The Cold Cut

I'm right in the middle of many things right now (new job, new decks, US university applications, etc etc) so my talented brother has kindly agreed to step in. Bravo.
Kanye West- Anyway (Link 2)

So Kanye’s Heartbreak is leaking all over the internet at the moment, and I for one am a little confused. Auto-tune? 808s? TEARS FOR FEARS samples? Wake up, Mr West.

Kanye wants to do whatever he wants, and what he wants is to no longer be seen as just a rapper, but a pop artist not bound in by a particular style. Those in the know realised some time ago that his music is just great pop, and when it comes to flow he’s never really had skills that pay the bills. In a John-Woo-style shoot-out of great rappers, Kanye would be first of the gang to die.

The problem is, he’s turned into a bit of prick. Yes, rappers are supposed to be arrogant, but The College Dropout gave hip-hop back its soul not because of all those vintage samples, but through its subject matter: less bitches and bling, more tales of how he used to pee the bed as a child. Sadly, post-fame, his last album revealed that he has become everything that he used to rail against: “I shop so much I can speak Italian”, anyone? Don’t even get me started on Drunk and Hot Girls. Graduation is a good album, but he’s not easy to love any more.

And so to “808s”: this sounds like we’re headed towards an album of commercial r ‘n b. The title hints that it’s going to be about relationship troubles. So perhaps a move towards a bit of honesty and soul again, which is good. But the musical wrapping concerns me a little, as a whole album of this is going to be a bit much for me.

I do like the fact that he’s trying to switch up his game rather than ploughing the same path, but hopefully there will be some genuine rapping in there as well.

Over to you Kanye.

Kanye West- Love Lockdown (T-Minus 321 Remix) (Link 2)

Unlike many of the bigger blogs out there, I've kept 'Love Lockdown' at arm's reach... not because I don't like it, but because I wanted the dust to settle before I posted a definitive remix. I've also tried to keep the number of 'hot tracks' down to a minimum for the last few weeks, purely because its nice to have something in reserve when you need it.

Let me state my position: 'Love Lockdown' is such a grower. If you break it down, its a pretty simple composition, but Kanye has really impressed me by upping the audience-input, evolving the song little by little and responding to the backlash. The 'Love Lockdown' that I now sing along to is not the same song that he debuted at the VMA's. I also don't believe that this version will appear on the album, as Kanye has displayed an experimentive nature that will no doubt carry over to the album.

Anyway, after sifting through the remixes (trust me, there are waaay to many), I chose one definitive song. As well as taking the song somewhere totally new, the artwork is incredible. Feel free to keep the creativity alive by downloading the stems (they're all over the net).

Justice vs Daft Punk vs Kanye West vs A-Trak vs Diplo- Fortisphère (Immuzikation Blend) (Link 2)

What happens when you take the songs below, splice them and force them into a shell of 3 minutes? 'Fortisphere'. In a time when many people are talking about the end of the world, this is the song that I would want to go out to.

• Justice - Planisphère Part 1
• Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
• Kanye West - Stronger
• Kanye West - Stronger (A-Trak Remix)
• Kanye West and Daft Punk - Stronger (Live at the Grammy's)
• Diplo - Work is Never Over
  

It's reassuring that some things never change. Even though the stock market is slowly dying, and the world is rumoured to end sometime soon, one thing has never changed. No matter what, I can always rely on a new track from Immuzikation gracing my ears every now and then. And that's why we love him so damn much.

The latest and greatest from Alfredo is 'Fortisphere', a truly epic piece of mash-up magic that combines most of the things I love and somehow manages to not screw it up. This song is destined for a live outing soon- no club, stadium or galaxy is too big for this song.

'Fortisphere' is just another string to Immuzikation's bow- if someone doesn't snap this guy up soon I might have to start my own record label and do the honours.

Myspace

Kanye West- Love Lockdown (Link 2)

I feel relieved. I feel happy. I feel exhausted. Many emotions. First, the good news. I am now able to get back into the swing of things. I have internet. I have lots of stuff to catch up with. I need to burst the bubble around me. The Cold Cut needs to become relevant again. Most of all, I have a blog to run. And run-it I will.

So how does one burst the bubble that's been enclosing you? With difficulty... I must admit, my lack of contact with the internet, TV and news has been a bit of an eye opener. As in, what the hell would we do without it? Now I appreciate it even more- I feel lucky to be connected again.

Anyway, back to the music. I've missed it ever so much, looking through my emails longingly on my phone. Able to see, but not to listen. Out of all the music that has flooded my inbox (about 250 emails and counting from the last few weeks- keep 'em coming), one track stands out. It's so 'now'. Kanye West's new track 'Love Lockdown', from the upcoming album release, '808's And Heartbreak'. A live debut at the VMA's was incredibly promising (watch it), and yet the recorded version falls annoyingly flat.

Disregarding an over-generous bass track that I could listen to all day long, it's hard to like this song, let alone love it. 'Love Lockdown' starts, peaks, starts, troughs, restarts... and finishes. It goes nowhere... Instead, we are treated to 270 seconds of Kanye living out a T-Pain fantasy. Jittery pianos and a vocoder dominate proceedings. There is no Chris Martin this time, though. And no intelligent sampling.

The VMA's were the perfect platform from which to launch the new album. Kanye performed well, his voice fragile, but hidden away behind Autotune. He sings better than you might expect, but will struggle with the live demands of this song. Still, it was a great performance, with strong images through lighting and his performance. Unfortunately, these fixtures cannot be translated onto the studio version.

This song hurts. Where has the genius of 'The College Dropout' gone? The concept is all wrong- Kanye isn't a singer by nature. It's brave, but a whole song of slow vocals is really pushing it. And in using a vocoder, you immediately take the emotion out of a song. I mean, who would attempt to prove that 'Lollipop' is an emotionally affecting song?

'808's And Heartbreak' drops on December 16th. Pre-order it on Amazon. The chips seem stacked against Kanye at this point in time. I'm not even going to mention the whole arrest fiasco. Still, I would never bet against him. Oh, and good luck Kanye. May you shock us all.

Okay, so my time this evening is limited (AQA Chemistry revision is dominating at the moment), but I wanted to be one of the first to let you guys know about these new tracks.

Coldplay- Lost (Link 2)
Coldplay- Life In Technicolour (Link 2)

Yes. Two more Coldplay tracks have leaked, weeks before 'Viva La Vida's release. 'Lost' is another brilliant track, although not quite as unexpected as 'Viva La Vida'. It's more reminiscent of their older work, with a piano driven chorus. 'Life In Technicolour' is supposedly the opening track: below is a low quality (not my work- I apologise for this) recording of the track- I thought you would be interested, regardless of quality.

'Viva La Vida' can be pre-ordered here.

Lil' Wayne- Lollipop (Official Remix Ft. Kanye West) (Link 2)

This is absolutely crazy. Bringing together two artists who haven't shared the same beat before is a nice touch, and makes the prospect of that 'Tha Carter III' collaboration worth waiting for. 'Lollipop' is a work-horse: that beat seems to fit every situation, and that factor alone justifies its reign at number 1.

Everybody Nose- CRS/Pusher T (Official Remix) (Link 2)

Oh yes. CRS have seriously proven themselves. Transforming a piece of coal into a diamond is a neat trick, and the strength of these three artists is unbelievable. 'Us Placers' was a brilliant piece of artistry, with a nice sample, good verses and, if this any indication, just a hint at what this trio is capable of.

In the hands of Child Rebel Soldier, N.E.R.D's 'Everybody Nose' takes on a new meaning, and a much darker disposition. The main thing this proves is that Pharrell is a much more formidable artist when coupled with Kanye and Lupe. Further to this, it's nice to see that the song's subtext actually involves cocaine, not waiting in queues at clubs, a fact which didn't come across in the original.

Usher- Love In This Club (MSTRKRFT Remix) (Link 2)
MSTRKRFT have also pulled one out of the bag, with a bottom heavy remix of Usher's 'Love In The Club'. A song like this should require a light touch, but MSTRKRFT have taken the opposite approach, bucking and beating the trend. This really proven their status as kings, transforming the originally slight track into something far more weighty.

Fish Tacos- Immuzikation Blend (Link 2)

This guy is a machine. Every email from Alfredo Lapuz Jr. starts with 'just got back from work, and put this together'. If that's the case, then he's a genius, gluing together random songs to create something entirely original. If you don't believe me, check out 'Fish Tacos', effectively a remix of 'Viva La Vida' blending in Weezer, Cut Copy, The Blow, M.I.A. and Reading Rainbow. I wasn't won over by the prospect of that many songs stuffed into one track, but this is the sign of a true master. He pulls it off effortlessly.

Visit Immuzikation's Myspace.

Madonna- Give It 2 Me (Link 2)
Madonna- The Beat Goes On (Ft. Kanye West) (Link 2)

Madonna's having a hard time at the moment. Under attack from the press for her 'hard' image, and her refusal to retire, the last thing she needs is a load of tracks to leak from her new album. And yet the whole album was released onto the web today, three days before 'Hard Candy's release.

I'm actually quite impressed... this 'hard' image doesn't really bother me too much- the music is what matters, after all. And people can continue to be frustrated with Madonna, asking her to retire. Why? Would you, when you can continue to produce number 1 singles/albums into your 50's?

The new tracks are fairly impressive, with the production values coming through strong. Pharrell and Timbaland produce the bulk of the album, with Nate Hills contributing the remainder. Madonna seems to have enlisted a who's who of rap and hip hop acts, which is important considering this is meant to be her first foray into hip hop.

'Hard Candy' can be pre-ordered here...

Kanye West's post-'Graduation' campaign is going well. Three great singles, some nice live performances, four Grammys, and now two good videos to his name (unfortunately, 'Stronger' wasn't up to scratch). That's right, the third single has been announced- 'Homecoming', featuring Chris Martin.

The video has some nice touches (that outline idea is pretty well executed), and the video fits the jaunty piano and weird dancing, from featuring artist Chris Martin. I guess that's one thing you can expect from a man who named his daughter 'apple'.

Some treats for you- as well as 'Homecoming', an inventive Diplo remix of what was the last single- 'Flashing Lights'.

Kanye West- Homecoming (Link 2) (Link 3)
Kanye West- Flashing Lights (Diplo Remix) (Link 2) (Link 3)

I doubt you will know So-Me (I didn't), but his work is inescapable. His music videos will probably rank in the 2007's most memorable lists: Justice's D.A.N.C.E, Kanye West's 'The Good Life'. Both great videos, but both toppled from their pedestal by So-Me's latest offering. Returning to Justice, the video for 'DVNO' is simply amazing. So-Me, an animator by nature, has put together something fresh, with graphics illustrating the words of the song and much, much more. Basically, if this doesn't win something, there's no hope for us. Watch it...

Justice- DVNO
Justice- DVNO (Youtube)

It appears I really missed a trick. The video for CRS' 'Us Placers' has been out since late December, but I only stumbled upon it today, out of the blue. The video itself is further proof that CRS aren't going to be 'just another rap group'. The use of a Thom Yorke sample cemented that fact, and the video goes further, simply by not featuring any semi-naked women, sex or alcohol. Instead, Kanye, Lupe & Pharrell are played by three lookalike children, who rap out the song, with the aid of a young Thom Yorke. Its a nice move, and is already superior to most of the rap videos which appear on MTV Base etc. This wont be the last we hear of CRS, trust me.

Estelle ft. Kanye West- American Boy

Finally. Estelle is about to blow up, big time. I've been sitting patiently, twiddling my thumbs, for years, waiting for her talent to become appreciated. And now the time has come.

'American Boy', the second single from new album 'Shine', is the song which lays it out. Estelle is essentially one of the UK's brightest hip-hop hopes, but she has yet to make it big. The last few months, and the build-up to the new album's release, have been different. The sight of this song at the top spot on the Hype Machine was a great sight, and I even managed to get 'Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)' to number one a couple of months back. These are milestones, and the single already has the makings of a hit, after receiving some serious airplay on UK radio and great write-ups across the board on blogs and in various publications.

The placement of Kanye West on this track is key, and he acquits himself well. However, the story behind this collaboration is more important than the result. In Estelle's own words:

"So then Will pulls out the beat and this is me: 'woooh, let me get down to this one, it sounds like a funky house tune.' And we wrote the song. Then we asked Kanye to be on it, and he said 'let me listen to the rest of the album and see what it's like. He genuinely liked the whole album, so he appeared on the song."

Kanye West's seal of approval is not something to be sniffed at, and I will await the release of 'Shine' on May 6th with bated breath. 'American Boy's physical release is March 24th, and as a download on March 17th. Visit Estelle's site. Do you love the single? Have you been a fan since the beginning?

Update- Unfortunately, many people are beginning to doubt that it was actually Daft Punk at the Grammys, and also that they were playing live. I stand by the fact that it was them (why wouldn't it be?)- see here for 'proof'- and that they were playing live. Their Alive tour set-up was leaked a long while back, and the Lemur screens were on there. So why do people doubt that they were actually performing live? The 'Harder Better Faster Stronger' sample was on a loop, and they each controlled a variety of different filters and pitch modifiers. Okay, so it looked a little bit theatrical, but it was their first ever TV performance. They had to make it look great, didn't they?

I really picked a bad couple of days to go away (went for a friends bday- a great gig, which I will post about later today)- a couple of amazing albums were apparently released, the Grammys took place and more importantly, I missed Daft Punk's first TV appearance, EVER. And it was so ridiculous...

If Kanye ever performed 'Stronger', they were always going to be there. It had to be special... and it was. We saw more of Daft Punk's stage act than ever before, including a close up view of their set up. 4 JazzMutant Lemur's, each of which would set you back a cool £1600 (or approximately $3200 for my US readers) were shown- the Lemurs, a touch sensitive screen used to manipulate audio output, were used with the looping sample to apply different filters and effects. And yes... it was live. This was a never before seen version of 'Stronger', created specially to mark the event.

And Kanye himself? Unbelievable... with his trademark glasses (now lit up), he was really up for it (after winning 4 Grammys), and it was the performance of the evening. Watch it below, immortalised by Youtube...

Kanye West ft. Daft Punk- Stronger (Live At 50th Annual Grammy Awards)

Michael Jackson is a living legend. Okay, so recently he's been busy turning into a weird looking, purportedly kiddy fiddling legend, but that doesn't change the past. A child star like none-other, he pulled off the difficult trick of cashing in on his young talent, and transforming it into a proper career. The rest is history- 7 albums, more than 100 million sales, the moonwalk and the gradual fall from grace. It looks like now, 7 years after 'Invincible', is the time for his comeback.

On February 11th, Thriller, the best selling album of all time, will turn a momentous 25. And to mark the occasion, a commemaritive album is being released, entitled 'Thriller 25'. The album will feature all the remastered versions of the original tracks, plus some new versions of the hit singles. It is a testament to 'Thriller' that a quarter of a century on, it defiantly stands up to the test of time- the 80's retro sound which I usually despise still sounds great. Unfortunately, we already knew that, and its place as the best selling album of all time is pretty much guaranteed- Thriller 25, however, wont be repeating that feat.

I haven't heard the released version of Thriller 25 yet, but I've heard demo's of every track on this anniversary release, and the outlook isn't looking too good for the 'bonus material', included with the special edition CD.

Jackson really needs to wake up. Using artists like Fergie, will.i.am and Akon for your comeback album is a stupid move, given that they struggle to keep their own solo careers afloat. And this becomes blatantly obvious when you hear 'Beat It 2008', a shameful version of the classic which now has Fergie bawling over Michael and the distastefully updated backing track. Even Kanye West stumbles on his re-hash of 'Billie Jean 2008', slowing things down way too much and adding a 'ghetto' beat. This isn't 'Graduation', Kanye, this is 'Thriller'. Will.i.am, as usual, makes the mistake of stepping out from behind the mixing desk. Stick to producing- your version of 'The Girl Is Mine 2008' fares slightly better, but in the right hands, this could have been so much more. The only winner here? Surprisingly, Akon, who really blew me away with 'Wanna Be Startin' Something 2008', where he put his distinctive voice to use (a voice which usually drives me insane, but fits this song). I'm sure many of you will have already heard these tracks, and I'd like to hear your thoughts? Which of the new tracks did you like?

Other than 'Wanna Be Startin Something 2008', these songs reek of a cash-in. Using 'popular' artists to give your image a positive boost is an old trick, and it never works. See Duran Duran, who had Timbaland produce their latest album, Red Carpet Massacre. It bombed. And whilst 'Thriller 25' will be carried by the strength of the original material, its obvious that these extra tracks have been made with the minimal amount of effort and thought.

Its sad that the legacy of this album looks set to be tainted by this pointless release. 'Thriller' is an album to remember, and it frustrates me that this will even be a part of its history. Its obvious that the aim of this is to bring Michael Jackson back into the world's eyes, as a musician, before the release of his new album- which, by the way, is classic Jackson, and its great- but on the basis of this, this could be the commemoration that never happened. The prospects for Jackson's comeback, however, look good: I've heard an early mix of his album, and already its full of classic pop songs, plus Jackson trademarks- high pitched squeals, a retro beat and some accompanying dance moves that I can already picture.

The question is, do we want him back? Has Michael Jackson had his time?

Michael Jackson ft. Akon- Wanna Be Startin' Something 2008
Michael Jackson ft. Fergie- Beat It 2008
Michael Jackson ft. will.i.am- The Girl Is Mine 2008
Michael Jackson ft. Kanye West- Billie Jean 2008

Listen to 'Xcape', a track from his new album, here...

or

download it here: Michael Jackson- Xcape

Thriller 25 can be pre-ordered here...

CRS- Us Placers

I've only recently heard 'Us Placers', the first (of hopefully many) releases by CRS, or Child Rebel Soldier. This could also be short for 'Crossover Supergroup', given the pedigree of talent in this three-piece side project.

Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell Williams are all artists that can confidently hold their own as producers, rappers and musicians on a solo standing. Put them all together, and things begin to get crazy. Kanye, the rebel, Pharrell, the soldier and Lupe, the child (echoing 'Little Weapon'), recorded 'Us Placers' a long time ago, and this was released on Kanye's pre-Graduation 'Can't Tell Me Nothing' Mixtape. The song picked up a pretty big following on the internet, which was duly noted by the three's respective record companies. According to sources, a deal is being ironed out as we speak...

Onto the song- unusually sampling (and even referencing) Thom Yorke's 'Eraser', this weird backing choice already hints that this supergroup might go the distance, both in terms of originality and commercial standing. And I needn't explain the talent of the three artists. Of the three, Kanye's experience shines through, winning the prize for best rhyme, dropping this and much more about halfway through the song:
"Just last week they want to see ID
Now they got you in VIP, huh?
How many people almost famous
You almost remember what they name is"

There are no concrete plans for a full length CRS album yet, but in Lupe's words, "Everyone's focused on something else at the moment, [We're trying to find] two or three weeks to sit down and hammer it out." Recently, Lupe let on during an interview that we can be expecting a CRS release in late 2008. It will be an agonising, infuriating wait.

The 'Can't Tell Me Nothing' mixtape can be bought here

(Image courtesy of mus-ik.com)

After a four day stretch, I've finished the list, and I'm honestly quite proud of it.

The quality of music released in 2007 was high, and because of this, many special albums didn't find their way into my top 20. Therefore, its only fair that I have a post devoted to a round-up, including the notable mentions, who just missed out on the top 20. I will post a couple of great tracks as well...

Top 20 Albums:
1. Lupe Fiasco- The Cool
2. Patrick Wolf- The Magic Position
3. M.I.A.- Kala
4. Arctic Monkeys- Favourite Worst Nightmare
5. Arcade Fire- Neon Bible
6. Burial- Untrue
7. ?- The Good, The Bad And The Queen
8. Radiohead- In Rainbows
9. Daft Punk- Alive 2007
10. Les Savy Fav- Let's Stay Friends
11. Kings Of Leon- Because Of The Times
12. The Shins- Wincing The Night Away
13. LCD Soundsystem- Sound Of Silver
14. Justice- †
15. Bloc Party- A Weekend In The City
16. Interpol- Our Love To Admire
17. Klaxons- Myths Of The Near Future
18. Jay-Z- American Gangster
19. Bright Eyes- Cassadaga
20. Foo Fighters- Echoes, Silence, Patience And Grace

Notable Mentions:

Rock/Indie/Pop
The Maccabees- Colour It In: If I'd given this a few more listens, it probably would have flown into my top 20. Unfortunately, I never really gave it the time of day. I'll quote my brother on this (a HUGE fan): "I see this album as the coming of a really great band".

The Maccabees- Latchmere

Band Of Horses- Cease To Begin: To the trained ear, this was apparently worse than previous Band Of Horses album 'Everything All The Time'. If that's the truth, Everything All The Time must have been bloody amazing.

Band Of Horses- Is There A Ghost
Feist- The Reminder: The experience from dozens of other projects gave Leslie Feist the necessary grounding to produce such a great solo album. Easy-going, memorable, and remixed to death, The Reminder has established Feist as a serious songwriter.

Feist- My Moon My Man

Maximo Park- Our Earthly Pleasures: Our Earthly Pleasures got destroyed by the NME for some reason, and although I don't believe its top 20 worthy, it still chock full of great pop songs.

Maximo Park- Books From Boxes

Hip-Hop/Rap:
Kanye West- Graduation: Graduation was a return to form after the disappointing Late Registration. Other than 'Drunk And Hot Girls', it gels to perfection.

Kanye West- Good Life (ft. T-Pain)

Wu-Tang Clan- 8 Diagrams: Have you been missing the way rap used to be? Look no further. 8 Diagrams is the Clan doing what they do best, and their sound is almost totally unchanged from the throwback days.

Chris Brown- Exclusive: This guy can do it all. Sing, dance, act (for 15 minutes of Stomp The Yard at least). And whilst Exclusive isn't really good, it does show the smallest bit of progression on Chris' part. Maybe he will be the next Michael Jackson after all?

Dizzee Rascal- Maths+English: Now twice nominated for the Mercury award, and much deserved. No tricks- what you see is what you get.

Dizzee Rascal- Sirens

Chamillionaire- Ultimate Victory: No, he isn't a one hit wonder. His flow is almost unmatched in my opinion ("so fluid its like drinking a song"), and he has really improved between albums.

Chamillionaire- The Ultimate Victory

Things I haven't heard but really should do:
Bruce Sprinstein- Magic
Spoon- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Of Montreal- Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
The National- Boxer

A few of the best 'ft.' tracks on rotation in my iTunes:
Richard Ashcroft ft. Coldplay- Bittersweet Symphony
Kanye West ft. Dwele- Flashing Lights
Talib Kweli ft. Kanye West, Mos Def & Jay-Z- Get By (Remix)
Sway ft. Pyrelli- Up Your Speed
Nas ft. will.i.am- Hip Hop Is Dead

In the age of Timbalands, Chris Browns and Kanye Wests, songs are no longer a demonstration of an artist's respective talent, rather a closely fought game of who can get the best names to 'feature' on their track. I challenge you: take a look at your iTunes library and count how many 'ft.'s are present. I wouldn't be surprised if a good 10 to 15 percent of your library was made up of songs with the 'ft.' suffix attached to them.

As weird as this trend is, it hasn't always been this way... whereas in past days guest artists might appear on 1 of the 10+ tracks on a album, now they dominate, with almost half of every hip-hop/RnB album devoted to guest artists and producers. Take a look at Kanye West's 'Graduation' for example, where 5 of the tracks feature guest artists. And, further to this, Kanye has the audacity to leave some contributors unmentioned, such as Daft Punk on the hit-single 'Stronger'. It seems stupid for West to claim that he wrote the 'Harder Better Faster Stronger' sample, don't you think? So in actuality a large proportion of 'Graduation' includes some significant contribution from an outside party.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this? On the positive side, you could argue that more variety is never a bad thing, and this is evident in a few of the current crop of 'ft.' songs, such as 'Umbrella' and 'Stronger'. However, for the most part, the implications of this new tendency are negative. Just to name a few of the major disadvantages to this developing bias: as the saying goes, 'having too much of something stops it being special'. Well, unsurprisingly, the same thing applies to music: where once guest artists were special, they are now becoming the norm. The success of songs and albums now depends on name-dropping/connections, and some artists are noticeably on autopilot (Chris Brown, for example), relying on the strength of their guest artist/producer to ferry them through each track. And don't even mention Timbaland... 'Shock Value', his latest offering -whilst mostly good- is 17 tracks long, and Timba is only alone for the opening song.


I wasn't too aware of this until albums like 'Shock Value' started cropping up all over the place. It saddens me to say that nowadays when you buy a hip-hop album you rarely get to hear the artist by themselves. Hopefully the genre can obtain a more reasonable balance before albums like 'Shock Value' become commonplace.

I am, however, only one person in a world of billions. So what do you think? Are you aware of this, or do you just take the music for what it is?

I wonder how Mr. Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent) must be feeling at the moment. My bet is hysterical: how else would you be feeling when the most stupid promise of your life was looming over you? Let me elaborate: At the VMA's and on SOHH.com last week 50 Cent stated that he would retire if Kanye West's new album Graduation outsold 50's latest offering Curtis. And guess what? Well, Graduation outsold Curtis, and not by any small amount- in the week since both were released Graduation has sold 250,000 more copies than Curtis, and thus 50 is presented with a bit of a problem.

I don't have anything against Fiddy- I've listened to Get Rich Or Die Tryin' and The Massacre a great deal (haven't we all?) and lets just say I'm not averse to it. And even though Kanye has a tendency to act like a prick at times (VMA's anyone?), I love his music, and also the fact that he's a unique spin on the word rapper. For proof, how many other 'rappers' write songs like Family Business and Mama- both odes to the family life and all thats great about it-? Not many is the answer: most other rappers- 50 included- write about the textbook stuff, you know, guns, sex etc and so on.

My standing (after hearing most of both albums) is that Kanye comes out of this all as the superior rapper: Graduation is a brilliant album, full of life and raps about it (See Good Life in particular), and the production is solid, with a good selection of guest artists -barring Chris Martin on Homecoming, my least favourite song and the Mos Def featuring Drunk And Hot Girls)- to back West. 50 Cent, on the other hand, comes off much worse, with Curtis sounding completely flat and dead throughout. The raps are mediocre, and horrendous songs like AYO Technology shouldn't really be committed to record, at least not at this stage in his career.

But lets take 'me' out of the equation: 50 Cent made a promise, and I hope he keeps it, and in the process becomes one of the first rappers to actually retire, rather than just hanging around in the background like Jay-Z and Eminem. Either way it will be interesting to see how he responds to the fact that he has lost.

My advice is to pick a side- once the internet gets sorted out at school I'll post a few tracks to help you decide...

I'm not exactly sure of the reason behind it, but lately loads of rappers and hip hop artists have been reigning in singer-songwriters to guest on their record: the latest to join their ranks is Kanye West, who has roped in Chris Martin of Coldplay to sing on Homecoming, one of the leaked tracks off Graduation, out 10th September. As much as I love Kanye and Coldplay, this song is a dud from start to finish- there's nothing distinguishing about it- and I found myself slightly bored about a minute in, something which rarely happens without reason. It's a bit of an anti-climax to release/leak this after the brilliance of Stronger (my favourite hip-hop track this year, hands down)...

Another worrying thing I've noticed about Kanye is he can't seem to sustain a record by himself anymore- at least 5 or 6 tracks on each of his albums have the dreaded featuring stamp. Keep this up Kanye, and you could find yourself becoming the new Timbaland: On his new album Shock Value, Timba is only on his own for one of the 19 tracks... I appreciate that having a variety of different artists looks great from a business perspective, but sometimes, we (the paying customers) just want to hear the artist by themselves rather than with a plethora of random "hip-hop legends/singers".

Well, that's the rant over- Homecoming is included at the bottom of this post, and now I'm going to go and give it a few more listens before I decide is total rubbish. Just to put my conscience at rest, what do you guys/girls think? Am I right/wrong? Please let me know... This hasn't deflated my expectations for Graduation- I still think it's going to be a great album, only worse than it could have been... Follow the link below to download the track:

Kanye West ft. Chris Martin- Homecoming

Graduation can be pre-ordered here

I hope that many members of the blogosphere tuned in for the Concert For Diana last night, which was excellent, both in terms of its message and the huge amount of bands who turned out in a tribute to the Princess Of Wales. It's also really important to recognize the huge amount of effort put in by Princes Harry and William, who managed to sort out a diverse program which included music (of all sorts: rap, rock and hip-hop), ballet, comedy and drama. Its great that they have managed to pull it off successfully, and the whole night was spectacular, from the huge stage and venue to the great performances by all the acts involved.

The acts performing included Nelly Furtado, P. Diddy, Joss Stone, The Feeling and Rod Stewart: the stand-outs for me were Elton John (of course!), James Morrison (very impressive live), Lily Allen (she actually can sing!) and Kanye West. Kanye's seven minute set was like nothing I have ever seen; he blitzed through all of his best songs, paying tribute to Diana but not making it too cheesy. He also performed his great new single, Stronger, which only gets better when performed live. Wearing a tweed suit and some very weird sunglasses, West ran about the stage, breaking a sweat and putting 110% into his performance.

All in all, the Concert For Diana was highly worthwhile: Diana was and still is one of the most important popular icons of the last century, and its great that she can be remembered through performances by some of her favorite bands, such as Duran Duran.