked with MAX on one of his songs, which also landed on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album came out in 2019, as well as another EP. There was a fifth EP released recently, so he's still going strong. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 245

Good Morning! Today's song is Fever For The Flava by Hot Action Cop.

Photo from: HAC DRMR

These guys are an American band active since 2001 and made up of Rob Werthner, Tim Flaherty, Kory Knipp, Juan Chavolla, and Brian Smith with past members including Luis Espaillat, Daniel Feese, Miles McPherson, Gary Horrie, and Johnannes Greer. The name comes from a nickname for an ex's new boyfriend. They released an EP in 2002, followed by their debut album in 2003. They released an EP in 2009, a cover single in 2012, and another EP in 2014. In 2015 they started headlining Lampapalooza, which they've done every year since. Around the band, some members have been doing their own stuff. Flaherty has released a couple solo albums and is part of another band, and Chavolla is part of another band that they've done shows with. Werthner has been working on new material for the group, but we still don't know when that will come out. This song was in my car game when I was younger, and it certainly put you in the mood to race through the towns and avoid the cops. If you're curious look up Need For Speed to see what I mean. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 244

Good Morning! Today's song is Ignition (remix) by R. Kelly.

 

I've had this song saved for a long time, and when the controversies popped up I really struggled on whether to use it or not. Most of the time I gloss over a lot of the crap in artist's personal lives to favor music first, but in this case I'm doing the opposite. I don't want to feature this song as a way to pull focus to his career, but instead to pull focus to the victims and their story. It started in 1994 with a marriage to 15 year old singer Aaliyah, then in 1996 Tiffany Hawkins sued him for emotional distress after their relationship, which started when she was 15. In 2001 he was sued again, this time by Tracey Sampson for coercing her into a sexual relationship when she was 17. In 2002 he was sued twice: first by Patrice Jones for impregnating her when she was underage, then by Montina Woods for filming them having sex without her consent or knowledge. The same year he was arrested for 21 counts of child pornography, all of which were filmed by him according to the Chicago Police. Unfortunately the court couldn't prove the girl was underage and the charges were dropped. In the next two years he was charged with more counts of child pornography, but it was thrown out of court because the police obtained it without just cause. In 2017 Buzzfeed released a big report that he had a sex cult, keeping six women captive, but they were of age and didn't corroborate the story. Then Jerhonda Pace came forward about their sexual relationship when she was underage, Kitti Jones accused him of abuse and sexual coercion, a BBC documentary (which your should watch) came out about it, and in 2018 the Mute Kelly movement started. It wasn't successful long term and he was pompous about it. An ex then sued him for intentionally given her an STD, then a Lifetime Documentary was released in 2019 (watch it) which led to him being dropped by his label, his concerts were cancelled, and video evidence of sex with a minor made its way to the police leading to him being charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal abuse. He tried to defend himself in an interview, and then 11 more charges of sexual assault and abuse were added. In 2019 he was indicted twice for sex trafficking, and is facing criminal cases in three separate States. With a history this long I feel like it's obvious that he is in the wrong. I also know that sharing this song is probably a bad idea and not the way to go about this, but I want to keep this case circulating so no one forgets the injustice. Muting has its place, but I'd rather embed these wrongdoing into all of his work and career so deeply that generations to come will never think of him without thinking of them. Anyway, sorry this was such a heavy one today, but I really do hope you guys watch those documentaries and learn more. The second documentary Surviving R Kelly is on Netflix as I'm writing this so start there. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 243

Good Morning! Today's song is Say My Name by Peking Duk featuring Benjamin Joseph.

Peking Duck is an Australian duo made up of Reuben Styles and Adam Hyde. They formed as a group in 2010 when Styles left his old group Rubycon. They released a bootleg remix in 2012 of a Passion Pit song, which got them a lot of attention. In 2013 they came in fourth on a Top 50 competition in Australia, after coming in in the top ten the year before. Their music started getting played on the radio, they performed at festivals, and started hosting a weekly remix radio show. In 2014 they got their first big hit on the ARIA charts and got signed, then in 2015 they released an EP. They did some shows, and went on a national tour in 2019 before releasing a new song in 2020 inspired by the quarantine. Check that out if you're curious. This song features Benjamin Joseph as the vocalist, but I can't actually find anything about him. I know he has also been the featured vocalist on other songs, but there is no bio that I can find for this specific person. So if you guys know, please fill me in because I'm at a loss. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 242

Good Morning! Today's song is Miss Universe by Saint Ivory.

Saint Ivory is a Canadian sibling duo made up of Avan Jogia and Ketan Jogia, active since 2018 with the release of their debut EP with two tracks. There is no official bio that I can work off of, but from what I know about Avan and his acting career I assume this is something the two of them do as a side project because it interest them. This song is from their album released in 2019. The song is a little odd, but all of their music is a little odd which I think is on purpose. It's good and fits the vibe of their personalities which you can see in some of these interviews. Anyway I hope you like it. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 241

Good Morning! Today's song is Outside by TENDER.

I have been struggling to find a spot for this song on my blog for years at this point. It just never seems to vibe correctly in the order, but finally today is the time. Now I've got another song by these I already did, but I'll do a quick overview today too. So Tender is an English electronic duo active since 2015 and made up of James Cullen and Dan Cobb. They released two EPs independently before getting signed in 2016. Since then they've released another EP and two albums so there is lots for you to check out if you like it. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 240

Good Morning! Today's song is Still Getting Used To Being On My Own by Tom Odell.

Photo from: Jjay3791

Tom Odell is an English singer active since 2012. He started out at open mic nights which was a trial of patience for him, and then teamed up with some music college students for a song in 2010 before decided he liked it better as a solo artist. He ended up signed to Lily Allen's label, and released his first EP in 2012, followed by his debut album in 2013. Since then his songs have been featured in a lot of things and he's won some awards including the Brits' Critics' Choice. He released his next album in 2016 and then went on tour. He continued to tour and play shows in 2017 and released another album in 2018, so be sure to check that out. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 239

Good Morning! Today's song is It's A Man's Man's Man's World by James Brown.

Photo by: Heinrich Klaffs

So James Brown is a huge musician with a long musical career that I should do a good write up for, but unfortunately I'm running behind. My own fault, I'm a dingbat, but because of that it's going to be a brief overview. James Brown was a musician active from 1954 until 2006. Her began in a group called the Avons, but changed the name to The Famous Flames. He started doing studio time with that group, by himself, and with another band he put together called the James Brown band. The reason why I'm glad I'm doing an overview is the sheer size of his career. He's credited with releasing 60 albums, and had other appeared in film 31 times. He also had quite the personal life, married four times with 9 children he recognized (which I guess means there were others he disputed were his?). He had drug problems, he went to prison, he also has been accused of sexual assault which given the length of his career is not very surprising to me, and also had some domestic abuse allegations. His career abruptly stopped in 2006 when he passed away from heart problems via pneumonia. I don't think Brown was a good person, but I can't deny the impact his music and musical career has had. I guess all that's left is the court of public opinion, so let me know what you guys think.

Peace.

Year 7, Day 238

Good Morning! Today's song is Give Up The Funk by Parliament.

Photo by: Richard Anderson

So the band situation for this one is kind of confusing because there are a bunch of different names. There was Parliament, and Funkadelic, and then later they formed a music collective known as Parliament-Funkadelic. All the iterations are the brainchild of George Clinton, and active since 1955. It started off as Parliament, a doo-wop group before he relocated to Detroit and started a different Parliament group who did commercial funk music, and Funkadelic which landed more towards psychedelic rock. They both released music consistently, and this song came out in 1976. As for the collective, it's made up of some pretty prominent musicians, but overall I can't really be sure who did what, so I'm not going to list anyone. Although I will say that sixteen members have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Then as a group, they received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. So while a little confusing on the band front, their music is still fantastic. So I hope you enjoy. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 237

Good Morning! Today's song is Good Vibrations by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch featuring Loleatta Holloway.

So my sister had some time off and came home for a little bit, which is great because it coincides with Alberta's opening which means my grandma and I actually got to see her. While she was home she also was working on getting her second vaccination, but apparently there's a shortage right now and people's appointments were being pushed back. And her and I are both weird about doctors and needles so we want situations to be a certain way to make our anxiety more manageable. So she plans to wait until the location she always goes to has stuff again rather than scour the city for an appointment elsewhere, which I agree with. It's her choice how she does it, as long as she does it. My aunt does not agree. She found out my sister was here, booked an appointment for her like she's a child (despite my sister being over 30 years old and married) and lectured her about not being more aggressive with getting it done. And look, I get it. The sooner people are vaccinated the better, but body autonomy is a thing that exists and the rules of society means we still have to respect people's personal choices about their bodies even if we don't agree. I hate the fact that there are people who refuse to get the vaccine at all ever, but I also recognize that there's nothing I can do about it, because I am not them. It's a discussion that's been around way before vaccines, usually used most when talking about abortions, but the fact is body autonomy is a personal right. And life would be much much worse overall if that right was gone. So this is just a reminder to be civil when people have a different opinion. You can try and convince people to change their minds about vaccinations if you want, but coercion or threatening people to get your way doesn't do anything but make them dig their heels in more. Case in point: my sister. After the crap with my aunt, she's now leaving today to go back to work early... despite this being the first family time since maybe Christmas two years ago. So basically what I'm telling you guys is to not take for granted the people in your life right now? And remember everyone has their own decisions to make...yeah.

Peace.

Year 7 Day 236

Good Morning! Today's song is Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice.

Yes, my guilty pleasure. I don't care what you guys think about that, we all have at least one. I will also never forget his real name because I had an English teacher in junior high with the same one. I remember vividly when one girl asked to call him Vanilla Ice...he was less than amused. Anyway, on to the famous Robert Van Winkle. His friends were actually the ones who gave him the Vanilla moniker because he was the only white break dancer in their group. He hated the nickname. Then when he started rapping it followed, then got combined with a dance move he would do, hence Vanilla Ice was born. He actually wrote Ice Ice Baby at 16 which is hilarious and impressive. After flirting with the idea of racing motorcross, he got hurt and while recuperating got dared to enter an open mic night. It led to a regular gig at the club. After being signed they tried to release a different song that wasn't getting good traction, but one radio guy played the wrong side and instead started the rise Ice Ice Baby had in popularity. He signed with a new label in the 90's who released a fake biography about him to counteract his decision to keep his private life private. Which is a dick move. I'm going to end there because that is only one thing in a long line of crap he had to deal with in his career and I don't think you'd want to hear about that. So instead we're going to listen to the song and recognize that we all secretly like it a little. Sound good? Great. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 235

Good Morning! Today's song is Can't Touch This by MC Hammer.

Photo by: John Mathew Smith

I've written about MC Hammer before so instead today I'm just going to ramble about random stuff. I think I've mentioned it, but I've kind of been on a anime kick as of late. I finished Fruits Basket, I rewatched all of Inuyasha, then I found some other stuff. I found a manga translated to English called Under The Oak Tree, although it's not completed, so then I found a kind of mediocre translation of the novel that I read up to where it's been finished, although that's still ongoing as well. The I found a manga that is either called My Husband Hides His Beauty or My Secretly Hot Husband (I'm not sure) that's kind of weird but hilarious. Then my sister was talking about the Seven Deadly Sins anime that I've thought about watching. I might still, I don't know, but I'll put links up for things so you can check some of these things out too.

Peace.

Year 7, Day 234

Good Morning! Today's song is The Power by Snap!

Snap! Are a German Eurodance group active since 1989 and currently made up of Penny Ford, Jesse Kolb, Michael Münzing, Luca Anzilotti, and Stoli Michaels. Previous members include Turbo B, Jackie Harris, Hudson Jean-Pierre (Pesci), Dean Williams, Thea Austin, Niki Haris, Summer (Paula Brown), and Loc. This song came out in 1990 and is easily one of their biggest hits. They released three albums in 1990, 1992, and 1994 respectively. The group disbanded in 1996 after releasing a compilation album, but they came back in 2000. They released a remixed album in 2003 and released a new single in 2005, and one in 2008. Since then we haven't heard much other than that the song rights have moved from the artists to a management company in 2018, but they are still technically active so we'll have to wait and see if we hear more from them. 

Peace.

Year 7, Day 233

Good Morning! Today's song is This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan.

Photo by: John Mathew Smith

Montell Jordan is Montell Du'Sean Barnett, and American rapper active from 1991 until 2010. His musical career started after high school, when he invited coworkers to come to watch him perform at a showcase. There ended up being some famous people there, and he ended up signed with Def Jam records in 1995. This song was his first single, and arguably his most famous song. He released six albums over the course of his career, and does technically have more past 2010, but I don't think they belong under the same umbrella. In 2010 he quit music completely to become a pastor, saying that God told him to quit the industry. He has an album from 2011 from the musical collective through the Church, but like I said, it seems like it should fall in a different category. Anyway, that's all for today. Enjoy the song.

Peace.

Year 7, Day 232

Good Morning! Today's song is Make Me Feel by Janelle Monae. 

Photo by: Joe Mabel

So Janelle Monae Robinson is an American musician active since 2003. She always had n affinity for music and after high school had gone to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, but ended up dropping out and moving to a different school while writing her own material. She's said that she was more interested in writing her own musicals than living through a character played the same way by lots of people. She released her demo album in 2003, which she sold out of her car. She appeared on some other people's songs before Big Boi showed her stuff to Sean Combs (P. Diddy), earning her a record contract in 2006. Her debut EP came out in 2007, which earned her a Grammy nomination, then released her first album in 2010. Since then she's released two more albums, one in 2013 and another in 2018. She's also done a fair amount of acting and touring so she's been keeping busy. If you're curious about getting more in depth go look her up.

Peace.

Year 7, Day 231

Good Morning! Today's song is Remember Me by Daley featuring Jessie J.

So Daley is Gareth Daley, an English musician active since 2010. He started out performing live at open mic nights and the like along with some up and comers. He got the attention of one of the Gorillaz co-creators, who invited him to work on a Gorillaz album, with him being lead vocalist on the single Doncamatic, launching his career, and earning him spotlights on a bunch of radio stations and an opportunity to record some of his stuff. He released his first mixtape in 2011 independently, before his debut studio album was released in 2014 with a record company. His next album came out in 2017. There hasn't been much from him since, but it's not unheard of to have years between albums and he is still technically active so we could see more. And as far as Jessie J goes, I've already featured her before, so this will be quick. She's an English musician, active since 2005 with five albums released so far and another one that's supposed to come out this year. She's a big name so if you haven't heard of her yet, go look her up.

Peace.

Year 7, Day 230

Good Morning! Today's song is When I Get You Alone by Robin Thicke.

Photo by: Glenn Frances

I go through stages of toleration with Robin Thicke. I enjoy his old stuff like this song, but then there was that time when he collaborated with Pharrell and T.I. Ah 2013, when we all super enjoyed that song until we paid attention to the lyrics and decided that no we really did not enjoy that song at all. Now I'm kind of leery of Robin Thicke, although most recently I only ever see him as a judge on the Masked Singer. He's not too bad on that, seems like a pretty decent (if cheesy) person. I just hope we wont have any repeats of 2013. Right now is dark enough without dredging up more controversy. It is kind of a funny progression though from this song to that one. In this one he's all about this girl, but he's asking himself questions. Does she want me to take her home? Does she want me to buy her things? While in the other one it's like his ego took over his body with the whole I know you want it bullcrap. Unfortunately that song is catchy, damn pop music. Anyway, enjoy this one with a more grungy Robin than we've seen in a while. 

Peace.