About This Site
Each month I select 20 songs (10 songs twice a month) that I am either hooked on or am curious about. Most of the music I select are rock, hip-hop, R&B and pop songs.
My song selection comes from 20-30 CDs I get from various sources each month, as well as recommendations from iTunes and Amazon. I also check out the charts in US, UK and Japan.
I’ve been reading about this South African white rap group, and for some reason, I always thought they were “Die Antwood”. “Die Antwoord” means “The Answer” in Afrikaans, and this rap group delivers in both English and Arikaans. The music video for this track became a viral sensation, leading them to sign with Interscope who recently released the EP album.
I already have the original mix of this song, but hearing this song with soccer highlights always gives me goosebumps. I am officially hooked to the game, even though I don’t watch soccer any other time of the year. It’s been an interesting tournament so far with four years ago’s finalists Italy and France both being eliminated in the first round. Although a lot of people think that K’naan is from South Africa, but he is from Somalia, and grew up in Canada.
I can’t get enough of Nas & Damian Marley’s collaboration album, especially during the World Cup in Africa (their album was recorded in dedication of Africa). I think this is the best rap CD of 2010 (so far), even though it hasn’t gotten much exposure. I was happy to see this video on MTV the other day.
With this year’s World Cup taking place in South Africa, the official soundtrack to the most popular sports in the world contains some fun, flavorful songs with African influences. A lot of people might be wondering why K’naan’s “Wavin’ Flag” is not included on this album, but that song was Coca Cola’s World Cup song. I get goosebumps everytime I hear that song. On the contrary, “Waka Waka” by Shakira is just a fun, upbeat song.
UK piano rock group, Keane hasn’t had a huge US success since 2004 when “Somewhere Only We Know” and “Everybody’s Changing” were huge hits. This month, they released an EP titled Night Train, including this single, “Stop For a Minute” featuring Somali-Canadian rapper, K’naan (his song “
Wavin’ Flag” is the official FIFA Worldcup 2010 song).
Nneka’s father is Nigerian and mother is German. She grew up most of her life in Nigeria until she was 18, and since then divides her time between Germany and Nigeria. She reminds me a lot of Neneh Cherry. Her song is poetic and her music is unique. With Lauryn Hill out of picture (though there are a lot more rumor of her comeback), Nneka could make a good dent in the US for her rap/R&B style of music.
no sample
South African band Seether recently released a cover of George Michael’s “
Careless Whisper”, and now they are doing another cover, this time one of Frank Sinatra’s. To commemorate Frank Sinatra, iTunes has asked numerous artists to cover Sinatra’s catalog. Artists such as Maroon 5, Meiko, The Kills have attempted their version. Some do it just like the original, and do a good job (like Maroon 5), but some tried to do their own version and fail. Seether does a darker version of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” but it actually works quite well. It may take a couple of listens before you can appreciate it, but maybe they should think about doing all cover album, as they are good at interpreting other artists’ songs.
80s kids will know this as Wham song. Some of the 90s kids may recognize the song as Tamia covered it for A Night at the Roxbury movie. Now the kids in 2000s will get to hear it from the South African rock band, Seether. This cover of George Michael classic (Wham song to be exact), has turned into a huge hit. Listening to it again makes me realize what a great songwriter George Michael used to be in his prime. Seether is currently on tour with Nickelback and don’t plan on going to the studio any time soon, so this track has been released as a single only track so far.
Born in Somalia, Africa and raised in Canada, K’naan has a different background than most hip-hop artist in the industry. If you think surviving in the Bronx or Compton is hard, imagine growing up in the Somali Civil War. This makes K’naan an unique rapper, and this song, especially should appeal to a lot of non-hiphop fans. “Wavin’ Flag” would be a perfect song at a outdoor summer music festival with the crowd waving their arms as the sun set. I can’t wait for the summer.
I think this is the first time I review any band from Africa. Seether is a hard rock band from South Africa. They had a minor hit in 2004 with the song, “Broken”, featuring Amy Lee of Evanescence, and #1 rock hit with “Fake It” several months ago, which was the lead off single from their third album, Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces. “Rise Above This” is their second single, and it is currently #1 on the US Rock chart.
I think this is the first time I review any band from Africa. Seether is a hard rock band from South Africa. They had a minor hit in 2004 with the song, “Broken”, featuring Amy Lee of Evanescence, and #1 rock hit with “Fake It” several months ago, which was the lead off single from their third album, Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces. “Rise Above This” is their second single, and it is currently #1 on the US Rock chart.
Embodying the rags-to-riches rap dream, Jay-Z pulled himself up by his bootstraps as a... 