Chris Brown cleans up for his new video “Fine China.”
From Billboard.com:
“In this video, you’ll see me taking care of the girl, doing gentlemanly things—showing another side of me. I know my female audience sees it. But the naysayers might say, ‘No, that’s not him,’” the singer told Billboard recently. His new gentlemanly attitude matched his retro and debonair style in the video.
In what is now a fall tradition, pop star Rihanna is releasing another album. This time, she’s serving Unapologetic, an amalgam of irresistible pop songs, “confident” RnB tracks, and club anthems.
Standouts: With its strong vocals and inspiring lyrics, “Diamonds” was an obvious lead single choice. Here, Rihanna shows some range without being too annoying. Also, the repetitive “shine bright like a diamonds” bits are super catchy.
“Stay”, which features Mikky Ekko, is a great piano-driven ballad. It showcases Rihanna’s range even more than “Diamonds” do, and it is one of the few tracks in Rihanna’s career that allows her to show off some genuine, deep emotions. Rihanna performed “Stay” on SNL, so I’m hoping it will be a single at one point.
I hate to admit it, but the Chris Brown-assisted “Nobody’s Business” is a feel-good addition to the album. Here, Brown is channeling his inner Michael Jackson while Rihanna keeps it sexy and light. The breezy production here is a welcome addition to what is otherwise a moody album.
If mashups are your thing, check out the latest from DJ Earworm below.
I always look forward to DJ Earworm’s year-end mashups, but “Fly” is not quite doing it for me. There’s too much Usher and Jessie J, and not enough Kelly Clarkson, Justin Bieber, or Carly Rae Jepsen. Even Sia’s parts become too repetitive. The video isn’t DJ Earworm’s best.
After her collaboration with Monica failed to make any dent on the charts, Brandy is moving on and releasing “Put It Down”.
The Bangladesh-produced track sounds nice, and there’s something very laid back about it. The song sounds a tad dated though, with the chorus reminiscient of Mariah Carey’s early 2000s sound.
When I first heard that Rihanna is potentially collaborating with Chris Brown for the “Birthday Cake” remix, I didn’t believe it. I thought, ‘Rihanna is smart; she won’t do that’.
Well, clearly I overestimated Rihanna’s intellect. Tonight she released not one but two Chris Brown collaborations. In addition to “Birthday Cake”, Rihanna and Chris Brown collaborated in the “Turn Up The Music” remix.
To put it simply, this collaboration is irresponsible. It’s dangerous, too.
Sometimes even I cannot explain my own taste in music.
I make it a regular a habit to bash trashy, dance-influenced songs these days, but when I heard Chris Brown‘s new single, I had to shut up.
“Turn Up the Music” is far from original — in fact, it’s something Usher could have easily sang — but I find the song to be enjoyable. And I can’t wait for Chris Brown to start performing this live. He’ll kill it with his dance moves!
