Monthly Archives: August 2011

REMEMBERING AALIYAH: RARE & UNRELEASED TRACKS

It’s been 10 years since Aaliyah died tragically in an airplane accident. Her third LP, Aaliyah, had just been out for 3 weeks and it was steadily pacing up the Billboard charts.

After her passing, a collection of Aaliyah’s greatest hits, as well as some previous recorded material were included on a compilation called I Care 4 U. To much delight, fans received the single, “I Miss You,” as well as tracks like, “Don’t Know What To Tell Ya,” where we heard Aaliyah’s soft tone on a classic Timbaland production and the slinky, sexy fan favorite, “Come Over.” But there are a couple of songs from Aaliyah’s catalog that don’t often get recognized.

Instead of posting the typical favorites from fans that follow the Concrete Loop Twitter page, we decided to shed some light on Aaliyah tracks that may have previously gone unnoticed or unheard. Check out these tracks.

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Posted in MUSIC Tagged

REMEMBERING AALIYAH: BRIAN’S FAVORITE TRACKS

Admittedly, back in the day, I was one of the biggest Aaliyah fans. You can ask anyone that knew me. I had posters on my wall, owned all of her albums– I was just a huge fan of hers. Partially, because I had an older sister (who was a teenager when I was just a kid) who introduced me to her music back in the ’90′s. I have fond memories of riding around in my sister’s old car with the Age Ain’t Nothin’ But A Number cassette tape.

In any event, I can gather a specific memory from each of Aaliyah’s albums. She was truly one of my favorites. So, I insisted to post some of my favorite tracks from Aaliyah’s albums. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed all of her music. But these are some of the favorites that just had a great impact on me.

Aaliyah – I Can Be (full) – listen
This was the Aaliyah I loved. This song was edgy and dark and as a complete music head, I appreciated the interpolation of the what sounds like Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” towards the end of the song. I felt like this was one of the most underrated tracks on her last studio album, Aaliyah, which dropped back in 2001. The track was written by singer/songwriter Tank and produced by Bud’da.

Aaliyah – Everything’s Gonna Be Alright (full) – listen
This song just made me feel like jamming back in 1996. Although most of this album, Aaliyah worked with Timbaland, this was a track produced by the famed Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins. My favorite part, specifically is at the end of the second verse, where she sings, “You can do this baby/With the L-I-Y-A-H…”

Aaliyah – Young Nation (full) – listen
“Young Nation” just reminds me of trying to kick with my sister and her friends, knowing I wasn’t grown enough to be chilling with them. Although Aaliyah’s first album was my least favorite of the three (I still love it though), it still makes me feel like summertime with jeeps. Continue

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VIDEO: PREVIEW TO VH1′S ‘BASKETBALL WIVES LA’

“Basketball Wives LA” premieres on VH1 Monday, August 29 at 8 PM ET/PT. Check out the ‘super trailer’ above and the description below.

Episode 101 Description:
In the series premiere, a fresh group of West Coast basketball wives, girlfriends, fiancées and exes deal with life in SoCal’s hottest hub for gossip and game. Also, the addition of controversial model/actress Draya to the social mix makes waves and an unexpected blowout between Laura and Malaysia turns ugly.

Posted in TV ROUND UP, VIDEOS

‘ROUND THE WAY: JAY-Z & KANYE WEST ACCUSED OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT ON ‘WATCH THE THRONE’

There’s about to be a big mess going on over at Def Jam, considering a post that has popped up on publisher, Numero Uno Group’s blog, citing that Jay-Z and Kanye West, who as a unite, call themselves ‘The Throne,’ are guilty of copyright infringement on their joint venture, Watch the Throne.

Apparently, R&B/soul singer Syl Johnson (who also father of singer/songwriter Syleena Johnson) is considering a lawsuit against the two for an uncleared sample of one of his songs on their album. A sample of Johnson’s 1967 song “Different Strokes,” which appears on the track “The Joy,” was allegedly never properly cleared.

According to the publisher’s blog, Kanye originally used the sample on during his G.O.O.D. Friday promotion, where he released a new track every Friday, leading up to his My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album. The track was supposedly supposed to appear on a deluxe edition of West’s album, but that never came to pass:

“After a little negotiating, we came to a price and a verbal agreement (one that is completely standard). Paperwork to confirm all of this was to arrive for counter signature. Weeks passed. Then months. No deluxe version appeared in the market place, and our emails and phone calls to Def Jam’s business affairs department went unanswered. We spent the better part of five months trying to get paid, and finally handed it to our lawyer who recommended not pursuing legal action as the song wasn’t actually being sold.

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Posted in MUSIC, MUSIC NEWS, round the way Tagged , ,