Twitter blew up a storm yesterday when Taylor Swift revealed a new song Shake It Off, a single from her new album 1989 (which is due to be released on October 27th). Making the announcement at a Yahoo live stream event, the singer gave her fans the song through the music video that was released.
A catchy pop song that has the lines "haters gonna hate" and "fakers gonna fake", Taylor hits back to "what people say" using her best strength: her music. Swift shares that she just "shake(s) it off", a motto that her fans are sure to follow (it would be interesting to see if it has the same effect as Drake's YOLO motto...).
The song doesn't really have Taylor's usual stamp on it - the lack of country and the heartbroken lyrics that are missing (which tend to be a part of the Swift-song-formula) mean that Taylor delivers a fun song much like her single 22. The verses and the chorus are simple, which means that we can learn the song faster and sing it incessantly! The only thing that I didn't enjoy was the bridge: My ex-man bought his new girlfriend She’s like “oh my God”, but I’m just gonna shake it And to the fella over there with the hella good hair Won’t you come on over, baby, we can shake, shake, shake To me it seemed to be lyrics that were just written to fill out the song. But apart from that, the song is easy on the ear, fun to dance to and with Taylor's advice in our minds maybe we can all just 'shake off' our problems (at least while the song is playing). The video itself is also simple enough - it shows Taylor taking up different personas: hip-hop twerk-er, Black Swan ballerina, a boom box-wielding poser, and a preppy cheerleader to name a few. See what you think yourself!
It's been a few weeks since Nicki Minaj posted the snap of her Anaconda single cover that caused a stir online, but Nicki has now released a lyric video for the song. Sampling Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot, Anaconda isn't one of Nicki's best songs (I think I always think back to her verse in Kanye's song 'Monster' when I think of her best).
The song is all about Nicki knowing guys named Troy and Michael who buy her nice things like Balmain and Alexander McQueen, and then goes back to the chorus as if to emphasise the fact that they buy her these things because they love her 'bunz'.
With lyrics that when repeated almost sound like they could be from a adult-version of a playground rhyme - "Boy toy named Troy used to live in Detroit" and "This dude named Michael used to ride motorcycles" - Anaconda is a song not to be taken seriously. But I think that's the point Nicki's trying to make. And the Barbs know that Nicki can make songs not to be taken too seriously (eg Pound The Alarm) but will sure to come back with fire power with her next singles.
Ella Eyre - Comeback
Ella Eyre's new video for her latest single 'Comeback' is here, and the video shows Ella showing her fighter side as her boyfriend apologises to her for his sleeping around.
Smashing plates and destroying the home they had together, Ella sings "We've all been played, we all get hurt. Just take that pain and let that motherf***er burn!"
The song packs a punch, making it a great break-up song. Jazzy and fast-paced, Ella has fun while having pillow fights, destroying the bed and TV - showing any recently broken-hearted viewers that you can still have some fight in you even if your world's been turned upside down! With her big, bouncy curls, red lipstick and soulful voice, Ella is the advocate for the strong and undefeated woman in this video.
Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora - Black Widow
Taking a leaf out of Gaga's and Beyonce's Telephone video, Iggy and Rita take inspiration from film director Quentin Tarantino with the music video for Black Widow. With a Kill Bill-inspired sword wielding Iggy and Rita, the video starts with a diner scene with Iggy as waitress and Rita as the unhappy girlfriend of a bossy grumpy man. Drama unfolds as Iggy takes hold of the samurai sword and the pair fight together against mob men.
Ariana Grande ft Zedd - Break Free
Taking the world by storm with each new single, Ariana does no wrong with new song Break Free.
The song is accompanied by a video set in space in a futuristic alien world, with Zedd taking control of the spaceship's music decks for an alien party that's filled with people dancing to the upbeat dance track.
It's also safe to say that Zedd's collaborations are ones to pay attention too, after his smash hit with Stay The Night that featured lead singer of the band Paramore, Hayley Williams.
Ariana and Zedd deliver a great summer track for all those parties in the sun and sunny car rides!
Abel Tesfaye has released a video to his new single Belong To The World! It's been a year since the release of his album Trilogy, an album that helped to further spread Abel's popularity and grow his fanbase since the release of his three mixtapes. The song comes from The Weeknd's new album Kiss Land, which will be released this summer on August 27th. Belong To The World emanates The Weeknd's style which consists of echoes of Abel's slow and soft voice mixed to a beat which when heard creates a dream-like experience. The song, as like much of The Weeknd's work, is centred on love but also has the ability to create a dark, saddening element to it with lyrics such as 'I'm not a fool I just love that you're dead inside,I'm not a fool, I'm just lifeless too'. With the song being the first to be released and heard from the new album Kiss Land it gives us new music from Abel to treat our ears to and gives the excited fanbase of The Weeknd wondering what will be next.
♡The video was released on July 16, 2013. You can hear the song and watch Abel in the video directed by Anthony Mandler by clicking here.
Jay Z - Holy Grail ft Justin Timberlake
After the release of Kanye West's eagerly awaited album Yeezus and the release of HOVA's new album Magna Carta Holy Grail, it felt like the two biggest names in hip hop were out to show the world how it should be done. With Yeezus' fresh and innovative beats, Jay Z had a lot to follow on the release of M.C.H.G. Released on July 4th, just over two weeks since Ye's album release, Magna Carta... opens with the song Holy Grail. Featuring Justin Timberlake, the song is arguably the best song on the album and will most likely get the most airplay on the radio, with JT being the highlight of the song with his verse's and chorus. Jay Z makes reference to Mike Tyson, Kurt Cobain (and adding the lines 'And we all just entertainers, And we're stupid and contagious, And we all just entertainers' from the popular Nirvana song 'Smells Like Teen Spirit') and Michael Jackson. Magna Carta Holy Grail is definitely an album to buy to join your collection of albums that top the rest. But with this being Jay Z's sixteenth studio album, it does make you wonder if he will ever run out of things to rap about. But then you have to remind yourself that Jay Z has been in the game since 1986, and won't be going anywhere for a very long time(hopefully).
♡The album was released on July 4, 2013 for those on Samsung phones. For those without, the album could be heard from July 8, 2013. You can hear the album on Spotify and or watch a video uploaded for 'Holy Grail' here.
What do you think about The Weeknd's new song? Who's album is better - Jay Z's or Kanye's? Leave a comment below.
