#iTunesSounds: Kanye West – “The Life of Pablo” – March 17, 2016

Kanye West spent 2015 designing shoes, fashion and trying to rule the world with an iron (albeit at times all over the board) fist via social media. In the process, he set the stage for what is now known as “The Life of Pablo.” Outside of Drake’s “Views From the 6” project slated to drop later this spring, West’s album is arguably the most anticipated of the entire year and it’s only March. Kayne even did Kanye like things throwing us a slight curveball by only releasing the music on Tidal as opposed to Apple Music.

Now that we’ve had multiple weeks to digest the music, Taylor and I will each provide perspective on the final output:

By: Taylor Johnson @KTaylorPSB and Brandon Clay @psbpopculture

Taylor’s Take:

I have always loved Kanye, just not as much as Kanye loves Kanye. I have been a huge fan, with the exception of Yeezus, but did anyone really like that album? He made up for whatever Yeezus was with The Life of Pablo album for sure. One of my favorite things about him is how much he makes fun of himself and he doesn’t hold back on himself in The Life of Pablo. Multiple references are made to how crazy he is off of his medication (which makes me wonder if he hasn’t been taking it during his random Amanda Bynes style Twitter rants). Another reason I love Kanye, Kim Kardashian. Anytime Kanye raps about Kim I absolutely love it, therefore “FACTS” is one of my favorites because I contributed to Kimoji shutting down the app store with my Kimoji purchase. Also, Kim has been snapchatting Kanye driving around listening to The Life of Pablo and dancing to his own music in true Kanye fashion and it is HILARIOUS. If you haven’t seen the videos I highly recommend looking them up. Lastly, coming from a person who doesn’t listen to too much rap I loved Famous with Rihanna and FML with the Weeknd because they are definitely more my style of music and of course still Kanye making fun of himself.

Brandon’s Take:

This music – content and production – falls right in line with his classic works to date. More importantly, it’s back on track from where he left us with My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy back in 2010.

Ultralight Beam: I was pleasantly surprised with this one. Chance the Rapper killed it. “My daughter look just Sia, you can’t see her.”

Father Stretch My Hands, Part 1: Kanye starts this one the right way thanks in large part to Metro Boomin’s “If Young Metro Don’t Trust Ya…” line…

WATCH THIS PLAY OVER AN EPISODE OF “THE OFFICE”

Part 2: Kanye introduces us to his newest GOOD Music artist, Desiigner, on this one. I mentioned in a this article (click to read) that he sounds like Future. That’s a whole different story. This one goes in. It might be favorite track solely due to my energy level going up two notches when it comes on.

Famous: Taylor Swift owes her fame to Kayne’s epic rant at the VMA’s in 2009. At least, that’s what Mr. West says. Toss Swizz Beats and Rihanna assists for providing us with one of the album’s most

WATCH KANYE’S INFAMOUS RANT:

Highlights: Blac China with Rob (Kardashian) helped him with the weight. I wish my trainer would tell me what I overate. Done.

I Love Kanye: Vintage ‘Ye. I love the old Kanye, make the beats Kanye. Hilarious stuff.

Waves: West definitely came ready with the production on this one. He brought Chris Brown with him on the hook. The beat didn’t need much from Kanye lyrically so Chris did the heavy lifting.

FML: Speaking of go-to industry singers, The Weeknd jumped on this with Kanye. West delivers a poignant lyric “I will die for those I love. God, I’m willing to make this my mission: give up the woman, before I lose half of what I own.”

Real Friends: The stanza about the cousin stealing the laptop is pure gold. Well done ‘Ye.

30 Hours: With Andre 3000 on the hook, a Nelly reference and talk of rapping for Jay-Z with Cam’Ron when Roc-A-Fella was the place to be, Kanye made it feel like 2002 again real quick. Toss in a MEAN Matt Barnes / Derek Fisher reference about Fisher reportedly driving 95 miles to beat Fisher up last fall and it all comes together nicely.

No More Parties in L.A.: This was another song that dropped before the album. Kendrick Lamar teamed up with Yeezy to deliver a clean cut…

Donte’ Grant & I dropped: a crisp review on it in January

FACTS: Yeezy, Yeezy, Yeezy just jumped over Jumpman. This was a first of the year article (click to read) That’s the perfect way to end this album.

Taylor-Staff-PicTaylor Johnson serves as Brandon Clay’s personal stylist and is one of the most fashionable people in Atlanta. She’s also the resident expert on Hulu and Netflix. While attending graduate school at Georgia State, she’ll contribute to various categories throughout the PSBPopCulture.com site. You can follow her on Twitter @KTaylorPSB.

Brandon Clay serves as the publisher of PSBPopCulture.com. A self-professed entertainment, music and sports junkie, Clay has been on his game since picking up his first Nintendo and Sony Walkman in the early 90’s. Adding in a SLAM (Basketball) Magazine subscription in the late-90’s had him setup up for lifelong success. Clay is also a founding member of the “Luxury Boys Club” designed to stay on top of whatever is next in the world of PopCulture. You can follow him on Twitter @psbpopculture.

#PSBPopCulture: A Day in the Life – Central Gwinnett HS Banquet – March 16, 2016

In this segment, Brandon Clay speaks to the Central Gwinnett Boys Basketball program at their season-ending awards banquet. The Black Knights varsity team advanced to the Georgia High School State Tournament for the first time since coach Branden Mayweather took over for the 2013-14 season.

By: Brandon Clay @PSBPopCulture

Clay with recent Southern Wesleyan commit and Elite Basketball Academy alum, Kevin Stamps:

Kevin Stamps

Here is Clay’s speech to the Black Knights and their families:

Brandon Clay serves as the publisher of PSBPopCulture.com. A self-professed entertainment, music and sports junkie, Clay has been on his game since picking up his first Nintendo and Sony Walkman in the early 90’s. Adding in a SLAM (Basketball) Magazine subscription in the late-90’s had him setup up for lifelong success. Clay is also a founding member of the “Luxury Boys Club” designed to stay on top of whatever is next in the world of PopCulture. You can follow him on Twitter @psbpopculture.

#EntertainmentPSB: “The Bachelor” Season Finale – March 15, 2016

Taylor: We are greeted with Ben telling us that he really, really regrets telling two women he loves them. I just hate it when that happens. This is followed by his annoying “I’m not lovable sob story.” The producers really needed a new story line.

By: Taylor Johnson @KTaylorPSB with commentary from Brandon Clay @psbpopculture

Taylor: Ben’s mom says that he is his biggest critic but I think she is his biggest critic because she is the first one to tell Lauren B. about all of Ben’s flaws. However, his mom is the first one to tell him how crazy he is for telling two women he loves them. At least his mom read The Bachelor rulebook. Ben’s dad describes Lauren B. as polished, so basically she’s uptight and JoJo seems like a good time. Well said Mr. Higgins.

Brandon: Wait a minute. I want John Clay to call my future wife polished. No punchline. That would be the very endorsement I need to make it official.

Taylor: JoJo is so nervous to meet Ben’s parents. It might partly because she has a crappy shell full of flowers as a gift for them. JoJo absolutely kills it with his parents and I’m not just talking about her perfect hair and romper. Ben’s mom is totoally #TeamJoJo, me too Ben’s mom. Maybe Ben’s mom and I can start a petition to make her the bachelorette.

Brandon: JoJo has been slightly uneasy about the process from the jump. Why should this be any different?

Taylor: Lauren says, “What are you thinking about?” to Ben. He replied, “ummmmm you’re beautiful?” It’s evident that he is trying not to piss off the producers and say the wrong thing again. Ben is all kinds of confused on his date with Lauren so he just keeps kissing her while Lauren wants to talk. Typical guy. Ben is equally as distracted on JoJo’s date but a lot less kissing and more just staring off into space. Along with a lot of bathroom floor talk. Both girls panic at the end of the date because Ben is acting noticeably strange. He wasn’t able to tell either of the girls why he was confused about who to pick. If only the girls had the ability to read Ben’s love signs like Olivia.

Brandon: There are shots fired at Ben everywhere in this paragraph. We all know he loves Lauren.

Taylor: Neil Lane makes his annual appearance for Ben to pick out a ring that is a little gaudy for my taste. Everyone and their mom could have figured out that he was picking Lauren with that ring. Not that Lauren isn’t adorable, but JoJo’s fashion on the show has been PERFECTION.

Brandon: Adorable is actually a great word to describe Lauren. The ring fits her figuratively and literally. As an aside, JoJo’s style is so SAUCY. I love it.

Lauren-B-Ring

Taylor: JoJo is the first out of the helicopter, and Ben’s face says everything. He literally says “he’s been better” to her when she asks how he is. We all are screaming at the TV for her to be the next bachelorette (including Ben’s mom). Ben rudely let JoJo go on her entire speech about loving him only to break her heart. JoJo takes it like a champ while Ben tries to awkwardly kiss her on the forehead and everyone cringes.

Brandon: JoJo is beautiful. Let’s keep it honest here. Lauren’s connection with Ben has been buzzing since the early stages of the show. This is an easy call in my opinion. JoJo would be an outstanding choice for the next Bachelorette.

Taylor: Ben tries to win back America by calling Lauren’s dad to ask for his permission to propose to his daughter. It worked a little but I am still mad at your Ben for blind siding JoJo. As much as I am Team JoJo, Lauren and Ben are clearly perfect for each other.

Brandon: Agreed 100%.

Taylor: Everyone on social media, and Ben’s mom, can calm down because JOJO IS THE NEXT BACHELORETTE despite Chris Harrison trying to trick us (never trust him anyway). I am so excited for JoJo to be the next Bachelorette. Juan Pablo has even expressed interest in her season but I think he is banned from the mansion for life. With that being said I cannot wait to see the 25 crazies that sign up to meet JoJo.

Chris Harrison

Brandon: As for Chris Harrison, I’ll recite arguably the most popular lyric in rap music today “If Young Metro (Boomin) don’t trust ya…”

Taylor-Staff-PicTaylor Johnson serves as Brandon Clay’s personal stylist and is one of the most fashionable people in Atlanta. She’s also the resident expert on Hulu and Netflix. While attending graduate school at Georgia State, she’ll contribute to various categories throughout the PSBPopCulture.com site. You can follow her on Twitter @KTaylorPSB.

Brandon Clay serves as the publisher of PSBPopCulture.com. A self-professed entertainment, music and sports junkie, Clay has been on his game since picking up his first Nintendo and Sony Walkman in the early 90’s. Adding in a SLAM (Basketball) Magazine subscription in the late-90’s had him setup up for lifelong success. Clay is also a founding member of the “Luxury Boys Club” designed to stay on top of whatever is next in the world of PopCulture. You can follow him on Twitter @psbpopculture.

#iTunesSounds: Four To Know – March 14, 2016

“Four To Know” is a glimpse inside what’s current in the iTunes Music Libraries of our team members. We’ll provide four songs to grab and a breakdown of what appeals to us in each track.

By: Brandon Clay @PSBPopCulture

1) “7 Years” by Lukas Graham

The song is currently sitting at No. 1 inside the iTunes Store top songs listing. The Danish pop rock-soul group is headlined by Lukas Graham Forchhammer and will launch their debut album on April 1st. The song “7 Years” is an interesting take on life from a kid through adulthood into the later stages of life. Keep an eye on “Mama Said” as a potential second single after the album drops.

2) “She Don’t” by Ella Mai feat. Ty Dolla $ign

Ella Mai just might have my favorite RnB track of the first quarter to date. She teamed up with emerging star Ty Dolla to deliver a smooth yet soulful output. Her profile and sound is still so new to the scene that she doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page built yet. Given the buzz this song has created that shouldn’t last much longer.

3) “Miley Cyrus” – French Montana feat. Future

French Montana is back folks. This combination is mean with a banger for the spring coming as a result. In typical French fashion, he drops a basic though witty jewel with “I couldn’t Michael Jordan so I J. Cole’d.” Montana has another track called “Figure It Out” with Kanye West and Nas bubbling on the surface as well.

4) “Moolah” by Young Greatness

Along with Desiigner’s “Panda,” Moolah could be the anthem of Spring Break 2016. The video already has over 2.5 million views on YouTube. Hailing from New Orleans, Young Greatness has a hit on his hands with this one. The legendary Jazze Pha produced this monster, and the sound has been in steady rotation on my personal playlist since the top of the calendar year.

Brandon Clay serves as the publisher of PSBPopCulture.com. A self-professed entertainment, music and sports junkie, Clay has been on his game since picking up his first Nintendo and Sony Walkman in the early 90’s. Adding in a SLAM (Basketball) Magazine subscription in the late-90’s had him setup up for lifelong success. Clay is also a founding member of the “Luxury Boys Club” designed to stay on top of whatever is next in the world of PopCulture. You can follow him on Twitter @psbpopculture.

#EntertainmentPSB: “The Bachelor” Episode Nine – March 9, 2016

Ben takes the girls to Jamaica this week but first he reviews the three girls and going in he has reservations for each:

Caila: She’s scared to love someone
Lauren: She’s too good for Ben
JoJo: He’s scared of her brothers

By: Taylor Johnson @KTaylorPSB with commentary from Brandon Clay @psbpopculture

TAYLOR: All of these are logical concerns, kinda. Ben walks around Jamaica and climbs walls in flip-flops the entire time. I have this philosophy that men should never wear open-toe shoes, so Ben’s choice of wearing flip flops for every date did not sit well with me. Chalk that up to be another one of my diva moments. Despite the differences in each relationship, Ben decided to take all three girls back to the fantasy suit where the producers so nicely documented the morning after on each date. Classy.

BRANDON: Just because we see the morning after doesn’t mean that anything happened Taylor. It’s a good idea to get as much quality time as possible before making tough decisions. They could have chilled and “chopped it up” all night.

TAYLOR: Caila has the first one-on-one date followed by awkward silence on a bamboo raft down a creepy river. For a second the silence made me think they were in a scary movie being lead to the end of the river where the creepy creatures live. The weird piano music and the terrible date make for a recipe for disaster. Start packing your bags Caila. Caila finally tells Ben that she is in love with him and he goes in for the kiss in a matter of miliseconds. I can only assume because he doesn’t know what to say back so he just kisses her to make her stop talking. America kind of hates her for being too perfect and accuses her of being insincere. I mean would you expose all of crazy on national television?! I know I wouldn’t! Cut Caila a break people!

BRANDON: Yeah. That was rough. She’s been on the chopping block for two weeks. In the words of my co-worker, Christian Simmons, “it’s time for it.”

Caila-Ride

TAYLOR: Lauren gets the next date and her and Ben save baby turtles. Already an upgrade from Caila’s river of death date. Lauren took the turtle saving a little too seriously, we get it but don’t quit your day job to save turtles. Ben and Lauren go back and forth talking about how the other one is too good for the other, barf. She tells Ben she loves him and he TELLS HER BACK. Someone didn’t read the Bachelor handbook. The producers crown him as the worst bachelor ever because now we all know who he picks. They are going to try to spin it like some drama goes down with him and Lauren but do not believe them. Lauren is his girl.

BRANDON: Lauren is amazing. She’s even adorable saving baby turtles. That’s all.

Turtle

TAYLOR: JoJo has the luxury of following up the love fest date of Ben and Lauren. At least Ben takes her to a nice waterfall. Here JoJo displays her greatest talent yet, jumping off a waterfall without losing her bathing suit. JoJo wastes no time to tell ben that she loves him and he quickly follows up with “I love you too.” At least JoJo knows the Bachelor rules because instead of being happy she says “are you allowed to say that?” JoJo you took the words right out of our mouths. I personally think JoJo is the one too good for Ben, not Lauren; which means she should obviously be the next bachelorette. Ben follows the I Love You conversation with a conversation about being terrified of her brothers. I think that is just a cop out for getting out of telling two girls that he loves them, he is just trying to think of any excuse for why he ultimately chooses Lauren.

BRANDON: I was really happy that she knew he wasn’t supposed to say that. The producers have done a great job of setting up the finale with a kick save of Ben’s love profession to Lauren. That said, JoJo has done a really good job of holding her own. That would be a tough choice if you ask me.

JoJo-Jump

TAYLOR: In typical Bachelor producers fashion, they send giddy Caila over to Ben’s place so she can embarrass herself on national TV. Sorry Caila, you’re the only person he doesn’t love right now. All Caila wanted to do was surprise Ben, but he has a different kind of surprise for her. Ben sends Caila home in tears and America is just glad to see she has another emotion.

BRANDON: The Struggle is so real. Salute to Caila for not spazzing out on Ben. Most people I know (men or women) would have gone off or completely broken down in that scenario.

TAYLOR: Next week is the women tell all episode, which means we get Lace, Jubilee, and Olivia back! Am I the only one that missed the crazies? Let’s hope they don’t disappoint me by being on their best behavior.

BRANDON: Catch me again in two weeks. I just want to know who wins!

Taylor-Staff-PicTaylor Johnson serves as Brandon Clay’s personal stylist and is one of the most fashionable people in Atlanta. She’s also the resident expert on Hulu and Netflix. While attending graduate school at Georgia State, she’ll contribute to various categories throughout the PSBPopCulture.com site. You can follow her on Twitter @KTaylorPSB.

Brandon Clay serves as the publisher of PSBPopCulture.com. A self-professed entertainment, music and sports junkie, Clay has been on his game since picking up his first Nintendo and Sony Walkman in the early 90’s. Adding in a SLAM (Basketball) Magazine subscription in the late-90’s had him setup up for lifelong success. Clay is also a founding member of the “Luxury Boys Club” designed to stay on top of whatever is next in the world of PopCulture. You can follow him on Twitter @psbpopculture.

#iTunesSounds: Four To Know – March 1, 2016

“Four To Know” is a glimpse inside what’s current in the iTunes Music Libraries of our team members. We’ll provide four songs to grab and a breakdown of what appeals to us in each track.

By: Brandon Clay @PSBPopCulture

1) “L.A. Confidential” by Tory Lanez

BREAKDOWN: Lanez brought the heat with the lead single off of his upcoming album scheduled to be titled “L.A. Confidential.” He performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel at the end of January, and it is already charting on The Heat’s Weekly Top 35 countdown on Sirius XM. I was in Los Angeles at the beginning of February and had a chance to really listen. This record has the potential to take off the way that “Say It” did during the back half of 2015. Despite Lanez “off-field” issues with fellow Canadian, Drake, the music Lanez is putting out has his name amongst the up-and-comers in the urban music game right now.

2) “Panda” by Desiigner

BREAKDOWN: First of all, I thought this was Future when I heard the song. Second, Kanye West tossed the Brooklyn-based rapper a MEAN alley oop by putting a sample of this song on his “The Life of Pablo” album. Kanye also announced earlier in February that Desiigner is signed to G.O.O.D. Music so the placement is purely by design. With the catchy beat and hook, this just might be the Spring Break anthem before it’s all said and done.

SIDENOTE: I heard Uncle Murda’s remix of “Panda.” He too thought it was Future and stated so on the song. At least I wasn’t alone.

3) “Jam” by Kevin Gates

BREAKDOWN: Kevin Gates dropped the “Isiah” album earlier in the year. 48 hours later, Gates proceeded to release this track with Trey Songz and Ty Dolla $ign. It’s Gates at his essence: crisp hook, witty wordplay all based on his relationship with a female.

4) “Pillowtalk” by Zayn (Malik)

BREAKDOWN: From the opening beat drop, the former One Direction group member showed that he has a song built to top the charts sooner than later. His debut single is currently sitting at No. 10 on the iTunes charts and is getting major airplay on radio stations from coast-to-coast. Expect this one to stay in rotation for a while.

Brandon Clay serves as the publisher of PSBPopCulture.com. A self-professed entertainment, music and sports junkie, Clay has been on his game since picking up his first Nintendo and Sony Walkman in the early 90’s. Adding in a SLAM (Basketball) Magazine subscription in the late-90’s had him setup up for lifelong success. Clay is also a founding member of the “Luxury Boys Club” designed to stay on top of whatever is next in the world of PopCulture. You can follow him on Twitter @psbpopculture.