Bebe Rexha's new single “Not 20 Anymore” is a desperate cry to shake off labels, preconceived ideas and prejudices of society. Stronger, more experienced, more determined and, above all, more aware of how to live your life. That is what the singer tries and manages to convey in her song. Aided by the testimonies of the boys who participate in the video, the theme makes much more sense and makes us all think, so that once and for all we get away from the stupid ideas about beauty at a certain age and the absence of it in other stages of your life. Undoubtedly interesting, the way in which Bebe Rexha says that there are many things in which being over twenty years old is even more valuable. It is great to finally see a clear and simple statement and a clear claim against society's ideas about age. Hopefully it will be a theme that everyone of all ages gathers, so that those who still have these false conceptions of beauty, understand that it is not so. Speaking of this artist, it is a pleasure to have something else to offer, something that makes us reflect and open the debate about this and many other things that harm us as a society.

Despite the playful persona that Shawn Mendes displays on his songs he has actually been working very hard. Ever since Shawn became a celebrated pop star, he had been making extreme effort to grow in the music industry. While there a number of tested ways to grow in the music industry the Canadian star chose to forge his path. He experimented on a number of styles both good and bad in combination with his unique sound and that effort is what resulted in the fabulous track showcased on his self-named album. A lot of years have passed since the star released his debut album and with those years he has acquired a lot of experience in respect to romance and women. Consequently, his sound on the songs is more mature and believable. There is something in the way he sang on this album that will convince you that he knew exactly what he was talking about. From day one, Shawn always had a different perspective from youths his age. He always went for the best. Not surprisingly, his albums sound better with each release. He put an unusual amount of effort in this album though. Firstly, he collaborated with a handful of artists when he was recording this album. Secondly, he did not just play the role of song creator but he was also the executive producer of the album. In a way, young Shawn has become his own boss. The album was an extreme success though. The album topped the charts in both his home country, the United States, Australia, Belgium and three other countries. It debuted in the top three in the United Kingdom. If that is not an example of commercial success to you then your opinions are henceforth irrelevant.

Every teen popstar who stays in the business long enough eventually comes out with an album which is “The Album”. This album means I am no longer a teen idol, now I am a serious grownup musician . Confident was that album for Demi Lovato. An album which tackled the artist’s own demons with some strong vocals. Demi is an artist who has always shown potential when it came to singing but even then I always felt something was missing in her songs. After listening to Confident I realized what it was, that girl is made to sing anthems about real issues not some basic pop songs that just about everyone can sing.

Generally, pop music takes great care of language. Although lately there some artists and composers have taken many freedoms, because the truth, should not be so important if the things that are said are congruent with what is meant and already. But the industry keeps certain standards since it wants to reach a wider audience and thus increase its sales. Therefore, the curses are a little more on the side of the music of bad boys: rock, punk, rap, and hip-hop among others. Somehow, these rougher styles are aimed at audiences who already know what they are going to hear, while pop is always related to younger people and perhaps very guarded by their parents, so an error in what it is said, is made or shown, can be decisive with the future of the artist or the sales of the song – That's why Lauv's song caught my attention: “f*ck, I'm lonely (with Anne-Marie)”, which with a lot of naturalness and good rhythm, includes the most Satanized 'F' word in the English-speaking world. I don't know why it's something so serious; however, I lived the experience in a job (where English was spoken) in which the simple fact that they heard you say that word was a reason to be fired without the right to defend the point. Either way. I do not know if this is the case everywhere where English is spoken, but the truth is that in Mexico and perhaps throughout the Spanish-speaking world, things are a bit more relaxed with the use of language, which for me is a relief since sometimes I am very foul-mouthed – Anyway, for me, it is quite an enigma what will happen with the song of Lauv and Anne-Marie. The parents of the younger fans of these singers are probably not very happy and as is common around music, there is always a scandal where there isn't. Freedom of expression is a right and the meaning (strong or light) of the words that come from people's mouths, is given by those who hear it. It is the recipients who give it weight or naturally take the words of those who pronounce them – For now, let's watch for reactions to a song that is very good and harmless to me even though I include the ‘F’ word in the main chorus. Or it will be that they simply publish a version with the famous ‘beep’ and fix the matter, which would be pathetic.

It was Aug 31, 1987, when Michael Jackson released an album that made history. Bad soon became the second best-selling album at the times (the first was and still is Thriller, always by… Michael Jackson!). After Off the wall and Thriller the King leveraged for the third and last time the collaboration of Quincy Jones. Hard to say whether it’s better Thriller or this new album; the albums are quite different, Michael himself was a different person after 5 years, grown and changed both from an artistical and personal perspective, in a pop world that he contributed to create with Thriller, and that now featured new stars like Madonna and Prince, in the US, and with all the Brit pop of Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, and others. Moreover, in 1982 Thriller just needed to fill the 40 minutes of a vinyl record, while this album had to fill also the 70 minutes of a cd. Anyway, it’s a fact that Bad entered in history as well, and it’s still one of the key albums (and videos) of the 80s

Burna Boy sealed his position at the Zenith of the Afrobeat and Afropop genres with this album, African Giant. This release follows major achievements this year alone; winning the Listener’s Choice, Song of The Year, Best Male MVP, and African Artiste of the Year categories at the 2019 SoundCity MVP Awards Festival. Then going on to win the Best International Act category at the 2019 BET Awards, and finally having a solo track on Beyoncé’s The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack album for the Disney classic animation remake, The Lion King. The features on the album were also rich as he excluded A-List artiste in the Nigerian industry, for reasons best known to him. For an album titled African Giant, he didn’t bother adding African and internationally known artiste, but went ahead to add the likes of Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley, multiple Grammy nominated and winner Angélique Kidjo, Future, YG and so on. The 19-track album was full of hits and genre mixtures that made a perfect blend, with him trying different flows, ranges, and topics on the tracks. The basic thing lacking majorly in the Nigerian Music Industry is Content. Artistes with content in Nigeria suffer proper recognition. The most popular and successful artistes are the Afropop artistes, these artistes former 99% of the A-List group, the remaining 1% are mostly from the Rap, Alternative music, Afrobeat, R&B and Soul genres. These 99% percent of these 99% lack contents or have slowly dropped the ball somewhere along the line during their career and just churn out beats and vibes that has zero contents and meaning. Between 2013 and 2019, the amount of songs without concepts and meaning content have the most rotations on the Radio, and TV, and the artistes get the endorsement deals. This fluke has made great songwriters dumb down their lyrics for the sake of popularity and recognition. They forget that gifted can’t do a great job being mediocre, like a mediocre would originally do. Long story short, Burna Boy is our very own Content Rich Afropop and Afrobeat artiste to get international recognition without being overrated.

After breaking up for a while, the Jonas Brothers got back together to put out a new album, Happiness Begins. While the band decidedly falls into top 40-pop for the most part, this album does have some fun lyrics and melodies, and interesting harmonies in a few places. The lyrics are fairly simplistic, but they suit the genre perfectly. Perhaps the best thing about this album is that it has a lot of positive, sweet love songs that defy the focus on break-ups, lost love, and internal struggles that seems common in current pop music.

Simi does not need an introduction in the Nigerian music space, because she has built an empire for herself in the industry. In an industry that had hitherto been led by the male folk, it was a major feat for Simi to break into it and still hold sway many years after – The release of the “Simisola” album is a major factor that brought to the fore once more, the amazing personality called Simi. It is important to note that the album shouldn’t be passed off as a mere work of art because it was a “no bare” musical output that further let us into the world of one of the greatest songstress of our time, Simi. Interestingly, she chose to use her name “Simisola” as the title, which further buttresses the fact that she was intentional about the album – Simisola is the second studio album from Simi and comes nearly a decade after her first album. Simi had released her debut album “Ogaju” and made a major comeback into the Nigerian music space nine years later when she released her second album, “Simisola” on September 8, 2017. Oscar, Sess, Vtek, and SeyiKeyz produced the album. It was nominated for Album of the Year in the 2018 edition of the Nigerian Entertainment Awards and went on to win the Album of the Year in the 2018 edition of The Headies.

Huge cities, dirty and polluted, full of faceless people, people who do not talk to you and do not see you, people who would not do anything for you if you were lying in the middle of the street suffering a heart attack. Noise, noise, noise everywhere and at all hours. Background noise that accompanies us even in our dreams. The city never stops, never keeps silent, people have stopped appreciating the calm, we are altered, we want to get first to anywhere, although that place is nowhere. We do not mind pushing, crushing. We believe that we do not need peace, we believe that the states of anguish and anxiety are normal and inherent to the human being and we are very wrong. We rush to the office in the morning and we only went through a café (of the fashion brand, because otherwise, we would be as weird) the women put on makeup behind the wheel, the men drive as if they were playing a football game, and time to eat? No way! If there is no time, we do not go out to eat because the work requires commitment to one hundred percent and we want the promotion at all costs, no matter hours, friends, family, health, nothing, what matters is success in business. Then, at the end of our life, we will realize that little or nothing was worth all that time invested in a company in which you were only a number, that there was never any appreciation for what you did and gave, not for the way in which you sacrificed time for your family. In the afternoon, already very late, you leave the office exhausted and in a bad mood. Maybe it's a good idea to go to the bar for a couple of beers or something a little stronger. But you're tired and you know you might find yourself with more noise and maybe with unpleasant people, besides, tomorrow you have to start the routine again; and life? life is postponed for a better time, a moment that will hardly come if we do not look for it ourselves. Peace, has anyone said peace? Well, no. Most of us who are in the middle of this chaos that is modern life have forgotten the moments of peace, those that give us the tranquility of enjoying the countryside, of pleasant music, far from the noise and the absurd objectives of the job. The moments of being with whom you love the most and most love you. To enjoy your pet, that will always be for you, unconditionally. To be in the place where you know you are safe, away from those who hurt you or just want to take advantage of you. Being on an island, the island that forms in your mind and the most endearing places for you, to find peace amid all this chaos. The chaos that represents this road that tires, that sometimes throws you to the ground and where nobody raises you.

Maggie Rogers released her first full length album back in January of this year. Heard it in a Past Life is an album that takes us on a full exploration of her sound journey as we begin with folk inspired tunes to full out electronic/ pop bops, and she writes music about her personal experiences, in some cases with the help of her friends. It is an album that I did not like at first because I did not listen to its entirety, but once I did, I saw how good it is.

Ayo (English: Joy) is the self-titled second studio album by Nigerian singer Wizkid. Wizkid Ayo Balogun, Nigeria’s biggest music star and probably one of the most talented artiste in the music industry released his second album AYO three years after his first album “Superstar” which I believe revolutionized pop music in the Nigerian music scene. This album record simply shows how Wizkid is grateful for where he has gotten to in his music career remembering where he started as an upcoming act in Surulere. After going down memory lane, he calls out the people in his old hood to come and enjoy his musical success. It also expressed his unending love for the street (his supporters and die-hard fans that are always there for him). If you listen’s to this album closely you will know that Wizkid is a mama's boy because you will hear several lines dedicated to his mother Mrs. Balogun all over the album. The album AYO received so many critic review but believe me it created that momentum which he needed for his music career, if you can check the album you would be able to count 10 hits out of 18 song released on the album which is actually hard for one to call such an album a failure even though the album might have somehow lacked direction. For me the album started on a bright note but fizzled out towards the end, with the exception of a few well-written songs and the hits we’ve heard from him in the past. Between all these Wizkid was able to establish the fact that he is a good vocalist with perfect vibes and mind-blowing melody. No wonder he has continuously remained relevant over the past Decade. He has remained so much relevant in the music industry being the first African to bag seven Billboard Nominations, the Youngest African Artiste to get a Grammy nomination, he is the first African Pop Star To Perform/sell out Royal Albert Hall in London and he is the only Nigerian musician who not only made the number one spot on the iTunes Wo
Where the Joy Residesrld Chart but maintained that spot for over a week. He is the only Nigerian Artiste with the most award nominations. . Well with the release of this album, I already knew Wizkid would become a force to reckon with in the music industry which he has already accomplished.
He started recording the album after the release of the compilation album, Empire Mates State of Mind (2012). The long-awaited album was released on September 17, 2014, by Starboy Entertainment and Empire Mates Entertainment after it was postponed twice due to difficulty in track selection. I must reveal that this was one album I definitely was curious how it would play out after a long time of waiting because it was his last bodywork under Empire Mates Entertainment before he started his own record label Starboy Entertainment. The 71 minutes Album was produced by Segun Demuren, Banky Wellington, Sarz, Shizzi, Uhuru, Maleek Berry, Legendary Beatz and Spellz.

It’s quite common for us to dispute about who was the first worldwide star in a specific period. For example, the first top artist in the third millennium, or, in the next period, who will be the shining star of the 20s. But if I should say who was the last pop queen of the second millennium, the girl who, with her songs and videos, introduced us to the 2000s, well, there is no doubt. Britney Spears broke down full speed into the world of pop in late 1998 with her first song and video. Her success was so huge that her debut album, released at the end of 1999, topped the charts in many many countries, and her fantastic career definitely skyrocketed. Britney Spears was only 16, and she played the role of the attractive teenage girl, always balancing between being innocent and being attractive, a continuous teasing game of moves and gazes. She was not the first, of course; Lio and Elli Medeiros in France during the early 80, Madonna and her “Like a Virgin” look in the States, Sabrina Salerno with her “Boys” in Italy, Patsy Kensit of Eighth Wonder and Kylie Minogue were teenage icons of beauty and joy of life in the UK during the late 80’s. Many of them are still active, and few of them have been able to remain faithful to their character, and also to evolve during the years. Britney Spears did all of this. I can’t think of any Britney’s hit during all the years, that would not perfectly fit also in the early Britney character ad attitude. It’s a sort of, how to say, everlasting Britneyism!

Kim Petras has 26 years behind her back, that is, she was born in 1992. So when she was about 6 years old, she would listen for the first time to ''…Baby one more time'' by Britney Spears, and then her world would change forever. This is just a guess, whether it was Christina Aguilera and ''Genie in a bottle'', ''Wannabe'' of the Spice Girls, or simply paying attention to the latest public scandal of Paris Hilton. The point is that our protagonist developed a romantic and passionate relationship with the pop culture of the 2000’s. From her distant native Cologne (Germany), the young lady watched the American teen scene and began to collect pop idols like Gwen Stefani or Mariah Carey, while facing a difficult reality. Since she was very young, she felt like a girl, and thanks to the support of her parents she was one of the youngest people to undergo gender reassignment surgery. Petras anchored to this golden age of gum pink color, and decorated her folders with cuts of her favorite stars, to which she added powerful figures of the 80s like Madonna and Cindy Lauper; as well as maximum representatives of LGTBI music such as Boy George or Freddie Mercury. This overflowing river of influences made this young woman a nerd of the aesthetic and bubblegum pop sound, something that in itself seems the coolest. But far from having lived through that time, where Kim had undoubtedly stood out and turned into a mass idol, she had the great idea of ​​combining all this with modern life dominated by social networks. Turned into a cybernetic LGTBI queen, Kim Petras began to gain popularity on the internet thanks to her music, her graceful aesthetics and way of being. Determined to become a fav among the gay public, Kim combines all the characteristics that this audience adores: starting with her pop sound from the diva of 2000 era, going through the attitude of a coquettish and spoiled blonde, to which she is joined by an urban-sweet-boyish (and slightly anime) style in pastel colors and board skirts. In short, salvation (or reincarnation, depending on how you look at it, has always remained alive in the memory and admiration of many) of this subgenre of pop. Kim personifies the meme 'I'm gonna give the gays everything they want' (you know what I mean, right?). Being more than intelligent, Kim introduces herself to the world by releasing single after single since 2017 dedicating herself to a genre that is loved by many, but nothing exploited. With ''I Don’t want it at all'', she presented herself with force to the world: a young aspiring co-star The Simple Life, eager to hunt the coveted sugar daddy, sang a kind of ode to ''whimsy'', luxury consumerism and signatures and brands. With an ending that culminated with the appearance of Paris Hilton, Kim rose in a short time as a Scream Queen more, and was followed by thousands of fans who admired her nerve and flirt. It was with ''Heart to break'' when the German showed that not only had celebrity wood, but also as a singer and songwriter, offering one of the best songs of 2018, and the best of her career so far. From these, a string of singles were laced every so often. With these songs, Kim showed pop mastery, a sweet voice at the same time flexible and themes that mixed anxiety, problems, joy and desire (is not the world teen a drama? Well that), establishing herself as a quality artist. After a brilliant and cartoony EP, Turn Off the Light, Vol. 1, dedicated to the American Halloween, Kim presents her first album: Clarity.

There is a popular saying that life is in phases and men are in sizes. Cher must have definitely seen all the phases that were in existence before she released the album. The pop diva has always had a love for trying new things no matter how bad they sounded. "Not.com.mercial" was one of the musical experiments by the artist. Although it was written, recorded and rejected by her record label in 1994, the songstress still kept the album for six years and in the year 2000 she finally released the album on the Internet only. The album portrayed a very different and probably unheard version of Cher, little wonder it meant a lot to her as she was bent on releasing it even after its rejection six years earlier, although she ended up releasing it only on the Internet. She didn’t want it to seem as though she was forcing anyone to listen to her track. The album was filled with really personal stories of the musician’s life plus she probably felt insulted by the fact that the label rejected the album when she recorded it initially. She claimed that she had no expectations but in truth she expected the album to fail hence, the name and she also hoped that the album succeeded. On her twenty-second album "Believe", the artist used auto tunes on her tracks and to be honest the adjustment was a bit much. It completely changed the voice of the pop diva. Although the label wanted to take out the auto tunes, she insisted that it was released without any alteration. The label eventually agreed with her and after its release, the sound the label criticized was celebrated worldwide. My point is it was the success that followed after her rebellion that persuaded her to rebel a second time. Sadly, her second rebelled album did not have as much success as her first. According to stats, the album was not a success but I really admire the guts of the star and the fact that this album meant so much to her was the reason I searched it out in the first place.

Maren Morris is redesigning the future of Country music by releasing an album that follows her own rules and no one else’s. Maren’s sophomore album GIRL was a highly anticipated release in Country Music. After Maren’s previous debut album HERO which sky rocketed her career, fans were eager to see where the star would take her career next. HERO earned Maren a Grammy, CMA, and many other notable career milestones. Since HERO, Maren ventured out of Country Music with her career blazing collaboration with ZEDD “The Middle”. Following recognition for that Billboard Hit she toured and collaborated with former One Direction member Niall Horan. All eyes were on Maren to see what direction she would take this album. Maren did not disappoint. Known for always being true to herself she delivered an album that was full of her own mix of Country and Pop. Every song brings along new meaning to the listener and is one everyone can easily relate to. Taking her recent life experiences such as being a newly wed, rising in stardom etc. Maren brings us along for all of it in this new album. This album has the potential to not only earn Maren more recognition in the Country Music scene but also in the Pop scene. Whatever Maren’s next move is in the music industry she has definitely proved herself with GIRL once again showing the world she is a force to be reckoned with.

There's a saying that goes "To whom much is given, much is expected". That saying is golden and true in most cases. But it becomes scary and terrifying when there's a lot of pressure to deliver, a lot of pressure to do better than you did the last time. At that point, you may be left with no choice than to think outside the box, to do the extraordinary. And when you succeed in doing that, then it will have been worth the whole effort. When Ngerian Banku Music singer, Mr Eazi, first came into limelight, he came with a kind of music with a different kind of vibe. While the majority of Africa was vibing to music made majorly with fast-paced or up-tempo beats, Mr Eazi was busy perfecting the Banku music style which is mostly characterized by mid-tempo beats and some form of Ghanaian synths. Before long, that pattern of music began to gain momentum among African millenials, and right now it has become a well established sound in Africa. Mr Eazi used that sound to create his first album "Life is Eazi, Vol. 1 - Accra To Lagos" mixtape, but after that it was as if that sound was waning. That sound which everyone has now accepted and are now vibing to, and which Mr Eazi is championing was finally beginning to wane and lose momentum. What would Mr Eazi do now? Heck! He was just starting his music career and couldn't afford to go down with his signature sound. He had to think outside the box and do the extraordinary. What would that be? Damn! It would be to take that sound to a new clime and repeat the process. And so Mr Eazi took his sound to London and named that body of work "Life is Eazi, Vol. 2 - Lagos To London" mixtape. How brilliant! So on Friday, 9th November, 2018, he gave all music lovers a gift by way of a new body of work. It was the release of his sophomore album. That mixtape boasts of features from Simi, Burna Boy, 2Baba, Diplo, Lady Donli, Distruction Boyz, Maleek Berry, Giggs, among others and it comes after his "Life is Eazi, Vol. 1 - Accra To Lagos" mixtape, released in February, 2017.

No matter how many changes and experiments the artist does on her music, she always returned to her first love “rock” and this album is one of such albums. "Cher" was the second self-titled album by the artist. The name of the first album was changed to Gypsies, tramps and thieves as a means of ensuring that it was successful commercially. After experimenting with a long series of disco and pop tracks, she finally produced a rock themed album and It was as though her fans and quite a number of radio stations had been anticipating her return. The album caused the artist to top the charts once more. As usual, the tracks on the album’s playlist were written by multiple artists. Whenever I think about the fact that the songs were not actually written by the songstress but yet she always made a perfect delivery it always blows my mind away. The playlist included a brand-new version of her song “Bang bang (My baby shot me down)” which made it clear that the artist was obviously not content with the makeup of the earlier version. It is a good thing the artist had producers work with her all through her career because of the things she accepted musically ended not performing well in the musical world. Despite the friendly reception the song enjoyed from her fans and radio stations, the song ended up not doing too well commercially. According to statistics, the album did not get to the top three of any chart but its tracks were just hanging in the balance between #11 and #47.

I love Michael Jackson because he is a legend. A freakin’ legend! But even legends should not get automatic passes for everything that they put out. All legends are susceptible to creative misses, or sometimes even being out of touch with the ‘times.’ To the best of my knowledge, Michael Jackson’s 2001 album Invincible was his last album that had all-original music. Of course, a more recent album like 2014’s XSCAPE does have re-done recordings (that were basically old unproduced songs that were remixed for the production), but he wasn’t alive when this was released, so it is a little bit of a different situation. With Invincible, the album is not unlistenable, yet suffers from not offering much more than it’s few singles, such as “You Rock My World”, “Cry”, and “Butterflies.” Yes, these singles, especially “You Rock My World” and “Butterflies”, are actually classics today. Whenever these songs come on, I can’t help but start rocking my shoulders, or when I am really feeling it, doing my best Michael Jackson impersonation. But many of the other songs I feel just either sound too similar to one another, or severely lack that ‘hit’ factor. Such a shame, because look at the timing: this album came out in 2001. Meaning, in the 10 years between this album and MJ’s death, he didn’t add anything that I know of to his catalogue. Yes – it is sort of frustrating. But thank god for his ‘eternal’ catalogue – always there for fans like me.

Already as a little girl I admired the series, in which she appeared on a well-known television program, popular mainly among children and teenagers - Nickelodeon. Even then, I had the opportunity to admire Ariana Grande (initially) acting, for example in the well-known series "Victorious". As her huge fan I started following her also as I grew up and it lasts until now. I was in love with her every album. I love the music she creates and the message that often moves me. Following her journey for such a long time, I can express my opinion about what she creates. She has gone a huge way to become who she is now. I must admit that I look at her with admiration every day because of how much she has achieved over the years. Her latest album thank u, next, I consider to be one of the best, if not the best. The album contains great pop songs that are catchy. This is typical contemporary music that most people like listening to. Surely, the greatest hits were "thank u, next" (like the name of the album), "7 rings", "breathin" and "break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored.” They definitely made the biggest sensation. To this list I could also easily add the song "bloodline", which is also incredibly catchy and fantastic “fake smile" or "ghostin" are (in my point of view) songs with a larger message. There is, of course, also a list of songs that are of great importance to the artist, such as the already previously mentioned song "ghostin.” I must say that I am very happy that I have had such a great journey with her that I continue to lead. I am also very excited because for the first time in many years I have the pleasure to go on tour (“Sweetener World Tour"), which I am waiting for impatiently. I know that I will experience amazing moments there and I will be able to feel all those amazing emotions flowing straight from my heart for a moment. It must be an amazing feeling to have an opportunity to see your idol, who until now could only be seen on television or in social media.

Sia Kate Isobelle Furler was born on 18 December 1975 in Adelaide, South Australia. Her father, Phil Colson, is a musician, and her mother, Loene Furler, is an art lecturer. Sia is the niece of actor-singer Kevin Colson. She said that as a child she imitated the performing style of Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Sting, whom she cites as early influences. She attended Adelaide High School. In the mid-1990s, Sia started a career as a singer in the local acid jazz band Crisp. She collaborated with the band and contributed vocals to their album Word and the Deal (1995) and EP Delirium (1997). In 1997 Crisp disbanded, and Sia released her debut studio album, OnlySee, on Flavoured Records, in Australia, on 23 December. The album sold about 1,200 copies. Unlike her later albums, OnlySee was marketed under her full name, Sia Furler. It was produced by Jesse Flavell. She moved to London, England, and provided lead vocals for the British duo Zero 7. In 2000, Sia released her second studio album, Healing Is Difficult, on the Columbia label the following year, and her third studio album, Colour the Small One, in 2004, but all of these struggled to connect with a mainstream audience. Sia relocated to New York City in 2005 and toured in the United States. Her fourth and fifth studio albums, Some People Have Real Problems and We Are Born, were released in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Each was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association and attracted wider notice than her earlier albums. Uncomfortable with her growing fame, Sia took a hiatus from performing, during which she focused on songwriting for other artists, producing successful collaborations "Titanium" (with David Guetta), "Diamonds" (with Rihanna) and "Wild Ones" (with Flo Rida). In 2014, Sia finally broke through as a solo recording artist when her sixth studio album, 1000 Forms of Fear, debuted at No 1 in the U.S. Billboard 200 and generated the top-ten single "Chandelier" and a trilogy of music videos starring child dancer Maddie Ziegler. In an interview published by NME in February 2015, Furler revealed that the album as a contractual obligation: “Basically, I put this out to get out of my publishing deal. I was planning to be a pop song writer for other artists. But my publishing deal was as an artist, so I had to put one more album out. I didn’t want to get famous, so I kept all the songs I wanted and had fun making it.”

I took Take The Crown as an example only because it seems to me that it is what most eloquently describes the career of an artist that baffles me. A record that is not from here, nor from there, that pretends to be everywhere and in none at the same time. In the beginning, as many in the UK and much of Europe know, Robbie Williams belonged to the most famous Boy Band of the time in the British Isles, Take That, and because of the outstanding attention that fans of the band put about Robbie, the idea inside his mind about leaving the band and starting a solo career began to germinate. You know, the artists' ego is huge as the Universe itself and the temptation to shine with their own light and not share credits or reflectors with the rest of the band members is very big. It is not the first, nor will it be the last. Throughout the history of the twentieth century and so far in the twenty-first we can make a long list of artists who have abandoned the original band members or, even, have caused enough problems within their groups to cause the break and thus get the goal of starting a solo career. The way in which Robbie behaved when recording his videos and in the live presentations attracted a lot of attention. Perhaps his unusual facial features and the energy he put into everything he did with the rest of the band, made him stand out from the others and that should also have captivated the executives of the record labels. The conditions to start a solo adventure were given after several very successful albums with Take That and, what had to happen, happened. Robbie Williams announced his departure from the band and one of his main goals was to go to the conquest of the great music consumer market: The United States. The artist moved to Los Angeles to be concentrated one hundred percent and have all possible contact with the industry and the public. At the time of announcing his retirement and releasing his first solo album, he had a great response in Europe (where he was already an idol) however, I believe that the American continent did not have so much enthusiasm. The signs, from the point of view of the business, were clear: we should be very careful in the next attempt and, if things in the United States were not given as intended, we should return to take care of the market that was already held captive and not cause a cooling of it, because the risk of going into oblivion very soon in a market that was not receiving attention, was very large. I think the obsession with the American market was what led to Robbie Williams' ship drifting, however many attempts he made, things never got better on this side of the Pacific Ocean.

I’ve had the album on repeat all day. Before the album was released I always wondered the inspiration behind ‘Omo Charlie Champagne’ Now I know and I am absolutely blown away. The album was released to commemorate her late father Engineer Charles Oladele Ogunleye who passed away in 2014. Charlie is a popular nickname for people named Charles hence Omo Charlie Champagne (Daughter of Charlie Champagne). May his Soul Rest In Peace. Simi blessed her fans with a new album “Omo Charlie Champagne Vol. 1” the day which also marks her 31st birthday. This new album, “Omo Charlie Champagne Vol. 1” is Simi’s third studio project after “Ogaju” in 2008 and “Simisola” in 2017. Not every artist drops an album on his or her birthday, it takes careful planning to bring about a thing like that. On Friday, April 19, 2019, talented singer Simi dropped her third studio album Omo Charlie Champagne. The album name had a ring to it and I was immediately fascinated by it. Simi is easily one of the most gifted voices we have in the Nigerian music industry. She has two studio albums Ogaju and Simisola to her credit. Before the album dropped, she had released three different singles including Ayo, Mind Your Bizness featuring Falz. The album contains 13 tracks, spanning across different genres like contemporary R&B, Ballad, Afro-fusion, Afropop, Dancehall. Simi shows her vocal dexterity on this album. She proves that her sound is constantly evolving while one thing remains: making quality music is her forte.

Jason Mraz is an amazing singer, in the popular media, there’ve been countless instances of underdogs facing insurmountable odds to change public opinion of a certain genre, from Trap instrumentation invading all manner of music to become the hottest sound in the industry to once-sidelined pre-teen musicians suddenly ruling the market with an iron fist in the internet age, proving you’re never too young to leave your mark on this world in a big way, but perhaps the most astonishing curveball was how quickly Country music erased its stereotypical redneck image in the early-teens to become one of the most profitable & critically-acclaimed genres of the modern era. For what must’ve been decades, Country existed as this niche genre you only listened to if you were born on a farm or lived in the red-belt of America, every Tom, Dick & Nancy who claimed to be an open-minded audiophile confidently stating ‘I listen to every genre of music…well, except Country, of course’ as if that somehow gained them entry to the cool-kids club; I mean, I can distinctly remember driving with friends on exceptionally long car rides through the more rural parts of California where acceptable radio stations were few & far-between, said companions willingly deciding to listen to the Regional Mexican radio channels if their only other choices were Country or static, illustrating how vehemently people in the noughties kept their distance from the genre for fear of looking like an inbred simpleton who supported the Republican party. All of this changed: KNOW is the sixth studio Album. The album was released on August 10,2018 by Atlantic Records. The albums lead single “Have it all” was released on April 27,2018, accompanied by a video filmed with performing art students from his hometown of Richmond

Reputation was released on November 10, 2017, and is the sixth studio album by Taylor Swift. The album mostly received positive reviews and was the second best-selling album of 2017 worldwide, and the US best-selling album of 2017. Reputation lead single “Look What You Made Me Do” was released on September 2 and it broke a string of records, including the record for the most plays in a single day on Spotify and more. Some of the other song this album include are “Ready For It”, “Gorgeous”, and “Call It What You Want” which also received many positive reviews from the critics – The album contains parts of the Pop, electropops, ynth-pop. Much the same as the album's title suggests a considerable lot of its lyrical themes, for example, dealing with fame and media coverage of celebrities. Greg Kot, from Chicago Tribune, described the album as "another shift, this time into electronic pop". Taylor Swift said several of the reputation songs were inspired by the epic fantasy TV series ‘Game of Thrones’. Entertainment wrote "she says, 'At the time, I was making reputation and I didn’t talk about it in interviews, so I didn’t reveal that a lot of the songs were influenced by the show.'”. Taylor Swift also added that the album ended up transforming into a split album, one end being the weaponized songs about revenge, and the other about hoping to discover love “something sacred throughout all the battle cries”. “These songs were half based on what I was going through, but seeing them through a Game of Thrones filter,” Swift says – The cover art also portrays these themes, which showcases Swift over a background of a tabloid publication. The title of the album is also derived from some of the song’s lyrics like from the “End Game” lyrics 'Big reputation, big reputation, ooh, you and me we got big reputations, Big reputation, big reputation, Ooh you and me would be a big conversation', and from the “Delicate” lyrics 'My reputation's never been worse'.

What are the most suitable ideas to breath new life into your music career and to make sure you are building a foundation for long term music industry success. Know your Goals, Find your team and Get yourself together – Bebe Rexha is an American singer and songwriter. After signing with Warner Bros. Records in 2013, Rexha received songwriting credits on Eminem and Rihanna's single "The Monster" (which later received the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance) and has also contributed songwriting to songs recorded by Shinee, Selena Gomez and Nick Jonas. Rexha released her debut extended play in 2015, I Don't Wanna Grow Up, which saw the moderate commercial success of the single "I'm Gonna Show You Crazy" – The way she creates the music is adorable. She Express the actual feelings that other people hide due to their image expression.But she know that real life is more interesting than the reel life and she work on it and get the biggest distinctions.Rexha released two additional extended plays in 2017, All Your Fault: Pt. 1 and All Your Fault: Pt. 2, which again saw the moderate success of the singles "I Got You" and "The Way I Are (Dance With Somebody)" – Rexha has also seen success with several collaborations including "Me, Myself & I" with G-Eazy, "In the Name of Love" with Martin Garrix, and "Meant to Be" with Florida Georgia Line, the latter of which seeing large success as a country crossover single, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States – Rexha know that how to catch the attraction of audience and how public ll love her music and she did that and always prove herself with her words and performance.She gave us a real image of reel love life and real love misconceptions.Rexha's debut studio album Expectations (2018) reached number 13 on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States and saw the success of its lead single "I'm A Mess", and brought Rexha two nominations for Best New Artist and Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 61st Grammy Awards.She Express the real feelings of love and the real feel of relationships and people love to see the reality and words and she got her reward.

To this day, I’m still one of the biggest fans of Avril Lavigne. Sure, there was a clear shift in her persona and music at a certain time, but I never was one to buy into conspiracy theories. There is no Melissa! Avril Lavigne has always been Avril Lavigne, and she still makes great music, it’s just not what everybody wants. She started off hating the world at a very young age, giving us the sad girl jams of the early 2000’s with her iconic debut Let Go featuring hits like “Complicated” and “I’m With You.” She followed that up with my personal favorite Under My Skin, which was even darker and sadder with songs like “Nobody’s Home” and “My Happy Ending.” But then it seemed like the sad girl wasn’t as sad anymore — which shouldn’t be an issue. If someone is feeling much better about themselves and the world around them, it would make sense to support them. Everybody wanted their sad jams, though. I guess I could see where they are coming from. If Christina Perri or Lana Del Rey made an album of just bright, shining, happy music then I would be very much concerned. But I still don’t think it’s fair to criticize this record. Avril Lavigne’s The Best Damn Thing properly kicked off the greatest era of pop music which I call “The Golden Age Of Pop.” Following this huge release, we received some of the best songs and albums from the biggest pop artists of today like Rihanna and P!nk and we were soon introduced to the true saviors of pop music, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. Releasing this album was necessary — not only for Avril — but for women in pop music to officially throw away all of the rules and become the frontrunners. Allow me to dive in a little deeper to The Best Damn Thing.

With Unapologetic Rihanna really put a good, well-crafted album together from up-pace to down-pace and I feel with this album she really proved herself as an Artist that is here to push things to new levels, although with albums before like A Girl Like Me, Good Girl Gone Bad, and Loud, I’m not signifying they didn’t feel thoroughly developed either way by. The amazing Unapologetic Queen, I seriously just loved this album as I was invited by her team to Jay-Z's 40/40 Club for the Album Party in New York City. I was still a newbie in NYC so it was such a huge experience and I just remember hugging her by the end of the night after her security guards had hemmed me up to a corner so she could walk pass as everyone that was at the club had mostly left by that time and it was just a few of us still chilling at the bar. I said to Rihanna "I Love you Baby," all super sensual and if I was white my face would've probably been bloodshot red. Rihanna shrugged her head back in such a familiar way if you'd seen it, kind of "yea right" looking or "ha, look at you" but still flirty and yes for me it felt a little romantic, I couldn't stop thinking about her for days. The first thing that I loved about this era was that there was a symbolic 7 that was marked all around it making it such a significant number at the time that it truly always keep my mind wondering and churning. Rihanna won a Grammy for ‘Best Urban Contemporary Album’ for this album in 2014 and it was her first mega successful album to do something like having a best-selling debut week and a number one album. Rihanna definitely enlisted a powerhouse of producers for this project including Labrinth, David Guetta, The Dream, Mike Will Made-It, Parker Ighile, and StarGate. One thing that also really inspired me about this album was the 777 Tour that Rihanna embarked on where she took 150 journalists to promote her seventh studio album by giving their personal experiences of what it was like to travel with the mega star we know as Rihanna and also giving their experiences on the challenges that they witnessed going on behind the scenes first hand. Like the continuation of flights, and having to carry around all that luggage everywhere, the journalists even gave what they thought about her shows she did on her tour stops and how she performed in them. Rihanna pulled through in the documentary that aired and gave a window inside the experience, as you could see how the tour stops wore everyone’s energy out and they didn’t have ideal things like beds to sleep in but definitely had plenty of liquor and Rihanna would be the one having to go on stage and still sing and perform entertaining everyone. I don’t think she would drink until after the performances but all in all it really gave an additional spirit to the album Unapologetic.

It’s a pity Kylie Minogue publicly said in an interview that she will never do a similarly styled Impossible Princess album again. It would’ve been perfect, at this point in her career, to make one, because most of her younger fans would not be familiar with the work she did in this album. This was released way back in 1997 – and even I, who was already musically active at that time, didn’t quite notice the album, mainly because it wasn’t pushed hard enough by her record company here in the Philippines. Though the songs in the album are not the usual Kylie Minogue songs that one is accustomed to listening to, especially that her output these past two decades have largely been dance-inspired albums, another one of this type of this album late in her career, would definitely get her fans talking – and hopefully see her from another perspective. Yes, her Golden album was in itself a very personal album, it wasn’t as adventurous as this one. For this album, it was like Kylie Minogue said to her production team – “Fuck it, let’s do something different, something I’ve never done before, vocally, something that I don’t usually do, something that would make my fans do a double take – when they hear the songs from this album on the radio”. Incidentally, Kylie Minogue, had songwriting credits in almost all the songs in this album, produced some of the tracks and worked with different producers whose previous work verged more on rock, trip hop and electronic music – and the results are quite evident in the songs from this album. Yes, the dance influence is still there – I don’t think you can totally eradicate that from any Kylie Minogue album – but the tracks have veered away from it – and it is one of those rare instances that you can hear her in a rock-inspired ditty.

Julia Michaels’ Inner Monologue Part 2 is an “I” record. There are records about other people, there are records about the state of the world, and there are records about the person writing the record. Julia Michaels has never been the type of writer that writes about anything but herself and her own emotions. This isn’t a hit on her – that’s a totally valid kind of songwriting. But this isn’t just a record about herself; this is a self-reflective record, a record in which she acknowledges her faults and accepts that she’s not perfect – what I like to call an “I” record. These kind of records are by definition self-obsessed, but the self-awareness of these kind of records make them incredibly helpful to other people. Julia Michaels writes about herself, but in that, she’s writing about everyone who is like her. We’re all human, we all feel similar kinds of emotions. Inner Monologue Part Two is Michaels’ internal conversations and feelings, but it’s also all of ours.

Ellie Goulding released her second studio album titled Halcyon back a long time ago when I was in middle school… she did the cool thing to do and released a reissue of the album including a few more songs the year after. Ellie wrote the album in a time of emotional distress and you can see it in the lyrics. The majority of the album reeks in sadness and dark vibes as she talks us through a lot of her troubled relationship, but as with any low there are a few ups. She does take a minute to be almost absurdly positive in a track and close us out with a simplistic song about not sleeping with the lights off… a pretty balanced album in my opinion.

Avril Lavigne is widely known for being angsty, rock n roll, and loud, but her self-titled album, Avril Lavigne, is a bit of an adventure… not in a good way. The album starts off pretty strong, I must admit, but when you start getting to the Japanese lyrics and the Sunshine song, and don’t even get me started on the country song… Most of the album is pretty good, but 2011 Avril and earlier is superior… I guess getting married makes you soften and get weird.

Katy Perry, the queen of teenage pop, released her fourth album titled Witness. The album was released about two years ago and focuses on mostly love and her ex lover(s). The album contains anthems about owning who you are and loving yourself while also containing fun disco pop sounds while including a rather crude tune about being a buffet. Despite the fact the album is overall a pretty good one, I must be honest and say it is my least favorite Katy Perry album and “Chained to the Rhythm” is the best thing on the entire thing… oops.

I honestly cannot believe Avril Lavigne is 33 years old now! She will always be one of the musicians I remember by their young ages, their style, hair colours and music that was known worldwide. Avril Lavigne became famous being a teenager and she had that long blonde hair with crazy coloured hair strands. Her music has always been catchy and fun. Unfortunately, in 2014 she began showing symptoms of Lyme disease while she was on tour. She took an unofficial break or hiatus from music because of her recovery process. While talking about the period of life when she was sick, she described it as the worst period of her life and told that her fans' support letters and videos helped her emotionally to get through it. While she was still recovering, she published the song "Fly" for the special Olympics, in 2015. Three years after, she posted a letter for her fans on her website where she announced her music comeback. Wanting to raise awareness of the disease, she mentioned in the letter: “I have decided to be truthful about my struggle, open and more vulnerable than ever before. And to be honest, part of me doesn’t want to talk about being sick because I want it to all be behind me, but I know I have to. Because not only is it a part of my life, I need to bring awareness to the severity of Lyme Disease.” The letter ended with positive thoughts which her fans loved: "I now have a very strong, triumphant, powerful and true record to me and my experiences over the last few years.. I’m so excited to be returning with new music and to have you on this journey with me. Let’s do this! New era!”She released her new studio album, the sixth studio album named "Head Above Water" on February 15, 2019, through BMG Rights Management.

I found out about English singer and songwriter Charlotte Emma Aitchison, professionally known as Charli XCX, back in 2014 in a popular movie named "The Fault In Our Stars" when I heard her song "Boom Clap" which was just perfect for that movie and led to her gaining a massive exposure since the movie was one of the most watched ones back in 2014 and a few years later. When I listen to her music now, I see nothing has changed in her style and genre of music she makes but the quality has become better. "Pop 2" is her fourth mixtape, released on December 15th, 2017 by Asylum Records, which looks like a mixture of dance-pop and experimental pop. Her collaborations with many different artists from the music world helped her a lot in her music career. Only two out of ten songs from this album aren't a collaboration or feature of any musicians. It looks like Charli XCX is going by the saying: "We are stronger together".

There is not much artists in the whole world who can make hit of almost every song they publish, but this man has power to do that. David Guetta started his career by working in the night clubs in 80s and 90s and as a result he founded producer house named Gum Productions. His first "big job" was in 2001 when he published his first album Just a Little More Love. After that he just continued with amazing work. His fourth studio album One Love released in 2009 included features by Kelly Rowland, Akon, Kid Cudi, will.i.am, Ne-Yo, Estelle and other. Also, it provides 15 danceable tracks, among them hit singles such as "When Love Takes Over", "Sexy Bitch" and "Gettin' Over You", and all of them reached #1 UK and charted high internationally. Guetta's first major international release, the album received generally favourable reviews from music critics, and was a commercial success, selling over 3 million copies globally."When Love Takes Over" was released as the first single and featured Kelly Rowland. The song was a worldwide hit and peaked at number one in the UK and won the Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical Grammy Award, selling over 5.5 million copies worldwide. "Sexy Bitch" was the second single from the album and featured Akon. The song has become a worldwide hit, reaching the top spot on thirteen different charts. It peaked at number one in the UK as well as many other countries. "I Wanna Go Crazy" was the album's only promotional single, released on 24 August 2009. "One Love" was released as the third worldwide single from the album and featured Estelle. It topped the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. "Memories" was released as the fourth single on 15 March 2010 and features Kid Cudi. The song peaked at number one in Belgium, Czech Republic and Netherlands. He had the opportunity to work with lot of pop artists such as Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears, Kelly Rowland, Flo Rida, Shakira and many more. From 2006 he was nominated for many Grammy rewards, but year 2010 was special because he was nominated for even 5 rewards and managed to get one of them.

Charles Otto Puth Jr. was born December 2, 1991, in Rumson, New Jersey, to Debra, a music teacher who also wrote commercials for HBO, and Charles Otto Puth Sr., a builder and real estate agent. His father is Catholic, and his mother is Jewish. He has two younger siblings, twins Stephen and Mikaela. As a two-year-old, Puth's right eyebrow was permanently scarred in a nearly fatal dog-bite incident. Puth has perfect pitch. His mother introduced him to classical music and began teaching him the piano at age 4. He started studying jazz at age and participated in a summer youth jazz ensemble at Count Basie Theatre's Cool School in Red Bank, New Jersey at 12. He was hired by The Count Basie Theatre to play in a Charlie Brown production. In grade six, he went door to door selling a Christmas album called Have a Merry Charlie Christmas that he had recorded and produced, making $600 in sales. In September 2009, he started his own YouTube channel, entitled Charlies Vlogs, posting comedy videos and acoustic covers. In 2010, Puth released the music video of his first song, "These Are My Sexy Shades". On December 2010, he released his debut extended play, The Otto Tunes, an independent release. In December 2012 he released a promotional single, "Break Again", with additional vocals by Emily Luther. The music video was released days later. That was just the beginning of something great. In early 2015, Puth signed with Atlantic and his previous records were removed from iTunes and in February that year he released his debut single "Marvin Gaye" which features American singer Meghan Trainor. That was his lead single on first studio album Nine Track Mind, released on January 29, 2016. "One Call Away" was announced by Puth as the second single from the album on August 4, 2015 and was released along with the pre-order of the album on August 20, 2015. On May 11, 2016, Puth announced "We Don't Talk Anymore" as the third single from the album. Selena Gomez provides vocals for the song. It impacted US contemporary hit radio on May 24, 2016. His biggest job was the song "See You Again" for the Furious 7 movie, and it was written for his friend who passed away in a similar accident. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for twelve weeks, becoming the longest-running rap number one along with Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.”

The thirty-four-year-old Belgian musician Paul Van Haver, professionally known as Stromae, released his second studio album “Racine carrée” in August 2013. This French language electropop album explores a wide range of themes that include relationship issues, racism, sexism, isolation from social network, AIDS, cigarettes and lung cancer. In this album that was reportedly recorded in an attic, Stromae tried to incorporate some African and Caribbean music elements on top of his usual 1990s inspired dance beats. The album has a total of thirteen tracks with an approximate overall time length of forty-three minutes. The album mostly received positive reviews from the music critics, especially for the thoughtful lyrics. Allmusic rated the album 4 out of 5 stars and praised his songwriting skills saying “Racine Carrée will be remembered as Stromae's breakthrough album and a major validation of his considerable songwriting talents.” The same article further added, “The Belgian-Rwandan young prodigy is at heart much closer to a singer/songwriter than to an EDM producer and DJ, which turns Racine Carrée into a very unusual kind of dancefloor filler. After all, how many albums designed for clubs feature songs that deal with subjects such as absent fathers, cigarettes and cancer, AIDS, racism, sexism, or social isolation created by the Internet?” It is very unusual to see some serious topics in a regular electropop album, but Stromae could incorporate these into his music successfully. Music Story, NU.nl and Metro newspapers all rated the album 4 out of 5 stars. The album received commercial success all across Europe, Canada and the United States. It peaked at number one on many music charts, including the US World Albums (Billboard), Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) and Italian Albums (FIMI) charts. It also reached the tenth position on Canadian Albums (Billboard) album. The use of serious themes in disco-oriented electropop music mixed with African and Caribbean rhythms makes this album very unique, something that was not experienced by the listeners before.

Ever since the release of his first single titled “Orente” on March 5, 2015, Adekunle Gold became the focus of many music lovers who saw his raw talent and anticipated greater heights for him. The great expectations and his dedication paid off, as he came through with his debut studio album, “GOLD” on July 28, 2016. At the time, people began to wonder about the possibility of “mining more gold” from Adekunle. As the airplay of hit tracks on his debut album such as “Pick Up” and “Sade” began to pave way for new songs, Adekunle Gold knew it was time to make another foray into the Afropop niche that he has been dominating for long. His return to the studio paid off with the successful launch of his Sophomore/second music album, “About 30”. Transitioning from a Youth to a Man - Adekunle Gold is like a jack of all trade that has a good knowledge of all his transactions. With his native Yoruba mother tongue, he has been able to curate Highlife and Afropop songs. From the massive airplay generated by Orente during his stay at YBNL record label to Pick Up, his songs have underlined themes that the fan base can resonate with – The successful debut of About 30 on May 25, 2018, reflected his transitioning from the flashy lifestyle that comes with being a youth to the more responsible status of being a man. Ideally, the album also signifies his forthcoming birthday and sojourn into the world of “30-year olds”. He didn’t fail to keep listeners tuned to the tracks as he draws leads them on with emotional stories that mainly focused on love.

The Nigerian music industry has been on a bullish trend in recent years, with notable artists like Olamide Adedeji (Olamide), who brings in a different type of vocals and lyrics to make the industry diversified and interesting. Considering his background before his successful venture and breakthrough in the industry, Olamide didn’t fail to recognize the role played by the “streets” in establishing him as a force to reckon with in the Nigerian and global music industry. Against the backdrop of the influence his ghetto lifestyle had on his artistry, Olamide decided to replicate the same lovely gesture to his “roots” – the street, with his album, “YBNL” – Yahoo Boy No Laptop otherwise popularized by the acronym “YBNL” is a reflection of the mindset of the Nigerian Hip Hop recording artist, Adedeji Olamide, otherwise known by his stage name, "Olamide”. It would be recalled that he had set up a record label with the same acronym, YBNL Nation. The release of this album comes a year after the debut of his first studio album, Rapsodi. As has become his pattern, Olamide infused lyrics that resonate with his major audience – the street.

Yahoo Boy No Laptop (YBNL) Nation record label boss, Olamide Adedeji otherwise called Olamide just made his fans happier with the release of his seventh consecutive album, which also doubles as his eighth album because of the collaborative album, 2 Kings that he recorded with Chibuzo Azubuike (Phyno) in 2015. With the debut of “Lagos Nawa”, Olamide sends more signals that he is the “king of the streets”, a status he attained and maintained since the debut of his first studio album. It would be recalled that he holds an annual concert to celebrate his continuous and consecutive release of music albums on a yearly basis. Since the release of his first album, “Rapsodi’ in 2011, Olamide had been churning out amazing albums with provocative themes every year. The Glory, his sixth/studio album (with collaboration) in 2016, preceded the release of Lagos Nawa – As depicted by the title, Olamide literally explores the different sides of lifestyle that is tenable in the city of Lagos. Given the fact that he is a “Lagos Boy” (born and raised) in the inner city of Bariga, Olamide certainly understands his audience and has dedicated this album to their listening pleasure.

A little above thirty years have passed since the American diva, Cher conquered her fear of crowds and unveiled her awesome musical skills to the world and contrary to the popular notion that her career was going to fall as easily as it arose, she was still doing what she did best. “Believe” is the artist's twenty second album and quite a number of them were successful (some more than others). She dedicated the album to her ex-husband Sonny Bono who had died the same year the album was released. I think it’s nice that despite their divorce they still managed to remain friends. This album in particular was the follow up for a failed album. Rather than giving up, she went back into the studio and cooked up these beats which are quite eccentric. The pop diva followed a new direction musically, she changed her genre from pop to dance pop and her songs featured the use of auto tunes. Her lyrics communicated a different message this time, rather than lamenting about the lows of falling in love, she focused on topics of freedom; freedom of anyone to choose how, when, where and why s/he wanted to live and who they wanted to live that life with. Before the release of the album, her label wanted to take out the auto tunes but thankfully she refused. Eventually, the album was a great success. It was so good it won the Grammy award for “best dance recording” that year. It topped the chart in six countries and was listed among the top ten in several other countries. Based on these two achievements, the use of auto tunes became an accepted practice worldwide. The particular tune she used today is known as the “Cher effect” in the auto tune manual. Despite all the things that she achieved through this album, it really does not sound as good as the statistics say it is. If I was to rate the album, it will be below average. The auto tunes really didn’t work well with her vocals and that made it difficult to hear her words. Although the vibe was strong and thrilling, it really didn’t sound like Cher. It was as though I was listening to an entirely different artist.

Being an optimist, I do not subscribe to the widely known adage that everything that goes up must surely come down. Sadly, the adage though most times not true has found its way to have a distinct effect in the life of the music protagonist, Cher. Cher is a renowned musician who worked her ass out to see her music career kick up from cradle to an enviable position up North. But life, not being a bed of roses, pierced her dreams with its thorns as her fame waned and her musical career is obviously seen to be heading for the rock bottom. Though the singer Cher is seen vying for a musical shift that will cause a turn-around from an anti-clockwise direction to a clock-wise direction musically, the effect was nowhere to be found in her newest project. Her just completed album, “Backstage” remains one of Cher’s unusual albums recording a gaping amount of negligence by the diva. Cher’s idea of innovation and music reformation has rather brought about a negative slope in her musical career since the release of her rebound album “Closer to the truth”. Her fan base is gradually dwindling with lots of disappointing comments and negative energy surrounding her world. Most songs off Cher’s “Backstage” album is a conflation discarded rhythms. It is quite clear that this could be the end of the road for the most revered music duo Sonny and Cher as this album bears no imprints of their indigenous work of art thereby leaving the album rather in indigent need of a touch from a classical expert. “Backstage” was recorded by the pop duo as Cher’s fifth album and released by her record label, Imperial Records in July 1968. The album recorded massive failure upon release and remained invisible on the charts.

Despite the ups and downs that Cher has experienced in her music career, the one thing that remained constant was the fact that she always made effort to re-engineer and modernize her sound but obviously something went wrong with her twenty fifth album. Prior to the end of the twentieth century, the pop diva introduced the world to the thrill of auto tunes but for reasons known only to her and probably her label she kind of disappeared for a little over a decade and by the time she was back auto tunes didn’t sound fun anymore. The formula had been over used and it was even the signature pattern of artists like Ke$ha and T-pain thus making her sound seem a little bit outdated and wrong. The sad part is the fact that the sixty-seven-year-old diva began work on this album in 2011 and she completed the album in 2013 and this is really evident in the extremely descriptive lyrics of all the songs on the album. That alone is a pointer to the fact that she really wanted this album to be awesome but it wasn’t, thankfully the gay community gave her their full support. Despite all these, the artist still managed to deliver quite a number of decent tracks, but when you look at the album as a whole, the album sounds a lot like a wasted opportunity to prove that she was still the queen of pop. According to interviews the album was intended to be a pop rock album but along the line it was switched to a dance pop album and the songstress described the song as her best album ever while no one can successfully argue that fact with her. The truth is that far better tracks came into existence before she released the album and more were still being released and she made very little effort to better these artists. Rather than rating herself by her surroundings, she rated her new self with her past self. Consequently, the album did not do as well as we all expected.

Prowess is an attribute not commonly found with female singers of old. But in life, there are exceptions to things and Cher is one such. Despite a being born to a truck driver, Cherilyn Sarkisian a.k.a Cher broke evil jinx by making her mark on the earth. Often referred to as the Goddess of Pop, Cher is an American born highly intellectual singer and actress. Her dexterity is one no one can fathom where she is seen going shoulder to shoulder with the male folks who were dominating the music industry in the 1990s. Having the voice of a nightingale with a prominent contralto sound, Cher has been able to switch to various music styles with ease for the decades she has been active in music and such feat should be applauded. Having achieved greatness and fame from her 1965 hit song “I Got You Babe”, Cher forged ahead to give the world yet another episodic ripple effect with the release of her third album "Cher". The eponymic album was released on October 1966 by her record label Imperial Records and produced by Sonny Bono. The album “Cher” is the debut album for the pop duo and couple Sonny and Cher which builds on flavours from her previous two albums and Cher’s successful 1960 career. When speaking of American Pop rock, Sonny and Cher were music forces to reckon with in the 1960s as they made a perfect duo who understood music in the same light producing hits after hits. Together, the duo became a formidable force in music recording a handful of albums and singles that soon made their fame spread like wild fire at the same time making their name a household name during the course. The album “Cher” from the duo Sonny and Cher made entrance into the track with a staggering compilation of forty tracks all recorded on disks. The 40 track album surprisingly does not have any single throughout but has contents for people with varying taste of music. The album “Cher“, is a nice compilation by the iconic pop duo but it not an ideal idea of a hit album for me. The only reason it made waves was because Cher seized the opportunity of dropping the album immediately after her hit track. With this well-played strategy, the effect the hit track came hadn’t waned yet and her album sailed fat on the success from the hit.

Cher had enjoyed a fairly successful career since she released her debut album in the late 60’s. although the years that followed after her debut were quite pleasant, she has had her fair share of struggles in her musical career. As a result of that, her sound has been re-engineered several times over. "Love Hurts" is the twentieth studio album by the American songstress Cher and it does not sound like the Cher the world enjoyed in the 60’s. The album which was released in 1991 was the last album she recorded with Geffen Records. At the time of the recording, her relationship with guitarist Bon Jovi was barely up to a year so the love was still quite strong. Consequently, she dedicated the album to him and every man that made her shed tears in the past. The latter probably referred to her failed relationships. Despite the level of fame that she had acquired, the artist still had a lot of admiration for other musicians. She expressed those feelings on this album, four of the tracks were covers of songs that were sung by other artists, years before. Cher released different versions of the album in different countries. Probably, that was an effort to meet the musical appeal of the different countries. To an extent the strategy was quite successful as she sold thousands and rose to the top three in multiple countries but this made her fans conclude that she had been fully sold out. She was ready to imitate anything as long as that kept the bags rolling in. As a result, the album received mixed reviews, some immediately fell in love with the new and improved Cher while others described the album as being a waste of time. Personally, I have listened to most of the albums by the pop diva and this album is a very much a welcome development. The rock n roll theme she picked for this album is extremely suited to her vocals which made the songs really natural, unlike a few of her previous records where her sound was second best.

When I listen to a piece of music, two things usually attract me to it - the melody and arrangement, and the beat. That is to say that I'm not too particular about lyrics even though they are very important as well. When I hear a good melody I usually get a soothing feeling and I'm able to use my mind as a mirror into what and how I want to feel, and if the melody is too good, I let it drive me and lead me to its desired destination. The beat gives me something to vibe along, something to dance to or probably just nod my head to. A good beat would literally have me imagining what dance styles to go with it and that results to a lot of happiness for me. A lot of people are like me. More than anything, music makes them happy. They appreciate music so much that just the beat or melody is enough to get them going. While other people insist that music can't be great if the lyrics is not great as well. If the lyrics is not on the same level with the beat and melody, they say it is trash or crappy music. While that is true to some extent, it is not entirely true. Some piece of music is just meant to make you feel good. Katy Perry's 2017 album "Witness" is that kind of music. Katy Perry serenaded her listeners with music that moves the mind and body. Set in 17 tracks namely, "Act My Age", "Bigger Than Me", "Bon Appetit", "Dance With The Devil", "Chained To The Rhythm", "Hey Hey Hey", "Into Me See You", "Mind Maze", "Miss You More", "Pendulum", "Power", "Roullette", "Save As Draft", "Tsunami", "Witness", "Deja Vu", and "Swish Swish", Katy Perry layered some sweet melodious tunes on fantastic beats arranged in really interesting ways, with a mix of some really interesting lyrics. That is to say that "Witness" is more than just beats and sweet melody, it contains good stories and experiences that everyone can relate to.

When artists take the time to go to the studios to create music, the next line of action would be to determine when exactly to release it. This is because timing is very important in releasing music. Experience has shown that releasing music in Nigeria in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the year is much more profitable than doing it in the 1st and 4th quarters of the year respectively. It results to great results in sales of the record, fans retaining the music and vibing to it through the better part of the year, thereby enabling it to trend up until the end of the year. And that will enable it to be favored in award ceremonies which usually happen in the 4th quarter of every year in Nigeria. On the other hand, music released in the 1st quarter of the year do not usually trend till the end of the year. They are usually knocked off or replaced or pushed aside by other records that are released during the course of the year, but they have a great chance of being hit songs due to the relative lack of new music in that quarter of the year. And those released in the 4th quarter of the year have the power to trend but usually do not make it to the awards because of not having enough time on the charts, or music critics and journalists not seeing them as worthy enough to be nominated to awards because of their limited time in that music year. So every quarter has its benefits and downsides. Awards which a lot of people say do not matter these days still matter to artists, and is a reflection of how good a musician was in a particular year or years. So its usually a tough decision to make and every artist wants to receive a pat (awards) on the back for the work they have put in especially from the prestigious ones. The only exception is if the music is so good and spectacular, then you could take the bold step of releasing it in the 1st quarter. And that would be a really bold step, otherwise releasing it in the 2nd quarter would be a safer approach. When Burna Boy released his third studio album "Outside" on January 26th, 2018, he probably did not know it would turn out to be the album of the year. He was probably 'aiming for the moon with hopes of landing on the stars'. But that album surpassed its expectations.

This past weekend, BET hosted it’s 19th awards ceremony in sunny Los Angeles, CA and this year’s show included a new category for “Best International Act”. Among the contestants nominated for this award was the Nigerian bad boy, the Port Harcourt lord, the African Giant, Burna Boy. Put in a category with other international acts like Dave, Dosseh, Giggs, Aya Nakamura, AKA, and Mr. Eazi, Burna came out victorious in a solid group of artists. So far in 2019, African artists are finally feeling the recognition from other parts of the world, for their unique musical styles and special place in world music as a whole. Historically speaking, Africa is thought to be the birthplace of music in general, so it’s only right to pay respects to the special sounds ringing out from the motherland. Before the awards and worldwide stardom however, Burna had to build from within. Out of the many musical countries in Africa, Nigeria is known for its enormous music scene from the many tribes that reside there. In Burna’s rise to the present, he had to represent for the River States of Nigeria, and built a following with his 2015, sophomore album On a Spaceship.

If there’s such a thing as the perfect album, Haim’s 2013 debut Days Are Gone must surely be a contender. While I favour certain songs over others, there’s not a single one that I’d skip if it came on shuffle, a feat few artists have ever accomplished. Revisiting this album six years after I first heard it feels like running into an old friend and it’s as if no time has passed, a testament to its timeless charm.

I could listen to this album twenty million times in a short period of time and I would not get tired of it, in fact, with this album, I can confirm and say that, in effect, Lady Gaga becomes a monster. A monster that creates music for all the senses and all the ways of being and thinking. A monster that devours the popularity charts of the whole world with many of the songs included in this long-play album and that conquers the most demanding consumers of popular music. There is no one who is not captivated by the sound, arrangements, strength, and rhythm of the themes that consolidate Lady Gaga as an obligatory reference and as the person who makes us understand the reason for existing, and the meanings of worlds that, until recently, had remained hidden from the view of the majority. It allows us to understand the meaning of certain attitudes and ways of thinking and makes us accept them as something normal and part of our diversity. It allows us to discover and contemplate beauty in all those things where before we only perceived strange things. It opens our mind, it moves our feet, it shows us the path that, from this album, would take popular music. It has set a high standard with which music lovers will value the musical works of other artists who pretend to be at the forefront. It puts limits to intolerance and builds bridges that unite all as the rhythm of all the themes passes. Her image challenges us to accept what is different and teaches us not to put more labels on people, only to love them as they are, without questioning their way of thinking or the way they look. Her determined and threatening look dominates us and marks us with the beat of the songs to go to those places where we had never been and discover so many things that we did not know. The Fame Monster is a before and an after, challenges the great stars of past decades and sets the conditions for the new generations of musicians who aspire to become the stars of the future. Obligates that those who seek to break through in the music scene are overcome and do everything possible to attract the attention of an audience that, upon discovering Lady Gaga, probably have already seen everything. It is not easy to overcome this for anyone. Everything that revolves around her music and image has been the perfect blend of marketing, market research and inspiration, and creativity that lives in the mind and heart of a complete and determined artist to conquer the world. As with all artists, Lady Gaga has had ups and downs in her career, either because of the natural weariness of people, the exhaustion of ideas, business commitments, tours, personal affairs and many imponderables in the life of anyone; nevertheless, The Fame Monster, must be, in my opinion, the line that throughout her artistic life must mark the course to her. It must be the compass that guides this artist at all times in all the art projects she intends to carry out so that she remembers what has allowed her to win the idolatry of massive and varied audiences.