J Music – Page 6

J Music: UR Experience Tour at Mohegan Sun Arena

November 16, 2014February 1, 2024ayminor

Usher was my first love. Before the Famous Jett Jackson, before Sammie, before J Boog — there was Usher Raymond IV. You name a record off My Way, 8701, or Confessions and my mind instantly goes to a cherished memory from my childhood. Growing up, Confessions defined for me what success was in the industry — diamond album, sold-out tour, movies, timeless music. Until he went and messed around with Tameka, Usher was the standard.

Some argued after Confessions he had nowhere else to go but down — I had always believed he would be considered one of, if not the best entertainer of our time. Nonetheless, it’s been years since I’ve attached Usher’s career with unmatched excellence. In his stead, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake have risen in the ranks, dominating the industry and record sales.

He has the star power, voice, technical skill, and over 20 years in the business — what is the missing element? It’s a question I have asked myself a thousands times. After attending the UR Experience tour at Mohegan Sun arena in Uncasville, CT, I think I can finally articulate my answer.

I’ll fast-forward through DJ Cassidy (mostly because I missed his set — CP Time), and August Alsina (who sounded much less like a goat than anticipated).

I’ll tell you this, the problem with the concert is not Usher and it’s not the music. For two hours straight Usher performed all of his greatest hits with near perfect precision. He was accompanied by world-class dancers who performed a very high-energy set without hint of fatigue, three background singers, and a full-piece band. His charisma shined as he weaved in personal anecdotes throughout the night, keeping the crowd entertained.

The answer then — lack of innovation. The production value was nowhere near where it should be for a star of his caliber. Let’s start with the staging — a small, triangular stage flanked by two short ramps. There was no second stage. There would be no “flying” around the arena. Fans that weren’t in the front, lower level of the arena had little to no interaction with the star beyond a few shoutouts. There was scattered smoke and pyro throughout the performance, but nothing out of the ordinary for your average concert. There would be no stunning visual elements, no spectacular costume designs, and no storyline or cohesion to the songs performed. I counted one video (the intro), some filtered camera shots, 2 jacket changes, 1 shirt change and 1 hat.

I forgot, I think he changed his sneakers too.

Now I believe had the tour gone as planned, as a promotional tool for the now indefinitely delayed UR, the show would’ve been more along the lines of what I had envisioned. I understand they most likely had to cut back on the scale of the production as a result, but at 36, Usher doesn’t have time to waste on mediocre presentations. He needs something BIG to shake up the industry and remind us who has the #1 spot, and I.M.O. it’s now or never. From the album rollout, to the award show performances, to his tour production — everything needs an infusion of innovation.

Steps down off soapbox.

I know I just went in, butttt purely as a fan, I would still encourage you to attend the tour if it stops in your city. I had a great time, I sang, I danced, and when he flashed those pearly whites….swoon.

The rest of the tour dates are below:

J Music: The ‘Industry Duet’

November 10, 2014February 1, 2024ayminor

So let’s pick up where I left off–

Nick Jonas provides the perfect example of the ‘industry duet.’

His people call Tinashe’s people.
She record vocals over his new single “Jealous,” never actually going in the studio with him.
They meet five minutes before they go to Hot 97 to promote the song.
He barely knows who she is and has zero clue how to pronounce her name, and thus, calls her Tina”shee.”

Is there any other possible explanation for why he doesn’t know how to say her name? Peep it at 1:10. He then avoids saying her name for the rest of the interview.

J Music: Nick Jonas Performs Acoustic Version of “Jealous” on Elvis Duran

September 14, 2014February 1, 2024ayminor

Even though I now have the privilege of listening to my books on tape during my morning commute (new car!), I caught the tail end of Nick Jonas’s interview with Elvis Duran last week, followed by his acoustic performance of “Jealous.” I have to say, after growing up on the Jonas Brothers I was a bit surprised by the R&B influences in the performance, but I also thought he sounded incredible, particularly at around 8 o’clock in the morning.

Here’s the full audio:

The acoustic version of the song plays up his wholesome tone, and is a bit of a contrast to the studio version which has more of an electro-pop feel. Check that out below.

I know the cynics will scoff at Nick Jonas latest release from his upcoming album, but am I allowed to say it’s fun?

J Event: Made In America Festival 2014 | Philadelphia

August 30, 2014February 1, 2024ayminor

I can’t believe it’s that time of year again.

Not only does tomorrow mark 8 days until my birthday, it’s also my second year attending MIA in Philly!

I’m traveling down tomorrow morning for a girls’ trip with my best friend to check out the festivities. I will definitely update this post post-festival with all my thoughts on Saturday’s festivities. Can’t lie, I only feel skeptic about the lineup (which I will explain in full later), but I am trying to keep an open mind.

UPDATE:

I had a great time in Philly, but it was exactly what I expected. Let me explain–

We hit minimal traffic getting down to Philly and the first stop was Mad 4 (Mex) on Penn’s campus for one of my favorite meals — margaritas, crispy wings, and waffle fries; highly recommended. We got to the festival a bit late (due to metered parking), so we ended up missing DJ Cassidy, but arrived just in time from Chromeo, on.

Last year, what I loved about the festival was the near-perfect curation which was enhanced by the good vibes of festival-goers. The festival featured action-packed performances from every genre and there were enough mainstream artists to cater to the very diverse crowd. Every 10 feet, I ran into people from all facets of my life — my hometown, college friends, even my coworkers.

This year, I found that my fun came mostly from the silly moments my best friend and I had interacting with the strangers we met throughout the day.

I consider myself a generalist when it comes to music — I like a little bit of everything with strong ties to R&B and pop — but I only knew two people on the bill for the day (J. Cole and Kanye); that didn’t have to be a bad thing, but I ended up being unimpressed with the other acts I saw.

One pleasant surprise was Chromeo. Though I don’t remember not one song, the duo had everyone grooving. (At one point my best friend and I ballroom danced with people we’d met 2 minutes before.)

J. Cole brought a lot of energy to his set and I loved the live band, but I was ready to kick things into high gear and his material just isn’t made for a festival-like turn up, no matter how much he tried. 2 Chainz on the other hand… I digress.

Now ‘Ye I may have slept on. We were so exhausted by the end of the night (grannies) that we chose to stay on the periphery of the crowd and therefore I don’t think we got the full experience. We were off-put by his set-list, which was mostly material from the new album (-__-) for the first 30-40 minutes.

Nonetheless, I haven’t seen Kanye perform by himself since his first album (?) so I’m glad I was able to hear my first Kanye rant.

“What we do culturally is not a joke.” – Kanye West

(I saved that in my phone.)

This year I only saw, at most, 2 people that I knew; despite being in a city with a 40+% black population, the crowd wasn’t diverse at all.

Selfish of me, but my bottom line is this — MIA planning committee, stick to one city and invest your resources in getting one bomb, diverse lineup. It also wouldn’t hurt to have 1+ female artists… like, really.

Two funny moments–

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Made-In-America-2014-Philly-3-June-Ambrose

1. I met June Ambrose! I had just saw her tweet about the festival when my best friend spotted her milling around the ground level of the VIP section. After fangirling for 10 minutes, my friend finally made her way over to ask for a picture and June was more than willing. As I was taking the picture, her daughter ran up for the ill photobomb. June was definitely on #rockmom duty!

2.We were watching a performance, when my best friend said to me, “that girl looks exactly like Elle Varner, but it’s not her.” Just as I turned around the girl turned her back to me, so we kept trying to discreetly angle ourselves to see her face. She started to walk away (at a brisk pace), so we ended up tailing her like creepers. Eventually, we gave up because my best friend was convinced it wasn’t her. Turns out, it was her, ha!

More pics below:

Read my tips after attending MIA last year here.

J Music: Mikky Ekko Performs Intimate Set, Readies Debut Album ‘Time’

August 22, 2014January 30, 2024ayminor

Last Thursday, Hilton Hotels hosted an intimate, acoustic performance by Mikky Ekko in Times Square curated and produced by Spin Media. Unfortunately I missed the live stream, but thanks to YouTube ads (for once) I was able to relive the 30-min, six-song set by the “Stay” singer and song-writer. I didn’t fall in love with any of the songs performed, but I still plan to give his debut album Time a listen, which he shared with the audience has just wrapped. The tracks I gravitated to most–one at the 4:47 mark, the other at 13:55 (“Stay” is at 18:25). Interested to hear others thoughts, what do you think?

His performance comes three months after Bridget Kelly‘s intimate set hosted by Hilton Hotels in L.A.

Keep your eyes peeled for these #HiltonMusic concerts, I know I will.

Video is now unavailable.

I am always intrigued by unknown artists who (seemingly) pop out of nowhere and skyrocket to the top of the charts, so I was always wondered how he finagled a feature on Rihanna’s album, with a feature credit, and then, more importantly, why she often went on to perform the song without him after its debut. My questions where answered in an interview he did with Billboard:

“After [‘Stay’] came out, there was a lot of pressure to capitalize on that momentum… From the label, people on Rihanna’s side. I think we speculated a little bit about going out on the tour with Rih, and I ultimately felt like the songs weren’t there. And I said I’m not gonna go out to promote an album that could be better. And I know the sort of the endless tweaking that can happen, but I feel like we took the time to put together a really, really strong album full of songs that at least for me represents exactly where I am.” – Mikky Ekko (billboard.com)

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J Music: Jazmine Sullivan Debuts “Stupid Girls” in NOLA Barber Shop

August 17, 2014January 30, 2024ayminor

Jazmine Sullivan, ladies and gentleman. So glad to have her back in the spotlight. That timbre. Read the full story of how the video came to be in a New Orleans barber shop here.

Courtesy of Malcolm.