Canadian singer-songwriter, Colin Munroe, has delved into the past and put his hands on a classic. The singer-songwriter put a modern twist on Prince’s 1984 classic, “I Would Die 4 U.” So how does it sound?
Well to start things off, the song is incomparable to the original. It’s not bad at all it’s just the original will always be on its own level of greatness. Munroe’s updated version slows down the tempo just a little and the beat is more punctual with added bass. It’s a cool cover that will get some more spins in one of our countless playlists.
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Robyn was in the UK a few days ago doing promo for her Body Talk Pt. 1 where she did a Live Lounge Session over at BBC’s Radio 1. She sang two songs, including a cover of my song of 2009, Alicia Keys’ “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart.” So how did the cover sound?
Robyn pretty much knocked it out of the park. Besides the lackluster backbeat and her forgetting the lyrics briefly, Robyn took the song and made it her own. The original has such a colossal feel and although Robyn’s version didn’t have all the elements (no pun intended) Alicia’s version did she captures emotion in a near flawless manner.
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Our very own Jay Complex is hittin’ y’all with another cover of a current hit. He tackles B.o.B’s “Nothin’ On You” featuring Bruno Mars. This time he brings along up-and-comer, Maradee, to take on Mars’ hook duties.
Just as fly as the original, Complex brings his rhythmic lyrics to the forefront and makes some quality material for us to jam to all night. Complex is really evolving and is def. growing into a more talented rapper. Overall, a great cover and with Maradee’s vocals laced into the rapping, it’s a winner.
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The-Dream takes it back years to cover Aaliyah’s classic “One In a Million.” Anything Aaliyah related is welcomed as long at is decent.
No one will ever take this song from Aaliyah but there is no denying that The-Dream’s tone fits this song so well. It doesn’t hinder the experience of listening to the original in anyway. Isn’t it amazing how this song does not sound dated in the least bit? Long live Aaliyah and her beautiful self.
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Jay Complex has decided to drop his freestyles on some of the Hip-Hop’s best beats of the moment. Here is his first stab at it, with Young Money’s “Roger That.”
Complex’s flow and style is starting to become his own as time passes. Before, his influences were very apparent, which is not a bad thing but now it’s sounding more like his own.
Raquel Oliver turns the tempo down as she puts her own twist on the classic Bob Marley “Waiting In Vain” for a single entitled “Love.” The song borrows Marley’s vocals which adds chemistry and makes for a pretty smooth jam. Get this, the song has reached #27 on the singles chart in the UK, not bad at all.
Next up, is Pop/Urban duo NCity adding some verses to the radio hit “Replay,” performed by Iyaz. Both ladies add some great flavor to the song and do not sound out of place in the least bit. In fact, they fit the song well enough that this could be sent out for distribution as the original remix.
Danish pop band, Alphabeat, are set to be the opening act for Lady GaGa’s upcoming The Monster Ball shows. They took it upon themselves to cover the first 2 singles from The Fame Monster: “Bad Romance” and “Telephone.”
The band knocked it out of the park with this “Telephone” cover. They basically sound the same as GaGa with their own little twist. As for “Bad Romance,” it doesn’t nearly pack the punch of the electropop/dance original.
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Last night we had our iTunes on shuffle and “I Know” came up which reminded us to check up on what Bluey Robinson’s been doing. He’s been hard at work for one; putting on many gigs in the UK. He’s been in and out of the studio recording some tunes and what not…
We stumbled across this cover of “Run This Town” in which Bluey takes over hook duties from Rihanna and it sounds like they should have hired him instead of… let’s not. He puts a bit more passion and soul into the song that it was lacking before
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The other song is a snippet of “Believe.” This snippet has been lying around on his Myspace page for some time and it stood out to us when we first heard it, so we are just revisiting it. The song is an uptempo number with a bit of a futuristic vibe.
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Guns ‘n’ Roses’ Slash is readying the release of his solo album, Slash ‘n’ Friends. A b-side from the album has leaked and it’s a cover of the band’s famous song “Paradise City” which features Fergie and Cypress Hill.
Maybe Fergie needs to consider taking a route that leads to something Rock because she has the voice for it. She doesn’t sound out of place or like she’s trying too hard, her voice just works for this kind of music. Also, Cypress Hill sounds very much like Kid Rock. It’s a very good cover but with most covers of classics, it may be be good but they never live up to the original.
Slash seems to be recording with a lot of the younger generation. He’ll definitely be exposed to a great deal of them as he’s the featured guitarist on Rihanna’s “Rockstar 101.”
Every now and again we will take a trip down memory lane; near or far and let you inside to what we grew up listening to and whatever else we find that gives us a feeling of nostalgia.
First up is “All N My Grill” by Missy Elliott feat. Nicole Wray and Big Boi of Outkast. This single and video was from Missy’s Da Real World which was released back in 1999. Funny because we were no more or less than 10 years old yet we were listening to all the music with Parental Advisory labels. This remains a personal favorite of C’s because of the violins translated into the urban sound of Timbaland just made a perfect production. This Hype Williams directed clip still manages to top videos of the new millennium even before the recession began to take its toll. Watch the video above and download the single below.
The next song or two songs for that matter were inspired by our Girl Talk post. In “Give and Go” Phil Collins “Another Day In Paradise” was mixed into the song about three quarters of the way through. The song was so powerful and when you pay close attention to the meaning it’s saddening and depressing. We then remembered there was a female who sang this very same song and it then clicked that Brandy and her brother Ray-J did a cover of the song for the Urban Renewal album which was released in 2001. Check out the videos and downloads for both singles below.
Canadian singer-songwriter, Colin Munroe, has delved into the past and put his hands on a classic. The singer-songwriter put a modern twist on Prince’s 1984 classic, “I Would Die 4 U.” So how does it sound?
