Melodic Monday: Jay Z feat. Beyoncé - "Part 2 (On The Run)" & "On The Run" Tour Promo Video

Can I have the Jay and Bey love? Can every person in the world find the love that Jay and Bey have? I wish for their kind of love and for everyone to find their kind of love. While I continue to wish I will also give you today's Melodic Monday from the duo. Jay's track of "Part 2 (On The Run)" features his lovely wifey Bey and is one his latest album Magna Carta Holy Grail. You can catch the power couple on their "On The Run" summer tour kicking off June 25th in Miami and ending in Arlington, Texas on July 22nd. You can preview the explosive promo video for the "On The Run" Tour below. 
                                                                                XO

Melodic Monday: Kanye West - "Street Lights"

Have you ever had a moment become more real because of words you hear, or a song that makes you feel every bit of the moment that you are living and breathing? Words can entangle you in a moment they can be so poignant that life becomes more real because of them, the experience is invaluable. I consciously think about how words make a moment and how moments inaugurate words. Although I have heard Kanye's track "Street Lights" a million times because of the love affair I had with his album 808's and Heartbreak, it was not until the other night out of nowhere that I truly derived the meaning of the song. While Kanye has a somewhat familiar relationship with lights and orchestrating the word in songs, he actually relinquishes different annotations of the word in each song. Sometimes there are things that we think are forever and are difficult but we are able to grow out of those things. They are not permanent, they are merely time passers to get us past what we thought may be too hard. We are able to do what we think we could not do when those things seemed too much. Sometimes we get so caught up in the moment that we rarely are able to enjoy the beauty and realness of what it has to offer that time passes us by. Sometimes things are not what we want but they are what we have. If we want something different sometimes we have to go on a repetitive path and pass several "Street Lights" to gain something more, something beyond our expectations. Sometimes the things we have to endure to get to the happy place, to get to the beautiful moments are just not fair. Melodic Monday you have given me Kanye and a few street lights, all the while I have given you my heart. 
Let me knowDo I still got time to grow?Things ain't always set in stoneThat be known let me knowLet me...
Seems like street lights glowingHappen to be just like moments passingIn front of meSo I hopped in the cab andI paid my fareSee I know my destination, but I'm just not thereAll the street lights, glowing Happen to be just like moments, passingIn front of meSo I hopped in the cab andI paid my fareSee I know my destination, but I'm just not there
In the streetsIn the streetsI'm just not there in the streetsI'm just not thereLife's just not fair                                                        XO

Melodic Monday: Jhené Aiko - "The Worst"

Have you ever had "The Worst" feeling ever because of someone you want, like, or whatever the case may very well be? This person may not be everything that you need but they are definitely something that you want. They may not be good enough or treat you well enough, but after all is said and done you still want them. Your patient with them and good enough to them, but they cannot see past their very own insecurities to know that you care and love them more than they know. Funny how you do not need them but you still want them after all the hurt and after being pushed away. Funny how everything changes once they get what they want and nothing stays the same. Funny how "The Worst" parts almost make you want them a lot more. Melodic in some ways that it can make you feel "The Worst", Jhené Aiko's "The Worst". 
I don't need you I still want youI don't mean toBut I, but I love youI don't need youBut I want youI don't mean toBut I love you
                                                      XO

Melodic Monday: Beyoncé - "Pretty Hurts", "Drunk In Love" feat. Jay Z, "Mine" feat. Drake

Melodic Monday goes to one very deserving woman who dropped a number one album unexpected without notice, that is right you guessed who Beyoncé. To say that I like the album would be an understatement because I am so in love with the album. So today I picked a few melodically driven songs from the album that were a few of my favorites. Sometimes when listening to melodic songs I think "oh what I wouldn't give to actually know what the artist was thinking when creating, writing, and dreaming certain songs up". You can purchase Beyoncé's new chart-topping album on iTunes NOW. 

                                                              XO

Melodic Monday: Emeli Sandé - "Breaking The Law"

This week's Melodic Monday comes a day late from songstress Emeli Sandé with her track "Breaking The Law" from her album Our Version of Events. I usually can give you all the meaning in the world as to why I have chosen a song for Melodic Monday but today is a bit different, because I have limited reasons why I chose this track. The lyrics will blow you away if you can truly understand and read them exactly the way they are portrayed. Emeli does a riveting job of singing the song to make you feel every single meaning of it. You can purchase Emeli's album Our Version of Events in stores and on iTunes NOW!

                                                                                                                     XO

"A Day Late" Melodic Monday: Drake - "The Motion"

Melodic Monday arrives a day late this week with a track from none other than the OVO man himself Drake and as he would say "Better Late Than Never But Never Late Is Better". If you purchased the Best Buy Copy of Drake's new album Nothing Was The Same then you got "The Motion" as an added bonus. If you purchased the regular deluxe edition then you just got the two extra bonuses, either way here is "The Motion" for your listening pleasure as this weeks "A Day Late" Melodic Monday.

Changed up the lyrics just a bit so put yourself in my place. Besides Drake always says he makes the type of music that both a male and female perspectives can relate to and I will say this is one of those cases. #ThatIsAll

"It's not me and you, it's not me it's you

You're reckless and you know it, they don't love you like I do

Say you're moving on, well, I guess that's just the motion

I guess that's just the motion"

"Yeah, looking back on it at least my pride is intact

Cause we said no strings attached and I still got tied up in that

Everything that I write is either for him or about him

So I'm with him even when I'm here without him and he know it

The guy that I wanna save is like a danger to my health

Try being with somebody that wanna be somebody else

I always thought he was perfect when he was being himself

Don't even know how to help, but I guess that's just the motion"

He'll probably come around

Soon as I settle down, that's the motion

Oh-oh, I guess that's just the motion"

                                                                                                                            XO

Melodic Monday: Drake - "Cameras" & Jon B. "Calling On You"

As I put Drake's previous albums on play just to hold me and my drive me crazy anticipation over until the release of his new album Never Was The Same dropping on September 17th, I cannot help but want to listen to Take Care another one million times. Although all of his previous albums and mixtapes were type solid efforts Take Care still does something to me like it is my first time listening to it all over again. One of my favorite tracks on Take Care was the track "Cameras" where Drake actually sampled R&B singer Jon B's song "Calling On You", from Jon B's Pleasures You Like album. This bringing us to Melodic Monday and the track that fits according on this very Monday is Drake's "Camera's". The song still has Drake going steady at his lyrical pace with a mixture of his at times R&B tone, but it is the enlisting of Jon B's vocals over that bridge that gives it an all day melodic feel. Without Jon B's one there probably would not be the Drake's other unless it was a totally different song, so with that being said I have to give you both Drake's "Cameras" and Jon B's "Calling On You". I am giving both simply because Drake's "Cameras" would have never had those Jon B vocals from "Calling On You" if Jon B would have never created that song, and the two would have never complimented one another so very melodically the way in which they did.                                                                 XO

Melodic Monday: Alicia Keys - "If I Ain't Got You"

I wonder exactly how many people reminisce the way I do when they hear a song that they love. Rainy Monday's are perfect for the fitting melodic tune and today is none the exception with the song that I picked as my Melodic Monday tune. I can remember watching Alicia Key's video for her track "If I Ain't Got You" and just falling in love with the song more because the visuals portrayed every bit of the lyrics of the song to perfection. Method Man become that much more attractive because of his cameo in the video for one of the hottest songs at the time and Alicia became that much more beautiful because of her tears and the emotion that she relinquished in the video. Happy Melodic Monday!                                                XO

Melodic Monday: Usher - "Burn"

My weakness is Melodic Monday's and for the most part I can say it is because I have an obsession with R&B music, and my life would be a dead end without it. I love finding an R&B song that I can listen to over and over again and it never gets old. Usher's song "Burn" is a prime example of how a beautiful song never gets old. I can remember when it first dropped back in 2004 and putting on repeat and never losing the love for it. To this day I could still play it a million more times and want to listen to it once more and once more after that. So here is to the start of a million more times and once more again!                                                                                             XO

Melodic Monday: Usher feat. Alicia Keys - "My Boo"

"It started when we were younger you were mine, my boo", who did not sing every lyric, does not love, or did not put "My Boo" on repeat when it first dropped those years ago? If you say not you I will call your bluff real fast. I can remember loving that chemistry that Usher and Alicia had in the visuals that brought the song to life, that chemistry was delicious. As it came across my play list in the gym I knew it was the song I would use for Melodic Monday because it use to be that jam. As I listened I could not help myself but remember when it first dropped and realize how much a song could make you remember. So as you take a listen this rainy Melodic Monday what does it make you remember. This song is still beautiful and symbolic to this very day and you cannot say it is not. Happy Melodic Monday, My Boo!                                                                                         XO

Melodic Monday: Miguel feat. Wiz Khalifa - "Adorn" (Grammy Performance)

There are certain performances that make a track more real and give it more meaning, and that is exactly what Miguel's Grammy performance of "Adorn" featuring Wiz Khalifa has done. Seeing that performance and watching it over and over again and again makes me love it more and more every time. The fact that Miguel brought Wiz in for the kill of the track that he had already killed by himself made it even better. I am glad I did not post the video with the rest of the world on Grammy weekend, instead I saved it for the most perfect occasion of Melodic Monday.

Melodic Monday: Drake- Shot For Me

The search for my Melodic Monday was over on Sunday when Drake took home the Grammy for Best Rap Album for his 2011 release Take Care. It was then that I knew I would pick a track from his Grammy award-winning album Take Care and it would be evident as to why I was choosing one from that album. "Shot For Me" was by far in my top 3 favorite tracks from the album even though every track on that album was my favorite, and its hard for me to even pick a top 3. Drake gave Take Care everything at that point in his career which lets you know that best is yet to come. 

                                                                                                                     XO

Melodic Monday: Mariah Carey feat. Krayzie Bone & Da Brat -"I Still Believe/Pure Imagination"

The Melodic Monday spot clincher is a song that comes from the ever so talented Mariah Carey and is the remix to her song "I Still Believe". The remix titled "I Still Believe/Pure Imagination" enlists features from Bone Thugz-N-Harmony member Krayzie Bone and female rapper Da Brat. The remix embodies a significant difference from Mariah's original version of "I Still Belive" because the melody of the song is heavily driven by the song "Pure Imagination", from the film Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. A shorter version of "I Still Believe/Pure Imagination" without Da Brat enlisting more sound from Krayzie Bone is featured on Bone's album Thug Mentality 1999. I cannot deny the fact that I absolutely love the remix version of this song because of the melody, and not to mention Krayzie Bone and Da Brat giving the song a vibe all its on, right along with Mariah's harmonic vocals.                                                                                           XO

Melodic Monday: Lauryn Hill - "Just Want You Around" (MTV Unplugged)

Melodic Monday is here once again and for awhile I knew I was going to eventually use "Just Want You Around" from Lauryn Hill's MTV Unplugged, and today with it being just that kind of Monday I felt the song was fitting. Lauryn's raw emotioned performance of this song will make you feel the context in which she is grasping for as she is singing the melody, and still to this day it is my most favorite song from her MTV Unplugged set.                                     XO

Melodic Monday: Miguel "Adorn" (In-Studio Performance at Power 106)

 Twas the day of Melodic Monday and like any Monday I wanted to pick a really good song, one that really brings forth a beautiful melody or carries a tune that makes you have butterflies. I knew that which ever song I chose it had to be a good one and I also know that live performances are some of the best kind, with that being said I had to pick a song that I loved immensely and find the most amazing live version of it. Like so I did just that and I chose Miguel's "Adorn", the song is amazing original, live, it does not matter that man gives that song the business which ever way he sings it. I found the version he did live in the studio on Big Boy's Neighborhood for Power 106 and it blew me away, it was perfect for the Melodic Monday song. How can someone sing that beautifully live on the radio? Oh that's right, he is Miguel and that is what he does! "Oooooh and love ain't never looked so good on ya oh put it on baby let my love Adorn....you" <3                                                                                  XO

Melodic Monday: Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko - "Stay"

Melodic Monday was a challenge today as I was going back and forth debating on songs for the occasion. I however called on the help of a friend to help me decide and Rihanna's "Stay" was the spot clincher for the day. The song hails from her latest album Unapologetic which clinched the number 1 spot on the charts in its first week selling 238,000 copies, making it Rih's highest sales in a week up to this point in her career. The song is fitting for Melodic Monday boasting a feature from Mikky Ekko, who sounds absolutely sensational accompanying Rih on the track. You can find the track above and an absolutely beautiful live performance of the song from SNL below. Unapologetic is in stores NOW.

  

                                                            XO

Melodic Monday: Jay Z - Young Forever - featuring Beyonce (Live at Coachella)

 This song will NEVER get old especially the original version with Mr. Hudson. However, when I seen the performance that Hov and Bey had done at Coachella it gave me the goosies (goose bumps). "Young Forever" is the fourth single from Jay Z's Blueprint 3 and is a rework of Alphaville's 1984 classic "Forever Young". The song is produced by rapper and producer extraordinaire Kanye West. The video for the original version (featured below) was directed by the incredibly talented  Anthony Mandler and showcases youth in America, while flashing various scenes of Jay-Z performing the song with Mr. Hudson.                                                                 XO

Melodic Monday: Frank Ocean - Thinking About You

 melodic [mɪˈlɒdɪk]adj

1. (Music, other) of or relating to melody

2. (Music, other) of or relating to a part in a piece of music

3. (Music, other) tuneful or melodious

melodically adv

I am completely in love with the word Melodic and for quite sometime I have wanted to do a Melodic Monday piece, and with today being Monday I find it only fitting. The beginning of the week can be the pits and sometimes you just need a melody to carry you through the first day of the week, back into the swing of things. If you are anything like me I wake up with melodies in my head and cannot go a morning, a day, or a night without one.  I have often referred to some artists as being Melodic because of their tone and how beautiful their effort can sound because of it. Today Frank Ocean has been my Melodic Monday muse with his charting single "Thinking About You" from his latest project and debut studio album Channel Orange. Frank is nothing less than beautiful in the midst showcasing his delicious falsetto with this intriguing ballad.



"A tornado flew around my room before you came
Excuse the mess it made, it usually doesn't rain"

                                                                                                    

                                                                                           XO