Oldie Butta GoodieBar: Musiq Soulchild – Love

I had to post this video for the Lovers. Music Soulchild debuted in 2000 with his album Aijuswanaseing (I Just wanna Sing). This album is one of my favourite debuts of an artist – it had some great songs on there. Love really hit a personal note for many people due to its soulful and insightful lyrics such as:

Love, So many people use your name is vain

Love, Those that have faith in you sometimes go astray

Love, Though all the ups and downs, the joys and hurts

Love, For better or worse, I still will choose your first.

This was such a sweet song and video **sigh**.  I agree that many people use the word Love in vain – using it in any situation where it may benefit them. We may all be guilty of doing so…or maybe not. But true love is no joke, so I guess it should be used wisely.

Some interesting facts about this song: Love was initially called Lord, but Musiq changed the title becasue he didn’t want it to be viewed as a Gospel song. This song was actually meant to be for Lauryn Hill. It spent 38 weeks on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop charts, peaking at #2;  it also spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #24.

Melt in Your Ears:Mya Feat. Bun B – Show Me Something Video

Mya has released a new video! It is for a single she did with Bun B titled Show me Somethin’. I am a bit biased on this one because I love me some Mya! I’ve been a fan of hers since the Movin’ On days so I always like to support her work. Sadly, she is one of the 90s stars who have suffered the most since the time of Beyonce (circa 2001 and on) where all  90s R&B acts struggled to stay relevant. Mya possibly suffered the most because she has never owned the solid pipes that the Brandies and Monicas of the music world could fall back on. She was more like a modern day Ciara – moves well but with weak pipes. Still, I think as an artist, Mya has a lot more depth to her and is quite talented. I also do not mind her small voice at all. She still makes great music. Best of Me was a classic, but Moodring was a Bust. This song I do like, it has a nice feel to it and the beat is really nice. I’m sure it was meant for a rapper but Mya does it great justice. bun B delivers a solid 16 and the video ain’t half bad either. It appears Mya has found a new home in Houston b/c she is showing up on a lot of tracks with some Houston rappers nowadays. But it is a welcome look for her. Look out for Mya’s new Mixtape, Beauty & the Streets that will be released Sept 29 featuring artists like Slim Thug, Chamillionaire and Nikki Minaj. Sounds hot!

In other Mya news, she will be appearing on Dancing with the Stars for the new season. So hopefully this will bring a welcome boost to her career. Mya’s video for Show Me Somethin’ : Do we like it?

Still in the W(Rapper): Whitney Houston Album Preview

The big news today is Whitney Houston’s new album can be previewed on her website today. For a limited time you can preview her new album so you can purchase the album when it drops September 11th August 31s. Ya’ll already know I’m riding first-class on the Whitney Promo train! I’m listening to the preview right now and so far I am liking what I am hearing. The album sounds more like another My Love is Your Love and I can’t be mad at that. Whitney sounds great! She has lost some of her powerful pipes a bit, but she still has the Voice. Million Dollar Bill is still one of my faves!

In other news, Whitney will be the special guest on the Premiere episode of Oprah’s new season so set your TiVos!

Listen to the album preview here!

Pour Out A Lil’ ChokLit Liqour: R.I.P Aaliyah

Tomorrow will mark 8 years since we lost R&B songstress Aayilah Dana Haughton aka Babygirl. Luckily some of us were able to know Aaliyah and her music before her life was tragically cut short when her plane crashed in the Bahamas back in 2001. Aaliyah was 22 at the time and had just released her third studio album, titled Aaliyah. The album would go on to sell over a million copies and would be applauded by many critics as being one of the best albums of 2001 – if not the best R&B album of that year. The most I can remember of Aaliyah was her very musical maturity and her image uniqueness. Unique is a cliched term in the music industry nowadays, but Aaliyah really did have It. When her video was on, everyone took note. She was mysterious without removing her sunglasses, sexy without showing her ass and talented without having a big voice. Her style was admired but could never be duplicated and her music was timeless. I can always bump her album One in  a Million anytime of the day and not skip a track.  Aaliyah always had great videos to accompany her music, along with tomboyish yet sexy dance moves courtesy of her choreographer Fatima Robinson. The video I wanted to highlight today is Four Page Letter. This is one of my favourite Aaliyah songs and videos. The song itself is vulnerable and sexy courtesy of Timbaland & Missy Elliot’s dream production team that also included singer/songwriter Stephen ‘Static’ Garrett.  This video has Aaliyah peering through the forests during a medieval-set world looking for her warrior lover who has been writing her love letters since being captured (at least that’s my take on it).  Who else can pull off this kind of video? Peep the video below and some links to other memorable videos.

Make sure you leave any comments of your favourite Aaliyah memories.

R.I.P Babygirl.

Other memorable videos:

Aaliyah – One in A Million

Aaliyah – Try Again

Aaliyah – At Your Best

Music News ROLO: Get Caught up!!

So I am a little out of the loop due to last night’s late night activities (I wish) so, I wanted to make sure the CF readers weren’t missing a beat!

Check out these links below for the newest goings-on in the Urban R&B/Hip Hop world – ChokLit Style of course!

Blogger/Radio Personality Miss Info visits R.Kelly’s home in Chicago to preview his new album, Untitled
courtesy of ihiphop.com

ChokLit’s take: Are we still going with the Untitled shtick?? Ok Mr. Kelly. I love Kelly’s quote when he mentions his ‘research’ for this project included throwing parties at his mansion for a good month and judging the crowds’ reactions to his music. For his sake, I hope this was a 25+ only party…I love Miss Info

Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye get all  possessive for Run This Town video

ChokLit’s take: This video is on every single blog today so I’m sure you all have seen it already.I chose to watch it with the sound off for my own personal reasons. I love me some Rihanna, but the screeching in this song is a bit much, plus I simply enjoy watching her play dress up instead (did that come out wrong??). Of course Rihanna looks stellar and appears ever so confident while performing next to her former Boss. Kanye steals his scenes – the only scenes Rihanna is not dominating. Sorry Hova, we barely noticed ya! Dope video, still.

Keep readin…

ChokLit Factory Exclusive: Live on Set with TRISH

Last night I had the privilege of being a ChokLit fly on the wall for the video-shoot for up-and-coming Hot Girl, TRISH. I keep singing this girl’s praises because I truly believe she will blow-pop! fairly soon.  Then I can run around tellin’ everybody, “I Told you so!”

The video is for Trish’s single, Best Day of My Life. The song is a twisted dance/pop track that has Trish belting some fierce vocals with a vengeance! The beat is danceable, futuristic and hard hitting.  On set, Trish was decked out in her signature fire-engine red hair, bright pink lipstick, a leather red jacket and psychedelic print leggings. That paired with her 6-inch heels made her quite a sight to see. The shoot easily went on for a good 10 hours, but Trish was always polite, courteous and full of energy. On set, choreographer LutherBrown coached the dancers as they ran through the hype routine too many times to count. Toronto Stylist Janet Han was on call to make touch-ups to Trish’s outfit. Best Day’s producers Product & Whitton were on hand to support Trish, as they had produced the bulk of her material. I also spotted dancer Ponytails and many other Urban Bloggers and Toronto scenesters. While manager Wanye Samuels was running around in a feverish pace trying to make everything run smoothly; director Harv was extremely meticulous about each shot.  Best Day of my Life is a definitely a hot song and I know the video will match the high energy of the song. Peep the pictures below and see exclusive behind the scenes footage of the Luther Brown-created dance routine for Trish’s video.

Butta of the Week! Fabolous & Jay-Z – When the Money Goes

I was forwarded this song by reader 20 Something, and I gotta say – this is a hot one! The first thing that caught me was the beat; its a Killer. When the Money Goes was produced by Sami Wilf and Jermain Dupri. Then you have Loso on the track with spittin’ some real nice metaphors and his flow is nice as ever. Most importantly, Fab is painting a thorough picture with his lyrics of a situation where a female will love the good times when life is good and the money is right; but is not able to Ride when things get rough.  It is a topic Rappers have been talking about for ages. In my opinion, a  Jumpoff will always bounce when the money jumps off – literally. Jay-Z actually lays low on this one, only gracing the chorus. But still, the collabo works great. I just found this video. It pretty much plays out the lyrics to the song nicely. I am wondering if the opening scene with Fab and Jay-Z in the Maybach is a homage to The Sopranos? Still, I like the feel of this video, directed by Parris.  Peep the video below.

Hot ChokLit! R.Kelly & Keri Hilson heat it up in Number One video

Didn’t I tell ya’ll Keri was that Chick right now? R.Kelly has released the video for his sultry new hit song with Ms Keri Bay-bee herself, Number One. This performance video includes R.Kelly making a trip to ATL and on the Greg Street radio show while Keri is in Chicago on another radio show. They then begin to seduce their microphones with their lyrics. This is one of my favourite songs out right now; it shows both artists displaying their vocals while singing some well-written lyrics over a seductive beat. Keri is rockin’ a shorty flipped-out hair style in the video while Kelly is still wearing his short cut fade. It is a welcome look for R.Kelly. This song s currently #26 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs. We should expect Kelly’s still untitled album to be hitting stores September 11th. Still not sure what to expect from this effort, but it will be interesting to see. Enjoy the video below.

Sweet Tooth: Ginuwine – Trouble

Ginuwine has released the video for his second single Trouble. This song feature Bun B on the album track, but they decided to skip out on Bun for the video treatment – not sure why…although we aren’t really missing much, I guess. I hear Ginuwine has made one of the better R&B albums of 2009 with A Man’s Thoughts. We will be giving A Man’s Thoughts the ChokLit treatment very soon so watch out for that. In this video Ginuwine is trying to thwart the efforts of a sexy vixen played by none other than ‘Cocktail’ from For the Love of Ray J ie. Ray J’s ex. Her real name is Joanna Hernandez. She is looking great in the video and I am loving her sexy black dress with the shoulder pads (**Side note: remember those tings? I used to cut those little shyts out of my clothes all the time!)

Ginuwine looks great in this video and he’s still got some moves on him too! I like this song – it has a relaxed sexy club vibe to it. I also must commend Ginuwine for maintaining his grown man tip this time around.  He’s not trying to compete with these young cats; he’s simply doing the grown man thing and is doing it very well! Ginuwine has always delivered solid albums and this one is no exception.  Check out the video below.

Ginuwine feat. Bun B – Trouble (full version with Bun B)

Still in the W(Rapper): Beyonce – Poison

Beyonce has recorded a new song produced by Stargate, called Poison. This will be featured on a new mixtape by DJ Haze caled Big RnB Ego. What can I say – I’m feeling this track. In the song, Beyonce sings about a kind of Love that is as potent and deadly as poison itself: “You’re just like poison/ slowly moving through my system/ breaking all of my defences with time.” The beat is pretty simple, with an electro-dance feel to it. The lyrics are smartly written and Beyonce performs some strong vocals on this one yet again.  We like it over here. What do y’all think?

Beyonce – Poison