Trey's Journey For Attention

^ That's exactly how I felt after today, yo. I had to go through hell and high water to get this CD. It was a JOURNEY, let me tell you. I didn't even have facial hair before I went to get the CD. I have never went to such lengths for a purchase ever. Here is a re-cap for those of you who don't follow me on Twitter.

• Duration: 1 hr, 40 minutes.
• 6 stores.
• 4 No's.
• 1 Huh? Wale who?
• 1/4 tank of gas.
• 15 dollars and 99 cent.

But I got the CD and that's all that matters. The things I do to support good music, I tell you. The girl that works at FYE in the mall TOLD me to pre-order Attention Deficit a week ago!!! And my dumb tail told her that I would be fine. As SOON as I came into the store tonight she laughed and said, "Lookin' for Wale, aren't you? Now I told you last week you should have pre-ordered it. I just sold the last copy, but I got this edited one left." LOL. Moral of the story: Plan ahead, brah!

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Youtube breeds talent

Peep the run at about 1:46!!!!
...be back on Monday, y'all be good!

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"Flow cold as the shoulder of a gold-diggin' ho, when a broke nigga 'pproaches." _J. Cole

The south has a lot more to offer than bubble gum rap, and shoulder leans. New-to-fame rapper J. Cole can definitely attest to that! After seeing this cat perform at Duke with Wale and UCB, it was evident that he is the truth and nothing else. And to have been featured on the Blueprint 3 (which to me, is a BIG DEAL) J.Cole is definitely one of the most humble emcees in the game right now.

Yesterday, he visited my campus (THE University of North Carolina)...showin' up in the rain, with his Fayetteville click, a fresh pair of Jay's (you know I had to check his footwork) and table full of freshly burnt "Warm Up" mixtapes to give to any and everybody.

I had to work, so I got there late. Not only that, but I left my camera at the crib, along with my Blueprint CD, which I wanted to get signed; however, I managed to get there in time enough to cop a mixtape insert with an autograph.

That jawn reads, "Trey, thanks 4 the support." More importantly, it reads "CAROLINA ALL DAY!" Move over Petey Pablo, now North Cac' has a more accurate representation of what we, and the south, has to offer.

CHEA!

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New Artist Spotlight: J Roc

Allow me to be the first to introduce you to my homeboy J Roc, producer. He is mad nice on the keyboard, and I've even heard 'em step behind the microphone a few times. He is currently working on a new Jazz-inspired album, laced with a lot of smooth tracks and covers from many different artists (hopefully me, LOL). Be sure to check out a few of his promo tracks on ReverbNation and post feedback!

CHEA!

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New Artist Spotlight: Dondria aka Phatfffat

This young Texas-native recently signed a deal with So So Def records. She got her start in church, like many all other R&B artists and acquired a large fan-base posting videos on YouTube (go figure, right?). For the 5 of you who bought Bow Wow's New Jack City II, she was featured on the track "Like This". I don't see her blowing up commercially but oddly enough, I cannot stop listening to her YouTube videos because she can carry a pretty good tune. You can peep her Myspace here.


Chea!

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New Artist Spotlight

Man, I got homework out the gate, but if I didn't make a post about this young woman then I would be doing an injustice to all the music heads out there. I heard about her a few weeks ago, but I saw someone post a link of her song on Facebook recently so I thought it'd be the perfect time to let the cat out of the box, or bag, or whatever you keep cats in. Annnywho, this artist spotlight is on Melanie Fiona. She was raised in Toronto, and brought up in a Guyenese household to immigrant parents, and she was influenced by a lot of traditional West Indian music.

Her album-in-the-works is called The Bridge, and you can cop her single "Give it to me right" on Amazon.com right now. In response to her new album, Fiona states that "it encompasses a lot of genres of music and crosses the barriers between ethnicities, genres, age groups, and genders". I can dig that.

I can't tell you how much I like her music. I don't know what in the world she has on in the picture above but don't count her out because of that...LISTEN TO HER MUSIC. You can check out the MySpace here.

Enjoy!

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Local Artist Spotlight

So eeeeverybody is spittin' nowadays, but everybody ain't SPITTIN'. So whenever I hear something new and different, I have to lend an ear. If what I hear is whack, I take my ear back withOUT hesitation and withOUT remorse...

Occasionally, I'll hop on Myspace and check out random artist pages and every now and then I'll luck up and find a hidden gem...but sometimes, I find out that people I chill with everyday actually have a knack for musicianship or what have you. So I was pleased to hear that some of my homeboys here on UNC's campus actually rock on the mic in their spare time (what little they have).

They go by Silly Donkey Boyz and here is the explanation behind the name:

"The name looks and sounds
ignorant but the music is not.
We act an ass with our music!"

So with that said, check out the MySpace page and support the movement! My personal favorite is the freestyle over Wale's "Nike Boots".
Click here to listen

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Algebra Blessett

So I have been rockin' with this Atlanta, GA native for a while now, when I am in the mood for it, LOL. She is really underground, but I think she may have gotten signed recently to a little label somewhere, which would explain why her music videos look so low budget. Poor child. Anywho, she has a contemporary soul sound to her (a la Erykah Badu, India Arie). I like her a lot because she plays an instrument and that is always a plus! She actually taught herself to play the guitar and performs at a lot of open mics in the Atlanta area..

Some of her good songs include, "My Pride" which is produced by Bryan-Michael Cox (who works with Day 26 on a LOT of stuff), "Run and Hide" which has a really different sound to it, and her cover of Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (my personal fav').

Check out the link below of her performing her song "What Happened" live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoAUCnh4Cio

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Ryan Leslie, Blitz Album Review

Ryan Leslie released his debut album entitled "Ryan Leslie" a few weeks ago and I have to admit that I was anticipating this album something serious since my roomate put me on, but it only left me feeling...incomplete.

First of all, he lost points with the whole self-titled bit. I cannot stand when artists don't take the time to give their album an "identity," which gives the buyer an idea of the artist's sense of direction. It has a few bangers on there, but most of the album is not memorable at all.

Anywho, here's the songs I rock to, courtesy of Mr. R-Les.

• Valentine


• How It Was Supposed to Be


• Irina


• Gibberish (which suprisingly enough, doesn't have any lyrics but remains in heavy rotation on my iPod)

Overall, the album is something that you can study too. It's smooth, calm, and it'll be over before you know it and you won't remember a single tune or lyric (with the exception of the four tracks listed above). I don't think Ryan Leslie has range, or at least he chose not to showcase it on this CD which I consider to be elevator music......a fly elevator, of course.....in a 5 star hotel.

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I LOVE college!!

To put it plain and simple, Asher Roth is the truth. This 23-year-old, Pennsylvania native is wrongfully compared to Eminem (solely because he is white and nothing else) but if you ask me he is so much better and he does not rap about killing his mom and other nonsense like that. I heard of him a while ago when his freestyle on "A Milli" was buzzin' around YouTube. Since then, he has been on a Gangsta Grillz mixtape with DJ Cannon, and everyone who is anyone knows that you have to go hard to receive a nod from Don Cannon.

He just released a video for his new song, "I Love College". It's a pretty playful song, but I think you'll enjoy it. The mumbling rapper known as Jim Jones is on the remix, but it isn't half bad though.

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Aubrey Graham aka "Drake"

So, maybe I'm a little late...or maybe I'm not.

Either way, this dude is fire and so under the radar that it's ridiculous. Aubrey Drake Graham, or "Drake" for short is most commonly known as the light-skinned disabled guy from Degrassi, but I was first exposed to him as a rap artist on Trey Songz's "Replacement Girl". This Canadian-born actor/rapper is currently signed to Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, so he has the potential to blow up on the rap scene, under one of the best in the game right now.

Check him out on this track ft. Lil Wayne, called "Ransom":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEwnSHCqgas

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