by Coldplay ft. Jay-Z: Every mix tape that I have listened to in the last week has this song in the line up. I really like this song, but I wish Jay had more lines on the track. If you heard the first 75% of the song, you would not know Jay was even on the track. Aside from that, great song! I like that Jay continues to step outside the rap boundary. I would love to see the day when a country artist and a rap artist collaborate for a track. As long as the personalities of the artists and their love for music parallel, that collaboration will be a pioneering sound for the music industry.

by Enrique Iglesias ft. Ciara: Enrique Iglesias back from retirement? And on a track with Ciara? Is this the weirdest mix ever, or is it just me? This is definitely Enrique’s style, but what is Ciara doing? Is this her attempt to branch out from urban into new genres? If so, I respect her attempt but she needs to give it a rest. I am excited to see what is up and coming from Enrique. However, Ciara’s first few tracks off her upcoming album have not been well received by her fans. This single is not on her album, Fantasy Ride, but is on Erique’s Greatest Hits album. Regardles, CiCi better get it together and quick. Album drops 1.09.

by The Spice Girls: I was just watching The Hills: Aftershow and they took it back! Way back! Back when Mel B. had curly hair!…On the Aftershow, they played this really old Spice Girls song, Goodbye. I was taken back to elementary school when my friends and I auditioned for the 5^th grade talent show singing Wannabe. I used to be a huge Spice Girls fan. Since I didn’t go to their concerts, having their albums and seeing their movie was the best I could do! I need to have a jam session so I can listen to hits such as 2 Become 1, Say You’ll Be There, Too Much and the list goes on. I had a rough time deciding which video to post, but I think I did ok by choosing this video as it was the song that first exposed me to the group

I was just getting my nails done and heard two women next to me discussing the tragic incident that has taken place today. Reportedly, Jennifer Hudson’s mother and older brother died of fatal gunshot wounds. Everything was going so well in her life. She has had major success in the last few years: numerous movie appearances and a new album with over 300k sales. It is AMAZING how things in your life can change within a split second! Please pray for Jennifer and her family…

by The Notorious B.I.G. ft. Diddy and Lil’ Kim: I saw a commercial a few days ago for a biographical movie, Notorious, that will come out in 2009. After reading about 2Pac and his murder yesterday, I became extremely intrigued with the “lack of evidence” to find Tupac’s or Biggie’s assassin(s). I’m a CSI and Law and Order fan and these two cases extremely interest me. I know there was a book, LAbyrinth, written that compiles evidence of an LAPD detective on both murders. Might have to add that to my list of literature to read!… Back to the music, this song must be the lead on the soundtrack because I heard it in the trailer. The track will take you back to the mid/late 90s when everyone was jamming to Juicy and Hypnotize. Thinking back, Biggie’s second album was titled Life After Death and was released just 16 days after he died. Sadly, it was as though he knew he was going to die. Like he knew somebody in his camp set him up and he was just waiting for the day. Fast forward to 2008. Do you hear Jay-Z or Lil Wayne talking about themselves dying? NO! If you think about it, A LOT of “rappers” would not have made it if Biggie and Pac were still alive . I get chills just thinking about it…This is some scary sh*t!?!

by Keyshia Cole ft. Tupac: My mom loves some Keyshia Cole so I thought I would let her preview this new track. I don’t know how she will feel about the rapping, but I haven’t heard a single from Tupac in a while and I love how his legend continues. This track appeared on his album that came out in 2006 but was never released as a single. Why waste a good single that features two (well maybe 1.5) talented artists? Must have been Keyshia’s exact thoughts because this has been confirmed to be the first single off her upcoming album, A Different Me, that will drop December 16th. I think this track will be marked legendary because of Pac’s presence, but will be seen as ‘just another song’ by many…

by The Foreign Exchange: My boss mentioned that I get this album last week. I was trippin and waited until today to obtain this wonderful, magnificent creation! If you have never heard of this group, let me school you real quick. The hip-hop duo consists of a Dutch producer, Nicolay, and an American rapper, Phonte Coleman. Imagine you and someone else creating an album, but you have never met and the person lives on the other side of the world. The two guys never had a phone call nor did they meet face to face to create their first album, Connected; they communicated on Okayplayer and sent files over instant messages to create the album. That is CRAZY to me! Now, Nicolay lives in the States, but the sound is still unique and very different than mainstream. The sound consists of soulful, dance, electronica, house, hip-hop tracks with a touch of jazz. This sound is real different, but I haven’t met a person yet who heard the album and disliked it! I couldn’t decide which track to post, so I put the whole album

by M.I.A. ft. Jay-Z: Speaking of the cherry on top…Jay is featured on this remix of M.I.A.’s Boyz. The original version was ranked #7 on the Rolling Stone 100 Best Songs of 2007. For the song to be highly ranked, I am surprised that I am just hearing this. I would not have known who M.I.A. is if it had not been for T.I., Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne creating Swagger Like Us. Crazy thing is they sampled her song Paper Planes for Swagger Like Us and I had not heard Paper Planes prior either. So, homegirl has mastered her new strategy: To win big in the States, she MUST have the best artists somehow linked to her songs. Specifically on this track, Jay adds a unique flavor and I like how he doesn’t always perform on tracks that are considered rap. He has proven that he can mix it up with Linkin’ Park and now the British artist who uses the Dappan koothu style of music for this track. Dappan koothu is a musical genre that focuses on traditional dance and folk styles with a major emphasis on percussion instruments. You have just been granted your newly learned fact for the day!

by Eminem: Guess who’s back? That’s right. Slim Shady. Eminem. Marshall Mathers. Whichever name you choose, this man is back and in full force! Sorry this is just a clip, but this is what happens when you hear a track before it’s officially released! If this track is any indication of the other tracks off the same titled album, Relapse, it will be a hot one! This beat is sick and I like how he switches up the sound of his voice. Granted his lyrics are risky, but they have always been. You have to know to expect that from Slim. The rap game is REAL interesting these days…In 2008, we had albums from Lil Wayne, T.I., The Game, Nas, and Young Jeezy while albums from Kanye, Big Boi, and Dr. Dre will come before December 31st. When Em drops an album, the music game will be CrAzY!?! Only thing we will need is an album from Jay-Z to be the cherry on top.

by Dru Hill: Some days, songs pop into my head for a specific reason and other times for no reason at all. Out of nowhere, at dinner I began singing the chorus to this song and you could have told me I was the 5^th member of Dru Hill! Even with Sisqo’s ad libs, this song was the jam back in the day. I didn’t remember the video so I had to educate myself and this has to be the fruitiest video I’ve ever seen. The plot of the video is good, but there are parts of this video that are hilarious and I can only hope it’s because the video debuted in 1996. Like who wears a pleather jacket with nothing underneath? Who pours hot wax on themselves? And please don’t get me started with the Bankhead bounce! Enjoy the track but you have to see this video for yourself…