by The Weeknd: Just when I thought music could get no better with Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, challenged me and won. The first album of what is expected to be a trilogy has completely changed my music game. The Weeknd completed 9 tracks, some lasting more than 7 minutes, that remind me of the sexuality that Rick James and Marvin Gaye shared through music in the 70s and 80s. This is not popular music. This music is dark and sensual. If you ever have a “memory” while playing a song off the album, TRUST me – the memory will last forever and you will so kindly be reminded every time you hear the track. Every song on the album is a winner. Each track presents a different mood and vibe, but is still sexy to the core.

I’m always in support of my youngins. The Weeknd is 20 and he gets it. He released House of Balloons on his website a couple weeks ago. He gave away this beautifully crafted masterpiece for free, allowing it to spread organically. The Weeknd has taken word of mouth marketing to a different level. People are talking about his music via social networks but no one knows what the man looks like! He could resemble a monster and I don’t think anyone would care at this point. If you were to do a Google search for “The Weeknd” a month ago, you would have gotten the result: >Did you mean: The Weekend. Now, the page is filled with results of the artist’s mentions including his website, Twitter page, Wikipedia entry (YES! He has a Wiki entry now…He’s Official!), blog posts and mainstream news. If The Weeknd is getting this much love off his first mixtape, I can only imagine what the two follow-up albums will bring. Also coming from Ontario, The Weeknd may just be the R&B version of Drake. If so, the future of R&B will forever be changed. Download and listen to the album that will change your life

This is my favorite song on the album…today that is:

Yesterday, I was back in the mix from a five day weekend and sluggish. I had tons of e-mails to dig thru so the only song I got to post was one that I heard early in the am on beehivefm. Such a fitting song since it’s summer and every Friday you can catch me trying to “fly” home and be near some fun, water and sun. This song puts me in a really happy mood. I’ve never smoked before a day in my life, but I think it’s safe to assume Lenny was high as a bird when he made this track. He was probably floating amongst the stars he sings about cuz that is exactly how I feel when listening… Let’s go and see the stars; The milky way or even Mars; Where it could just be ours…When looking at this video in depth (because I obviously hadn’t seen it since 1998 when it came out) I did NOT know this joint looked like an orgy. And who knew that a girl got nakey in the video (around 1:42). That’s a mess! Lenny was shoool pushing the envelope.

This was the only song I played today! I first heard this song a couple weeks ago and loved it! I’ve been searching ever since, attempting to figure out the name of the song and who sang it. Up until today I was unsuccessful. Time this track came on, I blasted this song in my office and literally asked everyone if they had heard this track before. From the music gurus on down, everyone said no…except one person. Out of the blue, my intern says “I’ve heard that song before.” HUH!?! All this time with me driving myself crazy and I’m positive my Google search bar has shut down with my variations of searches like “I don’t feel the same” + “way I walk” + “way I talk”. I borderline was about to start asking anybody and everybody about this song, which I apparently did. It was worth it though because this is my new jam. It’s been on repeat all day. Outasight is an extremely talented artist who must have been underground for a few years. He’s soul and new hip hop, with some amazing use of instruments. I’m feeling him. My intern hooked me up with both of his albums and I’m excited to listen…This video isn’t the usual YouTube disaster with just a photo. SinceI thought it was important to see the lyrics that comprise the song.

Today’s #MusicMonday was all about Ryan Leslie. I guess he was top of mind after I watched his live streaming chat last Thursday. When I walked into the office this morning, he was the first and only music I wanted to listen to. Ryan’s self-titled album + Zer0 7’s Destiny was the extent of my #MusicMonday until I reached 2pm and listened to BeeHiveFM.com (post coming soon about how this online radio station is changing the game).

I’m STILL mad that MySpace has not fully integrated Imeem playlists into their platform. I still have no way to embed a full album playlist that someone else created…As I sit here and struggle, trying to determine a video to include below, I chose one that shows how talented Ryan is to play the instruments in the background of the song, sing, AND produce the track! The video is bananas! At the end, when Ryan is playing the keyboard and says he will have a 60 piece orchestra behind him playing, ahhhhh it made me want to go to one of his shows SO BAD! I knew he was talented, but not like this. I’ll be looking up his schedule *right now*!

Still feeling Slow Wine from Sunday, I was in a real Tony Toni Tone mood for #MusicMonday. Tony Toni Tone mood for me means tunes that embody love, calming, soulful harmonies and my song selections reflect just that…

This Monday, I posted:
Slow Wine by Tony Toni Tone
Let’s Get Down by Tony Toni Tone
Just Me and You by Tony Toni Tone
Voyage to Atlantis by The Isley Brothers
Rapture of Love by Anita Baker

I choose to blip my choices for #MusicMonday so they can all be viewed in one location at any time. You can go to my dj page on Blip.fm to listen to these and all other posts in a playlist. Visit this page throughout the week to get a glimpse into what I’m listening to or check back in on Mondays for my #MusicMonday selections.

I take it for granted that people follow me on Twitter and read my tweets. I should come back down to reality and conclude that the number of people who actually follow me is a very small number. I have to remind myself that there is a whole group of people that don’t follow me, and there is an even larger group that of people that are not present on Twitter. I want to use my blog as another outlet to share my #MusicMonday updates with everyone. On Twitter, Monday is the designated day for everyone to share music and use the hashtag #MusicMonday to the mark the update. You will likely find #nowplaying as an accompanying hashtag to the #MusicMonday hashtag, both of which typically dominate the number one and two top trending topics on Monday. Some people share new music. Some people share their old, favorite tunes. I choose to share whatever music is on my mind at the time.

This Monday, I posted:
Come Around by M.I.A. and Timbo
Calabria 2008 by Enur
Electric Feel by MGMT

I choose to blip my choices for #MusicMonday so they can all be viewed in one location at any time. You can go to my dj page on Blip.fm to listen to these and all other posts in a playlist. Visit this page throughout the week to get a glimpse into what I’m listening to or check back in on Mondays for my #MusicMonday selections.